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. Cuba is slowly recovering from severe economic recession following the withdrawal of former-Soviet subsidies, worth $4billion-$6 billion per year, in 1990.

Area
Total: 110,860 km²
Land: 110,860 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Pennsylvania

Land boundaries: Total 29 km, U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay 29 km
Note: Guantanamo Naval Base is leased by the U.S. and thus 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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Pico Turquino 2,005 m

Natural resources:

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

Irrigated land: 8,960 km² (1989)

Population:
Growth rate:

Nationality
Noun: Cuban(s)
Adjective: Cuban

Ethnic groups:

Languages: Spanish

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

Population growth rate:

Birth rate:

Death rate:

Net migration rate:

Environment
Current issues: pollution of Havana Bay; overhunting threatens wildlife populations; deforestation
Current issues Natural hazards: the east coast is subject to hurricanes from August to October (in general, the country averages about one hurricane every other year); droughts are common
International agreements: party to_Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified_Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Desertification, Marine Life Conservation
International agreements note: Largest country in Caribbean

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female
All ages:

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 75.05 years (1996 est.); 77.05 years (1995 est.)
Male: 72.71 years (1996 est.); 74.86 years (1995 est.)
Female: 77.54 years (1996 est.); 79.37 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate:

Literacy
Definition: age 15-49 and over can read and write (1995 est.)
Total population: 95.7%
Male: 96.2%
Femanle: 95.3%

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Cuba
Conventional short form: Cuba
Local long form: Republica de Cuba
Local short form: 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 U.S. 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)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers; proposed by the president of the Council of State, appointed by the National Assembly

Legislative branch: Unicameral National Assembly of People's Power:(Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular) elections last held February 1993 (next to be held NA 1998; seats_589 total, elected directly from slates approved by special candidacy commissions

Judicial branch: People's Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo Popular), president, vice president, and other judges are elected by the National Assembly

International organization participation: CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IAEA, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), NAM, OAS (excluded from formal participation since 1962), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

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: The state retains a primary role in the economy and controls practically all foreign trade. The government has undertaken several reforms in recent years designed to stem excess liquidity, raise labor incentives, and increase the availability of food, consumer goods, and services from depressed levels. The liberalized agricultural markets introduced in October 1994, where state and private farms are authorized to sell any above-quota production at unrestricted prices, have broadened legal consumption alternatives and reduced black market prices. The government's efforts to reduce subsidies to loss-making enterprises and shrink the money supply caused the black market exchange rate to move from a peak of 120 pesos to the dollar in the summer of 1994 to 25-30 pesos to the dollar at yearend 1995. The number of self-employed workers licensed by the government increased more slowly in 1995, from 160,000 at yearend 1994 to 190,000 in July 1995 and to about 210,000 in January 1996. Discussions continue within the leadership over the relative affluence of self-employed workers and the growing inequality of income in what has historically been a strictly egalitarian society. The government released new economic data in 1995 which showed a 35% decline in GDP during 1989-1993, a drop precipitated by the withdrawal of massive Soviet aid and prolonged by Cuba's own economic inefficiencies. The decline in GDP apparently was halted in 1994, and government officials claim that GDP increased by 2.5% in 1995. Export earnings rose by 20% in 1995 to $1.6 billion, largely on the strength of higher world prices for key commodities and increased production of nickel through joint ventures with a Canadian firm. Higher export revenues and new credits from European firms and Mexico enabled Havana to increase its imports for the first time in six years. Imports rose 21% to almost $2.4 billion, or 30% of the 1989 level. Officials have sharply criticized provisions of legislation under consideration in the US Congress, which aims to curtail third-country investment in expropriated US properties in Cuba and deny official assistance to Havana.

Real gdp growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:

Agriculture products: 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 persistent shortages of fuels and parts

Industries:

Industrial production growth rate: Growth rate 6% (1995 est.)

Labor force: 4.71 million economically active population (1989; 3,527,000 employed in state civilian sector (1989)
By occupation Services and government: 30%
By occupation Industry: 22%
By occupation Agriculture: 20%
By occupation Commerce: 11%
By occupation Construction: 10%
By occupation Transportation and communications: 7% (June 1990)

Unemployment rate: NA

Budget
Revenues: $9.3 billion
Expenditures: $12.5 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1994 est.)

Fiscal year: Calendar year

Exports:
Commodities:
Partners:

Debt external:

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

Electricity
Capacity: 3,990,000 kW
Production: 12 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 1,022 kWh (1993)

Telephone system: 430,000 telephones (1987 est.); among the world's least developed telephone systems
Local: NA
Intercity: NA
International: satellite earth station_1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean Region)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: roughly 4% of GDP (1995 est.); approx. $600 million, 4% of GSP (gross social product) in 1994 was for defense
Dollar figure note: Moscow, for decades the key military supporter and supplier of Cuba, cut off almost all military aid by 1993

Airports: 156
With paved runways over 3047 m: 7
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 7
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 31 (1995 est.)
With paved runways under 914 m: 87

Waterways: 240 km

Merchant marine
Total: 41 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 220,870 GRT/310,169 DWT
Ships by type: cargo 17, chemical tanker 1, liquefied gas tanker 4, oil tanker 9, passenger-cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 9
Note: Cuba owns an additional 47 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 462,517 DWT operating under the registries of Panama, Cyprus, Malta, Belize, and Mauritius (1995 est.)