CHAPTER VIII 



GEOGRAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS 



Administrative departments. Numerical population. Resume of previ- 

 ous history leading to present conditions. Administration and gov- 

 ernment. Absolutism of authority. Its effects and influences. 

 Religion and education. 



BEGINNING- on the west, Cuba is divided into six 

 provinces, as follows : Pinar del Eio, Havana, Matan- 

 zas, Santa Clara, Puerto Principe, and Santiago. Under 

 the military rule of the island these divisions have no 

 particular political significance. 



The local designations for natural divisions of the island 

 are Vuelta Abajo, Vuelta Arriba, Cinco Villas, Camaguey, 

 and the Tierra Adentro. The exact meaning of the terms 

 " Vuelta Abajo " and " Vuelta Arriba " cannot well be inter- 

 preted, as they are idiomatic Spanish names. Among the 

 significations of the word vuelta is " the turning of an arch " ; 

 and as the city of Havana, relative to which these terms are 

 applied, is at the summit of an arch-like trend in the outline 

 of western Cuba, it may be inferred that " Vuelta Abajo " 

 signifies the downward or south trend of the island west 

 of Havana, and "Vuelta Arriba" the upward or northern 

 turn to the east of that city. "Vuelta Abajo" is applied 

 to all the island lying west of Havana, and a portion of this 

 is sometimes called the Partido de Fuera, which includes 

 the part lying between the meridians of Havana and San 

 Cristobal. The Vuelta Arriba includes the sugar plain 

 eastward as far as Santa Clara. The areas contiguous to 



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