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.

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 3,735 km

Maritime claims
Exclusive 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

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

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

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

Population: 10,732,037 (July 1991), growth rate 1.0% (1991)

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

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

Languages: Spanish

Religions: 85% nominally Roman Catholic before Castro assumed power

Birth rate: 18 births/1000 population (1991)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1000 population (1991)

Net migration rate: - 1 migrant/1000 population (1991)

Environment
Current issues: averages one hurricane every other year

Infant mortality rate: 12 deaths/1000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 78 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (1991)

Literacy: 94% (male 95%, female 93%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

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

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

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 February 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 (including Ground Forces, Revolutionary Navy, Air and Air Defense Force), Ministry of Interior Special Troops, Border Guard Troops, Territorial Militia Troops, Youth Labor Army, Civil Defense, National Revolutionary Police

Judicial branch: People's Supreme Court

International organization participation: CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, IFAD, IIB, ILO, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), LORCS, NAM, OAS (excluded from formal participation since 1962), OPANAL (observer), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none; protecting power in the US is Switzerland--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 Alan H. FLANIGAN; Calzada entre L y M, Vedado Seccion, Havana (mailing address is USINT, c/o International Purchasing Group, 2,052 NW 93rd Avenue, Miami, FL 33,172; telephone 329-700

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 Cuba CubaCuba

Economy overview: The 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 over half is exported to the USSR. The economy has stagnated since 1985 under policies that have deemphasized material incentives in the workplace, abolished farmers' informal produce markets, and raised prices of government-supplied goods and services. In 1990 the economy probably fell 3%, largely as a result of declining trade with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. 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, is likely to show a substantial decline over the next few years in view of the USSR's mounting economic problems. Instead of highly subsidized trade, Cuba will be shifting to trade at market prices in convertible currencies. In early 1991, the shortages of fuels, spare parts, and industrial products in general had become so severe as to amount to a deindustrialization process in the eyes of some observers.

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 (excluding sugar)

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

Labor force: 3,578,800 in state sector; services and government 30%, industry 22%, agriculture 20%, commerce 11%, construction 10%, transportation and communications 7% (June 1990; economically active population 4,620,800 (1988)

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

Budget: revenues $12.46 billion; expenditures $14.45 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $5.4 billion (f.o.b., 1989)
Commodities: sugar, nickel, shellfish, citrus, tobacco, coffee
Partners: USSR 67%, GDR 6%, China 4% (1988)

Imports: $8.1 billion (c.i.f., 1989)
Commodities: capital goods, industrial raw materials, food, petroleum
Partners: USSR 71%, other Communist countries 15% (1988)

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

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

Electricity
Capacity: 3,890,000 kW capacity; 16,267 million kWh produced, 1,530 kWh per capita (1990)

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

Airports: 205 total, 176 usable; 75 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 25 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Waterways: 240 km

Merchant marine: 87 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 638,462 GRT/925,380 DWT; includes 54 cargo, 9 refrigerated cargo, 2 cargo/training, 12 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 3 liquefied gas, 6 bulk; note--Cuba beneficially owns an additional 37 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 512,346 DWT under the registry of Panama, Cyprus, and Malta

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