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Cuba is a Caribbean country. Consisting of a larger
island and several smaller ones, it is located in the
Atlantic Ocean, south of the state of Florida (United
States of America), almost closing the Gulf of
Mexico. It covers an area of 110 860 km2. The
main cities are Havana, the capital, with 2 359 200
residents (2004), Santiago de Cuba (564 500 residents),
Camagüey (360 300 residents) And Holguín (326 600 residents).
The climate is tropical with two distinct seasons, the
dry season, from November to April, and the rainy
season, from May to October. Between June and November
is the time of hurricanes, which are sometimes
devastating.
Economy
Since 1971, Cuba began to diversify agriculture. In
order to reduce the dependence on imported food, rice
cultivation and cattle raising were developed. But even
so, the country's economic development was due to the
large subsidies granted by the Soviet Union, between the
1960s and 1980s. However, with the disintegration of the
Eastern Bloc, between 1990 and 1991, Cuba was completely
isolated.
The country's economy is planned and depends heavily on
exports of sugar, tobacco and nickel. The cultivated
agricultural products are sugar cane, orange, mandarin,
banana, manioc, potato, tomato, sweet potato, rice and
tobacco. There are few mineral resources, with the
exception of nickel reserves. The industry produces
tobacco, food products, beverages, chemicals, transport
material, textiles, clothing and rubber products. Cuba's
main trading partners are Russia, Spain, Canada, Mexico
and the Netherlands.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide
emissions, per capita (metric tons, 1999), is
2.3.
Population
The population is 11 382 820 residents (2006), which
corresponds to a population density of 102.35 residents/km2. The
birth and death rates are respectively 11.89% and
7.22%. Average life expectancy is 77.41 years. The value
of the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.806 and the
value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) was
not assigned (2001). It is estimated that, in 2025, the
population will be 11 831 000 residents. The main
ethnicities are mestizo, with 51%, white, with 37%,
black, with 11%, and Chinese, with 1%. The most
prominent religions are Catholic, with 40%, and
Protestant, with 3%; atheists represent 55% of the
population. The official language is Castilian.
History
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba and, in
1512, the Spaniards built the first city in
Baracoa. Spain was always the colonizing country, except
during the period of British rule, in 1762, and until it
was defeated by the USA in the Spanish-American War of
1898. American troops occupied Cuba until 1902, the year
in which a treaty was implemented. of
independence. Despite this, US interests continued to
dominate the island's economic life. However, the
country was ruled by a series of dictators. The last was
Fulgencio Batista, whose corrupt and intolerant regime
lasted, without interruption, from 1933 to 1959. In that
year, a group of revolutionaries headed by Fidel Castro,
at the time a law student, and by his lieutenant, Che
Guevara, overthrew Batista after two years of an intense
guerrilla. Mass arrests and executions followed, and
thousands of Cubans took refuge in the United
States. Cuba turned to the Soviet Union for economic
aid. Some time later, Fidel Castro proclaimed the
communist state. Cuba became the first communist
republic in the western hemisphere. For Cuba democracy and rights, please check localbusinessexplorer.
In 1961, several Cuban exiles trained by the CIA landed
in the Bay of Pigs in an unsuccessful attempt to provoke
a rebellion. A year later, Cuba was the detonator that
was about to start a new world war. Fidel Castro
accepted plans to install Soviet missile bases on the
island, just 145 kmoff Florida's American coast. The US
Navy organized a blockade to prevent Soviet ships from
transporting the missiles to Cuba. American and Soviet
leaders, John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev,
threatened each other. While the international community
waited breathlessly, Khrushchev stepped back. Since that
time, Cuba has tried to reestablish relations with the
United States.
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| 1UpTravel.com - Maps of Cuba |
| Browse a collection of city, country, shaded relief,
historical, and political maps of this Caribbean island.
View the maps of Havana, Guantanamo Bay, and Central
Cuba. |
| http://www.1uptravel.com/worldmaps/cuba.html |
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| Cuba - Caribbean Travel Guide |
| Transparent outline map of Cuba offers visitors a simple
interpretation of the island. Locate land features,
villages, and cities. |
| http://www.caribbeantravel.com/cgi-bin/gb_msg.pl?msg=destina |
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| Cuba - Caribbean Travel Map |
| Features a stylistic graphical map of Cuba, and
surrounding islands. This is not a reference map for
Cuba itself. |
| http://www.caribbeantravel.com/zoom_west.html |
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| Cuba - Merriam-Webster Atlas |
| Features a small detailed map of the island, plus
country facts, a historical summary, and an embedded
image of the Cuban flag. |
| http://www.m-w.com/maps/cuba.html |
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| Cuba - National Geographic Map Machine |
| Read about this history of the first communist state in
the Western Hemisphere. Features a shaded-relief map. |
| http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps/atlas/namerica/cuba.h |
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| Cuba - WorldAtlas.com |
| Don't just look at the map of this Caribbean nation,
check out the facts, and figures section to learn about
the government, and economy. |
| http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/namerica/crbmaps/cuba.htm |
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| cuba mapa .com - Maps of Cuba |
| Directory lists road and street maps of Cuba's
provinces, towns, and cities. Includes Havana,
Cienfuegos, Pinar del Rio, Granma, Santiago de Cuba,
Camaguey, and Holguin. |
| http://www.cubamapa.com |
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