{{Short description|Country in the Caribbean}}
{{Redirect|Republic of Cuba|the historical period of the first republic|Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)|other uses|Cuba (disambiguation)}}
{{Pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2026}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Republic of Cuba
| common_name = Cuba
| native_name = {{nativename|es-CU|República de Cuba}}
| image_flag = Flag of Cuba.svg
| image_coat = Coat of arms of Cuba.svg
| alt_coat = A shield in front of a Fasces crowned by the Phrygian Cap, all supported by an oak branch and a laurel wreath
| symbol_type = Coat of arms
| national_motto = {{lang|es-CU|[[Patria o Muerte, Venceremos]]}}
("Homeland or Death, We Shall Overcome!"){{lower|0.2em|[{{cite web |url=http://www.bc.gob.cu/english/cuban_bills.asp |title=Cuban Peso Bills |publisher=Central Bank of Cuba |year=2015 |access-date=14 February 2017 |archive-date=26 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926193856/http://www.bc.gob.cu/English/cuban_bills.asp}}]}}
| national_anthem = {{lang|es-CU|[[La Bayamesa]]}}
{{raise|0.2em|("The Bayamo Song"){{lower|0.2em|[{{cite web |url=http://mipais.cuba.cu/cat_en.php?idcat=91&idpadre=83&nivel=2 |title=National symbols |publisher=Government of Cuba |access-date=7 September 2009 |archive-date=15 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115200948/http://mipais.cuba.cu/cat_en.php?idcat=91&idpadre=83&nivel=2 |url-status=dead }}]}}}}
{{parabr}}{{center|[[File:Cuban national anthem (abridged version), performed by the U.S. Navy Band.oga]]}}
| image_map = CUB orthographic.svg
| image_map2 =
| map_width = 250px
| alt_map =
| map_caption = Cuba, shown in dark green
| capital = [[Havana]]
| coordinates = {{coord|23|8|N|82|23|W|type:city}}
| largest_city = capital
| official_languages = [[Cuban Spanish|Spanish]]
| ethnic_groups = {{unbulleted list
| 64.12% [[White Cubans|White]]
| 26.62% [[Multiracial people|Mixed]]/[[Mulatto]]
| 9.26% [[Afro-Cubans|Black]]
}}
| ethnic_groups_year = 2012
| ethnic_groups_ref = {{efn|Data represents racial self-identification from Cuba's 2012 national census.}}[{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/ |title=Central America:: Cuba – The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=28 September 2021 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812170744/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/ |url-status=live }}]
| religion = {{ublist |item_style=white-space:nowrap;
| 58.9% [[Christianity in Cuba|Christianity]]
| 23.2% [[Irreligion in Latin America|no religion]]
| 17.6% [[folk religion]]s
| 0.3% other
}}
| religion_year = 2020
| religion_ref = [{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/|title=Cuba – The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|date=6 October 2021|access-date=19 January 2021|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812170744/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/|url-status=dead}}]
| demonym = [[Cubans|Cuban]]
| government_type = [[Communist state]]
| leader_title1 = [[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba|First Secretary]] and [[President of Cuba|President]]{{efn|The most powerful political position is [[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba]], not [[President of Cuba|President]]. The first secretary controls the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba|Politburo]] and the [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of Cuba|Secretariat]], Cuba's top decision-making bodies, making the officeholder ''de facto'' leader of Cuba.}}
| leader_name1 = [[Miguel Díaz-Canel]]
| leader_title2 = {{nowrap|[[Vice President of Cuba|Vice President]]}}
| leader_name2 = [[Salvador Valdés Mesa]]
| leader_title3 = [[Prime Minister of Cuba|Prime Minister]]
| leader_name3 = {{nowrap|[[Manuel Marrero Cruz]]}}
| leader_title4 = [[List of presidents of the National Assembly of People's Power (Cuba)|President of the National Assembly]]
| leader_name4 = {{nowrap|[[Esteban Lazo Hernández]]}}
| legislature = [[National Assembly of People's Power]]
| sovereignty_type = [[History of Cuba|Independence]]
| sovereignty_note = from [[Spanish Empire|Spain]]
| established_event1 = [[Ten Years' War|Declaration of Independence]]
| established_date1 = 10 October 1868
| established_event2 = [[Cuban War of Independence|War of Independence]]
| established_date2 = 24 February 1895
| established_event3 = [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|Recognized]] (sovereignty relinquished by Spain)
| established_date3 = 10 December 1898
| established_event4 = [[Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)|Republic]] declared (end of [[Military Government of Cuba|United States occupation]])
| established_date4 = 20 May 1902
| established_event5 = [[Cuban Revolution]]
| established_date5 = 26 July 1953 – 1 January 1959
| established_event6 = [[Constitution of Cuba#2019 Constitution|Current constitution]]
| established_date6 = 10 April 2019
| area_km2 = 110,860[{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/#geography|title=Cuba|date=20 February 2023|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=20 November 2023|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812170744/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/#geography|url-status=dead}}]
| area_rank = 104th
| area_sq_mi = 42,803
| percent_water = 0.94
| population_estimate = {{DecreaseNeutral}} 9,434,593[{{citeweb|url=https://www.onei.gob.cu/sites/default/files/publicaciones/2026-07/indicadores-demograficos-2025.pdf|title=INDICADORES DEMOGRÁFICOS DE CUBA Y SUS TERRITORIOS 2025|date=July 2026|author=Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información|p=3|lang=es}}]
| population_estimate_year = 2025
| population_estimate_rank = 95th
| population_census = {{DecreaseNeutral}} 11,089,511[{{cite web |title=Indicadores Demográficos por provincias y municipios 2022 |url=http://www.onei.gob.cu/node/13815 |publisher=Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Information República de Cuba |access-date=8 June 2023 |language=es |archive-date=14 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314034430/http://www.onei.gob.cu/}}]
| population_census_year = 2022
| population_census_rank =
| population_density_km2 = 89.8
| population_density_sq_mi = 230
| population_density_rank = 125th
| GDP_PPP = $254.865 billion[{{cite web|title=World Bank GDP PPP 2015, 28 April 2017 PDF |url=https://archive.org/details/GDPPPP1|access-date=18 January 2018}}]
| GDP_PPP_year = 2015
| GDP_PPP_rank =
| GDP_PPP_per_capita = $22,237[{{cite web|title=World Bank total population of Cuba in 2015 (GDP PPP divided by Population data)|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?end=2015&locations=CU&start=1960|access-date=18 January 2018|archive-date=11 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111235251/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?end=2015&locations=CU&start=1960|url-status=live}}]
| GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank =
| GDP_nominal = {{increase}} $252.063 billion[{{cite web |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/snaama/Basic |title=Basic Data Selection |publisher=United Nations |access-date=14 February 2026|archive-date=9 March 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250309165120/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/snaama/Basic |url-status=live }}]
| GDP_nominal_year = 2024
| GDP_nominal_rank = 59th
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = {{increase}} $22,957[
| GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 60th
| Gini = 38.0
| Gini_year = 2000
| Gini_ref = ][{{cite news |title=Cuba grapples with growing inequality |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-reform-inequality-idUSN1033501920080410 |first=Marc |last=Frank |date=10 April 2008 |access-date=21 July 2013 |work=[[Reuters]] |archive-date=23 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223074938/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-reform-inequality-idUSN1033501920080410 |url-status=live }}]
| Gini_rank =
| HDI = 0.762
| HDI_year = 2023
| HDI_change = decrease
| HDI_ref = [{{cite web|url=https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2023-24reporten.pdf|title=Human Development Report 2023/24|language=en|publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme]]|date=13 March 2024|access-date=13 March 2024|archive-date=13 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313164319/https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2023-24reporten.pdf|url-status=live}}]
| HDI_rank = 97th
| currency = [[Cuban peso]]
| currency_code = CUP
| time_zone = [[UTC−05:00|CST]]
| utc_offset = −05:00
| time_zone_DST = [[UTC−04:00|CDT]]
| utc_offset_DST = −04:00
| date_format = {{nowrap|dd/mm/yyyy}}
| calling_code = [[Telephone numbers in Cuba|+53]]
| cctld = [[.cu]]
| footnotes = {{notelist}}
}}
'''Cuba''',{{efn|{{IPAc-en|audio=En-Cuba-pronunciation.ogg|ˈ|k|juː|b|ə}} {{respell|KEW|bə}}, {{IPA|es-CU|ˈkuβa|lang|es-am-lat-Cuba.ogg}}}} officially the '''Republic of Cuba''',{{efn|{{langx|es-CU|República de Cuba|links=no}} {{IPA|es-CU|reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa||}}}} is an [[island country]] in the [[Caribbean]]. It comprises the eponymous main island as well as [[List of islands of Cuba|4,195 islands]], [[Islet|islets]], and [[Cay|cays]]. Situated at the convergence of the [[Caribbean Sea]], [[Gulf of Mexico]], and [[Atlantic Ocean]], Cuba is located east of the [[Yucatán Peninsula]], south of both [[Florida]] and [[the Bahamas]], west of [[Hispaniola]], and north of [[Jamaica]] and the [[Cayman Islands]]. Cuba is the largest country in the Caribbean by area and the [[List of sovereign states and dependent territories in the Caribbean|third-largest]] by population, after [[Haiti]] and the [[Dominican Republic]]. Culturally, Cuba is considered to be part of [[Latin America]]. Its capital and largest city is [[Havana]].[{{cite book |last=Rangel |first=Carlos |author-link=Carlos Rangel |title=The Latin Americans: Their Love-Hate Relationship with the United States |publisher=[[Harcourt Brace Jovanovich]] |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-15-148795-0 |location=New York |pages=3–5}} {{cite book |last=Skidmore |first=Thomas E. |author-link=Thomas E. Skidmore|url=https://archive.org/details/modernlatinameri0006skid/page/1 |title=Modern Latin America |author2-first=Peter H. |author2-last=Smith |author2-link=Peter H. Smith|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-517013-9 |edition=6 |location=Oxford and New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/modernlatinameri0006skid/page/1 1–10] |url-access=registration}}]
Cuba was inhabited as early as the 4th millennium BC, with the [[Guanahatabey]] and [[Taino|Taíno]] peoples present at the time of [[Chronology of Colonial Cuba|Spanish colonization]] in the 15th century. Cuba's population descends primarily from three groups: pre-Columbian [[indigenous peoples]], chiefly the Taíno and [[Ciboney]],[{{cite journal |last1=Lalueza-Fox |first1=Carles |last2=Gilbert |first2=M. Thomas P. |last3=Martínez-Fuentes |first3=Antonio J. |last4=Calafell |first4=Francesc |last5=Bertranpetit |first5=Jaume |year=2003 |title=Mitochondrial DNA from Pre-Columbian Ciboneys from Cuba and the Prehistoric Colonization of the Caribbean |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=121 |issue=2 |pages=97–108 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.10236 |pmid=12740952 |bibcode=2003AJPA..121...97L }}][{{cite journal |last1=Mendizabal |first1=Isabel |last2=Sandoval |first2=Karla |last3=Berniell-Lee |first3=Gemma |last4=Calafell |first4=Francesc |last5=Salas |first5=Antonio |last6=Martínez-Fuentes |first6=Antonio |last7=Comas |first7=David |year=2008 |title=Genetic origin, admixture, and asymmetry in maternal and paternal human lineages in Cuba |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=213 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-8-213 |doi-access=free |pmc=2492877 |pmid=18644108 |bibcode=2008BMCEE...8..213M }}] [[Spaniards|Spanish settlers]] and [[Spanish immigration to Cuba|immigrants]] (mainly from [[Andalusia]], the [[Canary Islands]], [[Galicia, Spain|Galicia]], and [[Asturias]]),[{{cite book |last=Pérez Jr. |first=Louis A. |year=2006 |title=Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution |edition=3rd |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-517911-8}}] and [[Sub-Saharan Africa|sub-Saharan Africans]] brought through the [[Atlantic slave trade|transatlantic slave trade]].[{{cite book |last=Klein |first=Herbert S. |year=2010 |title=The Atlantic Slave Trade |edition=2nd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-18250-8}}] The territory [[Captaincy General of Cuba|remained part]] of the [[Spanish Empire]] until the [[Spanish–American War]] of 1898, after which it was [[Military Government of Cuba|occupied by the United States]] and gained [[Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)|independence]] in 1902. A [[Cuban Revolution of 1933|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 [[1940 Constitution of Cuba|new constitution]], but mounting political unrest culminated in the [[1952 Cuban coup d'état]]. Batista's [[autocratic]] government was eventually overthrown in January 1959 by the [[26th of July Movement]], during the [[Cuban Revolution]]. The revolution established a communist government under [[Fidel Castro]] that remains to this day. Castro's government became a major point of contention between the [[Soviet Union]] and the United States during the [[Cold War]]; the 1962 [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] is widely considered to be the closest the world has come to a [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]].
