Athena Review Image Archive ™
Map of Cuba from an early atlas (1597)
Early atlas map of Cuba, 1597
This
map appeared in an early Dutch Atlas dating from 1597. Cuba had been
settled for thousands of years by Arawak -speaking tribes, and was
densely populated in its eastern half when first seen by Europeans
during the first voyage of Columbus (1492), who reported the Taino name
of the island as Colba.
Ciboney tribal groups, more recent arrivals who also lived in Florida
and the Bahamas, inhabited the western part of the island at the time
of Spanish contact.
Cuba soon became the base for Spanish explorations in the New World by Córdoba, Grijalva, and Cortés.
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