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Background
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Geography
Cuba is the largest country by land area in the Caribbean. Located just 90 miles south of Florida, it consists of the main island of Cuba and four smaller surrounding groups of islands or archipelagos: the Colorados Archipelago, the Sabana-Camaguey Archipelago, the Jardines de la Reina, and the Canarreos Archipelago. Cuba is the 16th largest island in the world by land area measuring a total 42,803 square miles.
Population
Cuba is the most populous island in the Caribbean with a population of 11,451,652, ranked 72 in the world. Its capital is Havana with a metropolitan population over 3.7 million people. The Cuban population is made up of 65.1% whites, 24.8% mulatto and mestizo, and 10.1% black. The official language is Spanish with a literacy rate (ability to read and write) above 99%.
The population growth rate is 0.233%, ranked 181 in the world. Cuba's median age is 37.3 years. The country's birth rate is 11.13 births per every 1,000 population and the death rate is 7.24 deaths per every 1,000 population. The Cuban age structure is as follows:
| Cuban Age Structures |
| 0-14 years |
18.3% |
Male 1,077,745/Female 1,020,393 |
| 15-64 years |
70.4% |
Male 4,035,691/Female 4,030,103 |
| 65+ years |
11.2% |
Mail 584,478/Female 703,242 |
Government
The Republic of Cuba is a Communist state consisting of 14 administrative provinces and 1 special municipality. The Cubans recognize their independence from Spain on May 20, 1902 although the United States occupied Cuba until 1912. The Cuban Constitution describes the country as a social republic with the Communist Party as the leading force of the society and the state. The President of Cuba is elected by the Assembly and serves for terms of five years with no limit to the number of terms in office.
Suffrage is granted to those who have been residents of Cuba for at least two years, to those who are at least sixteen years old, and to those who have never been convicted of a criminal offense. The Cuban government is made up of three branches: the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judiciary Branch. Although the form of government can be found with similarities to that of a democracy, many other institutions have led to describe the Cuban government as a dictatorship and totalitarian state.
Economy
The economy of Cuba is mostly state-controlled with about 76% of the employment being public sectors and 23% for the private sector. The standard Cuban currency is the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) now that the U.S. dollar is no longer accepted since November 2008. Cuba's GDP (gross domestic product) is estimated at $110.8 billion ranking them 64th in the world in purchasing power parity. The GDP real growth rate is 1% and the per capita is about $9,700 ranking them at 108 in comparison the world. The labor force consists of about 4.968 million with 20% in agriculture, 19.4% in industry, and 60.6% in services. Cuba's unemployment rate is only 1.6% putting them at number 11 in the world.
Cuba's rate of economic growth exceeds the rest of Latin America. The people receive low housing and transportation costs, free education and health care, and food subsidies. The key industries of Cuba include sugar, petroleum, tobacco, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, and pharmaceuticals. Its major agricultural products are sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, and beans. Cuba exports over $3.253 billion per year with most of the products being sugar, nickel, fish, tobacco, medical products, citrus, and coffee. Since it's still an island, the country imports more than it exports at $10.86 billion a year ranging from products like petroleum, food, chemicals, machinery and equipment.
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