es, consejo popular, lit=Popular Council, People's Council (sometimes shorten to CP) commonly stated as a ward is an electoral ward or "political-administrative demarcations" of the

National Assembly of People's Power The National Assembly of People's Power ( es, Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular) is the unicameral parliament of the Republic of Cuba. It is currently composed of 605 representatives who are elected from multi-member electoral districts for a ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. They were created in 1988 and there are a total of 474 wards as of 2023. They also work as subdivisions, under

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

. Most rural wards include 1 major town or village (usually with a population of 700-3000) with a few hamlets, while urban areas (usually municipal seat) are usually split into a few wards, named the city name with a I, II and sometimes III, and IV (an example is Camajuaní II). Sometimes when there’s only two wards in the city they are split into “Norte” or north and “Sur” or south (an example is Encrucijada Norte). Before the 1970s instead of consejos populares, under municipalities was

Barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish word that means " quarter" or " neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), social, a ...

s. Many places that used to be barrios are currently consejos populares, but most aren’t. Instead of capitals of municipalities having a few consejos populares, there was only one barrio being called the name of the town, centro (center), or cabecera (headtown).

Constitution

The legal term of a ward of Cuba as said in the Cuban Constitution: "660: SECCIÓN CUARTA: CONSEJO POPULAR 661: ARTÍCULO 193. El Consejo Popular es un órgano local del Poder Popular de carácter representativo, investido de la más alta autoridad para el desempeño de sus funciones y, sin constituir una instancia intermedia a los fines de la división político-administrativa, se organiza en ciudades, pueblos, barrios, poblados y zonas rurales, a partir de los delegados elegidos en las circunscripciones de su demarcación, los cuales deben elegir entre ellos quien lo presida. 662: A las reuniones del Consejo Popular pueden invitarse, según los temas y asuntos a tratar, representantes de las organizaciones de masas y sociales, y de las entidades más importantes en la demarcación, con el objetivo principal de fortalecer la coordinación y el esfuerzo colectivo en beneficio de la comunidad, siempre desde las funciones propias que a cada cual corresponden. 663: ARTÍCULO 194. El Consejo Popular representa a la población de la demarcación donde actúa y a la vez a la Asamblea Municipal del Poder Popular. Ejerce el control sobre las entidades de producción y servicios de incidencia local, y trabaja activamente para la satisfacción de las necesidades de la economía, de salud, asistenciales, educacionales, culturales, deportivas y recreativas, así como en las tareas de prevención y atención social, promoviendo la mayor participación de la población y las iniciativas locales para su consecución. 664: La ley regula la organización y atribuciones del Consejo Popular." Translated into English: "660: SECTION FOUR: POPULAR COUNCIL 661: ARTICLE 193. The Popular Council is a local body of the Popular Power of a representative nature, invested with the highest authority for the performance of its functions and, without constituting an intermediate instance for the purposes of the political-administrative division, it is organized in cities , towns, neighborhoods, towns and rural areas, from the delegates elected in the constituencies of their demarcation, who must choose among themselves who presides over it. 662: Representatives of mass and social organizations, and of the most important entities in the demarcation, may be invited to the meetings of the Popular Council, with the main objective of strengthening coordination and collective effort for the benefit of the community, always from the proper functions that correspond to each one. 663: ARTICLE 194. The Popular Council represents the population of the demarcation where it acts and at the same time the Municipal Assembly of Popular Power. Exercises control over production entities and local advocacy services, and works actively to meet the needs of the economy, health, care, education, culture, sports and recreation, as well as prevention and social care tasks. , promoting the greater participation of the population and local initiatives for its achievement. 664: The law regulates the organization and powers of the Popular Council."

References

{{Reflist Subdivisions of Cuba Local government in Cuba