Cuba

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Island country, Socialist state, Authoritarian government

• Capital

  Havana

• Currency

  Peso

• Location

  Caribbean, at the confluence of the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean

• Coastline

  5,746 km (3,570.4 mi)

• Population

  10,985,974 inhabitants

• Total Area

  109,884 km2 (42,426 sq mi)

• Economy Type

  Centrally planned economy

• Largest City

  Havana

• Main Islands

  Cuba (main island), Isla de la Juventud

• Official Name

  Republic of Cuba

• Government Type

  Socialist state, One-party authoritarian regime (Communist Party enshrined in Constitution)

• Healthcare System

  Universal health care system providing free medical treatment, with challenges including low salaries for doctors, poor facilities, poor equipment, and frequent absence of essential drugs

• Official Language

  Spanish

• US Embargo Status

  Ongoing since 1960, one of the longest-standing bilateral economic measures in history

• Indigenous Peoples

  Guanahatabey, Taíno, Ciboney Taíno

• Cultural Affiliation

  Latin America

• Food Security Status

  Rationed food meets only a fraction of daily nutritional needs for many Cubans (World Food Programme)

• Key Economic Sectors

  Tourism, Exports of skilled labor, Sugar, Tobacco, Coffee

• Press Freedom Status

  Severely restricted, characterized as one of the worst countries for press freedom by Reporters Without Borders

• Geographic Coordinates

  21°30′N 80°00′W

• Extreme Poverty Rate (2023)

  88% of the population (estimated by Cuban Observatory of Human Rights)

• Number of Islands, Islets, and Cays

  4,195

• Sustainable Development Achievement

  Only country in the world to meet the conditions of sustainable development put forth by the WWF (2012 study)

Timeline

• Territory of Cuba inhabited by Guanahatabey and Taíno peoples. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  4000 BC

• Spanish colonization of Cuba began. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  15th century

• English takeover of Havana (briefly). (Source: Web Search - cri.fiu.edu)

  1762-1763

• Slavery was abolished in Cuba. (Source: DBPedia)

  1882-01-01

• Spanish-American War ended, marking the end of Spanish rule over Cuba. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, Wikidata)

  1898-12-10

• United States occupation of Cuba began after the Spanish-American War. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  1898-01-01

• Cuba gained independence. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  1902-01-01

• A coup toppled the democratically elected government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada, initiating a long period of military influence. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1933-01-01

• Cuba implemented a new constitution. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  1940-01-01

• Cuban coup d'état by Fulgencio Batista, leading to his autocratic government. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  1952-01-01

• Cuban Revolution overthrew Fulgencio Batista's government and established communist rule under Fidel Castro. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  1959-01-01

• The United States embargo against Cuba began. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  1960-01-01

• Cuban Missile Crisis brought the Cold War close to nuclear war. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  1962-01-01

• Cuba began intervening in numerous conflicts in support of Marxist governments or movements across Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East (period through late 1980s). (Source: Wikipedia)

  1970-01-01

• Cuba had received $33 billion in Soviet aid by this year, according to a declassified CIA report. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1984-01-01

• Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Cuba faced a severe economic downturn known as the Special Period. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  1990-01-01

• Fidel Castro retired after 49 years of leadership; Raúl Castro was elected his successor. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  2008-01-01

• A study found Cuba to be the only country in the world to meet the conditions of sustainable development put forth by the WWF. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2012-01-01

• Raúl Castro retired as president of the Council of State; Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected president by the National Assembly. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  2018-01-01

• Raúl Castro retired as First Secretary of the Communist Party; Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected thereafter. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2021-01-01

• A study by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) estimated that 88% of the population lives in extreme poverty. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  2023-01-01

