Santa Clara Province

• 1. Introduction

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  Santa Clara Province once stretched across a broad swath of central Cuba, governing a region that Cubans also called Las Villas. Its capital city shared its name: Santa Clara. For most of its existence, the province anchored the island's interior, until a single law passed in 1976 erased it from the map entirely. What drove that decision, and what took its place, is the story of how modern Cuba reorganized itself.

• 2. A Province Renamed

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  After 1940, the province acquired a longer official title: Provincia de Santa Clara. The earlier name, Las Villas, remained in common use alongside it, reflecting the region's deep roots in Cuban geography and culture. That dual identity persisted for decades, with residents and officials alike drawing on both names depending on context.

• 3. The 1976 Division

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  Cuban Law Number 1304, dated the 3rd of July 1976, proclaimed an administrative re-adjustment that broke the province apart. The territory was carved into three modern Cuban provinces: Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, and Sancti Spíritus. The law was part of a broader national reorganization that reshaped provincial boundaries across Cuba, and Santa Clara Province was among those that ceased to exist as a result.