the island is the largest of the 350 in the canarreos archipelago ('). it has an estimated population of 100,000. the capital and largest city is nueva gerona in the north. the second-largest and oldest city is santa fe in the interior. other communities are columbia, mac kinley, santa bárbara, cuchilla alta, punta del este, sierra de caballos and sierra de casas. the island was called the isle of pines (') before 1978.