During the 1970s through the late 1980s, Cuba [[Foreign interventions by Cuba|intervened in numerous conflicts]] in support of anti-colonial and 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 (Cuba)|Council of State]] in 2018, and [[Miguel Díaz-Canel]] was elected president by the [[National Assembly]] following [[2018 Cuban parliamentary election|parliamentary elections]]. Raúl retired as [[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba|First Secretary of the Communist Party]] in 2021, and Díaz-Canel was elected thereafter, becoming Cuba's first leader to have been born after the Cuban Revolution.
Cuba is a [[Socialist state (communism)|socialist state]] in which the role of the [[Communist Party of Cuba|Communist Party]] is enshrined in the [[Constitution of Cuba|Constitution]]. Cuba is currently the world's only communist country outside of Asia. Cuba has an [[authoritarian]] government wherein political opposition is prohibited.[{{cite book |last1=Levitsky |first1=Steven |author1-link=Steven Levitsky|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZDI05p1PDgC&pg=PA361 |title=Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War |last2=Way |first2=Lucan A. |date=16 August 2010 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-139-49148-8 |pages=361–363 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409052842/https://books.google.com/books?id=NZDI05p1PDgC&pg=PA361 |url-status=live }}][{{cite journal |last1=Lachapelle |first1=Jean |last2=Levitsky |first2=Steven |last3=Way |first3=Lucan A. |last4=Casey |first4=Adam E. |title=Social Revolution and Authoritarian Durability |journal=World Politics |date=October 2020 |volume=72 |issue=4 |pages=557–600 |doi=10.1017/S0043887120000106 }}] [[Censorship in Cuba|Censorship is extensive]], and independent journalism is repressed;[{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Stein |first1=Elizabeth Ann |title=Information and Civil Unrest in Dictatorships |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics |date=2016 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.35 }}][{{Cite web |title=Six facts about censorship in Cuba |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/six-facts-about-censorship-in-cuba/ |access-date=17 December 2020 |publisher=Amnesty International |date=11 March 2016 |language=en |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011094221/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/six-facts-about-censorship-in-cuba/ |url-status=live }}][{{Cite web |title=2015 World Press Freedom Index |url=http://index.rsf.org/#!/index-details/CUB |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150827202105/http://index.rsf.org/#!/index-details/CUB |archive-date=27 August 2015 |access-date=23 April 2026 |website=Reporters Without Borders}}] [[Reporters Without Borders]] has characterized Cuba as one of the worst countries for [[press freedom]].[{{cite web|year=2008|title=Press Freedom Index 2008 |url=http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/cl_en_2008.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303221403/http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/cl_en_2008.pdf|archive-date=3 March 2009|publisher=Reporters Without Borders}}][{{Cite news |date=30 January 2015 |title=US rejects Cuba demand to hand back Guantanamo Bay base |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-31059030 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207183342/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-31059030 |archive-date=7 December 2016 |access-date=23 April 2026 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}][{{cite web |title=Landmine Monitor Report 2000: Cuba |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/landmines/LMWeb-14.htm |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}]
Cuba has one of the world's few [[Planned economy#Command economy|command economies]], and [[Economy of Cuba|its economy]] is [[Tourism in Cuba|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 Latin America and the Caribbean in literacy.[{{cite web |title=Pre-Castro Cuba {{!}} American Experience |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/comandante-pre-castro-cuba/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722110826/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/comandante-pre-castro-cuba/ |archive-date=22 July 2021 |access-date=20 July 2021 |publisher=PBS}}][{{cite web |last1=Greenberg |first1=Jon |date=24 February 2020 |title=Fact-checking Bernie Sanders' claim on Cuba literacy under Castro |url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/feb/24/bernie-sanders/sanders-correct-cuba-literacy-campaign-skimps-prop/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720000408/https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/feb/24/bernie-sanders/sanders-correct-cuba-literacy-campaign-skimps-prop/ |archive-date=20 July 2021 |access-date=20 July 2021 |website=[[PolitiFact]]}}] After the 1959 revolution, Cuba performed better than other Latin American countries in infant and maternal 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 [[World Wide Fund for Nature|WWF]].[{{cite journal |last1=Cabello |first1=Juan José |display-authors=etal. |year=2012 |title=An approach to sustainable development: the case of Cuba |journal=Environment, Development and Sustainability |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=573–591 |doi=10.1007/s10668-012-9338-8 |bibcode=2012EDSus..14..573C }}] Cuba has a [[universal health care]] system that provides free medical treatment to all Cuban citizens,[{{cite journal |last1=Geloso |first1=Vincent |last2=Pavlik |first2=Jamie Bologna |title=The Cuban revolution and infant mortality: A synthetic control approach |journal=Explorations in Economic History |date=April 2021 |volume=80 |article-number=101376 |doi=10.1016/j.eeh.2020.101376 }}][{{cite news |last=Kessler |first=Glenn |author-link=Glenn Kessler (journalist)|date=1 December 2016 |title=Justin Trudeau's claim that Castro made 'significant improvements' to Cuban health care and education |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/12/01/justin-trudeaus-claim-that-castro-made-significant-improvements-to-cuban-health-care-and-education/ |url-access=registration |access-date=19 August 2017 |archive-date=17 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417102506/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/12/01/justin-trudeaus-claim-that-castro-made-significant-improvements-to-cuban-health-care-and-education/ |url-status=live }}] although challenges include low salaries for doctors, poor facilities, poor provision of equipment, and the frequent absence of essential drugs.[{{Cite web |year=2023 |title=The State of Social Rights in Cuba: VI Report 2023 |url=https://derechossocialescuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ODS6_EN.pdf |publisher=Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos (OCDH) |access-date=2 October 2023 |archive-date=5 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005132152/https://derechossocialescuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ODS6_EN.pdf |url-status=live }}][{{Cite web |last= |date=2026-04-03 |title=Cuba begins releasing prisoners under scrutiny of rights groups, US government |url=https://www.jpost.com/international/article-892006 |access-date=2026-08-09 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |language=en |quote="The process should be agile, transparent, and should include the totality of political prisoners," said the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, a Madrid-based group that has received US funding.}}] According to the [[World Food Programme]] of the United Nations, rationed food meets only a fraction of daily nutritional needs for many Cubans, leading to health issues.[{{Cite web |date=5 April 2023 |title=Un informe de la ONU señala que los cubanos de 14 a 60 años sufren de malnutrición |url=https://www.14ymedio.com/cuba/informe-ONU-senala-cubanos-malnutricion_0_3508449125.html |access-date=8 October 2023 |website=14ymedio |language=es}}] 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.[{{Cite web |last=Padinger |first=Germán |date=9 November 2021 |title=En qué consiste el embargo comercial de Estados Unidos sobre Cuba |url=https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2021/11/09/embargo-eeuu-cuba-afectado-economia-isla-orix/ |access-date=7 October 2023 |publisher=CNN |language=es |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923191445/https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2021/11/09/embargo-eeuu-cuba-afectado-economia-isla-orix/ |url-status=live }}]
==Etymology==
Historians believe the name ''Cuba'' comes from the [[Taíno language]]; however, its derivation is unknown.[{{cite web|title=Cuba – Cultural institutions {{!}} history – geography|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba/Cultural-institutions#toc129488|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=18 August 2017|page=11|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818052221/https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba/Cultural-institutions#toc129488|url-status=live}}] ''Cuba'' may be translated either as 'where fertile land is abundant' (''cubao''),[{{cite web |url=http://www.alfredcarrada.org/notes8.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219192148/http://alfredcarrada.org/notes8.html |title=Alfred Carrada – The Dictionary of the Taino Language|archive-date=19 February 2009|website=alfredcarrada.org}}] or 'great place' (''coabana'').
