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PAGE 2
Basic Facts-Cuba
| Area |
|
Main Island (760 miles long by average 50 miles wide) largest in Caribbean;
about 3,700 smaller islands and keys; area c. 42,800 sq. mi.; coastline
c.2,500 miles; mostly flat with 3 mountain ranges; 23% arable |
|
| Climate |
|
Semitropical (mean temperature 77F) tempered by northeast trade winds;
little variation between January and August; annual rainfall 52 inches;
hurricanes in late summer and fall |
|
| Population |
|
11.1 million (1998); birthrate 14 per 1,000, death rate 7; growth rate
0.7% (down from 1.32% in 1985); 23% under 25; life expectancy for men 73,
for women 77; density c. 259 per sq. mile; 76% urban |
|
| Ethnic Composition |
|
Mixed white and African ancestry c. 51%; white, mainly of Spanish descent
c. 37%; African ancestry c. 11%; almost all native born |
|
| Language |
|
Spanish |
|
| Education |
|
Literacy 99% (1992); church schools nationalized 1961; universal education
a major achievement of the revolution; school attendance compulsory and
free ages 6 to 12; 92% of those 6 to 14 attend school (late 1980s); c.
936,000 in primary school; c. 775,350 in secondary school; c. 367,800 in
technical school, teachers college, and other schools; c. 262,000 in university |
|
| Religion |
|
Officially atheist but all faiths allowed; before 1961 nominal Roman
Catholics 85%; active Christians (1988 est) : c.200,000 Roman Catholics,
200,000 Protestants (including Pentecostal); probably more by 1998; Santeria
and Spiritism very strong |
|
| National |
|
Land and climate favorable to agriculture; large reserves of nickel,
chrome,Resources copper, iron, maganese |
|
| Economy |
|
GDP (1995) $14.7 billion (down from $39 billion in 1988); per
capita GDP (1995) $1,300 (down from $3,911 in 1988) Labor force:
agriculture 20%, industry and commerce 33%, tourism and other services
30%. Most land, factories, wholesale and retail outlets owned by state;
centralized planning. Varied policy on crops for private use and free markets
since 1991 Crops: sugar, rice, tobacco, coffee, citrus, pineapples,
cacao, bananas, corn, cotton, henequen, potatoes, tomatoes, pimentos; cattle,
hogs, horses, poultry, sheep, and goats Minerals: nickel, copper,
chromium, salt, cobalt, stone, crude oil, natural gas, manganese Manufactured
goods: sugar, dairy and cattle products, cement, nickel, steel, refined
oil, rubber,tobacco, textiles, clothes, chemicals, fertilizer Balance
of trade: exports $1.6 billion(1995 est.); sugar (75%), nickel,
fish products, citrus, tobacco; imports $2.4 billion (1995 est.);
oil and industrial raw materials (c. 33%); machinery andtransportation
equipment (c. 33%) foodstuffs and manufactured goods; tourism a growing
source of foreign exchange; chief trading partners: Spain, Mexico, Canada,
China, Russia One-crop economy: devastated when U.S. (largest trading
partner) canceled its sugar quota(1960) and imposed trade embargo (1962);
sustained by Soviet subsidy for sugar above market price; great suffering
when Soviet Union collapsed (1989) and U.S. tightened embargo Legal
currency: peso; use of U.S. dollar permitted (1992) as economic crisis
required development of hard currency sources |
Sources
Infopedia
2.0 (Encyclopedia plus 7 reference books on CD-ROM)
Dominquez,
Jorge I. Cuba, Order and Revolution. Cambridge, Mass.:Harvard University,
Belknap Press. 1978
Ramos,
Marcos A. Protestantism and Revolution in Cuba. Miami: University
of Miami North-South Center for the Research Institute for Cuban Studies.1989
Rudolph,
James D. Cuba. A Country Study. 3rd ed. Washington D.C.: American
University. 1987
FROM MAP
& FACTS: CUBA. OXFORD CARTOGRAPHERS. TEXT BY JOSEPH A. PEREZ. ©
1999 BY FRIENDSHIP PRESS. USED BYPERMISSION.
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