Map of Cuba | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

top of page


Background: Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959, and his guiding vision has defined Cuba's Communist revolution while his iron will has held the country together for more than four decades. CASTRO brought Cuba onto the world stage by inviting Soviet support in the 1960s, inciting revolutionary movements throughout Latin America and Africa in the 1970s, and sending his army to fight in Angola in the 1980s. At home, Havana provided Cubans with high levels of healthcare, education, and social security while suppressing the Roman Catholic Church and arresting political dissidents. The withdrawal of former-Soviet subsidies, worth $4billion-$6 billion per year, in 1990, cause severe economic hardship for Cuba.


top of page


Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries: 29.1 km with US Naval Base at Guantanamo; note--Guantanamo is leased and as such remains part of Cuba

Coastline: 3,735 km

Maritime claims
Extended economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical; moderated by trade winds; dry season (November to April; rainy season (May to October)

Terrain: mostly flat to rolling plains with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast

Elevation

Natural resources: cobalt, nickel, iron ore, copper, manganese, salt, timber, silica

Land use: 23% arable land; 6% permanent crops; 23% meadows and pastures; 17% forest and woodland; 31% other; includes 10% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: largest country in Caribbean; 145 km south of Florida geoad2


top of page


Population: 10,620,099 (July 1990), growth rate 1.1% (1990)

Nationality: noun--Cuban(s; adjective--Cuban

Ethnic groups: 51% mulatto, 37% white, 11% black, 1% Chinese

Languages: Spanish

Religions: at least 85% nominally Roman Catholic before Castro assumed power

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 18 births/1000 population (1990)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: - 1 migrant/1000 population (1990)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: averages one hurricane every other year

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 12 deaths/1000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 78 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (1990)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 98.5%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


top of page


Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Cuba

Government type: Communist state

Capital: Havana

Administrative divisions: 14 provinces (provincias, singular--provincia) and 1 special municipality* (municipio especial; Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Cienfuegos, Ciudad de La Habana, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Isla de la Juventud*, La Habana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara

Dependent areas

Independence: 20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US from 1898 to 1902)

National holiday: Revolution Day, 1 January (1959)

Constitution: 24 February 1976

Legal system: based on Spanish and American law, with large elements of Communist legal theory; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal at age 16

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government--President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Fidel CASTRO Ruz (became Prime Minister in January 1959 and President since 2 December 1976; First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (since 2 December 1976)

Legislative branch: Revolutionary Armed Forces (Ground Forces, Revolutionary Navy, Air and Air Defense Force), Ministry of Interior Special Troops, Border Guard Troops, Territorial Militia Troops, Youth Labor Army

Judicial branch: People's Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: CEMA, ECLA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB (nonparticipant), IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, IFAD, ICO, IHO, ILO, IMO, IRC, ISO, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NAM, OAS (nonparticipant), PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none; protecting power in the US is Czechoslovakia--Cuban Interests Section; Counselor Jose Antonio Arbesu FRAGA; 2,630 and 2,639 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20,009; telephone (202) 797-8,518 or 8,519, 8,520, 8,609, 8,610; US--protecting power in Cuba is Switzerland--US Interests Section; Principal Officer John J. TAYLOR; Calzada entre L y M, Vedado Seccion, Havana; telephone 320,551 or 320,543

Flag description: five equal horizontal bands of blue (top and bottom) alternating with white; a red equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bears a white five-pointed star in the center

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


top of page


Economy overview: The Soviet-style economy, centrally planned and largely state owned, is highly dependent on the agricultural sector and foreign trade. Sugar provides about 75% of export revenues and is mostly exported to the USSR and other CEMA countries. The economy has stagnated since 1985 under a program that has deemphasized material incentives in the workplace, abolished farmers' informal produce markets, and raised prices of government-supplied goods and services. Castro has complained that the ongoing CEMA reform process has interfered with the regular flow of goods to Cuba. Recently the government has been trying to increase trade with Latin America and China. Cuba has had difficulty servicing its foreign debt since 1982. The government currently is encouraging foreign investment in tourist facilities. Other investment priorities include sugar, basic foods, and nickel. The annual $4 billion Soviet subsidy, a main prop to Cuba's threadbare economy, may be cut in view of the USSR's mounting economic problems.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 11% of GNP (including fishing and forestry; key commercial crops--sugarcane, tobacco, and citrus fruits; other products--coffee, rice, potatoes, meat, beans; world's largest sugar exporter; not self-sufficient in food

Industries: sugar milling, petroleum refining, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, paper and wood products, metals (particularly nickel), cement, fertilizers, consumer goods, agricultural machinery

Industrial production growth rate

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: 6% overall, 10% for women (1989)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $11.7 billion; expenditures $13.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $5.5 billion (f.o.b., 1988)
Commodities: sugar, nickel, shellfish, citrus, tobacco, coffee
Partners: USSR 67%, GDR 6%, China 4% (1988)

Imports: $7.6 billion (c.i.f., 1988)
Commodities: capital goods, industrial raw materials, food, petroleum
Partners: USSR 71%, other Communist countries 15% (1988)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $6.8 billion (convertible currency, July 1989)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Cuban pesos (Cu$) per US$1--1.0000 (linked to the US dollar)


top of page


Electricity
Capacity: 3,991,000 kW capacity; 14,972 million kWh produced, 1,425 kWh per capita (1989)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


top of page


Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


top of page


Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: about 6% of GNP, or $1.2-$1.4 billion (1989 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


top of page


National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 197 total, 168 usable; 72 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 14 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 17 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 240 km

Merchant marine: 91 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 701,418 GRT/1,014,014 DWT; includes 62 cargo, 7 refrigerated cargo, 3 cargo/training, 10 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 6 bulk; note--Cuba beneficially owns an additional 34 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 475,864 DWT under the registry of Panama, Cyprus, and Malta

Ports and terminals


top of page


Disputes international: US Naval Base at Guantanamo is leased to US and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs