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| Cuba | Plants and Animal | Back to Top |
Cuba’s varied climates enable over 3,000 species of tropical fruits and flowers to inhabit the island. considerable tracts of land in the eastern portion of the island are heavily forested. The most prevailing species of trees are palms, of which Cuba has more than 30 types, including royal palms. Other indigenous plants are mahogany, ebony, lignum vitae, cottonwood, logwood, rosewood, cedar pine, majagua, granadilla, jagüey, tobacco, papaya trees, and the ceiba, which is the national tree.
| Cuba | Communications | Back to Top |
Domestic: principal trunk system, end to end of nation, is coaxial cable; fiber-optic distribution in Havana and on Isla de la Juventud; 2 microwave radio relay installations-one is old, US-built; the other newer, built during the time of Soviet support; both analog and digital mobile cellular service accomplished
International: satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik Atlantic Ocean region
| Cuba | Culture | Back to Top |
Institute of Ethnology and Folklore was created within the Academy of Sciences of Cuba, with the aim of collecting and classifying the Cuban cultural heritage. It formed the National Folklore Group, which performs Afro-Cuban dances throughout Cuba and abroad and gives international folklore laboratories each year. The activities of the folklore group are complemented by the Institute of Literature and Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences. The revolutionary government has made a special effort to promote study of the African roots of Cuban culture. The Guanabacoa Museum is the main repository of Afro-Cuban artifacts. European colonists in Cuba did not develop an independent culture earlier because the island was only a shipping and military outpost and not a great administrative or mining center during the Spanish Empire. Early Cuban authors of importance, such as 19th century writers María de las Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo, better known as La Condesa de Merlín, and Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, lived and wrote in Spain rather than in their homeland. The determines of the French Revolution (1789-1799) and the American Revolution (1775-1783) awoke Cubans to the possibilities of social and economic change, and stimulated intellectuals to become involved in nationalist and freedom movements.
Modernism coincided with romanticism at the end of the 19th century and ultimately replaced it in the 20th century. Modernism is an artistic movement characterized by a concentration on art for art’s sake, or byemphasis on the beauty of structure in language and art. Cuban modernism was short-lived and pertained to only a few artists, including writer and revolutionary José Martí, the father of Cuban freedom, and poet Julian del Casal. Cuban modernism gained determine at the same time that U.S. citizens were investing in Cuba, which opened Cuban writers to increased contact with foreign literature. This was a time when calls for political, economic, and cultural change appeared in all literary genres.
| Cuba | Defence | Back to Top |
Military branches: Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) includes ground forces, Revolutionary Navy (MGR), Air and Air Defense Force (DAAFAR), Territorial Troops Militia (MTT), and Youth Labor Army (EJT); the Border Guard (TGF) is controlled by the Interior Ministry
Military manpower - military age: 17 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 3,090,633
females age 15-49: 3,029,274 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 1,911,160
females age 15-49: 1,867,958 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 79,562
females: 85,650 (2001 est.)
| Cuba | International Disputes | Back to Top |
US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased to US and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease
| Cuba | Economy | Back to Top |
Spanish colonial administrators did not place much importance on the economy of Cuba. The island was poor in precious minerals, so Spain largely ignored Cuba. Instead, Spain focused on mainland colonies, such as Mexico and Peru, that were valuable in gold, silver, and precious gemstones. Spanish authorities used Cuba’s hardwood forests to offer wood for shipbuilding and repairs for the galleon fleets that arrived in convoys in Havana harbor twice a year to transport the wealth of Spain’s American colonies back to Europe. Colonial administrators used the harbor as a stopping point between Spain and her colonies, giving Cuba strategic rather than economic importance. Cuban residents lived on comparatively small farms and eked out meager livings raising cattle, tobacco, some sugarcane, and commodities to supply the ships. The residents were allowed to trade only with Spanish merchants. The merchants charged high prices for imported goods, while colonists made only small profits from exports.
By the end of the 1950s Cuba had developed one of the leading economies among Latin-American nations. Nevertheless, the nation was confronted by a number of major problems: a sugar monoculture, a low rate of economic growth, a heavy dependence upon the United States for investment and trade, high rates of unemployment and underemployment, and remarkable inequalities between urban and rural areas and among the various ethnic divisions.
