Provinces of Cuba

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Updates: 

I found the results of the 2002 census. They're shown in the table below. From the same source (Oficina Nacional de Estatisticas), I revised the areas of provinces.

Cuba switched from standard time to daylight saving time (horario de verano) as usual on 2004-04-04. In October, as a temporary energy-saving measure, it announced that it would not be returning to standard time that year. In October 2005 the same thing happened. Therefore, Cuba was on DST (UTC-4) continuously from April 2004 to October 2006. Now it has gone back to standard time (UTC-5).

Country overview: 

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. Spanish: Cuba, República f de Cuba f (formal)
12. Swedish: Cuba, Kuba

Origin of name: 

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

Primary subdivisions: 

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

Further subdivisions:

See the Municipios of Cuba page.

The provinces are subdivided into municipios (municipalities). Their number has stayed quite constant since 1976. 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. Some of the smaller, uninhabited islands and cays belonging to Cuba are not part of any province.
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.
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. La Habana includes 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.

Origins of names: 

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

Change history: 

This CubaGenWeb  page is the source for a backward extension of the 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.
6. 1940: Name of Santa Clara province changed to Las Villas by the new constitution. As a result, the primary subdivisions of Cuba were:

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

Population history:

In the 1931 census, the total population was 3,962,344.

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 three printed sources for that information. One of them is rounded to the nearest 100, and the total is off by over 200. Another is the Statesman's Year-Book, 1977-78 edition, usually reliable. That's where the data in the first 1970 column came from. Finally, I have a table from "Censo de Poblacion y Viviendas 1970", by the Junta Central de Planificación, published by Editorial ORBE, Havana, 1975; but it only gives areas of provinces (rounded to the nearest are, which is quite precise) and population densities (rounded to .01 person per km.²). Multiplying those two together, I can calculate the population of each province, and the result should be correct within 0.01%. That's how I got the figures in the "1970 est." column.

Sources: 1981 census data from Thomas Brinkhoff's page ; 2002 census from ONE .