Oriente Province
The origins of Oriente started in the 1607 division of Cuba into a western and eastern administration. The eastern part of the country was governed from Santiago de Cuba.  In 1807, Cuba was divided into three departamentos: Occidental, Central and Oriental. This lasted until 1851. At that time, the central department was merged into the West. In 1878, Cuba was divided into six provinces. Oriente was renamed to Santiago de Cuba Province until the name was changed back to Oriente in 1905. Fidel and Raúl Castro were born in a small town in Oriente province (Birán). In 1976, the province was split into five different provinces. They are Las Tunas Province, Granma Province, Holguín Province, Santiago de Cuba Province, and Guantánamo Province. This change was made by Cuban Law Number 1304 of July 3, 1976, and remains in place to this day.