Another hypothesis on the name's origin is that the island was named after the town of [[Cuba, Portugal]], supported by those who [[Origin theories of Christopher Columbus#Portugal|believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese]].[{{cite book |first=Augusto | last=Mascarenhas Barreto |date=1988 |isbn=0-333-56315-8 |language=pt |location=Lisboa |publisher=Referendo |title= O Português. Cristóvão Colombo Agente Secreto do Rei Dom João II }}][{{cite book|last1=da Silva |first1=Manuel |last2=da Silva |first2=Silvia Jorge |isbn=978-1-60702-824-6 |date=2008 |language=en |location=Fall River, Massachusetts |publisher=Express Printing |title=Christopher Columbus was Portuguese |url=https://archive.org/details/christophercolum0000silv}}][{{ cite book | first1 = Adám | last1 = Szászdi | first2 = István | last2 = Szászdi | editor-first = Luis Navarro | editor-last = García | publisher = Universidad de Huelva | url = http://www.americanistas.es/biblo/textos/c12/c12-025.pdf | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140727080534/http://www.americanistas.es/biblo/textos/c12/c12-025.pdf | archivedate = 27 July 2014 | title = Orbis Incognitvs. Avisos y Legajos del Nuevo Mundo | chapter = Portugal y Palos en la vida de Colón: algunas observaciones | date = 2007 | isbn = 9788496826243 | language = es | pages = 19–25 | via = Americanistas.es }}]
==History==
{{Main|History of Cuba|Timeline of Cuban history}}
===Pre-Columbian era===
Humans first settled Cuba around 6,000 years ago, descending from migrations from northern South America or Central America.[{{Cite journal |last1=Fernandes |first1=Daniel M. |last2=Sirak |first2=Kendra A. |last3=Ringbauer |first3=Harald |last4=Sedig |first4=Jakob |last5=Rohland |first5=Nadin |last6=Cheronet |first6=Olivia |last7=Mah |first7=Matthew |last8=Mallick |first8=Swapan |last9=Olalde |first9=Iñigo |last10=Culleton |first10=Brendan J. |last11=Adamski |first11=Nicole |last12=Bernardos |first12=Rebecca |last13=Bravo |first13=Guillermo |last14=Broomandkhoshbacht |first14=Nasreen |last15=Callan |first15=Kimberly |date=4 February 2021 |title=A genetic history of the pre-contact Caribbean |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=590 |issue=7844 |pages=103–110 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-03053-2 |pmc=7864882 |pmid=33361817 |bibcode=2021Natur.590..103F }}] The arrival of humans on Cuba is associated with extinctions of the island's native fauna, particularly its [[Megalocnidae|endemic sloths]].[{{Cite journal |last1=Orihuela |first1=Johanset |last2=Viñola |first2=Lázaro W. |last3=Jiménez Vázquez |first3=Osvaldo |last4=Mychajliw |first4=Alexis M. |last5=Hernández de Lara |first5=Odlanyer |last6=Lorenzo |first6=Logel |last7=Soto-Centeno |first7=J. Angel |date=December 2020 |title=Assessing the role of humans in Greater Antillean land vertebrate extinctions: New insights from Cuba |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=249 |article-number=106597 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106597 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2020QSRv..24906597O }}] The [[Arawakan languages|Arawakan]]-speaking ancestors of the [[Taíno]] people arrived in the Caribbean in a separate [[Pre-modern human migration|migration]] from South America around 1,700 years ago. Recent archaeogenetic evidence indicates that this expansion largely replaced the earlier [[Ortoiroid people|pre-ceramic populations]] of the island with almost no genetic admixture between the groups. Unlike the previous settlers of Cuba, the Taíno extensively produced pottery and engaged in intensive agriculture.[{{cite web |title=Tobacco: From Miracle Cure to Deadly Toxin |publisher=Yale University |work=YaleGlobal Online |url=https://archive-yaleglobal.yale.edu/tobacco-miracle-cure-toxin |quote=With a single line in his journal, Columbus described a group of Taino natives smoking rolled tobacco as they rested in the woods near Cuba’s Bahia Bariay harbor that November: “The Spaniards upon their journey met with great multitudes of people, men and women with firebrands in their hands and herbs to smoke after their custom.” Columbus, convinced about great riches in the New World, pursued only dreams of gold. The explorer did not realize that Europe would soon fall under the spell of tobacco and the rest of the world would follow suit.}}] The earliest evidence of the Taíno people on Cuba dates to the 9th century.[{{cite book |last1=Keegan |first1=William F. |last2=Hofman |first2=Corinne L. |title=The Caribbean before Columbus |chapter=Cuba, the Bahama Archipelago, and Jamaica |date=2017 |pages=151–196 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190605247.003.0006 |isbn=978-0-19-060524-7 }}] Descendants of the first settlers of Cuba persisted on the western part of the island until Columbian contact, where they were recorded as the [[Guanahatabey]] people, who lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.[{{cite book |last1=Roksandic |first1=Ivan |title=Cuban Archaeology in the Caribbean |chapter=The Role of the Nicaraguan Rise in the Early Peopling of the Greater Antilles |date=2016 |doi=10.5744/florida/9781683400028.003.0002 |isbn=978-1-68340-002-8 }}][{{cite book |author=Cuba Oficina Del Censo|title=Cuba: Population, History and Resources 1907 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E0iIQ1nxJB4C |year=2009|publisher=BiblioBazaar, LLC|isbn=978-1-110-28818-2|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=E0iIQ1nxJB4C&pg=PA28 28]}} (gives the landing date in Cuba as 28 October)] Columbus claimed the island for the new [[Habsburg Spain|Kingdom of Spain]][{{Harvnb|Gott|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aVq0qOnLFusC&pg=PA13 13]}}] and named it ''Isla Juana'' ("John's Island") after [[John, Prince of Asturias]].[{{cite book |first1=Alfred J. |last1=Andrea |author-link1= Alfred J. Andrea |author2=Overfield, James H. |title=The Human Record |volume=1|chapter=Letter by Christopher Columbus concerning recently discovered islands|publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Company]]|year=2005 |page=8 |isbn=978-0-618-37040-5}}]
[[File:DiegoVelazquezCuellar.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar]], [[conquistador]] of Cuba]]
In 1511 the first [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish settlement]] was founded by [[Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar]] at [[Baracoa]]. Other settlements followed, including [[Havana|San Cristobal de la Habana]], founded in 1514 (southern coast of the island) and then in 1519 (current place), which later became the capital (1607). The Taíno were forced to work under the ''[[encomienda]]'' system,[{{cite web |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/colonial/encomienda-slavery.pdf |title=Encomienda or Slavery? The Spanish Crown's Choice of Labor Organization in Sixteenth-Century Spanish America |website=LatinAmericanStudies.org |access-date=19 July 2013 |archive-date=9 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509061016/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/colonial/encomienda-slavery.pdf |url-status=live }}] which resembled the [[Feudalism|feudal system]] in medieval Europe.[{{Harvnb|McAlister|1984|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=a1vBlgo68J4C&pg=PA164 164]}}] Within a century, the Taíno faced high incidence of mortality from multiple factors—primarily Eurasian [[infectious diseases]] to which they had no [[acquired immunity]], aggravated by the harsh conditions of the repressive colonial subjugation.[{{cite book |last=Diamond |first=Jared M. |author-link=Jared Diamond |title=Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies |url=https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html |publisher=[[W.W. Norton & Co]] |location=c |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-393-03891-0 |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-date=16 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116115810/http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html |url-status=live }}] In 1529, a [[measles]] outbreak killed two-thirds of those few indigenous individuals who had previously survived [[smallpox]].[{{cite book |last=Byrne |first=Joseph Patrick |title=Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues: A-M |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Pvi-ksuKFIC&pg=PA413 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2008 |page=413 |isbn=978-0-313-34102-1 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}][J. N. Hays (2005). ''[https://archive.org/details/epidemicspandemi0000hays/page/82 Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impacts on Human History]'' {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127014715/https://books.google.com/books?id=GyE8Qt-kS1kC&pg=PA82 |date=27 November 2016}}. p.82. {{ISBN|1-85109-658-2}}]
On 18 May 1539, [[conquistador]] [[Hernando de Soto]] departed from Havana with some 600 followers on an extensive expedition through the [[Southeastern United States]] in search of gold, treasure, fame, and power.[Davidson, James West. ''After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection'' Volume 1. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. Chapter 1, p. 1] On 1 September 1548, Gonzalo Perez de Angulo was appointed governor of Cuba. He arrived in [[Santiago de Cuba]] on 4 November 1549 and declared the liberty of the indigenous population.{{sfn|Wright|1916|p=183}} He became Cuba's first permanent governor, residing in Havana, and he built the first church made of masonry in Cuba.{{sfn|Wright|1916|p=229}}{{efn|After the French captured Havana in 1555, the governor's son, Francisco de Angulo, went to the [[New Spain|Viceroyalty of New Spain]].{{sfn|Wright|1916|p=246}}}}
[[File:Darlington map of Cuba 1680.png|thumb|upright=1.35|A map of Cuba {{Circa|1680}}]]
By 1570, most residents of Cuba had a mixture of Spanish, African, and Taíno heritages.[ Cuba developed slowly and, unlike the plantation islands of the Caribbean, had a diversified agriculture. Most importantly, the colony developed as an urbanized society that primarily supported the Spanish colonial empire. By the mid-18th century, there were 50,000 slaves on the island. Estimates suggest that between 1790 and 1820, some 325,000 Africans were imported to Cuba as slaves, which was four times the amount that had arrived between 1760 and 1790.][{{Cite book |title=Freedom's Mirror: Cuba and Haiti in the Age of Revolution |last=Ferrer |first=Ada |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1107029422 |location=New York |page=36}}]
In 1812, the [[Aponte conspiracy|Aponte slave rebellion]] took place, but it was ultimately suppressed.[{{cite book|last=Childs|first=Matt D.|title=The 1813 Aponte Rebellion in Cuba and the Struggle against Atlantic Slavery|year=2006|publisher=[[The University of North Carolina Press]]|isbn=978-0-8078-5772-4|page=320 pages}}] The population in 1817 was 630,980 (of which 291,021 were white, 115,691 were [[free people of color]] (mixed-race), and 224,268 black slaves).{{sfn|Scheina|2003|p=352}} The population in 1841 was 1,007,624, of whom 425,521 were black slaves, 418,291 were white.[{{cite book |title=The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge |date=1848 |publisher=Charles Knight |location=London |page=Vol V, p.132 |edition=First}}]
By the 19th century, the practice of {{Lang|es-CU|coartacion}} had developed (or "buying oneself out of slavery", a "uniquely Cuban development").[Herbert S. Klein, ''Slavery in the Americas: A Comparative Study of Virginia and Cuba'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967, p. 196] With a shortage of white labor, blacks dominated urban industries to such an extent that when whites in large numbers came to Cuba in the middle of the 19th century, they were unable to displace black workers.[{{cite journal |jstor=1919107 |author=Melvin Drimmer |title=Reviewed Work: ''Slavery in the Americas: A Comparative Study of Virginia and Cuba'' by [[Herbert S. Klein]] |journal=[[The William and Mary Quarterly]] |volume=25 |issue=2 |date=Apr 1968 |pages=307–309|doi=10.2307/1919107 }}] A system of diversified agriculture, with small farms and fewer slaves, served to supply the cities with produce and other goods.[The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Carlos Manuel de Céspedes". Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 April 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carlos-Manuel-de-Cespedes {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251015231105/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carlos-Manuel-de-Cespedes |date=15 October 2025 }}. Accessed 9 May 2025] On 27 December 1868, he issued a decree condemning slavery in theory—but accepting it in practice—and declaring free any slaves whose masters presented them for military service.{{sfn|Chomsky|Carr|Smorkaloff|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Sr2hQkCIihMC&pg=PA115 115–117]}} The 1868 rebellion resulted in a prolonged conflict known as the [[Ten Years' War]].[{{Cite web |title=Military Records – Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami, Fl., Inc. |url=https://www.cubangenclub.org/databases/military/ |access-date=9 May 2025 |language=en-US}}] The Cuban rebels were joined by former Dominican colonial officers, volunteers from Canada, Colombia, France, Mexico, the United States, and Chinese [[indentured servants]],{{efn|According to one military historian, "The thirty-eight individuals who responded to the call for independence on 9 October 1868 had almost no military experience. They, and other Cubans, ignorant of the martial skills, were soon joined by a small band of political refugees from Santo Domingo. A number of these individuals had fought for Spain in Santo Domingo following its re-annexation (1861–65). When Spain quit Santo Domingo for the second time, some Dominican colonial officers immigrated to Cuba. Most were unable to find service in the Spanish army in Cuba. Some of these former soldiers joined the new Revolutionary army and provided its initial training and leadership."{{sfn|Scheina|2003|p=353}} Mercenaries from Canada, Colombia, France, Mexico, and the United States joined the Cuban Revolutionary Army. Chinese nationals, brought to Cuba as indentured servants, also fought for the cause.{{sfn|Scheina|2003|p=353}} By 1876, the Cuban Revolutionary movement was facing internal strife, largely driven by racial tensions. General Máximo Gómez surrendered his command after officers refused to follow his orders because he was Dominican. At the same time, the campaign against Antonio Maceo, a [[mulatto]] leader, grew stronger as white factions sought to undermine his leadership because of his race. These racial divisions contributed to a decline in morale within the Revolutionary Army.{{sfn|Scheina|2003|p=357}}}} but lacked support from wealthy planters and the majority of slaves.[ In the early stages of the Ten Years' War, Dominicans commanded four of the six insurgent regions in eastern Cuba. Racial, social, and regional bias significantly contributed to the defeat of the [[Cuban Liberation Army]].{{sfn|Scheina|2003|p=364}}
