Cuba’s Mysterious Island Outside Any Province

While it is Cuba's second-largest island, the Isla de la Juventud does not belong to any province. Instead, this unique landmass is governed directly by the central government as a standalone special municipality.

Until 1978, this territory was famously known as the Isle of Pines. Its remote location across the Gulf of Batabanó gives it an administrative status unlike any other part of the country. Because it operates outside the traditional provincial system, it remains a fascinating geographic anomaly. Today, the entire island functions as a single, centralized administrative unit.