Cuba

Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country in the Caribbean. It comprises the eponymous main island, Isla de la Juventud, and 4,195 islands, islets and cays. Situated at the confluence of the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean, Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula, south of both Florida (the United States) and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and north of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital. Cuba is the third-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with about 10 million inhabitants. It is the largest country in the Caribbean by area. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America. Cuba was inhabited as early as the fourth millennium BC, with the Guanahatabey and Taíno peoples present at the time of Spanish colonization in the 15th century. Cuba remained part of the Spanish Empire until the Spanish–American War of 1898, after which it was occupied by the United States and gained independence in 1902. A 1933 coup toppled the democratically elected government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada and began a long period of military influence, particularly by Fulgencio Batista. In 1940, Cuba implemented a new constitution, but mounting political unrest culminated in the 1952 Cuban coup d'état by Batista. His autocratic government was overthrown in January 1959 by the 26th of July Movement during the Cuban Revolution. That revolution established communist rule under the leadership of Fidel Castro. The country under Castro was a point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 is widely considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into nuclear war. During the 1970s through the late 1980s, Cuba intervened in numerous conflicts in support of Marxist governments or movements across Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. According to a CIA declassified report, Cuba had received $33 billion in Soviet aid by 1984. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Cuba faced a severe economic downturn in the 1990s, known as the Special Period. In 2008, Castro retired after 49 years; Raúl Castro was elected his successor. Raúl retired as president of the Council of State in 2018, and Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected president by the National Assembly following parliamentary elections. Raúl retired as First Secretary of the Communist Party in 2021, and Díaz-Canel was elected thereafter. Cuba is a socialist state in which the role of the Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Cuba has an authoritarian government wherein political opposition is prohibited. Censorship is extensive and independent journalism is repressed; Reporters Without Borders has characterized Cuba as one of the worst countries for press freedom. Cuba is a founding member of the UN, G77, NAM, OACPS, ALBA, and OAS. Since 1959, Cuba has regarded the U.S. military presence in Guantánamo Bay as illegal. Cuba has one of the world's few planned economies, and its economy is dominated by tourism and the exports of skilled labor, sugar, tobacco, and coffee. Cuba has historically—before and during communist rule—performed better than other countries in the region on several socioeconomic indicators, such as literacy, infant mortality, and life expectancy. According to a 2012 study, Cuba is the only country in the world to meet the conditions of sustainable development put forth by the WWF. Cuba has a universal health care system that provides free medical treatment to all Cuban citizens, although challenges include low salaries for doctors, poor facilities, poor provision of equipment, and the frequent absence of essential drugs. A 2023 study by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) estimated that 88% of the population lives in extreme poverty. According to the World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations, rationed food meets only a fraction of daily nutritional needs for many Cubans, leading to health issues. Ongoing since 1960, the United States embargo against Cuba stands as one of the longest-running trade and economic measures in bilateral relations in history.

Web Search Results

• Cuba - Wikipedia

  Cuba,[\[c\]]( officially the Republic of Cuba,[\[d\]]( is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic), and north of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the [...] Cuba is a socialist state, in which the role of the Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Cuba has an authoritarian government where political opposition is not permitted.[\[16\]]( Censorship is extensive and independent journalism is repressed;[\[18\]]( Reporters Without Borders has characterized Cuba as one of the worst countries for press freedom.[\[21\]]( Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America.[\[22\]]( Cuba is a founding member of the United Nations, G77, [...] The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited as early as the 4th millennium BC, with the Guanahatabey and Taíno peoples inhabiting the area at the time of Spanish colonization in the 15th century. It was then a colony of Spain, through the abolition of slavery in 1886, until the Spanish–American War of 1898, when Cuba was occupied by the United States and gained independence "Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)") in 1902. In 1940, Cuba implemented a new constitution, but mounting political unrest

• Cuba Travel | Tourism Portal

  Cuba is an archipelago made up of the largest island of the Antilles called Cuba, Isla de la Juventud (formerly called Isle of Pines), and another 4,195 cays, islets and adjacent islands. It is located in the Caribbean Sea (or Caribbean Sea), near the coast of the United States and Mexico. Its limits are to the north with the Strait of Florida, to the east with the Paso de los Vientos, to the south with the Caribbean Sea and the west with the Gulf of Mexico. It has an area of ​​109 884.01 [...] The Cuban archipelago is located in the most occidental part of the insular Caribbean. Groups the island of Cuba, the island of La Juventud and more of four thousand islets and keys. The territory emerged is one of 111 thousand km². The geography of Cuba, with 6 thousand km of shores, houses numerous inlets, bays and beaches. Read more Image 28: Image ### NATURE [...] Varadero Havana Camagüey Las Tunas Holguín Granma Santiago Ciego de Ávila Matanzas Guantanamo Isla de la Juventud Cayo Largo del Sur Sancti Spiritus Artemisa Pinar Del Río Mayabeque Cienfuegos Villa Clara Cayo Guillermo Santa Maria Cayo Coco Oops! No destinations found. Consider changing the search query. List is empty. Promotion Check In: September 2025

• Cuba | Government, Flag, Capital, Population, & Language | Britannica

  Cuba is a multicultural, largely urban nation, although it has only one major city: Havana (La Habana), the capital and commercial hub of the country, on the northwestern coast. Handsome if rather run-down, Havana has a scenic waterfront and is surrounded by fine beaches, an attraction for increasing numbers of visitors from abroad. Cuba’s other cities—including Santiago, Camagüey, Holguín, and, especially, Trinidad—offer a rich legacy of colonial Spanish architecture to complement contemporary [...] Cuba is situated just south of the Tropic of Cancer at the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean (north and east), the Gulf of Mexico (west), and the Caribbean Sea (south). Haiti, the nearest neighbouring country, is 48 miles (77 km) to the east, across the Windward Passage; Jamaica is 87 miles (140 km) to the south; the Bahamas archipelago extends to within 50 miles (80 km) of the northern coast; and the United States is about 90 miles (150 km) to the north across the Straits of Florida. [...] The country comprises an archipelago of about 1,600 islands, islets, and cays with a combined area three-fourths as large as the U.S. state of Florida. The islands form an important segment of the Antilles (West Indies) island chain, which continues east and then south in a great arc enclosing the Caribbean Sea. The island of Cuba itself is by far the largest in the chain and constitutes one of the four islands of the Greater Antilles. In general, the island runs from northwest to southeast and

