Camagüey, capital of its namesake province, is Cuba's third largest city as well as a major center of education, commerce, and culture .  With a population of 270,000 , Camagüey is by Cuban standards a large city.  The city is graced by one of the four major universities on the island, free to anyone who wants a university education.

Like most other major cities in Cuba, Camagüey has historically had its own culture, which continues to the present day, and has perhaps evolved into something of a counterculture.

Camagüey was one of the first seven cities founded by the Spanish in 1514.  During the Spanish colonial era, Camagüey was a center of constant bourgeoisie resistance.  Traders opposed the Spanish government's monopolization of various goods and services, and rebelled against the government by engaging significantly in smuggling.  Although Camagüey's residents opposed U.S.-supported dictators Machado and Batista, their resistance was not largely out of devotion to left-wing ideology and concern for the Cuban people; rather, they wanted to maintain their fashionably affluent lifestyles and resented the undue attention being given to the extreme upper classes as well as foreign landowners.  It was for these reasons that Camagüey's support for Fidel Castro's revolution was in many ways only lukewarm.