Cienfuegos, capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about 250 km from Havana and has a populatio…Cienfuegos, capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about 250 km from Havana and has a population of 178,368 in 2022. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especially in the energy and sugar sectors. The city is dubbed La Perla del Sur. Despite being known as an industrial city of factories and various nuclear/electrical plants, and the name Cienfuegos literally translating to "one hundred fires", the city actually takes its name from the surname of Asturian-born José Cienfuegos Jovellanos, Captain General of Cuba.