The liberalized farmers' markets introduced in 1994, sell above-quota production at market prices, expand legal consumption alternatives, and reduce black market prices. Income taxes and increased regulations introduced since 1996 have sharply reduced the number of legally self-employed from a high of 208,000 in January 1996. Havana announced in 1995 that GDP declined by 35% during 1989-93 as a result of lost Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. The slide in GDP came to a halt in 1994 when Cuba reported growth in GDP of 0.7%. Cuba reported that GDP increased by 2.5% in 1995 and 7.8% in 1996, before slowing down in 1997 and 1998 to 2.5% and 1.2% respectively. Growth recovered with a 6.2% increase in GDP in 1999 and a 5.6% increase in 2000. Much of Cuba's recovery can be attributed to tourism revenues and foreign investment. Growth in 2001 should continue at the same level as the government balances the need for economic loosening against its concern for firm political control.
| Cuba | Education | Back to Top |
School attendance is compulsory for children ages 6 through 16, and Cuba has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, claiming 100 % adult literacy, compared to only 54 % in 1952.
| Cuba | Government | Back to Top |
Cuba is a totalitarian state controlled by Fidel Castro, who is chief of state, head of government, First Secretary of the PCC, and commander in chief of the armed forces. Castro seeks to control most aspects of Cuban life through the Communist Party and its affiliated mass organizations, the government bureaucracy, and the state security apparatus. In March 2003, Castro announced his intention to remain in power for life. The Ministry of Interior is the principal organ of state security and control.
According to the Soviet-style Cuban constitution of 1976, the National Assembly of People's Power, and its Council of State when the body is not in session, has supreme authority in the Cuban system. Since the National Assembly meets only twice a year for a few days each time, the 31-member Council of State wields power. The Council of Ministers, through its 9-member administrator committee, handles the administration of the economy, which is state-controlled except for a tiny and shriveling open-market sector. Fidel Castro is President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers and his brother Raul serves as First Vice President of both bodies as well as Minister of Defense.
The Communist Party is constitutionally recognized as Cuba's only legal political party. The party monopolizes all government positions, including judicial offices. Though not a formal requirement, party membership is a de facto prerequisite for high-level official positions and professional advancement in most areas, although non-party members are rarely allowed to serve in the National Assembly. The Communist Party or one of its front organizations approves candidates for any elected office. Citizens do not have the right to change their government. In March 2003, the government carried out one of the most brutal crackdowns on peaceful opposition in the history of Cuba when it arrested 75 human rights activists, independent journalists and opposition figures on various charges, including aiding a foreign power and violating national security laws. Authorities subjected the detainees to summary trials and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from 6 to 28 years. Amnesty International identified all 75 as "prisoners of conscience." The European Union (EU) condemned their arrests and in June, it announced its decision to implement the following actions: limit bilateral high-level governmental visits, reduce the profile of member states' participation in cultural events, and invite Cuban dissidents to national-day celebrations.
| Cuba | History | Back to Top |
Spanish settlers accomplished the raising of cattle, sugarcane, and tobacco as Cuba's primary economic pursuits. As the native Indian population died out, African slaves were imported to work the ranches and plantations. Slavery was abolished in 1886.
Cuba was the last major Spanish colony to gain freedom, following a lengthy fight begun in 1868. Jose Marti, Cuba's national hero, helped initiate the final push for freedom in 1895. In 1898, after the USS Maine sunk in Havana Harbor on February 15 due to an explosion of undetermined origin, the United States entered the conflict. In December of that year Spain relinquished control of Cuba to the United States with the Treaty of Paris. In May 1902, the United States granted Cuba its freedom but retained the right to intervene to preserve Cuban freedom and stability under the Platt Amendment. In 1934, the amendment was repealed, and the United States and Cuba agreed to continue the 1903 agreement that leased the Guantanamo Bay naval base to the United States.
