I always wondered about those Cuban addresses

[Tjello]

Now I found out:

Cuban addresses are written like this:

*Sr. Héctor García Marizá
*Reina #35, apt. 4a, e/ Gervasio y Escobar
*Ciudad de La Habana, CP 11900
*CUBA

where:


*Reina #35 = street and number
*apt. 4a * = apartment number
*e/ * * * *= between streets Gervasio and Escobar
*CP * * * *= Código Postal (postal code)

After this line may be the Reparto (zone) and Municipio; that is, minor divisions, for example:


*Sr. Jorge Pérez Rodríguez
*Calle Martí #24, apt. 4a., e/ Corombé y 26 de Julio
*Rpto. Abel Santamaría, Aguacate
*Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba, CP 22222
*CUBA

that is:


*Person
*street / number, apartment, between streets
*Reparto, Pueblo
*Municipio, Provincia, Postal Code
*CUBA

"esq." (esquina, corner) can be used instead of "e/" (between) when the house is on the corner, for example:


*Calle Martí #24, apt. 4a., esq. Corombé

In practice the CP is rarely used and mail, if otherwise properly addressed, can be delivered without it.

The divisions of Cuba are:

* Provincia -> Municipio -> Ciudad or Pueblo -> Reparto or Barrio

Note that this scheme does not apply to Ciudad de La Habana, which is a Provincia. There are many Municipios without Ciudad or Pueblo; for example, Ciudad de La Habana has these general options:

*Ciudad de La Habana -> Municipio -> Pueblo -> Reparto or Barrio
*Ciudad de La Habana -> Municipio -> Reparto or Barrio

And for Municipio Especial Isla de la Juventud, the scheme is:

*Municipio Especial Isla de la Juventud -> Ciudad o Pueblo -> Reparto o Barrio

The Provincias, with their recommended abbreviations, are:


*Pinar del Río (PR) * * * * * * *Ciego de Avila (CA)
*Ciudad de La Habana (CH) * * * *Camagüey (CG)
*La Habana (HA) * * * * * * *Las Tunas (LT)
*Matanzas (MT) * * * * * * * * * *Holguín (HO)
*Villa Clara (VC) * * * * * * *Granma (GR)
*Cienfuegos (CF) * * * * * * *Santiago de Cuba (SC)
*Sancti Spíritus (SS) * * * * * * *Guantánamo (GT)

and:


*Municipio Especial Isla de la Juventud (IJ)

Municipio Especial Isla de la Juventud is a special municipio; that is, not a provincia, but treated as a provincia.

[Guest]

The part you wrote e/ as meaning "between two streets" is written % on all the Cuban addresses I have. It's like a percent mark but with dots instead of circles. Also, I have never used the codiga postal, I think it confuses the Cuban postal workers. :)