Name: República de Cuba
Capital: Havana
Population 11,477,459 (July 2010 est.)
Area: 110,860 sq km
Population density: 101 per sq km
Religions: nominally 85% Roman Catholic prior to CASTRO assuming power; Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, and Santeria are also represented
Languages: Spanish (official)
Urban population: 76% of total population (2008)
Age structure (2010)
0-14 years: 18.3%
15-64 years: 70.4%
65 years and over: 11.2%
Median age (2010 est.)
Total: 37.8 years
Male: 37.1 years
Female: 38.6 years
Population growth rate: (2010 est.): 0.217%
Birth rate: 11.02 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)
Mortality rate: 7.29 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)
Infant mortality rate (2010 est.)
Total: 5.72 deaths/1,000 live births
Male: 6.39 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 5 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth (2010 est.)
Total population: 77.64 years
Male: 75.36 years
Female: 80.05 years
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate (2007 est.): less than 0.1%
People living with HIV/AIDS (2007 est.): 6,200
HIV/AIDS - deaths (2007 est.): fewer than 100
Ethnic groups (2002 census): white 65.1%, mulatto and mestizo 24.8%, black 10.1%
Literacy (2002 census)
total population: 99.8%
male: 99.8%
female: 99.8%
Net migration rate (2010 est.): -1.56 migrants/1,000 population
ENVIRONMENT
Natural resources
Cobalt, nickel, iron ore, chromium, copper, salt, timber, silica, petroleum, arable land
Natural hazards
The east coast is subject to hurricanes from August to November (in general, the country averages about one hurricane every other year); droughts are common
GOVERNMENT
Government type: Communist state
Constitution: 24 February 1976; amended July 1992 and June 2002
National holiday: Triumph of the Revolution, 1 January (1959)
Executive branch
Chief of state: President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (president since 24 February 2008); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura (since 24 February 2008); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government.
Government: Council of Ministers and Members of the Council of State proposed by the president of the Council of State and appointed by the National Assembly.
Election results (24 February 2008): Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz elected president; percent of legislative vote - 100%; Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - 100%.
Legislative branch
Unicameral National Assembly of People's Power or Asemblea Nacional del Poder Popular (number of seats in the National Assembly is based on population; 614 seats; members elected directly from slates approved by special candidacy commissions to serve five-year terms).
Elections: last held on 20 January 2008
Election results: Cuba's Communist Party is the only legal party, and officially sanctioned candidates run unopposed
Judicial branch
People's Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo Popular elected by the National Assembly
Administrative division: 14 provinces, namely Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Cienfuegos, Ciudad de La Habana, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, La Habana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara
1 special municipality: Isla de la Juventud
Political party: Cuba's Communist Party
COMMUNICATIONS/TRANSPORTATION
Telephone lines: 1.168 million (2009); Mobile phones: 443,000 (2009) Internet country code: .cu; Internet users: 1.606 million
note: private citizens are prohibited from buying computers or accessing the Internet without special authorisation; foreigners may access the Internet in large hotels but are subject to firewalls; some Cubans buy illegal passwords on the black market or take advantage of public outlets to access limited email and the government-controlled "intranet" (2009).
Railway: 8,598 km Roadway: 60,858 km Ports and terminals: Antilla, Cienfuegos, Guantanamo, Havana, Matanzas, Mariel, Nuevitas Bay, Santiago de Cuba, Tanamo
Airoports: 136 (2010)
Information: press freedom index is 94.00, ranking 170 out of 175 according to Reporters sans frontières.
ECONOMY
The government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. The government announced it would eliminate 500,000 state jobs by March 2011 and has expanded opportunities for self-employment. President CASTRO said such changes were needed to update the economic model to ensure the survival of socialism. It has rolled back limited reforms undertaken in the 1990s to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. The average Cuban's standard of living remains at a lower level than before the downturn of the 1990s, which was caused by the loss of Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. Since late 2000, Venezuela has been providing oil on preferential terms, and it currently supplies about 100,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Cuba has been paying for the oil, in part, with the services of Cuban personnel in Venezuela including some 30,000 medical professionals.
Currency: Cuban pesos
GDP: $114.1 billion (2010 est.)
Real growth rate: 1.5% (2010 est.)
GDP per capita (PPP): $9,900 (2010 est.)
Labour force: 5.164 million (2009 est.)
Labour force - by occupation (2005):
Agriculture: 20%
Industry: 19.4%
Services: 60.6%
Unemployment rate: 2% (2010 est.)
Public debt: 34.4% of GDP (2010 est.)
Industrial production growth rate: 0.8% (2009 est.)
Exports: $3.311 billion (2010 est.) including sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, coffee
Imports: $10.25 billion (2010 est.) including petroleum, food, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Human development index (2005): 0.838, rank 51
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule eventually provoked an independence movement and occasional rebellions that were harshly suppressed. US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 assisted the Cubans in overthrowing Spanish rule. The Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence from the US in 1902 after which the island experienced a string of governments mostly dominated by the military and corrupt politicians. Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule held the subsequent regime together for nearly five decades. He stepped down as president in February 2008 in favor of his younger brother Raul CASTRO. Cuba's Communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country faced a severe economic downturn in 1990 following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba at times portrays the US embargo, in place since 1961, as the source if its difficulties. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, air flights, or via the southwest border - is a continuing problem. The US Coast Guard intercepted 982 individuals attempting to cross the Straits of Florida in fiscal year 2009.
Sources
CIA-Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html
UNData: http://data.un.org/CountryProfile.aspx?crName=Cuba
