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Provinces of Cuba

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Administrative divisions of Cuba
Provinces (1–15) and special municipality (16) of Cuba
CategoryUnitary state
LocationRepublic of Cuba
Number15 provinces
1 special municipality
Populations81,486 (Isla de la Juventud) – 2,130,517 (La Habana)
Areas281.18 square miles (728.3 km2) (La Habana) – 5,951.31 square miles (15,413.8 km2) (Camagüey Province)
Government
  • Single-party government
Subdivisions

Administratively, Cuba is divided into 15 provinces and one special municipality (the Isla de la Juventud). The current structure has been in place since August 2010, when the then-La Habana Province was divided into Artemisa Province and Mayabeque Province.

List of provinces

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From west to east, Cuba's provinces are:

  1. Pinar del Río
  2. Artemisa
  3. La Habana
  4. Mayabeque
  5. Matanzas
  6. Cienfuegos
  7. Villa Clara
  8. Sancti Spíritus
  9. Ciego de Ávila
  10. Camagüey
  11. Las Tunas
  12. Granma
  13. Holguín
  14. Santiago de Cuba
  15. Guantánamo
  16. Isla de la Juventud ("special municipality")

History

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1879–1976

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Cuba's provinces, 1879 to 1976
Cuba's provinces on a 1910s map

The provinces were created in 1879 by the Spanish colonial government. From 1879 to 1976, Cuba was divided into six provinces, which maintained with little changes the same boundaries and capital cities, although with modifications in official names. These "historical" provinces are the following (from west to east):

  1. Pinar del Río
  2. La Habana, included the city of Havana, current Mayabeque, some municipalities of current Artemisa Province (prior to 1970: 5 municipalities; from 1970 to 2011, 8 municipalities, including Artemisa city itself). Isla de Pinos ("Isle of Pines") was considered a "special municipality" in the province of La Habana.
  3. Matanzas
  4. Las Villas (before 1940 named "Santa Clara"), contained the present-day provinces of Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, and Southern Matanzas Province.
  5. Camagüey (before 1899 named "Puerto Príncipe"), contained the present-day provinces of Camagüey and Ciego de Ávila, as well as two municipalities of current Las Tunas Province (prior to 1970).
  6. Oriente (before 1905 named "Santiago de Cuba"), contained the present-day provinces of Las Tunas, Granma, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo

1976–2011

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Cuba's provinces as of December 1976

In December 1976, the original six provinces were reconstituted into 14 provinces plus one special municipality:[1]

  1. Pinar del Río
  2. La Habana
  3. Ciudad de La Habana
  4. Matanzas
  5. Cienfuegos
  6. Villa Clara
  7. Sancti Spíritus
  8. Ciego de Ávila
  9. Camagüey
  10. Las Tunas
  11. Granma
  12. Holguín
  13. Santiago de Cuba
  14. Guantánamo
  15. Isla de Pinos ("special municipality")

Isla de Pinos was renamed Isla de la Juventud on 3 August 1978.[2]

2011–present

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In August 2010, the Cuban National Assembly split the then-La Habana Province into two new provinces: Artemisa (which incorporated three eastern municipalities of neighboring Pinar del Río) and Mayabeque. The new provinces started functioning from January 1, 2011.[3] Havana City Province (Ciudad de La Habana Province) recovered its original name, La Habana Province.

Demographics

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Pop. = Population. Source: Cuba census 2002 [4]

Province Capital Pop. (2012) Pop. (%) Area Area (%) Density
km2 sq mi per km2 per sq mi
Camagüey Camagüey 768,311 7.02 15,386.16 5,940.63 13.2 50.22 130.1
Ciego de Ávila Ciego de Ávila 424,750 3.68 6,971.64 2,691.77 5.6 60.70 157.2
Cienfuegos Cienfuegos 400,768 3.54 4,188.61 1,617.23 3.9 94.54 244.9
La Habana     La Habana (Havana) 2,154,454 19.70 728.26 281.18 0.7 3,053.49 7,908.5
Granma Bayamo 830,645 7.36 8,374.24 3,233.31 7.9 98.20 254.3
Guantánamo Guantánamo 506,369 4.54 6,167.97 2,381.47 6.0 82.22 212.9
Holguín Holguín 1,027,683 9.14 9,215.72 3,558.21 8.5 109.90 284.6
Isla de la Juventud† Nueva Gerona 84,263 0.77 2,419.27 934.09 2.1 35.78 92.7
Artemisa Artemisa 487,339 4.49 4,003.24 1,545.66 3.75 125.5 325
Las Tunas Las Tunas     525,729 4.70 6,592.66 2,545.44 6.0 79.77 206.6
Matanzas Matanzas 679,314 6.00 11,791.82 4,552.85 10.0 56.80 147.1
Mayabeque San José de las Lajas 371,198 3.41 3,743.81 1,445.49 3.49 102.2 265
Pinar del Río Pinar del Río 585,452 5.32 8,883.74 3,430.03 8.32 67.00 173.5
Sancti Spíritus Sancti Spíritus 462,114 4.12 6,777.28 2,616.72 6.3 68.33 177.0
Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba 1,053,837 9.27 6,227.78 2,404.56 5.9 168.32 435.9
Villa Clara Santa Clara 783,708 7.31 8,441.81 3,259.40 7.6 97.17 251.7
Cuba La Habana 11,163,934 109,884.01 42,426.45 101.72 263.5

† Special municipality

Presidents of the People's Power Provincial Councils

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The following are the presidents of the Provincial People's Councils in each province in the country (local governments).[5]

The Provincial People's Councils replaced the Provincial Assemblies in the 2019 Constitution and are made up of provincial representatives elected by the municipal assemblies or councils.

Province President of the Provincial Council
Camagüey Jesús Arturo García Collazo
Ciego de Ávila Agustín Gregorio Arza Pascual
Cienfuegos Rolando Díaz González
La Habana     Reinaldo García Zapata
Granma Jesús Antonio Infante López
Guantánamo Luis Fernando Navarro Fernández
Holguín Alberto Olivera Fis
Isla de la Juventud† Roberto Unger Pérez
Mayabeque Armando Cuellar Domínguez
Artemisa Raúl Rodríguez Cartaya
Las Tunas Víctor Luis Rodríguez Carballosa
Matanzas Nilo Tomás Díaz Fundora
Pinar del Río Vidal Pérez Baños
Sancti Spíritus Fidel Pérez Luzbert
Santiago de Cuba Rolando Yero García
Villa Clara Alexander Rodriguez Rosada

† Special municipality

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Goodsell, James Nelson (December 12, 1976). "Cuba's citizens to have a say". The Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. The Christian Science Monitor. p. 47. Retrieved September 2, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Cuba has New Name for 'Treasure Island'" (PDF). New York Times. 4 August 1978. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  3. ^ Proponen en Pleno del Partido dos nuevas provincias cubanas: Artemisa y Mayabeque (+ Infografía) - Cubadebate
  4. ^ Cuba Census 2002 Archived 2008-01-17 at the Wayback Machine Population table
  5. ^ "Presidentes de las Asambleas Provinciales del Poder Popular en cada provincia" (in Spanish). Parlamento Cubano. Archived from the original on 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-02-10.
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