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.

Map reference: Central America and the Caribbean, North America, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total area total: 110,860 km²
Land: 110,860 km²

Land boundaries: total 29 km, US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay 29 km
Note: Guantanamo is leased and as such remains part of Cuba

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, petroleum

Land use
Arable land: 23%
Permanent crops: 6%
Meadows and pastures: 23%
Forest and woodland: 17%
Other: 31%

Irrigated land: 8,960 km² (1989)

Natural hazards: averages one hurricane every other year

Geography
Note: Moscow, for decades the key military supporter and supplier of Cuba, cut off military aid by 1993

Population: 11,064,344 (July 1994 est.)
Growth rate: 0.95% (1994 est.)

Nationality: noun:Cuban(s)

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

Languages: Spanish

Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 85% prior to Castro assuming power

Population growth rate: 0.95% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 16.59 births/1000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 6.52 deaths/1000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.54 migrant(s)/1000 population (1994 est.)

Environment
Current issues: overhunting threatens wildlife populations; deforestation

Infant mortality rate: 10.3 deaths/1000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 76.89 years
Male: 74.72 years
Female: 79.18 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.83 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Total population: 94%
Male: 95%
Female: 93%

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Cuba
Conventional short form:

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: Rebellion Day, 26 July (1953)

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: 16 years of age; universal

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 (Prime Minister from February 1959 until 24 February 1976 when office was abolished; 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 (FAR) - including ground forces, Revolutionary Navy (MGR), Air and Air Defense Force (DAAFAR), Territorial Militia Troops (MTT), Youth Labor Army (EJT), and Interior Ministry Border Guard Troops
National Assembly of Peoples Power: (Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular) elections last held February 1993; seats - 589 total, indirectly elected from slates approved by special candidacy commissions

Judicial branch: People's Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo Popular)

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

Diplomatic representation
From the us chief of mission:
From the us chancery: 2,630 and 2,639 16th Street NW, US Interests Section, Swiss Embassy, Washington, DC 20,009
From the us telephone: 33-3,351 or 33-3,543
From the us US Interests Section: USINT, Swiss Embassy, Calzada Entre L y M, Vedado Seccion, Havana
From the us mailing address: use street address
From the us FAX: no service available at this time
From the us note: protecting power in Cuba is Switzerland - US Interests Section, Swiss Embassy

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

Economy overview: Cuba's heavily statist economy remains in a severe depression as a result of the loss of massive amounts of economic aid from the former Soviet Bloc. In 1989-93, GDP declined by about 40% and import capability fell by about 80%. Reduced imports of fuel, spare parts, and chemicals combined with rainy weather to cut the production of sugar - the country's top export - from 7 million tons in 1992 to 4.3 million tons in 1993, causing a loss of more than $400 million in export revenue. The government implemented several measures designed to stem the economic decline, e.g., legalizing the use of foreign currency by Cuban citizens in August 1993 in an attempt to increase remittances of foreign exchange from abroad. Authorities in September 1993 began permitting self-employment in over 100 mostly service occupations. Also in September the government broke up many state farms into smaller, more autonomous cooperative units in an attempt to increase worker incentives and boost depressed food production levels. Fuel shortages persisted throughout 1993; draft animals and bicycles continued to replace motor-driven vehicles, and the use of electricity by households and factories was cut from already low levels. With the help of foreign investment, tourism has been one bright spot in the economy, with arrivals and earnings reaching record highs in 1993. Government officials have expressed guarded optimism for 1994, as the country struggles to achieve sustainable economic growth at a much-reduced standard of living.

Real gdp growth rate: -10% (1993 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $1,250 (1993 est.)

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; sector hurt by growing shortages of fuels and parts

Industries: sugar milling and refining, 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: NA%

Labor force: 4,620,800 economically active population (1988; 3,578,800 in state sector
By occupation services and government: 30%
By occupation industry: 22%
By occupation agriculture: 20%
By occupation commerce: 11%
By occupation construction: 10%
By occupation transportationandcommunications: 7% (June1990)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues:$12.46 billion

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $1.5 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
Commodities: sugar, nickel, shellfish, tobacco, medical products, citrus, coffee
Partners: Russia 28%, Canada 9%, China 5%, Ukraine 5%, Japan 4%, Spain 4% (1993 est.)

Imports: $1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
Commodities: petroleum, food, machinery, chemicals
Partners: Venezuela 20%, China 9%, Spain 9%, Mexico 7%, Italy 4%, Canada 7%, France 8% (1993 est.)

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

Exchange rates: Cuban pesos (Cu$) per US$1 - 1.0000 (non-convertible, official rate, linked to the US dollar)

Electricity
Capacity: 3,889,000 kW
Production: 16.248 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 1,500 kWh (1992)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: exchange rate conversion - approx. $600 million, 4% of GSP (gross social product) in 1993 was for defense

Airports: 187
Usable: 167
With permanentsurface runways: 73
With runways over 3659 m: 3
With runways 2440-3659 m: 12
With runways 1220-2439 m: 19

Waterways: 240 km

Merchant marine: 64 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 444,038 GRT/627,741 DWT, bulk 2, cargo 36, chemical tanker 1, liquefied gas 4, oil tanker 10, passenger cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 10
Note: Cuba beneficially owns an additional 34 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 529,090 DWT under the registry of Panama, Cyprus, and Malta

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

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine bound for the US