Fidel Castro, who had been active politically before Batista's coup, in July 1953 led a failed attack on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba in which more than 100 died. After defending himself in a trial open to national and international media, he was jailed, and consequently was freed in an act of clemency, before going into exile in Mexico. There he organized the 26th of July Movement with the goal of overthrowing Batista, and the group sailed to Cuba on board the yacht Granma, landing in the eastern part of the island in December 1956.
Castro declared Cuba a socialist state in April 1961. For the next 30 years, Castro pursued close relations with the Soviet Union until the demise of the U.S.S.R. in 1991. Relations between the United States and Cuba deteriorated rapidly as the Cuban regime expropriated U.S. properties and moved toward adoption of a one-party communist system. In response, the United States imposed an embargo on Cuba in October 1960, and, in response to Castro's provocations, broke diplomatic relations in January, 1961. Tensions between the two governments peaked during the October 1962 missile crisis.
| Cuba | Introduction | Back to Top |
Cuba, formally Republic of Cuba, independent republic located in the Caribbean Sea, some 145 km south of Florida in the United States, comprising two main islands, Cuba and Isla de la Juventud ("Isle of Youth", formerly Isle of Pines), and more than 1,600 small coral cays and islets. Cuba commands the two entrances to the Gulf of Mexico to the west: the Straits of Florida and the Yucatán Channel. On the east, the republic is separated from the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) by the Windward Passage; Jamaica lies to the south, the Bahama Islands to the north-east, and the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico to the west, across the Yucatán Channel. The republic has a total land area of 110,862 sq km (42,803 sq mi), of which almost 95 per cent is accounted for by the island of Cuba. The largest island in the Caribbean and the most westerly of the Greater Antilles group, Cuba is 104,946 sq km in area, and long and narrow in shape. It has a maximum length of about 1,225 km (760 mi)-between the westernmost and easternmost points, Cabo de San Antonio and Cabo Maisí-and a maximum width of about 191 km (119 m). Isla de la Juventud, lying opposite the Bay of Batabanó on the south-western coast, in the Canarreos Archipelago, has an area of about 2,200 sq km. Havana, on the north-western coast, is the capital, largest city, and chief port of Cuba.
Official Name - Republic of Cuba| Cuba | Land | Back to Top |
N/A
| Cuba | Languages | Back to Top |
The official language is Spanish, but immigration has left pockets of Haitians and Jamaicans in Cuba who speak French patois and creole English. Both English and Russian are spoken and understood in major cities.
| Cuba | Legal | Back to Top |
Legal system: based on Spanish and American law, with large elements of Communist legal theory; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction Vote: 16 years of age; universal Administrator branch: chief of state: 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 December 1976; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government 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 (December 1976); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government. Cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the president of the Council of State, appointed by the National Assembly; note - there is also a Council of State whose members are elected by the National Assembly Elections: president and vice president elected by the National Assembly; election last held February 2003 & next election unscheduled Election results: Fidel CASTRO Ruz elected president; % of legislative vote - 100%; Raul CASTRO Ruz elected vice president; % of legislative vote - 100% Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly of People's Power or Asemblea Nacional del Poder Popular-601 seats, elected directly from slates approved by special candidacy commissions; members serve five-year terms Elections: last held 11 January 2003 & next to be held in 2008 Election results: % of vote - PCC 94.39%; seats - PCC 601 Judicial branch: People's Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo Popular (president, vice president, and other judges are elected by the National Assembly)
| Cuba | Life | Back to Top |
Cuba had a weak democratic political system, a capitalist economy dependent on trade with the United States, and a nominally Catholic society. The revolution replaced those traditions with socialist values, including a strong central government with indirect citizen participation in policy decisions, a centrally controlled economy, and a secular society that discouraged the practice of religion.
| Cuba | organization | Back to Top |
CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IAEA, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM, OAS (excluded from formal participation since 1962), OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
| Cuba | People | Back to Top |
Havana is the capital city with a population of 2,184,995 in 1996. In 2001 the nation’s population was around to be 11,184,123.
Cuba's original inhabitants likely came to the island from South America. They were the Guanahatabey and the Ciboney, the former living in the extreme west of the island, the latter in various places in the island and particularly on the cays to the south. Both were hunter-gatherers. The Taino (Arawakan Indians), who arrived later and who spread over not only Cuba but also the rest of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas, lived in villages and had rudimentary agriculture; they also made simple pottery. The Taino constituted 90 % of the island's population at the time of the Spanish conquest.