The United States declined to recognize the new Cuban government, although many European and Latin American nations did.][{{cite web|url=http://www.cubagenweb.org/mil/e-war-hist.htm|title=Historia de las Guerrras de Cuba|website=cubagenweb.org|access-date=11 May 2007|archive-date=8 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908064028/http://www.cubagenweb.org/mil/e-war-hist.htm|url-status=live}}] In 1878, the [[Pact of Zanjón]] ended the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba. In 1879–80, Cuban patriot [[Calixto García]] attempted to start another war known as the [[Little War (Cuba)|Little War]] but failed to receive enough support.[{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/lilwar.htm |title=The Little War of 1878 – History of Cuba |website=historyofcuba.com |access-date=11 May 2007 |archive-date=15 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815055924/http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/lilwar.htm |url-status=live }}] [[Slavery in Cuba]] was abolished in 1875, with the process completed by 1886.{{sfn|Scott|2000|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SmpMmVQAvAcC&pg=PA3 3]}}{{sfn|Chomsky|Carr|Smorkaloff|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Sr2hQkCIihMC&pg=PA37 37–38]}} Exiled dissident [[José Martí]] founded the [[Cuban Revolutionary Party]] in New York City in 1892. The party aimed to achieve Cuban independence from Spain.[{{cite book|title=Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia|chapter=Part 25|volume=1|page=549|year=2002|editor-first=Stanley |editor-last=Sandler|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-344-5|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_xxOM85bD8C&pg=PP1|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204734/https://books.google.com/books?id=L_xxOM85bD8C&pg=PP1|url-status=live}}] In 1895, he traveled to [[Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic|San Fernando de Monte Cristi]] and [[Santo Domingo]] in the Dominican Republic to join the efforts of [[Máximo Gómez]].[{{cite book|title=Spanish-Americans: Lives And Faces|page=171|author-first=David |author-last=Arias|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7AlqghmzQVUC&pg=PA171|year=2005|isbn=978-1-4120-4717-3|publisher=[[Trafford Publishing]]|location=Victoria, BC, Canada|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204705/https://books.google.com/books?id=7AlqghmzQVUC&pg=PA171#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}] Fighting against the Spanish army began in Cuba on 24 February 1895, and Martí arrived in April.[{{cite book |title=Of Planting and Planning: The Making of British Colonial Cities |publisher=[[Chapman and Hall]] |author-first=Robert K. |author-last=Home |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-419-20230-1 |page=195 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ovC4TylXNkC&pg=PA195 |access-date=6 September 2009 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204721/https://books.google.com/books?id=1ovC4TylXNkC&pg=PA195 |url-status=live }}] Between 200,000[{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcMWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA508 |title=Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People, Volume II: Since 1863, Concise Edition |first1=John M. |last1=Murrin |first2=Paul E. |last2=Johnson |author2-link=Paul E. Johnson|first3=James M. |last3=McPherson |author3-link=James M. McPherson |first4=Alice |last4=Fahs |first5=Gary |last5=Gerstle |author5-link=Gary Gerstle|date=27 February 2013 |publisher=[[Cengage Learning]] |isbn=9781285629544 |access-date=22 February 2020 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204715/https://books.google.com/books?id=WcMWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA508 |url-status=live }}] and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease in the Spanish concentration camps, numbers verified by the [[Red Cross]] and United States Senator [[Redfield Proctor]], a former [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]]. American and European protests against Spanish conduct on the island followed.[{{cite web |url=http://www.spanamwar.com/proctorspeech.htm |title=Cuban Reconcentration Policy and its Effects |author=The Spanish–American War |author-link=Spanish–American War |access-date=29 January 2007 |archive-date=24 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024165715/http://www.spanamwar.com/proctorspeech.htm |url-status=live }}][{{Cite web |last=Thurber |first=Dani |title=Research Guides: World of 1898: International Perspectives on the Spanish American War: Valeriano Weyler |url=https://guides.loc.gov/world-of-1898/valeriano-weyler |access-date=9 May 2025 |website=guides.loc.gov |language=en |archive-date=12 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250512053540/https://guides.loc.gov/world-of-1898/valeriano-weyler |url-status=live }}] The U.S. battleship [[USS Maine (1889)|USS ''Maine'']] was sent to protect American interests, but soon after its arrival, it exploded in the [[Havana Harbor]] and sank quickly, killing nearly three-quarters of the crew. The cause and responsibility for the ship's sinking remained unclear after a board of inquiry. Popular opinion in the U.S., fueled by active [[yellow press]], concluded that the Spanish were to blame and demanded action.[{{cite book |title=The American Battleship |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SYurkGIlgLMC&pg=PA18 |page=18 |author1-first=Samuel Loring |author1-last=Morison |author1-link=Samuel Loring Morison|author2-last=Morison |author2-first=Samuel Eliot |author2-link=Samuel Eliot Morison |author3-last=Polmar |author3-first=Norman |author3-link=Norman Polmar|year=2003 |location=St. Paul, Minn. |publisher=[[MBI Publishing Company]] |isbn=978-0-7603-0989-6 |access-date=15 September 2009 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204722/https://books.google.com/books?id=SYurkGIlgLMC&pg=PA18 |url-status=live }}] Spain and the United States declared war on each other in late April 1898.[{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=24 November 2009 |title=The USS Maine explodes in Cuba's Havana Harbor {{!}} 15 February 1898 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/february-15/the-maine-explodes |access-date=9 May 2025 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}][{{Cite news |title=Why did the USS Maine explode? |first=John E. |last=Fahey |date=7 February 2023 |url=https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/Recent/Article-View/Article/3290776/why-did-the-uss-maine-explode/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250417161532/https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/Recent/Article-View/Article/3290776/why-did-the-uss-maine-explode/ |archive-date=17 April 2025 |access-date=9 May 2025 |work=The Sextant |language=en-US}}]
===Republic (1902–1959)===
{{Main|Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)}}
====First years (1902–1925)====
[[File:Raising the Cuban flag on the Governor General's Palace at noon on May 20, 1902.gif|thumb|Raising the Cuban flag on the Governor General's palace at noon on 20 May 1902.]]
After the [[Spanish–American War]], Spain and the United States signed the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)]], by which Spain relinquished sovereignty over Cuba and ceded [[Puerto Rico]], [[Guam]], and the [[Philippines]] to the United States for the sum of {{Nowrap|US $20 million}}[{{cite web|url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp|title=Treaty of Peace Between the United States and Spain|date=10 December 1898|work=[[The Avalon Project]]|publisher=[[Yale Law School]]|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=8 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708063629/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp|url-status=live}}] The U.S. excluded the Cuban revolutionaries from the peace conference.{{sfn|Scheina|2003|p=424}} On 1 January 1899, Captain-General [[Adolfo Jiménez Castellanos]] surrendered Havana to General [[John R. Brooke]], ending 400 years of Spanish rule. The destruction of Cuban farms and plantations facilitated the transfer of property to American ownership. Americans invested $50 million, mainly in sugar and tobacco plantations and mining, gaining control over much of Cuba's economy.{{sfn|Scheina|2003|p=364}}
With the end of U.S. military government jurisdiction, Cuba gained formal independence on 20 May 1902 as the Republic of Cuba.[{{cite book|author-first=Louis A. |author-last=Pérez|title=Cuba Between Empires: 1878–1902|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRhK4vMXe1QC&pg=PR15|access-date=19 July 2013|year=1998|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh Press]]|isbn=978-0-8229-7197-9|page=xv|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204559/https://books.google.com/books?id=qRhK4vMXe1QC&pg=PR15#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}] Under Cuba's constitution, the United States retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations. Under the [[Platt Amendment]], the U.S. leased the [[Guantánamo Bay Naval Base]] from Cuba.[{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/platt-amendment|title=Platt Amendment (1903)|date=29 October 2025|website=National Archives}}]
Following disputed elections in 1906, the first president, [[Tomás Estrada Palma]], faced an armed revolt by independence war veterans who defeated the meager government forces.[{{cite book|title=Corruption in Cuba: Castro and Beyond|page=63|first1=Sergio|last1=Diaz-Briquets|author2-first=Jorge F. |author2-last=Pérez-López|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|location=Austin|year=2006|isbn=978-0-292-71321-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fiquofr8LSoC&pg=PA63|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204734/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fiquofr8LSoC&pg=PA63#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}] The U.S. intervened by occupying Cuba and named [[Charles Edward Magoon]] as governor for three years. Cuban historians have characterized Magoon's governorship as introducing political and social corruption.[{{Harvnb|Thomas|1998|pp=283–7}}.] In 1908, self-government was restored when [[José Miguel Gómez]] was elected president, but the U.S. continued intervening in Cuban affairs. In 1912, the [[Partido Independiente de Color]] attempted to establish a separate [[Black separatism|black republic]] in [[Oriente Province]],[{{cite book|title=The War of 1898, and U.S. Interventions, 1898–1934: An Encyclopedia|editor=Benjamin Beede|page=134|year=1994|publisher=[[Garland Publishing|Garland]]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8240-5624-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=48g116X9IIwC&pg=PA134|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204727/https://books.google.com/books?id=48g116X9IIwC&pg=PA134#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}] but was suppressed by General Monteagudo with considerable bloodshed.
In 1924, [[Gerardo Machado]] was elected president.[{{cite book|author-first=Terry K. |author-last=Sanderlin |title=The Last American Rebel in Cuba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFT8Mp8VuNkC&pg=PA7|access-date=19 July 2013|date=24 April 2012|publisher=[[AuthorHouse]]|isbn=978-1-4685-9430-0|page=7}}] The [[Wall Street crash of 1929]] led to a collapse in the price of sugar, political unrest, and repression.[{{cite book|title=Fulgencio Batista|volume=1|page=[https://archive.org/details/fulgenciobatista00argo/page/50 50]|last=Argote-Freyre |first=Frank |publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]] |location=New Brunswick, N.J.|year=2006|isbn=978-0-8135-3701-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/fulgenciobatista00argo/page/50}}] uprisings among sugar workers, and an army revolt forced Machado into exile in August 1933. He was replaced by [[Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada]], son of the revolutionary hero [[Carlos Manuel de Céspedes]].[{{cite book|author1-first=Wilber Albert |author1-last=Chaffee|author2-first=Gary |author2-last=Prevost|title=Cuba: A Different America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9CJec-NWjS0C&pg=PA4|access-date=19 July 2013|year=1992|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|isbn=978-0-8476-7694-1|page=4|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204759/https://books.google.com/books?id=9CJec-NWjS0C&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}]
====Revolution of 1933–1940====
{{Main|Cuban Revolution of 1933}}
[[File:1933-Pentarchy w Batista.jpg|thumb|The [[Pentarchy of 1933]]. [[Fulgencio Batista]], who controlled the armed forces, appears at far right]]
In September 1933 the [[Cuban Revolution of 1933|Sergeants' Revolt]], led by Sergeant [[Fulgencio Batista]], overthrew Céspedes.[{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Melanie|editor-first=Jacqueline |editor-last=West|contribution=Cuba: History|title=South America, Central America and the Caribbean 2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9ODxqsr-dIC&pg=PA303|access-date=19 July 2013|year=2001|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-85743-121-6|page=303|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205214/https://books.google.com/books?id=o9ODxqsr-dIC&pg=PA303#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}] A five-member executive committee (the [[Pentarchy of 1933]]) was chosen to head a provisional government.[{{cite book|author-first=Jaime |author-last=Suchlicki|title=Cuba: From Columbus to Castro and Beyond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BHhUknsCtfIC&pg=PA95|access-date=19 July 2013|year=2002|publisher=[[Potomac Books]]|isbn=978-1-57488-436-4|page=95|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205216/https://books.google.com/books?id=BHhUknsCtfIC&pg=PA95#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}] [[Ramón Grau San Martín]] was appointed as provisional president.[{{Harvnb|Domínguez|1978|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=y1oF-WQmOPgC&pg=PA76 76]}}] On balance, during the period 1933–1940, Cuba suffered from fragile political structures, with three presidents in two years (1935–1936) and in the militaristic and repressive policies of Batista as head of the army.
