Matanzas is the name of one of the provinces in Cuba. It is also the name of a municipio in this province and of the capital city, or seat of government, of the province. When the name of Matanzas is used on this page it is in reference to the province.

Ever since Diego Velásquez arrived in Cuba (1515) until 1607, the entire island was considered to be one political entity. All the villas answered directly to the governor of Cuba (Diego Velásquez and his successors). As time went by the island was divided into jurisdictions, each of them under a lieutenant governor. In reality these jurisdictions were not well defined and their duties were similar to those of provinces; in each of them concessions, called hatos and corrales, were made. Many of these hatos and corrales were the foundations of the towns and cities that later developed.

In 1827 a new division of the island came into effect. Cuba was divided into three sections: Departamento Occidental (Western Department), Departamento Central (Central Department) and Departamento Oriental (Eastern Department). Each one of these departments, or jurisdictions, had its own civil government. Matanzas, La Habana and Pinar del Río made up the Departamento Occidental.

Due to the Pacto del Zanjón (Truce of the Ten Year Independence War) the Royal Decree of June 9, 1878 came into effect. This decree divided the island into six provinces. This measure was adopted to be able to elect the representatives of Cuba to the Courts of the Spanish Government. As part of this measure, Matanzas became a province and like the other provinces, it was divided into municipios.

During the Military Government of the First American Occupation (1899-1902) and the first years of the Republic, the internal political division of the provinces was readjusted. Many of the municipios were annexed to neighboring ones with greater populations.

In 1978 a new readjustment to the municipios was made calling them “administrative municipios”. We do not have any reliable documentation of these administrative municipios and can not present them. We do not know if there have been any changes since.

The municipios presented in this work are those which in 1958 Matanzas was divided into. Please visit the specific municipio for details on the barrios, cities, towns and other places.