Matanzas Province

Country: Cuba

Area: 11,978 sq km

Population: approximately 700,000

Sister-city relations with Zhejiang established Sept 27, 2000

Matanzas Province is one of the most prosperous provinces in Cuba. It is home to 175,000 hectares of sugarcane fields and 21 sugar mills, producing around 10 percent of the country's sugar. Petroleum extraction began in Matanzas in 1971, and the province's oil production once accounted for 70 percent of the national total. A large number of European and Canadian companies are currently extracting petroleum in the province with the approval of Cuban authorities.