Cuba is a multiracial society with a population of mainly Spanish and African origins. The largest organized religion is the Roman Catholic Church, but evangelical protestant denominations are growing rapidly. Afro-Cuban religions, a blend of native African religions and Roman Catholicism, are widely practiced in Cuba. Officially, Cuba has been an atheist state for most of the Castro era. In 1962, the government of Fidel Castro seized and shut down more than 400 Catholic schools, charging that they spread dangerous beliefs among the people. In 1991, the Communist Party lifted its prohibition against religious believers seeking membership, and a year later the constitution was amended to characterize the state as secular instead of atheist.
| Cuba | Politics | Back to Top |
only party - Cuban Communist Party or PCC [Fidel CASTRO Ruz, first secretary]
| Cuba | Provinces | Back to Top |
14 provinces and 1 special municipality*, 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
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| Cuba | Time | Back to Top |
| Cuba | Currency and General Information | Back to Top |
| Cuba Pesos | United States Dollars |
| 1.00 CUP | 0.0476190 USD |
| 21.0000 CUP | 1 USD |
| Countries Currency Unit | USD/Unit | Units/USD | |
| DZD | Algeria Dinars | 0.0129554 | 77.1877 |
| USD | United States Dollars | 1.00000 | 1.00000 |
| ARS | Argentina Pesos | 0.341293 | 2.93004 |
| AUD | Australia Dollars | 0.533413 | 1.87472 |
| ATS | Austria Schillings ** | 0.0632609 | 15.8076 |
| BSD | Bahamas Dollars | 1.00000 | 1.00000 |
| BBD | Barbados Dollars | 0.502513 | 1.99000 |
| BEF | Belgium Francs ** | 0.0215788 | 46.3417 |
| BMD | Bermuda Dollars | 1.00000 | 1.00000 |
| BRL | Brazil Reals | 0.430318 | 2.32386 |
| GBP | United Kingdom Pounds | 1.42399 | 0.702251 |
| BGL | Bulgaria Leva | 0.447293 | 2.23567 |
| CAD | Canada Dollars | 0.627606 | 1.59336 |
| CLP | Chile Pesos | 0.00152392 | 656.202 |
| CNY | China Yuan Renminbi | 0.120813 | 8.27726 |
| CYP | Cyprus Pounds | 1.49883 | 0.667186 |
| CZK | Czech Republic Koruny | 0.0281883 | 35.4758 |
| DKK | Denmark Kroner | 0.117155 | 8.53568 |
| XCD | East Caribbean Dollars | 0.370370 | 2.70000 |
| EGP | Egypt Pounds | 0.217271 | 4.60255 |
| EUR | Euro | 0.870489 | 1.14878 |
| FJD | Fiji Dollars | 0.447227 | 2.23600 |
| FIM | Finland Markkaa ** | 0.146406 | 6.83034 |
| FRF | France Francs ** | 0.132705 | 7.53550 |
| DEM | Germany Deutsche Marks ** | 0.445074 | 2.24682 |
| XAU | Gold Ounces | 301.977 | 0.00331151 |
| GRD | Greece Drachmae ** | 0.00255463 | 391.447 |
| HKD | Hong Kong Dollars | 0.128215 | 7.79939 |
| HUF | Hungary Forint | 0.00358416 | 279.006 |
| ISK | Iceland Kronur | 0.00999868 | 100.013 |
| INR | India Rupees | 0.0205205 | 48.7319 |
| IDR | Indonesia Rupiahs | 0.000102055 | 9,798.61 |
| IEP | Ireland Pounds ** | 1.10529 | 0.904738 |
| ILS | Israel New Shekels | 0.212386 | 4.70841 |
| ITL | Italy Lire ** | 0.000449570 | 2,224.35 |
| JMD | Jamaica Dollars | 0.0210041 | 47.6099 |
| JPY | Japan Yen | 0.00754183 | 132.594 |
| JOD | Jordan Dinars | 1.41057 | 0.708931 |
