The Zapata swamp, located in the county of Matanzas whose capital is separated for less than 100 kilometers from Havana, is the most extensive municipality and at the same time the less inhabited of Cuba, as a significant contrast; although it possesses 19 populational establishments. Half century behind, a clear image of the life of its residents was the enormous quantity of people who subsisted producing vegetable coal under very unfavorable conditions. The changes are of such a magnitude that the area is
To visit these places constitutes an opportunity to know part of the most recent Cuban history, because places like Playa Girón and Playa Larga are part of the municipality, where happened the facts of the well-known invasion for Bahía de Cochinos in April 1961. There are also very deep caverns near the South coast, whose waters vary from sweet in near areas to the surface until completely salted in the depths. These caverns are the habitat of some species of the marine fauna, including corals and fish.
The area presents a humid ecosystem and its lands are constant object of great interest for the environmental protection, because the Zapata Swamp and other coastal areas of the country are true natural laboratories. 30 archaeological places are reported in this area. Besides other tourist places, as the Guamá tourist complex, where the grateful Cuban sculptress Rita Longa sculpted the Taino Village. In Zapata Swamp we can find the biggest wetland in the insular Caribbean, with an approximate area of 300 00
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