View source for Provinces of Cuba

{{Short description|Administrative divisions of Cuba}}
{{use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox subdivision type
| name = Administrative divisions of Cuba
| alt_name = 
| map = [[File:CubaSubdivisions.png|300px]]
| caption = Provinces (1–15) and special municipality (16) of Cuba
| category = [[Unitary state]]
| territory = [[Republic of Cuba]]
| start_date = 
| current_number = 15 provinces<br>1 special municipality
| population_range = 81,486 ([[Isla de la Juventud]]) – 2,130,517 ([[La Habana Province|La Habana]])
| area_range = {{Convert|281.18|sqmi}} ([[La Habana]]) – {{Convert|5951.31|sqmi}} ([[Camagüey Province]])
| government = Single-party government
| subdivision = [[Municipalities of Cuba|Municipality]]
}}

[[Administrative division|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 [[La Habana Province (1976–2010)|then-La Habana Province]] was divided into [[Artemisa Province]] and [[Mayabeque Province]].

== List of provinces ==
From west to east, Cuba's provinces are:
{{div-col|colwidth=20em}}
# [[Pinar del Río Province|Pinar del Río]]
# [[Artemisa Province|Artemisa]]
# [[La Habana Province|La Habana]]
# [[Mayabeque Province|Mayabeque]]
# [[Matanzas Province|Matanzas]]
# [[Cienfuegos Province|Cienfuegos]]
# [[Villa Clara Province|Villa Clara]]
# [[Sancti Spíritus Province|Sancti Spíritus]]
# [[Ciego de Ávila Province|Ciego de Ávila]]
# [[Camagüey Province|Camagüey]]
# [[Las Tunas Province|Las Tunas]]
# [[Granma Province|Granma]]
# [[Holguín Province|Holguín]]
# [[Santiago de Cuba Province|Santiago de Cuba]]
# [[Guantánamo Province|Guantánamo]]
# [[Isla de la Juventud]] ("special municipality")
{{div-col-end}}

== History ==
===1879–1976===
[[File:Cuba_Map_Colors_ProvinciasRev_wNumbs.jpg|thumb|Cuba's provinces, 1879 to 1976]]
[[Image:Cuba1910sMap.jpg|thumb|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):
# Pinar del Río
# La Habana, included the city of [[Havana]], current [[Mayabeque Province|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 Province|Santa Clara]]"), contained the present-day provinces of [[Cienfuegos Province|Cienfuegos]], [[Villa Clara Province|Villa Clara]], [[Sancti Spíritus Province|Sancti Spíritus]], and Southern [[Matanzas]] Province.
# Camagüey (before 1899 named "Puerto Príncipe"), contained the present-day provinces of [[Camagüey Province|Camagüey]] and [[Ciego de Ávila Province|Ciego de Ávila]], as well as two municipalities of current [[Las Tunas Province]] (prior to 1970).
# [[Oriente Province|Oriente]] (before 1905 named "Santiago de Cuba"), contained the present-day provinces of [[Las Tunas Province|Las Tunas]], [[Granma Province|Granma]], [[Holguín Province|Holguín]], [[Santiago de Cuba Province|Santiago de Cuba]] and [[Guantánamo Province|Guantánamo]]

===1976–2011===
[[File:Cuban provinces (December 1976).png|thumb|right|Cuba's provinces as of December 1976]]
In December 1976, the original six provinces were reconstituted into 14 provinces plus one special municipality:<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-columbian-cubas-citizens-to-have-a/131074302/ |title=Cuba's citizens to have a say |first=James Nelson |last=Goodsell |agency=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |newspaper=[[The Columbian]] |location=[[Vancouver, Washington]] |page=47 |date=December 12, 1976 |accessdate=September 2, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
# [[Pinar del Río Province|Pinar del Río]]
# [[La Habana Province (1976–2010)|La Habana]]
# [[Ciudad de La Habana Province|Ciudad de La Habana]]
# [[Matanzas Province|Matanzas]]
# [[Cienfuegos Province|Cienfuegos]]
# [[Villa Clara Province|Villa Clara]]
# [[Sancti Spíritus Province|Sancti Spíritus]]
# [[Ciego de Ávila Province|Ciego de Ávila]]
# [[Camagüey Province|Camagüey]]
# [[Las Tunas Province|Las Tunas]]
# [[Granma Province|Granma]]
# [[Holguín Province|Holguín]]
# [[Santiago de Cuba Province|Santiago de Cuba]]
# [[Guantánamo Province|Guantánamo]]
# [[Isla de Pinos]] ("special municipality")
{{div col end}}