==== Constitution of 1940 ====
The [[1940 Constitution of Cuba]] engineered radically progressive ideas, including the right to labor and [[right to health]] care.{{sfn|Domínguez|1978|p={{page needed|date=December 2023}}}} Batista was elected president in the same year, holding the post until 1944.[{{cite book |author-first=Frank R. |author-last=Villafana |title=Expansionism: Its Effects on Cuba's Independence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jj2mIS40lAMC&pg=PA201 |access-date=19 July 2013 |date=31 December 2011 |publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]] |isbn=978-1-4128-4656-1 |page=201 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205114/https://books.google.com/books?id=Jj2mIS40lAMC&pg=PA201#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}] He is, as of 2004, the only non-white Cuban to win the nation's highest political office.[{{Harvnb|Horowitz|1988|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hx2_y7Vu-PUC&pg=PA662 662]}}][{{cite book|title=Cuba|first=Leslie|last=Bethell|author-link=Leslie Bethell|isbn=978-0-521-43682-3|year=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}][{{Harvnb|Sweig|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ob-I8MyTqx8C&pg=PA4 4]}}] His government carried out major social reforms. Several members of the [[Communist Party of Cuba|Communist Party]] held office under his administration.{{sfn|Sweig|2004|p={{page needed|date=December 2023}}}} Cuban armed forces were not greatly involved in combat during World War II—though Batista did suggest a joint U.S.-Latin American assault on [[Francoist Spain]] to overthrow its authoritarian regime.[{{cite news |title=Batista's Boot |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802544,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080825011807/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802544,00.html |archive-date=25 August 2008 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=18 January 1943 |access-date=20 April 2013 }}] Cuba lost six merchant ships during the war, and the [[Cuban Revolutionary Navy|Cuban Navy]] was credited with sinking the {{GS|U-176}}.[{{cite book|author1-last=Polmar |author1-first=Norman |author1-link=Norman Polmar |author2-first=Thomas B. |author2-last=Allen |author2-link=Thomas B. Allen (author)|title=World War II: The Encyclopedia of the War Years 1941–1945| page=230}}]
Batista adhered to the 1940 constitution's strictures preventing his re-election.[{{Harvnb|Domínguez|1978|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=y1oF-WQmOPgC&pg=PA101 101]}}] Grau was re-elected president in 1944.[{{Harvnb|Domínguez|1978|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=y1oF-WQmOPgC&pg=PA110 110–1]}}] [[Carlos Prío Socarrás]], a protégé of Grau, became president in 1948.[{{Harvnb|Alvarez|2004}}.]
==== Batista regime ====
{{Main|1952 Cuban coup d'état|Cuban Revolution}}
[[File:HavanaSlums1954.jpg|thumb|right|[[Slum]] (''bohío'') dwellings in Havana, Cuba in 1954, just outside [[Estadio Latinoamericano|Havana baseball stadium]]. In the background is advertising for a nearby [[casino]].]]
After finishing his term in 1944, Batista lived in Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing inevitable electoral defeat, he led a military coup that preempted the election.[{{cite web|url=http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/general-batista-returns-power-cuba|title=A Coup in Cuba|website=[[History Today]]|access-date=7 September 2017|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801010146/https://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/general-batista-returns-power-cuba|url-status=live}}] Back in power and receiving financial, military, and logistical support from the United States government, Batista suspended the 1940 constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the [[Strike action|right to strike]]. He then aligned with landowners who owned the largest [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean|sugar plantations]], and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans.[{{cite book |title=Historical Dictionary of the 1950s |author-link=James S. Olson |first=James Stuart |last=Olson |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |year=2000 |isbn=0-313-30619-2 |pages=67–68}}] Batista outlawed the Cuban Communist Party in 1952.[{{Harvnb|Sweig|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ob-I8MyTqx8C&pg=PA6 6]}}] After the coup, Cuba had Latin America's highest per capita consumption rates of meat, vegetables, cereals, automobiles, telephones and radios, though about one-third of the population was considered poor and enjoyed relatively little of this consumption.[{{cite book|title=Authoritarian Regimes in Latin America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LAvw-YXm4TsC&pg=PA186|author-first=Paul H. |author-last=Lewis|author-link=Paul H. Lewis|page=186|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|location=Oxford, UK|isbn=978-0-7425-3739-2|access-date=14 September 2009|year=2006|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205115/https://books.google.com/books?id=LAvw-YXm4TsC&pg=PA186#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}] However, in his "[[History Will Absolve Me]]" speech, [[Fidel Castro]] mentioned that national issues relating to land, industrialization, housing, unemployment, education, and health were contemporary problems.[{{cite web |title=Fidel Castro: "History Will Absolve Me" |website=college.cengage.com |url=https://college.cengage.com/history/world/keen/latin_america/8e/assets/students/sources/pdfs/87_fidel_castro.pdf |access-date=4 June 2021 |archive-date=4 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604150031/https://college.cengage.com/history/world/keen/latin_america/8e/assets/students/sources/pdfs/87_fidel_castro.pdf |url-status=live }}]
In 1958 Cuba was a well-advanced country compared to other Latin American regions,[{{Harvnb|Smith|Llorens|1998}}.] but it was affected by perhaps Latin America's largest labor union privileges, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. They were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants", leading to disparities.[{{Harvnb|Baklanoff|1998}}.] Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems.[{{Harvnb|Thomas|1998|p=1173}}.] Unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs.[{{cite book |author-first=Aviva |author-last=Chomsky |author-link=Aviva Chomsky|title=A History of the Cuban Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=094JHT5JtCAC&pg=PA37 |access-date=19 July 2013 |date=23 November 2010 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-1-4443-2956-8 |pages=37–38 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205221/https://books.google.com/books?id=094JHT5JtCAC&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}] In 1956, Castro and about 80 supporters [[Landing of the Granma|landed from the yacht ''Granma'']] in an attempt to start a rebellion against the Batista government.[Ros (2006) pp. 159–201.][{{cite web |title=Anti-Cuba Bandits: terrorism in past tense |url=http://www.escambray.cu/Eng/Bandits/FpasadoE.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222204658/http://www.escambray.cu/Eng/Bandits/FpasadoE.htm |archive-date=22 February 2007}}]
===Revolutionary government (1959–present)===
{{main|History of Cuba (1959–present)}}
====Consolidation and nationalization (1959–1970)====
{{Main|Consolidation of the Cuban Revolution|Revolutionary Offensive}}
[[File:CheyFidel.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Che Guevara]] and [[Fidel Castro]], photographed by [[Alberto Korda]] in 1961]]
The US government initially reacted favorably to the Cuban Revolution, seeing it as part of a movement to bring democracy to Latin America.[{{cite book|author-first=Stephen G. |author-last=Rabe|author-link=Stephen G. Rabe|title=Eisenhower and Latin America: The Foreign Policy of Anticommunism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o2SFNdAiB7UC&pg=PA123|access-date=19 July 2013|year=1988|publisher=[[UNC Press Books]] |isbn=978-0-8078-4204-1|pages=123–125}}] Castro's legalization of the Communist Party and the hundreds of executions of Batista agents, policemen, and soldiers that followed caused a deterioration in the relationship between the two countries.[{{cite book | author=[[U.S. International Trade Commission]] | title=The Economic Impact of U.S. Sanctions with Respect to Cuba | isbn=978-1-4578-2290-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c0wCioRlTG0C&pg=SA2-PA2 | page=Section 2–3, p. 2| publisher=DIANE }}] In February 1960, Castro signed a commercial agreement with Soviet Vice-Premier [[Anastas Mikoyan]].[{{cite book|author-first=Richard A. |author-last=Crooker |title=Cuba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-5GqG1hluIC&pg=PA43|access-date=19 July 2013|year=2005|publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4381-0497-3|pages=43–44}}] Five B-26s were shot down by the [[Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force|Cuban air force]], and one was downed by anti-aircraft fire.{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=250}} In 1961, the U.S. and Cuba laid minefields along opposite sides of the Guantánamo Bay perimeter.[{{cite web |title=U.S. Forces Remove Minefields at Guantanamo Bay |url=https://www.war.gov/Multimedia/Photos/igphoto/2002016777/ |publisher=U.S. Department of Defense}}]{{efn|At least 18 U.S. servicemen were killed by those mines.[}} In January 1962, Cuba was suspended from the [[Organization of American States]] (OAS), which imposed sanctions of similar nature to the U.S. sanctions.][{{cite web |url=https://piie.com/sites/default/files/publications/papers/sanctions-cuba-60-3.pdf |title=Case Studies in Sanctions and Terrorism: Case 60–3, US v. Cuba (1960– : Castro) |publisher=[[Peterson Institute for International Economics]] |date=October 2011 |access-date=14 February 2017 |archive-date=14 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214180014/https://piie.com/sites/default/files/publications/papers/sanctions-cuba-60-3.pdf |url-status=live }}] The failed amphibious assault on Cuba contributed to the Soviet decision to deploy [[R-12 Dvina|R-12]] missiles there,{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=253}} and the ensuing [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] of October 1962 almost sparked [[World War III#Cuban Missile Crisis: 15–29 October 1962|World War III]].[{{cite book |last1=Polmar |first1=Norman |last2=Gresham |first2=John D. |title=DEFCON-2: Standing on the Brink of Nuclear War During the Cuban Missile Crisis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gGMaAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA223 |date=17 January 2006 |publisher=Wiley |location=Hoboken |isbn=978-0-471-67022-3 |oclc=60373348 |page=223 |access-date=18 July 2021 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205217/https://books.google.com/books?id=gGMaAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA223 |url-status=live }}][{{cite book |last1=Duncan |first1=Terri Kaye |last2=Stein |first2=R. Conrad |title=Thirteen Days of Tension: The Cuban Missile Crisis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e_ElEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 |series=Movements and Moments That Changed America |date=15 July 2020 |publisher=[[Rosen Publishing Group]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1-72534-219-4 |pages=8, 49, 94 |oclc=1203013466}}] A settlement was reached without Cuba's participation, under which Soviet missiles were withdrawn from Cuba in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade the island. In 1962, American generals proposed [[Operation Northwoods]] which would entail committing terrorist attacks in American cities and against refugees and falsely blaming the attacks on the Cuban government, manufacturing a reason for the United States to invade Cuba. This plan was rejected by Kennedy.[{{Cite web |last=Ruppe |first=David |date=1 May 2001 |title=U.S. Military Wanted to Provoke War With Cuba |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92662&page=1 |access-date=3 July 2023 |publisher=ABC News|location=United States |language=en |archive-date=21 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421204148/https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92662&page=1 |url-status=live }}] By 1963, Cuba was moving towards a full-fledged [[communist state]] system modeled on the USSR.[{{cite book |author-last=Faria |author-first=Miguel A. |author-link=Miguel A. Faria, Jr. |title=Cuba in Revolution – Escape From a Lost Paradise |date=2002 |publisher=Hacienda Publishing |publication-place=Macon, Georgia |pages=163–228}}]
