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Updates: 

The provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque were created in 2010. The new provinces are assigned codes in Update 4 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes, the successor to FIPS PUB 10-4, issued on 2011-04-30. "Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes, Edition 2" (GENC), a U.S. standard that's supposed to correspond to ISO 3166-2, issued on 2014-03-31, also gives codes for the new provinces. ISO 3166-2 incorporated the same codes on 2014-10-29.

Sorin Cosoveanu sent me a link to source [12], with the results of the 2012 census.

Country overview: 

Short name	CUBA
ISO code	CU
GEC code	CU
Language	Spanish (es)
Time zone	-5 ~
Capital	Havana

 

Cuba was liberated from Spanish rule in the Spanish-American War, just before the beginning of the 20th century. The United States dominated the Cuban administration for about a decade, but Cuba has been considered an independent country throughout the century.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Cuba
2. Dutch: Cuba, Republiek Cuba (formal)
3. English: Republic of Cuba (formal)
4. Finnish: Kuuba
5. French: Cuba f
6. German: Kuba n
7. Icelandic: Kúba
8. Italian: Cuba f
9. Norwegian: Cuba, Republikken Cuba (formal)
10. Portuguese: Cuba, República f de Cuba f (formal) (n in Portugal)
11. Russian: Республика Куба (formal)
12. Spanish: Cuba, República f de Cuba f (formal)
13. Swedish: Cuba, Kuba
14. Turkish: Küba Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

A native called the island Colba when questioned by Columbus, possibly misunderstanding him

Primary subdivisions: 

Cuba is divided into fifteen provincias (provinces) and one municipio especial (special municipality).

Province	HASC	ISO	GEC	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Artemisa	CU.AR	15	CU17	494,631	3,983	1,538	Artemisa
Camagüey	CU.CM	09	CU05	771,905	15,615	6,029	Camagüey
Ciego de Ávila	CU.CA	08	CU07	426,054	6,783	2,619	Ciego de Ávila
Cienfuegos	CU.CF	06	CU08	404,228	4,180	1,614	Cienfuegos
Granma	CU.GR	12	CU09	834,380	8,375	3,234	Bayamo
Guantánamo	CU.GU	14	CU10	515,428	6,168	2,381	Guantánamo
Holguín	CU.HO	11	CU12	1,035,072	9,293	3,588	Holguín
Isla de la Juventud	CU.IJ	99	CU04	84,751	2,419	934	Nueva Gerona
La Habana	CU.CH	03	CU02	2,106,146	721	278	Havana
Las Tunas	CU.LT	10	CU13	532,645	6,588	2,544	Victoria de las Tunas
Matanzas	CU.MA	04	CU03	694,476	11,803	4,557	Matanzas
Mayabeque	CU.MQ	16	CU18	376,825	3,768	1,455	San José de las Lajas
Pinar del Río	CU.PD	01	CU01	587,026	8,885	3,430	Pinar del Río
Sancti Spíritus	CU.SS	07	CU14	463,458	6,737	2,601	Sancti Spíritus
Santiago de Cuba	CU.SC	13	CU15	1,049,084	6,156	2,377	Santiago de Cuba
Villa Clara	CU.VC	05	CU16	791,216	8,412	3,248	Santa Clara
16 divisions				11,167,325	109,886	42,427
Province: except for Isla de la Juventud, which is a special municipality. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. GEC: Codes from GEC. Population: 2012-09-15 census (source [12]).

Further subdivisions:

See the Municipios of Cuba page.

The provinces are subdivided into municipios (municipalities). Their number has stayed constant since 1976, except for a reduction by one in 2010. Just before 1976, there were six provinces, divided into 51 regiones (regions), which in turn were divided into 326 municipalities. The provinces had been quite stable, but the lower-level subdivisions had undergone extensive changes over the years. In 1906, the six provinces had been subdivided into 83 términos municipales (municipal boundaries).

Territorial extent: 

1. Cuba is separated from the Bahamas by the Nicholas Channel and Old Bahama Channel; from Haiti by the Windward Channel; from Jamaica by the Cayman Trench; from the Cayman Islands and Mexico by the Yucatan Channel and Yucatan Basin.
2. Ciego de Ávila includes, along its south shore, islands in the Archipiélago de los Jardines de la Reina from its western end to Cayo Caballones, and the Cayos de Ana María. Along its north shore, it contains Cayo Coco and a number of small islands, mostly west of Cayo Coco and east of Cayo Santa María.
3. Camagüey includes, along its south shore, islands in the Archipiélago de los Jardines de la Reina from Cayo Anclitos to its eastern end, and Cayo Media Luna. Along its north shore, it includes islands in the Archipiélago de Camagüey as far west as Cayo Romano.
4. Guantánamo surrounds an enclave leased to the United States, containing the Guantánamo Bay Naval Station. GENC assigns the codes A2 and AX2 to this enclave.
5. Isla de la Juventud includes the adjacent small islands in the Archipiélago de los Canarreos as far east as Cayo Largo, and as far north as Islas de Mangles.
6. Artemisa and Mayabeque include most islands in the Ensenada de la Broa and the Golfo de Batabanó as far south as Cayos del Hambre.
7. Matanzas includes about the western third of the Archipiélago de Sabana.
8. Pinar del Río includes the Cayos de San Felipe.
9. Villa Clara includes islands in the Archipiélago de Sabana and the Archipiélago de Sabana Camagüey as far east as Cayo Santa María.

