- published: 16 Oct 2009
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Administratively, Cuba is divided into 15 provinces and one special municipality not included in any province. The last modification was approved in August 2010 (by the Cuban National Assembly), splitting Havana province into two new provinces: Artemisa (which incorporates the three eastern municipalities of the neighbour Pinar del Río) and Mayabeque. The new provinces started functioning from January 1, 2011. Havana City Province (Ciudad de La Habana) recovered its original name: La Habana (Havana in English).
From west to east, Cuba's provinces are:
Cuba's "special municipality" is the Isla de la Juventud ("Island of Youth"), known until the 1970s as the Isla de Pinos ("Isle of Pines").
Prior to 1976, Cuba was divided into the following provinces (from west to east):
Pop. = Population. Source: Cuba census 2002
Presidents of the Provincial Assemblies of People's Power in each province in the country (local governments).
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, (i/ˈkjuːbə/; Spanish: República de Cuba, pronounced: [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] ( listen)) is an island country in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. To the north of Cuba lies the United States (140 km or 90 mi away) and the Bahamas, Mexico is to the west, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic are to the southeast.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on and claimed the island now occupied by Cuba, for the Kingdom of Spain. Cuba remained a territory of Spain until the Spanish–American War ended in 1898, and gained formal independence from the U.S. in 1902. A fragile democracy, increasingly dominated by radical politics eventually evolved, solidified by the Cuban Constitution of 1940, but was definitely quashed in 1952 by former president Fulgencio Batista, and an authoritarian regime was set up, intensifying and catalyzing already rampant corruption, political repression and crippling economic regulations.Batista was ousted in January 1959 by the July 26 movement, and a new administration under Fidel Castro established, which had by 1965 evolved into a single-party state under the revived Communist Party of Cuba, which holds power to date.
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (Spanish: [fiˈðel ˈkastro]; born August 13, 1926) is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011. Politically a Marxist-Leninist, under his administration the Republic of Cuba was converted into a one-party socialist state, with industry and business being nationalized under state ownership and socialist reforms implemented in all areas of society. On the international stage, he also served as the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and 2006 to 2008.