Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some 870 km southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana.
The municipality extends over 1,023.8 square kilometers, and contains the communities of Antonio Maceo, Bravo, Castillo Duany, Daiquirí, El Caney, El Cobre, El Cristo, Guilera, Leyte Vidal, Moncada and Siboney.
Historically Santiago de Cuba has long been the second-most important city on the island after Havana, and still remains the second-largest. It is on a bay connected to the Caribbean Sea and is an important sea port. In the 2012 population census, the city of Santiago de Cuba recorded a population of 431,272 people.