Isla de Pinos was renamed [[Isla de la Juventud]] on 3 August 1978.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cuba has New Name for 'Treasure Island' |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1978/08/04/112793029.pdf |access-date=11 April 2016 |work=New York Times |date=4 August 1978}}</ref>

=== 2011–present ===
In August 2010, the [[Cuban National Assembly]] split the [[La Habana Province (1976–2010)|then-La Habana Province]] into two new provinces: [[Artemisa Province|Artemisa]] (which incorporated three eastern municipalities of neighboring [[Pinar del Río Province|Pinar del Río]]) and [[Mayabeque Province|Mayabeque]]. The new provinces started functioning from 1 January 2011.<ref>[http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2010/06/07/cuba-tiene-dos-nuevas-provincias-artemisa-y-mayabeque/ Proponen en Pleno del Partido dos nuevas provincias cubanas: Artemisa y Mayabeque (+ Infografía)] - [http://www.cubadebate.cu Cubadebate]</ref> Havana City Province ([[Ciudad de La Habana Province]]) recovered its original name, [[La Habana Province]].

== Demographics ==
''<span style="font-size:90%;">Pop. = Population. Source: Cuba census 2002</span>''&nbsp;<ref>[http://www.cubagob.cu/otras_info/censo/ Cuba Census 2002] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117100501/http://www.cubagob.cu/otras_info/censo/ |date=2008-01-17 }} [http://www.cubagob.cu/otras_info/censo/tablas_html/ii_4.htm Population table]</ref>
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right; font-size:95%;"
|- style="border-bottom-style:double;"
!rowspan=2 width="*"| Province
!rowspan=2 width="*"| Capital
!rowspan=2 width="*"| Pop. (2012)
!rowspan=2 width="*"| Pop. (%)
!colspan=2 width="*"| Area
!rowspan=2 width="*"| Area (%)
!colspan=2 width="*"| Density
|-
!{{nowrap|km<sup>2</sup>}}
!{{nowrap|sq mi}}
!per {{nowrap|km<sup>2</sup>}}
!per {{nowrap|sq mi}}
|-
! [[Camagüey Province|Camagüey]]
|align="left"| [[Camagüey]]
| {{Commas|768311}} || 7.02 || {{convert|15386.16|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 13.2 || {{convert|50.22|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Ciego de Ávila Province|Ciego de Ávila]]
|align="left"| [[Ciego de Ávila]]
| {{Commas|424750}} ||   3.68 || {{convert|6971.64|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 5.6 || {{convert|60.70|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Cienfuegos Province|Cienfuegos]]
|align="left"| [[Cienfuegos]]
| {{Commas|400768}} ||   3.54 || {{convert|4188.61|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 3.9 || {{convert|94.54|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[La Habana Province|La Habana]]{{nbsp|4}}
|align="left"| La Habana ([[Havana]])
| {{Commas|2154454}} ||  19.70 || {{convert|728.26|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}} || 0.7 || {{convert|3053.49|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Granma Province|Granma]]
|align="left"| [[Bayamo]]
| {{Commas|830645}} ||   7.36 || {{convert|8374.24|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 7.9 || {{convert|98.20|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Guantánamo Province|Guantánamo]]
|align="left"| [[Guantánamo]]
| {{Commas|506369}} ||   4.54 || {{convert|6167.97|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 6.0 || {{convert|82.22|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Holguín Province|Holguín]]
|align="left"| [[Holguín]]
| {{Commas|1027683}} ||   9.14 || {{convert|9215.72|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 8.5 || {{convert|109.90|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! {{nowrap|[[Isla de la Juventud]]}}{{dagger}}
|align="left"| [[Nueva Gerona]]
| {{Commas|84263}} ||   0.77 || {{convert|2419.27|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 2.1 || {{convert|35.78|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Artemisa Province|Artemisa]]
|align="left"| [[Artemisa]]
| {{Commas|487339}} ||  4.49  || {{convert|4003.24|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 3.75 || {{convert|125.5|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Las Tunas Province|Las Tunas]]
|align="left"| {{nowrap|[[Victoria de Las Tunas|Las Tunas]]}}{{nbsp|4}}
| {{Commas|525729}} ||   4.70 || {{convert|6592.66|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 6.0 || {{convert|79.77|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Matanzas Province|Matanzas]]
|align="left"| [[Matanzas]]
| {{Commas|679314}} ||   6.00 || {{convert|11791.82|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 10.0 || {{convert|56.80|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Mayabeque Province|Mayabeque]]
|align="left"| [[San José de las Lajas]]
| {{Commas|371198}} ||  3.41  || {{convert|3743.81|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 3.49 || {{convert|102.2|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Pinar del Río Province|Pinar del Río]]
|align="left"| [[Pinar del Río]]
| {{Commas|585452}} || 5.32  || {{convert|8883.74|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 8.32 || {{convert|67.00|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Sancti Spíritus Province|Sancti Spíritus]]
|align="left"| [[Sancti Spíritus]]
| {{Commas|462114}} ||   4.12 || {{convert|6777.28|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 6.3 || {{convert|68.33|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Santiago de Cuba Province|Santiago de Cuba]]
|align="left"| [[Santiago de Cuba]]
| {{Commas|1053837}} ||   9.27 || {{convert|6227.78|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 5.9 || {{convert|168.32|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|-
! [[Villa Clara Province|Villa Clara]]
|align="left"| [[Santa Clara, Cuba|Santa Clara]]
| {{Commas|783708}} ||   7.31 || {{convert|8441.81|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=}} || 7.6 || {{convert|97.17|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|- style="background:#f2f2f2; border-top-style:double;"
!scope=row| [[Cuba]]
! align="left"| '''''[[La Habana]]'''''
! align="right" | {{Commas|11163934}} 
!
! {{convert|109884.01|km2|sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
! 
! {{convert|101.72|/km2|/sqmi|disp=table|sortable=on}}
|}
{{dagger}} 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).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parlamentocubano.cu/Asambleas%20Provinciales%20del%20Poder%20Popular.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609204310/http://www.parlamentocubano.cu/Asambleas%20Provinciales%20del%20Poder%20Popular.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-06-09|  title=Presidentes de las Asambleas Provinciales del Poder Popular en cada provincia| publisher=Parlamento Cubano| access-date=2007-02-10 |language=es}}</ref>

