Bay of Pigs

This is a geographical article about the Bay of Pigs;

For the article about the invasion at the bay in 1961, see Bay of Pigs Invasion.

For the 2009 musical composition by "Destroyer", see Bay of Pigs (EP).

Map showing the location of the Bay of Pigs.

The Bay of Pigs (Spanish: Bahía de Cochinos) is an inlet of the Gulf of Cazones on the southern coast of Cuba. By 1910, it was placed in Santa Clara Province, then moved to Las Villas Province by 1961, but in 1976, it was re-assigned to Cienfuegos Province, when the original six provinces of Cuba were re-organized into fourteen new Provinces of Cuba.

This bay is about 30 kilometers south of Jagüey Grande, 70 kilometers west of the city of Cienfuegos, and 150 kilometers southeast from the capital city Havana. On the western side of the bay there are coral reefs bordering the main Zapata Swamp, part of the Zapata peninsula. On the eastern side are beaches bordering margins of firm ground with mangroves and extensive areas of swampland to the north and east. At the north end of the bay is the village of Buena Ventura adjacent to Playa Larga (Long Beach), and 35 kilometers southeast of that is Playa Girón (Giron beach) at the village of Girón, named after the notorious French pirate Gilberto Giron (c.1604).

Playa Girón and Playa Larga were the landing sites for seaborne forces of armed Cuban exiles in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, an American C.I.A.-sponsored attempt to overthrow the new government of Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro in April 1961.

The English translation of cochinos as "pigs" might be erroneous, since in all probability, it refers here to a species of "triggerfish" (Balistes vetula), rather than to swine (Sus scrofa).

See also

• Geography of Cuba

References

• Rodriguez, Juan Carlos. 1999. Bay of Pigs and the CIA. Ocean Press. Melbourne. ISBN 1875284982