The UN LOCODE page  for Cuba lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

1. Cienfuegos: Spanish cien fuegos: a hundred fires, but named after an inhabitant.
2. Granma: Named for the yacht which brought Fidel Castro back to Cuba on 1956-12-02.
3. Isla de la Juventud: Island of youth, because of a cohort of young settlers.
4. La Habana: named San Cristóbal de la Habana by Diego Velásquez. Habana may be an ethnic name, or related to Middle Dutch havene: port. In common usage, La Habana is translated when it refers to the city (Havana in Dutch, English, Portuguese, and Turkish; La Havane in French; L'Avana in Italian; Habana in German), but not when it refers to the province (present or former).
5. Matanzas: Killings
6. Oriente: East
7. Sancti Spíritus: Latin for Holy Spirit.

Change history: 

1. 1827: Spanish colonial government created three departamentos administrativos (administrative departments): Central, Occidental, and Oriental.
2. ~1878: Spanish colonial government reorganized Cuba into six provincias administrativas (administrative provinces).
3. 1898-12-10: Cuba attained independence from Spain (administered by U.S. until 1902-05-20).
4. 1899: Name of Puerto Principe province changed to Camagüey.
5. 1905: Name of Santiago de Cuba province changed to Oriente by the Provincial Council of that province.
6. 1940: Name of Santa Clara province changed to Las Villas by the new constitution. As a result, the primary subdivisions of Cuba were:

Province	GEC	Area(km.²)	Capital	Divided into
Camagüey	CU05	20,623	Camagüey	Camagüey, Ciego de Ávila, parts of Las Tunas and Sancti Spíritus
La Habana	CU02	8,252	Havana	Ciudad de La Habana, Isla de Pinos, most of La Habana
Las Villas	CU04	18,837	Santa Clara	Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, most of Sancti Spíritus, part of Matanzas
Matanzas	CU03	12,033	Matanzas	most of Matanzas
Oriente	CU06	36,601	Santiago de Cuba	Granma, Guantánamo, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, most of Las Tunas
Pinar del Río	CU01	10,859	Pinar del Río	Pinar del Río, part of La Habana
6 provinces		107,205
GEC: Code from FIPS PUB 10-1. Divided into: provinces formed from this area in 1976.

1. 1976-06-05: Cuba reorganized from six provinces to fourteen provinces and one special municipality (Isla de Pinos).
2. 1978-06-28: Name of Isla de Pinos changed to Isla de la Juventud.

Province	HASC	ISO	GEC	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital	C.P.
Camagüey	CU.CM	09	CU05	784,178	15,615	6,029	Camagüey	70-74
Ciego de Ávila	CU.CA	08	CU07	411,766	6,783	2,619	Ciego de Ávila	65-69
Cienfuegos	CU.CF	06	CU08	395,183	4,180	1,614	Cienfuegos	55-59
Ciudad de la Habana	CU.CH	03	CU02	2,201,610	721	278	Havana	10-19
Granma	CU.GR	12	CU09	822,452	8,375	3,234	Bayamo	85-89
Guantánamo	CU.GU	14	CU10	507,118	6,168	2,381	Guantánamo	95-99
Holguín	CU.HO	11	CU12	1,021,321	9,293	3,588	Holguín	80-84
Isla de la Juventud	CU.IJ	99	CU04	86,559	2,419	934	Nueva Gerona	25-29
La Habana	CU.LH	02	CU11	711,066	5,732	2,213	Havana	30-34
Las Tunas	CU.LT	10	CU13	525,485	6,588	2,544	Victoria de Las Tunas	75-79
Matanzas	CU.MA	04	CU03	670,427	11,803	4,557	Matanzas	40-44
Pinar del Río	CU.PR	01	CU01	726,574	10,904	4,210	Pinar del Río	20-24
Sancti Spíritus	CU.SS	07	CU14	460,328	6,737	2,601	Sancti Spíritus	60-64
Santiago de Cuba	CU.SC	13	CU15	1,036,281	6,156	2,377	Santiago de Cuba	90-94
Villa Clara	CU.VC	05	CU16	817,395	8,412	3,248	Santa Clara	50-54
15 divisions				11,177,743	109,886	42,427
Province: except for Isla de la Juventud, which is a special municipality. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. GEC: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 2002-09-06 census. C.P.: Cuba uses five-digit Códigos Postales (postal codes). The first two digits correspond to the province. The ranges shown here are extrapolated from numerous examples.