• Cuba Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

  Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean Sea. Cuba and its neighbors form the Greater Antilles, a chain of islands created millions of years ago when two of Earth's tectonic plates collided. Cuba is a long and narrow island. It stretches 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) from east to west, but is only 60 miles (100 kilometers) wide in most places. High mountains and rolling hills cover about one-third of Cuba. The other two-thirds of the island are lowland plains used mainly for farming. [...] Cuba is a socialist state run by the Cuban Communist Party. Cubans vote for their leaders, but the communist party is the only legal party. Fidel Castro was president, prime minister, and commander of the armed forces until February 2008, when he stepped down due to a lengthy illness. [...] Photograph by Evgenia Bolyukh, Dreamstime Cuba Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean Sea. FAST FACTS OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Cuba FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Socialist republic CAPITAL: Havana POPULATION: 11,116,396 OFFICIAL LANUAGE: Spanish MONEY: Peso AREA: 42,802 square miles (110,860 square kilometers) ### GEOGRAPHY Image 8 Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.

• [PDF] CUBA COUNTRY PROFILE - Cuban Research Institute

  Coastline–5,746 km (3,570.4 mi) Cuba’s coastline to the north has deep harbors, coral lowlands, and white, sandy beaches. The southern shore has coral islands, reefs, and swamps. The largest harbors are in Havana, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Nuevitas, Guantánamo, and Santiago de Cuba. Rivers Of Cuba’s more than six hundred rivers and streams, only two are navigable. The Cauto, located in the southeast and 343 km (213 mi) long, provides only 110 km (70 mi) of transport waterway. The Sagua la Grande, [...] CUBA COUNTRY PROFILE The recorded history of Cuba began on October 28, 1492, when Christopher Columbus sighted the island during his first voyage of discovery and claimed it for Spain. Since its occupation and settlement in 1511, Cuba remained a Spanish possession until 1898 (except for eleven months during the 1762–63 English takeover of Havana), ruled by a colonial governor, first in Santiago and later in Havana. Since the late eighteenth century, Cuba’s economy relied increasingly on [...] adjacent keys and small islands. The archipelago lies west of the northern Caribbean Sea, east of the Gulf of Mexico, and west of the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba is located south of the eastern United States and the Bahamas, west of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Haiti, east of Mexico, and north of the Cayman Islands and Jamaica. It is 150 km (93.3 mi) south of Key West, Florida. Geographic Coordinates: 21 30 N, 80 00 W Surface Area • Total: 110,860 km2 (42,803 mi2) • Land: 109,884 km2 (42,426 mi2)

• Image

  

• Country

  Cuba

• Instance Of

  Q6256

• Population

  10,985,974

• Coordinates

  Lat: 22.0, Lon: -79.5

• Inception Date

  12/10/1898

Cuba (/ˈkjuːbə/ KEW-bə, Spanish: [ˈkuβa]), officially the Republic of Cuba (Spanish: República de Cuba [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa]), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic), and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The official area of the Republic of Cuba is 109,884 km2 (42,426 sq mi) (without the territorial waters) but a total of 350,730 km² (135,418 sq mi) including the exclusive economic zone. Cuba is the second-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti, with over 11 million inhabitants. The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited by the Ciboney Taíno people from the 4th millennium BC until Spanish colonization in the 15th century. From the 15th century, it was a colony of Spain, and slavery was abolished in 1882, until the Spanish–American War of 1898, when Cuba was occupied by the United States and gained independence in 1902. In 1940, Cuba implemented a new constitution, but mounting political unrest culminated in a coup in 1952 and the subsequent dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, which was later overthrown in January 1959 by the 26th of July Movement during the Cuban Revolution, which afterwards established communist rule under the leadership of Fidel Castro. The country was a point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, and a nuclear war nearly broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba faced a severe economic downturn in the 1990s, known as the Special Period. In 2008, Fidel Castro resigned after 49 years of leadership of Cuba and was replaced by his brother Raúl Castro. Cuba is one of a few extant Marxist–Leninist socialist states, in which the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America. It is a multiethnic country whose people, culture and customs derive from diverse origins, including the Taíno Ciboney peoples, the long period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of enslaved Africans and a close relationship with the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Cuba is a founding member of the United Nations, the G77, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, ALBA, and the Organization of American States. It has currently one of the world's few planned economies, and its economy is dominated by the tourism industry and the exports of skilled labor, sugar, tobacco, and coffee. Cuba has historically—both before and during communist rule—performed better than other countries in the region on several socioeconomic indicators, such as literacy, infant mortality and life expectancy. Cuba has a one-party authoritarian regime where political opposition is not permitted. There are elections in Cuba, but they are not considered democratic. Censorship of information (including limits to Internet access) is extensive, and independent journalism is repressed in Cuba; Reporters Without Borders has characterized Cuba as one of the worst countries in the world for press freedom.