[[File:Guantanamo Naval Base aerial photo 1962.jpg|thumb|Since 1959, Cuba has regarded the U.S. presence in [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantánamo Bay]] as illegal.[ In 1963, Cuba sent 686 troops together with 22 tanks, an anti-tank battery, mortars, anti-aircraft artillery, and field guns to [[Oran]] to support Algeria in the [[Sand War]] against Morocco.][{{Cite news|url=https://themilitant.com/2019/02/16/cuba-and-algerian-revolutions-an-intertwined-history/|author1-first=Martín|author1-last=Koppel|author-link=Martín Koppel|author2-first=Róger|author2-last=Calero|author2-link=Róger Calero|title=Cuba and Algerian revolutions: an intertwined history|volume=83|number=8|newspaper=[[The Militant]]|place=Havana International Book Fair|publication-place=New York City|date=25 February 2019|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=19 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819163139/https://themilitant.com/2019/02/16/cuba-and-algerian-revolutions-an-intertwined-history/|url-status=live}}]{{efn|Morocco had U.S. pilots fly its helicopters and had 40 heavy tanks from the Soviet Union, while Algeria had only a dozen French-built light tanks.[}} The Moroccan government backed down before the planned Cuban counterattack on 29 October and agreed to a ceasefire and suspension of hostilities.][{{cite web |last=Galinsky |first=Seth |title=1963: Cuba sent tanks, troops to defend Algerian Revolution |website=The Militant |date=2015 |url=https://www.themilitant.com/2015/7941/794150.html}}] The Cuban forces remained in Algeria for over a year, providing training to the Algerian army.[{{harvnb|Scheina|2003b|pp=327–377}}] [[Che Guevara]], authorized by Castro, engaged in [[Simba rebellion|guerrilla activities in Africa]] and was killed in 1967 while attempting to start a [[Ñancahuazú Guerrilla|revolution in Bolivia]].[ Cuba supplied arms to the [[MPLA|People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola]]; gave aid to the [[African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde]]; and provided military training to the [[Mozambique Liberation Front]].][{{cite web |url=https://www.american.edu/centers/latin-american-latino-studies/upload/2015-au-ssrc-henken-vignoli-enterprising-cuba-final.pdf |title=ENTERPRISING CUBA: CITIZEN EMPOWERMENT, STATE ABANDONMENT, OR U.S. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY? |last1=Henken |first1=Ted |last2=Vignoli |first2=Gabriel |year=2015 |website=american.edu |publisher=Center for Latin American and Latino Studies |access-date=19 August 2020 |archive-date=22 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241222155448/https://www.american.edu/centers/latin-american-latino-studies/upload/2015-au-ssrc-henken-vignoli-enterprising-cuba-final.pdf |url-status=live }}] The campaign would spur industrialization in Cuba and focus the economy on sugar production, with a goal of 10 million tons by 1970. The economic focus on sugar production involved international volunteers and the mobilization of workers from all sectors of the economy.[{{cite journal |last1=Prevost |first1=Grey |year=2007 |title=Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution |url=https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1040&context=headwaters |journal=Headwaters |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=25–26 |access-date=19 August 2020 |archive-date=8 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240708151925/https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1040&context=headwaters |url-status=live }}] Economic mobilization coincided with greater militarization of political structures and society in general.[{{cite book |year=2018 |title=Cuba's Forgotten Decade How the 1970s Shaped the Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ek1jDwAAQBAJ&dq=revolutionary+offensive+zafra&pg=PA72 |publisher=Lexington Books |pages=72–73 |isbn=9781498568746 }}] The harvest goal was not reached.[{{Cite journal |last=Pineo |first=Ronn |date=1 March 2019 |title=Cuban Public Healthcare: A Model of Success for Developing Nations |journal=Journal of Developing Societies |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=16–61 |doi=10.1177/0169796X19826731 |doi-access=free}}]{{rp|37–38}} The economy fell into decline after large sectors were neglected after urban labor was mobilized to the countryside.[{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge History of Latin America|author=Bethell, Leslie|isbn=978-0-521-62327-8|date=13 August 1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/culturalhistoryo00lesl}}{{Page needed|date=August 2010}}] Castro admitted the failures of economic policies in a 1970 speech.[ In 1975, the OAS lifted its sanctions against Cuba with the approval of 16 member states, including the United States. The U.S., however, maintained its own sanctions.][{{cite book |title=When the State Kills: The Death Penalty v. Human Rights |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] Publications |year=1989 |isbn=9780862101640 |oclc=1017244324 |id={{NCJ|117205}} |publication-place=New York, United States}}] The vast majority of those executed directly following the 1959 Revolution were policemen, politicians, and informers of the Batista regime accused of crimes such as torture and murder, and their public trials and executions had widespread popular support among the Cuban population.[{{cite book |last1=Chase |first1=Michelle |chapter=The Trials |date=2010 |pages=163–198 |doi=10.1215/9780822392859-006 |chapter-url={{GBurl|YJ7ZBGy0wsIC|p=163}} |editor-first1=Gilbert M. |editor-first2=Greg |editor-last1=Joseph |editor-last2=Grandin |title=A Century of Revolution |isbn=978-0-8223-4720-0 }}]
====Foreign interventions (1971–1991)====
{{Main|Foreign interventions by Cuba}}
[[File:Cubans in Ogaden1.JPG|thumb|Cuban artillery crew in [[Ethiopia]] during the [[Ogaden War]].]]
During the Cold War, Cuba received $33 billion in Soviet aid,[{{cite web |title=The Cuban Economy: A Soviet Showcase? |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00287R000901450001-4.pdf |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |date=15 August 1984 |access-date=1 December 2024 |archive-date=11 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241211231444/https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00287R000901450001-4.pdf |url-status=live }}] and Cuban forces were deployed to all corners of Africa, either as military advisors or as combatants.[{{cite journal |journal=[[Parameters (journal)|Parameters]] |volume=VII |number=2 |year=1977 |publisher=[[U.S. Army War College]] |title=Cuba and the Regional Balance of Power: Cuba's International Involvement|author-last=Marcella |author-first=Gabriel |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kMdLAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA13 |access-date=29 February 2020 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209040625/https://books.google.com/books?id=kMdLAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA13 |url-status=live }}] Soviet pilots and technicians assumed defense duties in Cuba, freeing up personnel to be deployed in Africa.[
In November 1975, Cuba deployed more than 65,000 troops and 400 Soviet-made tanks in Angola in one of the fastest military mobilizations in history.][{{cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/blogs/stranger_than_fiction/2015/10/21/why-the-cuban-military-machine-should-intervene-in-syria_484903|title=Why the Cuban military machine should intervene in Syria|first=Rakesh Krishnan|last=Simha|date=21 October 2015|website=[[Russia Beyond]]|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=17 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317180959/https://www.rbth.com/blogs/stranger_than_fiction/2015/10/21/why-the-cuban-military-machine-should-intervene-in-syria_484903|url-status=live}}] [[South Africa and weapons of mass destruction|South Africa developed nuclear weapons]] because of the threat to its security posed by the presence of large numbers of [[Cuban intervention in Angola|Cuban troops in Angola]].[[{{GBurl|MzK_DAAAQBAJ|p=95}} Page 95] in {{cite book |last1=Thayer |first1=Bradley A. |title=The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime |chapter=The Causes of Nuclear Proliferation and the Utility of the Non-proliferation Regime |date=1998 |pages=75–129 |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-26053-9_5 |isbn=978-1-349-26055-3 }}] In 1975–76 and again in 1988 at the [[Battle of Cuito Cuanavale]], the Cubans alongside their MPLA allies fought [[UNITA]] rebels and [[apartheid]] South African forces. On 13 November 1977, Somalia broke diplomatic relations with Cuba and expelled Cuban and Soviet military advisors.[ In December 1977, Cuba sent its combat troops from Angola, the [[People's Republic of the Congo]], and the Caribbean to Ethiopia,][ Cuban forces remained in Ethiopia until September 1989.][ Cuban military advisors were sent to Iraq in the mid-1970s, but their mission was canceled after Iraq invaded Iran in 1980.][{{cite web |title=Foreign Intervention by Cuba |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP77M00144R000400100003-7.pdf |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122223212/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP77M00144R000400100003-7.pdf |archive-date=22 January 2017}}] Israeli sources reported the presence of a Cuban tank brigade in the [[Golan Heights]], which was supported by two brigades.[{{cite book |title=Cuba: The International Dimension |year=1990 |url=https://archive.org/details/cubainternationa00faur |url-access=registration |publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=[https://archive.org/details/cubainternationa00faur/page/138 138]|isbn=9780887383243 }}] Tank forces engaged in battle on the Golan front.[{{cite journal |last1=Ra'anan |first1=Gavriel D. |title=The Evolution of the Soviet Use of Surrogates in Military Relations with the Third World, with Particular Emphasis on Cuban Participation in Africa |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6420.html |website=[[RAND Corporation]] |access-date=29 June 2021 |date=31 December 1978 |archive-date=29 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629074717/https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6420.html |url-status=live }}]{{rp|37–38}} In June 1978, Soviet aircraft transported 1,000 Cuban troops from Ethiopia to South Yemen following a coup there; in March 1979, Soviet aircraft flew 1,500 Cuban troops to South Yemen during an open conflict between [[Aden]] and [[Sanaa]].[{{cite web |title=The Status of Cuban Military Forces in Ethiopia |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |date=2 September 1981 |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP97S00289R000200200014-1.pdf}}]
After the U.S. was defeated by communist forces in the [[Vietnam War]], Castro began supporting Marxist insurgencies in [[Guatemalan Civil War|Guatemala]], [[Salvadoran Civil War|El Salvador]], [[Nicaraguan Revolution|Nicaragua]], and [[Colombian conflict|Colombia]] by supplying weapons, munitions, and training.{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=339}} Following the 1983 coup that resulted in the execution of Grenadian Prime Minister [[Maurice Bishop]] and establishment of the military government led by [[Hudson Austin]], [[United States invasion of Grenada|U.S. forces invaded Grenada]] in 1983, overthrowing the pro-Castro government. In a few days of fighting, 6,000 American combat troops defeated 784 Cubans (636 construction workers with military training, 43 military advisors, and 18 diplomats).{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=358}}
Cuba gradually withdrew its troops from Angola in 1989–91.[{{cite news |title=Cuban Atrocities In Africa Cited |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=19780805&id=oGAdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qVoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3364,1069530&hl=en |work=[[The Victoria Advocate]] |date=5 August 1978}}]
[[File:Geneva Ministerial Conference 18-20 May 1998 (9308745700).jpg|thumb|Cuban leader [[Fidel Castro]] in Geneva, Switzerland, May 1998]]
====Political readjustments (1991–present)====
{{Main|2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties}}
