PUERTO PRINCIPE (officially, a city and the capital of the province of Camagiley in east-central Cuba, about 528m. E.S.E. of Havana. Pop. (1899), 25,102; (1931), 130,352. Puerto Principe lies on a broad plain about equally dis tant from the north and south coasts of the island, and between two small rivers, the Tinima and Hatibonica. In appearance it is one of the most ancient of Cuban towns. Many of the churches, convents and other ecclesiastical establishments were built in the second half of the 18th century, some in the first half ; and parts of the original cathedral of 1617 have probably survived later alterations and additions. Some of the bridges, too, built in the 18th century, are picturesque. The city hall was begun in There is a provincial institute for secondary education. The city is the seat of a court of appeal. Puerto Principe is connected with Havana and Santiago by the axis-railway of the island ; and, by a railway 47m. long, with its port, Nuevitas (pop. in 1919, 6,143). This is on the north side of the island, has a spacious land-locked bay of good depth, and is connected by a railway line 5om. long with Santa Cruz del Sur (pop. 1919, 2,196) on the south coast. Cabinet woods, fruit, tobacco, sugar, wax, honey and cattle products are the leading exports.
In 1514 Diego Velasquez founded, on Nuevitas bay (then known as the Puerto del Principe), a settlement that was moved in 1515 or 1516 to the site of the present city of Puerto Principe (or Santa Maria del Puerto del Principe). From very early times
the surrounding plains were given over to horse and cattle-raising. In 1925 there were 4,500,000 cattle in the province. As early as the beginning of the 17th century Havana depended on Puerto Principe to re-victual the ships which monopolized trade be tween Spain and America. From very early times, too, a pros perous clandestine trade was maintained with Providence, the Bahamas, and especially with Curacao and Jamaica (after its capture by the English in 1655). After the capital, Puerto Principe was the richest prize of the island when it was captured and plundered in 1668 by a force of Frenchmen and Englishmen under Henry Morgan, the buccaneer. In the i8th century land grants and illicit trade led to serious disturbances. In 1775 Nuevitas was resettled, and in 178o was made a legal (habilitado) port. After the cession of Santo Domingo to France in 1800, the Real Audiencia, the supreme court of the Spanish West Indies, was removed to Puerto Principe. A superior audiencia was cre ated for Havana in 1838, but the older court continued to exist throughout the Spanish period.