1. 2010-09-02: Artemisa province formed from part of La Habana province and part of Pinar del Río province. Mayabeque province formed from the remainder of La Habana province. Name of Ciudad de la Habana province changed to La Habana. That means the new La Habana province has nothing in common with the old one, which could lead to confusion.

Population history:

Province	1899-10-16	1907-09-30	1919-09-15	1931-09-21	1943-07-25	1953-01-28	1970-09-06
Camagüey	88,234	118,269	228,913	408,076	487,701	618,256	813,204
La Habana	427,514	538,010	697,583	985,500	1,235,939	1,538,803	2,335,344
Las Villas	356,536	457,431	657,697	815,412	938,581	1,030,162	1,362,179
Matanzas	202,444	239,812	312,704	337,119	361,079	395,780	501,273
Oriente	327,715	455,086	730,909	1,072,757	1,356,489	1,797,606	2,998,972
Pinar del Río	170,354	240,372	261,198	343,480	398,794	448,422	542,423
Total	1,572,797	2,048,980	2,889,004	3,962,344	4,778,583	5,829,029	8,553,395

 

Source [11] gives the census data for 1899 to 1953.

Most current online sources say that the population of Cuba, according to the 1970 census, was 8,569,121, but they don't give the breakdown by provinces. I have five printed sources for the 1970 census, including sources [1]-[3], but they're all defective in one way or another. The data above follow source [1]. Source [2] agrees, except that it gives La Habana province a population of 2,305,241. Source [2] may have failed to take into account the 30,103 people in Isle of Pines, as Isla de la Juventud was then called, in both the population of La Habana and the country total.

Province	1970-09-06	1981-09-11	2002-09-06	2012-09-15
Artemisa				494,631
Camagüey	540,274	667,539	784,178	771,905
Ciego de Ávila	272,930	321,015	411,766	426,054
Cienfuegos	296,410	326,383	395,183	404,228
Ciudad de la Habana	1,761,456	1,929,432	2,201,610
Granma	649,708	739,234	822,452	834,380
Guantánamo	416,676	466,039	507,118	515,428
Holguín	769,876	912,853	1,021,321	1,035,072
Isla de la Juventud	30,103	58,058	86,559	84,751
La Habana	524,101	585,912	711,066	2,106,146
Las Tunas	383,785	437,198	525,485	532,645
Matanzas	494,838	559,260	670,427	694,476
Mayabeque				376,825
Pinar del Río	547,378	640,726	726,574	587,026
Sancti Spíritus	366,156	400,026	460,328	463,458
Santiago de Cuba	798,490	914,107	1,036,281	1,049,084
Villa Clara	701,214	765,823	817,395	791,216
Total	8,553,395	9,723,605	11,177,743	11,167,325

 

Sources: 1970 census (proleptic) from source [9], with an adjustment to Ciudad de la Habana. The population of Havana given there, by exception to the rest of the data, is a 1975 estimate. I changed it to make the total come out right. 1981 census from source [5]; 2002 census from source [6]; 2012 census from source [12].

Sources: 

1. [1] The Statesman's Year-Book 1977-78, ed. John Paxton. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1977.
2. [2] Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1980 edition. G. & C. Merriam, Springfield, MA, 1980.
3. [3] Junta Central de Planificación, Censo de Población y Viviendas 1970. Editorial ORBE, Havana, 1975
4. [4] CubaGenWeb  is the source for the change history up to 1905 (retrieved by 2003-11-27).
5. [5] Thomas Brinkhoff's page  (retrieved 2007-11-03).
6. [6] Oficina Nacional de Estadística  (retrieved 2007-11-03).
7. [7] "La división politico-administrativa de la República de Cuba y la denominación aprobada de sus provincias y sus municipios y cabeceras", in Fourth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, Vol. II. United Nations, New York, 1987.
8. [8] "Listado de nombres geográficos uniformados de los lugares habitados de Cuba con oficina de correos", in Fifth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, Vol. II, pp. 103 ff. United Nations, New York, 1991.
9. [9] Almanaque Abril 1979. Editora Abril, Säo Paulo, 1978.
10. [10] Table 1.4: Area, Population and Population Density, year 2008, in "Anuario Estadística de Cuba 2008". Retrieved 2010-11-26 from Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas .
11. [11] Cifras Censales Comparadas 1899-1953 . This document cites República de Cuba, Trib. Sup. Electoral ONCDE: "Censos de Población, Viviendas y Electoral, Informe General 1953," La Habana, 1955, pp. 1, 3. (Retrieved from the website of Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas 2011-12-05).
12. [12] Resumen Adelantado de Resultados Definitivos de Indicadores Seleccionados en Cuba, Provincias y Municipios  (Advance Summary of Final Results of Selected Indicators in Cuba, its Provinces and Municipalities) from the 2012 Census of Population and Housing. Table 1 (retrieved 2013-11-16).