Soviet troops began to withdraw from Cuba in September 1991,[{{cite web |title=Cuba |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=25 April 2023 |access-date=18 August 2017 |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823081846/https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba |url-status=live }}] and Castro's rule was severely tested in the aftermath of the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Soviet collapse in December 1991]] (known in Cuba as the [[Special Period]]). The country faced a severe economic downturn following the withdrawal of Soviet subsidies worth {{Nowrap|$4 billion}} to {{Nowrap|$6 billion}} annually, resulting in effects such as food and fuel shortages.[{{cite journal|title=Health consequences of Cuba's Special Period |pmc=2474886 |year=2008 |volume=179 |issue=3 |pmid=18663207 |page=257 |doi=10.1503/cmaj.1080068 |journal=CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal}}][{{cite web |url=http://www.mercatrade.com/blog/country-profile-cuba/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314103057/http://www.mercatrade.com/blog/country-profile-cuba/|archive-date=14 March 2016|title=Doing Business with Cuba – The Complete Guide |date=12 January 2015 |last=Patricia Maroday}}] The government did not accept American donations of food, medicines and cash until 1993.[{{cite web|url=http://cpj.org/reports/2008/03/cuba-press-crackdown.php|title=Cuba's Long Black Spring|author1=Carlos Lauria|author2=Monica Campbell|author3=María Salazar|publisher=The Committee to Protect Journalists|date=18 March 2008|access-date=3 April 2009|archive-date=30 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830062924/https://www.cpj.org/reports/2008/03/cuba-press-crackdown.php|url-status=live}}][{{cite web |url=http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Cuba_report.pdf |title=Cuba – No surrender by independent journalists, five years on from "black spring" |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |date=March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090702082005/http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Cuba_report.pdf |archive-date=2 July 2009}}]
In February 2008, Castro resigned as President of the State Council due to illness.[{{cite web|title=Castro resigns as Cuban president: official media|agency=Agence France-Presse |url=http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/newsmlmmd.fce074e0275fae2a0c16383ec4973c96.191.html|date=19 February 2008|access-date=19 February 2008}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}] On 24 February, the [[National Assembly of People's Power|National Assembly]] elected his brother [[Raúl Castro]] as president.[{{cite news|title=Raul Castro named Cuban president|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7261204.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=24 February 2008|access-date=24 February 2008|archive-date=22 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622045408/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7261204.stm|url-status=live}}] In his inauguration speech, Raúl promised that some of the restrictions on freedom in Cuba would be removed.[{{cite news|title=Byte by byte|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10881009|date=19 March 2008|access-date=4 April 2008|archive-date=22 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080322204221/http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10881009|url-status=live}}] In March 2009, Raúl Castro [[2009 Cuban government dismissals|removed some of his brother's appointees]].[{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/02/raul-castro-fidel-cuba-officials|title=Raúl Castro replaces top Cuban officials|date=2 March 2009|access-date=15 September 2009|work=The Guardian|location=London|archive-date=10 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310081342/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/02/raul-castro-fidel-cuba-officials|url-status=live}}] In 2009 the OAS adopted a resolution to end the 47-year ban on Cuban membership of the group.[{{cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/04/content_11483233.htm |title=China View 2009-06-04: OAS plenary votes to end Cuba's exclusion |agency=Xinhua News Agency |date=4 June 2009 |access-date=19 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821171219/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/04/content_11483233.htm |archive-date=21 August 2013}}] The resolution stated, however, that full membership would be delayed until Cuba was "in conformity with the practices, purposes, and principles of the OAS".[{{cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/04/content_11485277.htm |title=China View 2009-06-04: Cuba's Fidel Castro calls OAS a "U.S. Trojan horse" |agency=Xinhua News Agency |date=4 June 2009 |access-date=19 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821175617/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/04/content_11485277.htm |archive-date=21 August 2013 }}]
[[File:Press conference, Havana.jpg|thumb|right|[[Raúl Castro]] and U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] at their joint press conference in Havana, Cuba, 21 March 2016]]
In 2013 Cuba ended the requirement established in 1961 that any citizens who wished to travel abroad were required to obtain an expensive government permit and a letter of invitation.[[http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/16/world/americas/cuba-travel-policy/ CNN: "Cuba eases travel restriction for citizens" by Ben Brumfield] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095615/http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/16/world/americas/cuba-travel-policy/ |date=4 March 2016 }} 16 October 2012 |''Until now, Cubans had to pay $150 for an exit visa. A resident in the country that the Cuban wanted to visit would also have to write a letter of invitation. Fees associated with the letter ran as high as $200. That's a steep price in a country where the average official monthly income is about $20.''][[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-18933175 BBC: "Leaving Cuba: The difficult task of exiting the island"] by [[Sarah Rainsford]] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207180432/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-18933175 |date=7 December 2016 }} 12 July 2012][{{Cite web |last1=Thale |first1=Geoff |last2=Boggs |first2=Clay |date=16 October 2012 |title=Cubans Allowed to Travel Abroad Without Exit Visas |url=https://www.wola.org/analysis/cubans-allowed-to-travel-abroad-without-exit-visas/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221154943/https://www.wola.org/analysis/cubans-allowed-to-travel-abroad-without-exit-visas/ |archive-date=21 February 2017 |access-date=23 April 2026 |website=Washington Office on Latin America |language=en-US}}] In 1961 the Cuban government had imposed broad restrictions on travel to prevent the mass emigration of people after the 1959 revolution;[{{cite book|last=Henken|first=Ted|title=Cuba|year=2013|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|isbn=9781610690126|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Pe_XAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA245 245]}}] it approved exit visas only on rare occasions.[{{Cite web |last=Gupta |first=Girish |date=14 January 2013 |title=Cubans line up for the chance to leave |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/01/14/cuba-passports-travel-abroad/1832811/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710060827/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/01/14/cuba-passports-travel-abroad/1832811/ |archive-date=10 July 2017 |access-date=24 July 2024 |website=USA Today |language=en-US}}] In the first year of the program, over 180,000 left Cuba and returned. Talks with American officials, including President [[Barack Obama]], resulted in the 2014 release of [[Alan Gross]], 52 political prisoners, and an unnamed non-citizen agent of the United States in return for the release of three Cubans who had been convicted of espionage in the United States. The embargo between the United States and Cuba was relaxed to allow import, export, and certain limited commerce.[{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/u-s-cuba-relations/cuba-frees-american-alan-gross-held-five-years-n269926|title=Cuba Frees American Alan Gross, Held for Five Years|publisher=[[NBC News]]|author1=Andrea Mitchell|author2=Eric McClam|date=18 December 2014|access-date=18 December 2014|archive-date=21 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821205750/http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/u-s-cuba-relations/cuba-frees-american-alan-gross-held-five-years-n269926|url-status=live}}]
Raúl Castro stepped down from the presidency in 2018, and [[Miguel Díaz-Canel]] was elected president of the State Council by the National Assembly following [[2018 Cuban parliamentary election|parliamentary elections]]. Raúl Castro remained the [[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba|First Secretary of the Communist Party]] and retained broad authority, including oversight over the president.[{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/d2709fff1daf410d87fef30aaa9b069c |title=Raul Castro leaving Cuban presidency, not power |work=Associated Press News |date=18 April 2018 |quote=The 86-year-old former guerrilla remains head of Cuba's Communist Party, a position that leaves him with broad authority – including much oversight of the man who is replacing him as president. |access-date=4 October 2023 |archive-date=4 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604154142/https://apnews.com/d2709fff1daf410d87fef30aaa9b069c |url-status=live }}]
Cuba approved a new constitution in 2019. The optional vote attracted 84.4% of eligible voters; 90% of those who voted approved the constitution, and 9% opposed it. The constitution states that the Communist Party is the only legitimate political party, describes access to health and education as fundamental rights, imposes presidential term limits, enshrines the right to legal representation upon arrest, recognizes private property, and strengthens the rights of multinationals investing with the state.[{{cite news |last1=Augustin |first1=Ed |title=Cuba overwhelmingly approves new constitution affirming 'irrevocable' socialism |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/25/cuba-approves-new-socialist-constitution |access-date=10 August 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=25 February 2019 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813073857/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/25/cuba-approves-new-socialist-constitution |url-status=live }}] Any form of discrimination harmful to human dignity is banned under the constitution.[{{cite web |last1=Bernal |first1=Rafael |title=Cuba, desperate for US thaw, files formal note of protest |url=https://thehill.com/latino/4539876-cuba-protests-havana-us-relations-florida/ |website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |date=18 March 2024 |access-date=21 March 2024 |archive-date=25 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240325113430/https://thehill.com/latino/4539876-cuba-protests-havana-us-relations-florida/ |url-status=live }}] Díaz-Canel succeeded Castro as first secretary of the Communist Party.[{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/16/raul-castro-cuba-communist-party-resigning |title=Raúl Castro confirms he is resigning as head of Cuba's Communist party |work=The Guardian |date=16 April 2021 |access-date=4 October 2023 |archive-date=25 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925090808/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/16/raul-castro-cuba-communist-party-resigning |url-status=live }}][{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-17/raul-castro-resigning-ending-long-era-in-cuba/100076126|title=Raul Castro confirms he's retiring, ending long era of Castro leadership in Cuba|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=17 April 2021|accessdate=17 April 2021|archive-date=16 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416230512/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-17/raul-castro-resigning-ending-long-era-in-cuba/100076126|url-status=live}}] In July 2021, there were [[2021 Cuban protests|several large protests against the government]]. [[Cuban exiles]] also conducted protests overseas.[{{cite news |date=11 July 2021 |title=Protestas en Cuba: manifestantes se concentraron frente a la embajada en Argentina al grito de "Patria y vida" |location=Buenos Aires |url=https://www.clarin.com/mundo/protestas-cuba-manifestantes-concentraron-frente-embajada-argentina-grito-patria-vida-_0_mKNNyd068.html |access-date=18 January 2023 |archive-date=12 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712000417/https://www.clarin.com/mundo/protestas-cuba-manifestantes-concentraron-frente-embajada-argentina-grito-patria-vida-_0_mKNNyd068.html |url-status=live }}][{{Cite web |date=11 July 2021 |title=Cubanos protestan en el Zócalo conta el régimen de Díaz Canel |url=https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/2021/7/11/cubanos-protestan-en-el-zocalo-contra-el-regimen-de-diaz-canel-267600.html |website=proceso.com.mx |access-date=18 January 2023 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118202059/https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/2021/7/11/cubanos-protestan-en-el-zocalo-contra-el-regimen-de-diaz-canel-267600.html |url-status=live }}][{{Cite news |last=PERÚ |first=NOTICIAS EL COMERCIO |date=12 July 2021 |title=San Isidro: ciudadanos cubanos realizan una protesta frente a la embajada de su país {{!}} VIDEO {{!}} Lima {{!}} nndc {{!}} LIMA |url=https://elcomercio.pe/lima/sucesos/san-isidro-ciudadanos-cubanos-realizan-una-protesta-frente-a-la-embajada-de-su-pais-video-lima-nndc-noticia/ |access-date=13 July 2021 |newspaper=El Comercio |language=es |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118202059/https://elcomercio.pe/lima/sucesos/san-isidro-ciudadanos-cubanos-realizan-una-protesta-frente-a-la-embajada-de-su-pais-video-lima-nndc-noticia/ |url-status=live }}]