| LBP | Lebanon Pounds | 0.000660937 | 1,513.00 |
| LUF | Luxembourg Francs ** | 0.0215788 | 46.3417 |
| MYR | Malaysia Ringgits | 0.263330 | 3.79751 |
| MXN | Mexico Pesos | 0.111007 | 9.00848 |
| NZD | New Zealand Dollars | 0.440474 | 2.27028 |
| NOK | Norway Kroner | 0.113022 | 8.84780 |
| NLG | Netherlands Guilders ** | 0.395011 | 2.53158 |
| PKR | Pakistan Rupees | 0.0166945 | 59.9000 |
| PHP | Philippines Pesos | 0.0196386 | 50.9202 |
| XPT | Platinum Ounces | 510.962 | 0.00195709 |
| PLN | Poland Zlotych | 0.243488 | 4.10699 |
| PTE | Portugal Escudos ** | 0.00434198 | 230.310 |
| ROL | Romania Lei | 0.0000303433 | 32,956.21 |
| RUR | Russia Rubles | 0.0321342 | 31.1195 |
| SAR | Saudi Arabia Riyals | 0.266668 | 3.74998 |
| XAG | Silver Ounces | 4.65692 | 0.214734 |
| SGD | Singapore Dollars | 0.542540 | 1.84318 |
| SKK | Slovakia Koruny | 0.0208441 | 47.9751 |
| ZAR | South Africa Rand | 0.0883340 | 11.3207 |
| KRW | South Korea Won | 0.000759354 | 1,316.91 |
| ESP | Spain Pesetas ** | 0.00523174 | 191.141 |
| XDR | IMF Special Drawing Rights | 1.24862 | 0.800882 |
| SDD | Sudan Dinars | 0.00384615 | 260.000 |
| SEK | Sweden Kronor | 0.0964189 | 10.3714 |
| CHF | Switzerland Francs | 0.593789 | 1.68410 |
| TWD | Taiwan New Dollars | 0.0286531 | 34.9002 |
| THB | Thailand Baht | 0.0230087 | 43.4619 |
| TTD | Trinidad and Tobago Dollars | 0.163399 | 6.12000 |
| TRL | Turkey Liras | 0.000000763622 | 1,309,549.07 |
| VEB | Venezuela Bolivares | 0.00108696 | 920.000 |
| ZMK | Zambia Kwacha | 0.000239866 | 4,169.00 |
| Cuba : Geographic coordinates | 21 30 N, 80 00 W |
| Cuba : Population growth rate | 0.37% |
| Cuba : Birth rate | 12.36 births/1,000 population |
| Cuba : Death rate | 7.33 deaths/1,000 population |
| Cuba : People living with HIV/AIDS | 1,950 |
| Cuba : Independence | 20 May 1902 |
| Cuba : National holiday | 10 December |
| Cuba : Constitution | 24 February 1976 |
| Cuba : GDP | purchasing power parity - $19.2 billion |
| Cuba : GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,700 |
| Cuba : Electricity - consumption | 13.353 billion kWh |
| Cuba : Exports | $1.8 billion sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, coffee |
| Cuba : Imports | $3.4 billion petroleum, food, machinery, chemicals, semifinished goods |
| Cuba : Telephones | 473,031 |
| Cuba : Mobile cellular | 2,994 |
| Cuba : Radio broadcast stations | AM 169, FM 55, shortwave 1 |
| Cuba : Radios | 3.9 million |
| Cuba : Television broadcast stations | 58 |
| Cuba : Televisions | 2.64 million |
| Cuba : Internet country code | .cu |
| Cuba : Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 4 |
| Cuba : Internet users | 60,000 |
| Cuba : Railways | 11,969 km |
| Cuba : Highways | 60,858 km |
| Cuba : Waterways | 240 km |
| Cuba : Pipelines | N/A |
| Cuba : Ports and harbors | Cienfuegos, Havana, Manzanillo, Mariel, Matanzas, Nuevitas, Santiago de Cuba |
| Cuba : Merchant marine | 15 ships |
| Cuba : Airports | 171 |
| Cuba : Heliports | N/A |
| Cuba : Military branches | Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) includes ground forces |
| Cuba : Military expenditures | N/A |