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.

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right; font-size:95%;"
|- style="border-bottom-style:double;"
!width="*"| Province
!width="*"| President of the Provincial Council
|-
! [[Camagüey Province|Camagüey]]
|align="left"|[[Jesús Arturo García Collazo]]
|-
! [[Ciego de Ávila Province|Ciego de Ávila]]
|align="left"|[[Agustín Gregorio Arza Pascual]]
|-
! [[Cienfuegos Province|Cienfuegos]]
|align="left"|[[Rolando Díaz González]]
|-
! [[La Habana Province|La Habana]]{{nbsp|4}}
|align="left"|[[Reinaldo García Zapata]]
|-
! [[Granma Province|Granma]]
|align="left"|[[Jesús Antonio Infante López]]
|-
! [[Guantánamo Province|Guantánamo]]
|align="left"|[[Luis Fernando Navarro Fernández]]
|-
! [[Holguín Province|Holguín]]
|align="left"|[[Alberto Olivera Fis]]
|-
! [[Isla de la Juventud]]{{dagger}}
|align="left"|[[Roberto Unger Pérez]]
|-
! [[Mayabeque Province|Mayabeque]]
|align="left"|[[Armando Cuellar Domínguez]]
|-
! [[Artemisa Province|Artemisa]]
|align="left"|[[Raúl Rodríguez Cartaya]]
|-
! [[Las Tunas Province|Las Tunas]]
|align="left"|[[Víctor Luis Rodríguez Carballosa]]
|-
! [[Matanzas Province|Matanzas]]
|align="left"|[[Nilo Tomás Díaz Fundora]]
|-
! [[Pinar del Río Province|Pinar del Río]]
|align="left"|[[Vidal Pérez Baños]]
|-
! [[Sancti Spíritus Province|Sancti Spíritus]]
|align="left"|[[Fidel Pérez Luzbert]]
|-
! [[Santiago de Cuba Province|Santiago de Cuba]]
|align="left"|[[Rolando Yero García]]
|-
! [[Villa Clara Province|Villa Clara]]
|align="left"|[[Alexander Rodriguez Rosada]]
|- style="background:#f2f2f2; border-top-style:double;"
|}
{{dagger}} Special municipality

== See also ==
{{Portal|Cuba}}
* [[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 ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131203202357/http://www.geohive.com/cntry/cuba.aspx Cuba at GeoHive]
* {{Statoids|id=ucu|title=Provinces of Cuba}}

{{Cuba topics}}
{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of North American countries}}
{{Americas topic|Administrative divisions of}}

<!--Categories-->
[[Category:Provinces of Cuba| ]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of Cuba]]
[[Category:Lists of administrative divisions|Cuba, Provinces]]
[[Category:Administrative divisions in North America|Cuba 1]]
[[Category:First-level administrative divisions by country|Provinces, Cuba]]
[[Category:Cuba geography-related lists]]