Little Havana

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Little Havana (Spanish: La Pequeña Habana) is a section of Miami, Florida, where many Cuban immigrants and refugees (often fleeing Fidel Castro's government) settled. The high number of Cuban refugees Florida receives is due to its proximity to Cuba (many Cubans come over in makeshift boats). It is called Little Havana because Cuba's primate city is Havana. There is also a smaller Little Havana in Tampa, Florida.

In recent years increasing numbers of Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Guatemalan immigrants have moved into the neighborhood, as increasing numbers of Cubans leave the area for the suburbs in western Miami. Part of Little Havana is now actually referred to as Little Managua named after the Nicaraguan capital.

On July 31, 2006, Cuban-Americans in Little Havana celebrated the relinquishing of power in Cuba when Fidel Castro temporarily relinquished power to Raúl Castro.

[edit] Calle Ocho

Little Havana hosts its annual Cuban-festive Calle Ocho street festival (part of the overall Carnival Miami celebrations), one of the largest in the world, with over one million visitors annually. It is a free street festival with a Caribbean carnival feel sponsored by the local Kiwanis Club.

Calle Ocho is Spanish for Eighth Street. This festival takes place between 27th Ave and 4th Ave along Southwest 8th Street. Over 30 stages and hundreds of street vendors participate in the live music street festival now in its 27th year.

Calle Ocho earned an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records when 119,986 people formed the world's longest conga line on March 13, 1988. Little Havana has a smaller population than Havana, Cuba and is a district in Miami, not an official city.