20 interesting facts about Havana

1. The full name of Havana is “San Cristobal de la Habana” ó St. Christopher of Havana.
2. Since it’s founding in 1515, Havana has been one of the most important cities in Latin America, and a popular location for Cuban holidays.
3. Population: 2,400,000 (city); 3,120,000 (metropolitan area)
4. Havana was dubbed the “Key to the New World and Rampart of the West Indies” by Spain’s King Phillip II.
5. There are 15,000 citizens of the United States in Cuba.
6. Havana was a candidate to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
7. Ninety per cent of Havana’s tourists travel 2,000 miles or more to make the visit while the distance from most South Florida points is less than 300 miles.
   
8. Citing the grand architecture that characterizes much of the city, Havana’s official nickname is “Ciudad de las Columnas,” or City of Columns.
9. Roses are so cheap in Havana that $1 buys a large bouquet.
10. Havana is home to a street cobbled with wood. It runs right next to the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales. As the story goes, the wife of one of the capitanes was afraid that horses walking on stone cobbles outside her window would keep her awake, so she had the lane paved with wood.
11. “Arroz con pollo” a Cuban dish you will certainly en-joy in Havana is `rice and chicken.’
12. Cuba’s capital is known for its many statues, some of which might be unexpected. In the center of John Lennon Park is a bronze likeness of, yes, John Lennon. It was unveiled in 2000 after Fidel Castro declared the former Beatle to be a “true revolutionary.”
13. The are no flies or mosquitoes in Havana, hence no screens.
14. The game Monopoly, is banned in all of Cuba.
15. With his strong ties to Havana, it is no surprise that there is a museum for Ernest Hemingway in the city. In fact, the museum is his house of many years.
16. In 1848, Havana became the third city in the world to receive gas lighting.
17. With countless museums, Havana is home to pieces of history from all over the world. One of the more surprising is the Museo Napoliónico, a museum of Napoleonic art and artefacts that includes one of Napoleon’s teeth and the general’s death mask.
18. Havana has one of the best police forces in the world. Don’t ever argue with or hit a cop in Havana, the former offense nets 3 months and 29 days and the latter, one year and 29 days.
19. Most streets in Havana have two names and most houses two numbers.
20. The fire department of Havana is all motor equipped and any station can get out in 19 seconds. The city has 300 fires a year but only about 10 that prove troublesome.