Provinces of Cuba

Provinces of Cuba
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
From west to east, Cuba's provinces are:
Pinar del Río
Artemisa
La Habana
Mayabeque
Matanzas
Cienfuegos
Villa Clara
Sancti Spíritus
Ciego de Ávila
Camagüey
Las Tunas
Granma
Holguín
Santiago de Cuba
Guantánamo
Isla de la Juventud ("special municipality")
History
1879–1976
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):
Pinar del Río
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.
Matanzas
Las Villas (before 1940 named "Santa Clara"), contained the present-day provinces of Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, and Southern Matanzas Province.
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).
Oriente (before 1905 named "Santiago de Cuba"), contained the present-day provinces of Las Tunas, Granma, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo
1976–present
In December 1976, the original six provinces were reconstituted into 14 provinces plus one special municipality:
Pinar del Río
La Habana
Ciudad de La Habana
Matanzas
Cienfuegos
Villa Clara
Sancti Spíritus
Ciego de Ávila
Camagüey
Las Tunas
Granma
Holguín
Santiago de Cuba
Guantánamo
Isla de Pinos ("special municipality")
Isla de Pinos was renamed Isla de la Juventud on 3 August 1978.
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. Havana City Province (Ciudad de La Habana Province) recovered its original name, La Habana Province.
Demographics
Pop. = Population. Source: Cuba census 2002
Special municipality
Presidents of the People's Power Provincial Councils
The following are the presidents of the Provincial People's Councils in each province in the country (local governments).
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.
Special municipality
See also
Politics of Cuba
Demographics of Cuba
List of places in Cuba
Municipalities of Cuba
List of West Indian first-level country subdivisions, a list of first-level country subdivisions within the Caribbean in order of total area
ISO 3166-2:CU, which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of the country
References
External links
Cuba at GeoHive
Subdivisions of Cuba
Cuba, Provinces
Cuba 1
Provinces, Cuba
Cuba geography-related lists