1607-17??

In 1607 Cuba was reorganized administratively. The Island was divided into two jurisdictions; La Habana and Santiago. Initially, both had equal rank, but in military matters, Santiago eventually was to depend on the capitania general of La Habana. In 1733 a Royal Cedula of Felipe V ordered that the eastern jurisdiction of Santiago de Cuba would be subordinated in all matters to the capitán general of La Habana1.

1772-?

In 1772, the Eastern (Oriental) Department was subdivided into 9 jurisdictions: almost at the center of the Island, Puerto Principe and Nuevitas; more to the east, Bayamo, Manzanillo, Holguin and Jiguani; to the southeast, Santiago (also named Cuba), Guantanamo and Baracoa2.

1827-1878

In 1827 the Spanish Colonial Government divided Cuba into three administrative Departments:

1. Occidental (Western)
2. Central (Central)
3. Oriental (Eastern)

1878-1899

In 1878 (or 1879 according to another reference), after the Ten Years War, the Spanish Colonial Government divided Cuba into six administrative Provinces. This division into Provinces was done "to adapt the territorial division of the Island to that existent in the [Spanish] Peninsula and to facilitate the election of deputies to the [Spanish] Cortes"

The six new Provinces, from West to East, were:

1. Pinar del Río
2. La Habana
3. Matanzas
4. Santa Clara
5. Puerto Príncipe
6. Santiago de Cuba

1899-1905

In 1899 the name of the Province of Puerto Príncipe was changed to Camagüey. The six provinces thus became:

1. Pinar del Río
2. La Habana
3. Matanzas
4. Santa Clara
5. Camagüey
6. Santiago de Cuba

1905-1940

In 1905 the Provincial Council of Santiago de Cuba changed the name of the Province of Santiago de Cuba to Oriente. The six Provinces thus became:

1. Pinar del Río
2. La Habana
3. Matanzas
4. Santa Clara
5. Camagüey
6. Oriente

1940-1978

In the Constitution of 1940, the name of the Province of Santa Clara was changed to Las Villas. The six provinces thus became:

1. Pinar del Río
2. La Habana
3. Matanzas
4. Las Villas
5. Camagüey
6. Oriente

1978-present

The present communist government of Cuba in June 1978, a century after the six traditional provinces were created, passed a law splitting the Province of La Habana into the Provinces of La Habana, Ciudad de La Habana (City of Habana) and the Special Municipality of Isla de la Juventud; split the Province of Las Villas into the Provinces of Villa Clara, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spirítus (and moved the Zapata peninsula to the Province of Matanzas); split the Province of Camagüey into the Provinces of Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey; and split the Province of Oriente into the Provinces of Las Tunas, Granma, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo. The fourteen resulting Provinces are currently:

• Provinces

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

   

• Special Municipality

  1. Isla de la Juventud

Our address and telephone listings, for practical reasons, reflect these current administrative subdivisions.

References:

1. Historia de la Isla de Cuba - Carlos Marquez Sterling & Manuel Marquez Sterling, La Moderna Poesia, Miami, FL 1975, ISBN: 0-88345-251-0.

2. Franceses en el Suroeste de Cuba - Carlos Padron, Ediciones Union, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba 2005, ISN: 959-209-685-6.

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