Territorial Organization of Cuba
Political-administrative division
The territory of the Republic of Cuba is divided into 15 provinces and the Isla de la Juventud Special Municipality. The provinces, in turn, are divided into municipalities, 168 in total (including the Special Municipality).
The creation of new territorial units and their limits is a matter of law. The most recent changes were approved by the National Assembly in August 2010 (put into force as of January 1, 2011), which consisted in the creation of two new provinces: Artemisa and Mayabeque from the segmentation of the Province of Havana, together with the transfer of the three easternmost municipalities of the province of Pinar del Río. The municipality of Varadero in the Province of Matanzas was also extinguished, integrating its territory into the municipality of Cárdenas. The previous organization in 14 provinces and 169 municipalities dated from 1976.
The capital of the country is the city of Havana, which constitutes a province, whose official name from 1976 to 2010 was Havana City.
Government of provinces and municipalitiesThe provinces and municipalities have legal personality for all the effects of the law, and the municipalities enjoy autonomy. They have their own systems of government and administrative structures to perform administrative and executive functions, although with a close dependence on the central authorities, as a unitary State. In each locality there is also a Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, which, as the leading force of society and the Cuban State, has a role to control and control the policies outlined in the social and economic aspects. The first provincial and municipal secretaries share together with the main local leaders of the People's Power a collective and organized leadership, this being the policy of the current government, to strengthen the role of government structures; that in previous periods was overshadowed by the party structures.. MunicipalitiesThe municipality is the local society, organized by law, which constitutes the primary and fundamental political-administrative unit of the national organization; it enjoys its own autonomy and legal personality for all the legal effects, with a territorial extension determined by necessary relations of maturity, economic and social of its population and interests of the nation, with the aim of achieving the satisfaction of the local needs. It has its own income and the allocations it receives from the Government of the Republic for the economic and social development of its territory and other purposes of the State. The municipality ' s autonomy includes the choice or designation of its authorities, the power to decide on the use of its resources and the exercise of its competence, as well as to issue agreements and regulations necessary for the exercise of the powers. This autonomy is exercised in accordance with the principles of solidarity, coordination and collaboration with the rest of the country ' s territories, and without prejudice to the nation ' s higher interests. The Municipal Assembly of People's Power is the highest municipal representative body. It is composed of delegates elected in each electoral district from candidates nominated in popular assemblies. The term of office of its delegates, since the 2019 Constitution, is 5 years; it was previously two and a half years. The Assembly elects its president, its vice president and appoints its secretary and the working commissions. The President of the Municipal Assembly of People ' s Power represents the State in its territorial demarcation; there is a new law of orgaization of the AMPPs since 2019, which clearly establishes the functions and powers of this body and in particular the fucniones of each member of the board of directors. The Municipal Administration aims to meet the needs of the economy, health, care, educational, cultural, sports and recreation of the territory, as well as to execute the tasks related to prevention and social care. The executive-administrative functions are carried out by the Municipal Governing Council, which is appointed by the Assembly to which it is subordinated and accountable; chaired by the Municipal Intendent, on a collegiate basis and directs government activities at the local level. Municipalities are divided, to facilitate relations with voters, into popular councils composed of delegates themselves and chaired by one of them. The municipalities of Santa Clara, Camagüey, Holguín and Santiago de Cuba (municipios de gran población), are also divided into districts, where several popular councils are grouped, in order to decentralize and bring the different administrative offices to the population. ProvincesThe province has its own legal personality for all the legal effects and is organized by law as an intermediate level between the central structures of the State and the municipalities, with a superficial extension equivalent to that of the whole of municipalities within its territorial demarcation, under the direction of the Provincial Government of Popular Power. The Provincial Government of People ' s Power represents the State and has as its mission the economic and social development of its territory, in accordance with the country ' s general objectives and acts as a focal point between central and local structures. These bodies work closely with the people, and it is made up of a Governor, a Deputy Governor and a Provincial Council. Provincial Governments in the exercise of their functions and powers cannot assume or interfere with the conference of municipal bodies. The Governor is the highest executive-administrative officer of the province, is elected by the delegates of the municipal assemblies of the corresponding Popular Poper, on the same day and at the same time forming special polling stations on the proposal of the President of the Republic, for a five-year period. To be Governor, it is necessary to be a Cuban citizen by birth, to have no other citizenship, to have reached the age of 30, to reside in the province and to be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights. He is responsible to the National Assembly of People's Power, the Council of State, the Council of Ministers and the Provincial Council, to which he is accountable for his management. It also leads the Provincial Administration for which the corresponding administrative entity is assisted. The Deputy Governor is elected in the same manner and on the same day as the Governor, for the same period; he fulfils the powers delegated to him or appointed by the Governor and replaces them in the event of illness or death, as prescribed by law. The Provincial Council is a collegiate and deliberative body, chaired by the Governor and composed of the Deputy Governor, the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the local assemblies of the Popular Power and the Municipal Intendents. It performs functions previously established by law that are framed in assessing, controlling, guiding and coordinating the work of municipal state and government bodies, depending on the province and the interests of the nation. Special municipalityThe organs (Assembly and Administration) of the Special Municipality Isla de la Juventud are the same in any municipality but in these they coincide municipal and provincial competencies. President of the Municipal Assembly of Popular Power
Intendente Municipal
Provincial Governors and Deputy Governors (Mandato 2020-2023*)*: After the promulgation of the new Constitution and the new Electoral Law, the new structures for which the mandate began in 2018 are chosen.
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