The [[2024–2026 Cuba blackouts]] were the most severe living crisis that the country has experienced since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.[{{Cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20240318-rare-protests-erupt-in-cuba-over-food-and-electricity-shortages|title=Rare protests erupt in Cuba over food and electricity shortages|date=18 March 2024|website=France 24|access-date=8 August 2025|archive-date=6 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406112256/https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20240318-rare-protests-erupt-in-cuba-over-food-and-electricity-shortages|url-status=live}}][{{Cite web |last1=Grant |first1=Will |last2=Davies |first2=Maia |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8elzx8dg7zo |title=Cuba suffers nationwide blackout after main power plant fails |work=[[BBC News]] |date=18 October 2024 |access-date=18 October 2024 |archive-date=21 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241021034157/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8elzx8dg7zo |url-status=live }}] Díaz-Canel blamed the blackout on the [[United States embargo against Cuba]], which he said prevented much needed supplies and replacement parts from reaching Cuba.[{{cite act|title=ADDRESSING THREATS TO THE UNITED STATES BY THE GOVERNMENT OF CUBA|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/addressing-threats-to-the-united-states-by-the-government-of-cuba/}}] Cuba experienced widespread energy shortages, resulting in rolling blackouts, hospital shortages and flight cancellations, culminating in the [[2026 Cuban crisis]].[{{cite news|url=https://time.com/7373215/cuba-us-blockade-oil-venezuela|title=Rolling Blackouts, Hospital Shortages: How the U.S. Oil Blockade Is Impacting Cuba|publisher=Time |first=Philip |last=Wang |date=9 February 2026}}] UN experts have condemned the executive order issued by the Trump administration, describing the imposition of a fuel blockade on Cuba as "a serious violation of international law and a grave threat to a democratic and equitable international order."[{{cite web |author= |date=12 February 2026 |title=UN experts condemn US executive order imposing fuel blockade on Cuba |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/02/un-experts-condemn-us-executive-order-imposing-fuel-blockade-cuba |website=[[OHCHR]] |location= |publisher= |access-date=14 February 2026 |quote=The U.S. executive order imposing a fuel blockade on Cuba is a serious violation of international law and a grave threat to a democratic and equitable international order. |archive-date=13 February 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260213132345/https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/02/un-experts-condemn-us-executive-order-imposing-fuel-blockade-cuba |url-status=live }}]
==Geography==
{{Main|Geography of Cuba|Environment of Cuba|List of islands of Cuba}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=May 2025}}[[File:Cuba Topography.png|thumb|Topographic map of Cuba|upright=1.4]]
Cuba is an [[archipelago]] of 4,195 islands, cays and islets[{{Cite web |title=Geography » Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología |url=https://www.cigb.edu.cu/en/event_general_info/geography/ |access-date=26 April 2026 |website=Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología |language=en-US}}] located in the northern [[Caribbean Sea]] at the convergence of the [[Gulf of Mexico]] and the Atlantic Ocean. It lies between latitudes [[19th parallel north|19°]] and [[24th parallel north|24°N]], and longitudes [[74th meridian west|74°]] and [[85th meridian west|85°W]]. [[Key West, Florida]], is about 150 km (93 miles) across the [[Straits of Florida]] to the north and northwest, and [[The Bahamas]] ([[Cay Lobos]]) 22.5 km (14 mi) to the north. Mexico lies 210 km (130.5 mi) west across the [[Yucatán Channel]] (to the closest tip of [[Cabo Catoche]]). [[Haiti]] is 78 km (48.5 mi) east and [[Jamaica]] 148 km (92 mi) south.
Cuba is the principal island, surrounded by four smaller groups of islands: the [[Colorados Archipelago]] on the northwestern coast, the [[Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago]] on the north-central Atlantic coast, the [[Jardines de la Reina]] on the south-central coast and the [[Canarreos Archipelago]] on the southwestern coast. The main island, named Cuba, is {{convert|1250|km|abbr=on}} long, constituting most of the nation's land area ({{convert|104338|km2|sqmi|disp=or|abbr=on}}) and is the largest island in the [[Caribbean]] and [[List of islands by area|17th-largest island]] in the world. The main island consists mostly of flat to rolling plains apart from the [[Sierra Maestra]] mountains in the southeast, whose highest point is [[Pico Turquino]] ({{convert|1974|m|ft|disp=or|abbr=on}}). The second-largest island is [[Isla de la Juventud]] in the Canarreos Archipelago, with an area of {{convert|2204|km2|abbr=on}}. Cuba has an official area of {{convert|109884|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. Its area is {{convert|110860|km2|sqmi|sigfig=5|abbr=on}} according to the [[CIA]].
===Climate===
{{Main|Climate of Cuba}}
[[File:Koppen-Geiger Map CUB present.svg|upright=1.4|thumb|Köppen climate classification of Cuba]]
With the entire island south of the [[Tropic of Cancer]], the local climate is tropical, moderated by northeasterly [[trade winds]] that blow year-round. The temperature is also shaped by the [[Caribbean Current]] which brings in warm water from the Equator. This makes the climate of Cuba warmer than that of Hong Kong, which is at around the same latitude as Cuba but has a subtropical rather than a tropical climate. In general (with local variations), there is a drier season from November to April, and a rainier season from May to October. The average temperature is {{convert|21|C|F}} in January and {{convert|27|C|F}} in July. The warm temperatures of the Caribbean Sea and the fact that Cuba sits across the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico combine to make the country prone to frequent [[Tropical cyclone|hurricanes]]. These are most common in September and October.
[[Climate change]] is causing an increase in temperature, [[rising sea levels]] and shifting precipitation patterns, with an overall decrease in rainfall predicted. These will severely impact industries key to the economy, including agriculture, forestry and tourism. As rainfall is Cuba's only water source, water security is an issue. Warmer temperatures may affect the health of the population, causing an increase in cardiovascular, respiratory and viral diseases.[{{Cite web |last=World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal |title=Cuba |url=https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/cuba |access-date=6 March 2025 |website=climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org |language=en}}] A temperature rise of 2 °C above preindustrial levels can increase the likelihood of extreme hurricane rainfall by three times in Cuba.[{{cite news |last1=Berardelli |first1=Jeff |date=29 August 2020 |title=Climate change may make extreme hurricane rainfall five times more likely, study says |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-may-make-extreme-hurricane-rainfall-five-times-more-likely-study-says/ |access-date=30 August 2020 |agency=CBC News |archive-date=28 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231228011407/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-may-make-extreme-hurricane-rainfall-five-times-more-likely-study-says/ |url-status=live }}] [[Climate change mitigation]] and [[Climate change adaptation|adaptation plans]] include [[renewable energy]] generation and [[nature-based solutions]], such as restoring [[Mangrove forest|mangrove ecosystems]].[{{Cite book |last=Republic of Cuba |url=https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/NDC/2022-06/Cuban%20First%20NDC%20Summary%20%28Updated%20submission%29.pdf |title=SUMMARY OF THE FIRST NDC UPDATED (2020-2030) REPUBLIC OF CUBA}}][{{Cite web |date=10 May 2022 |title=Small Island Developing States are on the frontlines of climate change – here's why {{!}} UNDP Climate Promise |url=https://climatepromise.undp.org/news-and-stories/small-island-developing-states-are-frontlines-climate-change-heres-why#:~:text=Cuba%20is%20restoring%20ecosystems%20within%20mangroves%20and,erosion,%20and%20channel%20freshwater%20to%20coastal%20areas. |access-date=6 March 2025 |website=climatepromise.undp.org |language=en}}]
[[Hurricane Irma]] hit the island on 8 September 2017, with winds of {{convert|260|km/h|mph|abbr=on}},[{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/hurricane-irma-landfall-cuba-category-5-170909040746649.html|title=Florida braces for Hurricane Irma after Cuba landfall|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=9 September 2017|archive-date=9 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909212031/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/hurricane-irma-landfall-cuba-category-5-170909040746649.html|url-status=live}}] at the Camagüey Archipelago.[{{cite web |url=https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/hurricane-irma-rips-through-cuba-on-its-way-to-florida/article36221350/ |author1=Brian Thevenot |author2=Robin Respaut |date=9 September 2017 |work=The Globe and Mail |title=Winds whip Florida Keys as Hurricane Irma turns sights northward |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910053409/https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/hurricane-irma-rips-through-cuba-on-its-way-to-florida/article36221350/ |archive-date=10 September 2017 |agency=Reuters}}] The worst damage was in the keys north of the main island. Hospitals, warehouses and factories were damaged; much of the north coast was without electricity. Nearly one million people, including tourists, were evacuated.[{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/09/us/hurricane-irma-florida.html|title=Storm Gains Strength as It Nears Florida|work=The New York Times|date=9 September 2017|access-date=9 September 2017|archive-date=9 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909102639/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/09/us/hurricane-irma-florida.html|url-status=live}}] The [[Varadero]] resort area reported widespread damage.[{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/americas/irma-cuba/index.html|title=Irma kills 10 people in Cuba|author1=Hilary Clarke|author2=Patrick Oppmann|access-date=12 September 2017|archive-date=12 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912154601/http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/americas/irma-cuba/index.html|url-status=live}}] Ten people were killed during the storm, including seven in Havana, most during building collapses. Sections of the capital had been flooded.[{{cite journal |last1=Dinerstein |first1=Eric |last2=Olson |first2=David |last3=Joshi |first3=Anup |last4=Vynne |first4=Carly |last5=Burgess |first5=Neil D. |last6=Wikramanayake |first6=Eric |last7=Hahn |first7=Nathan |last8=Palminteri |first8=Suzanne |last9=Hedao |first9=Prashant |last10=Noss |first10=Reed |last11=Hansen |first11=Matt |last12=Locke |first12=Harvey |last13=Ellis |first13=Erle C. |last14=Jones |first14=Benjamin |last15=Barber |first15=Charles Victor |last16=Hayes |first16=Randy |last17=Kormos |first17=Cyril |last18=Martin |first18=Vance |last19=Crist |first19=Eileen |last20=Sechrest |first20=Wes |last21=Price |first21=Lori |last22=Baillie |first22=Jonathan E. M. |last23=Weeden |first23=Don |last24=Suckling |first24=Kierán |last25=Davis |first25=Crystal |last26=Sizer |first26=Nigel |last27=Moore |first27=Rebecca |last28=Thau |first28=David |last29=Birch |first29=Tanya |last30=Potapov |first30=Peter |last31=Turubanova |first31=Svetlana |last32=Tyukavina |first32=Alexandra |last33=de Souza |first33=Nadia |last34=Pintea |first34=Lilian |last35=Brito |first35=José C. |last36=Llewellyn |first36=Othman A. |last37=Miller |first37=Anthony G. |last38=Patzelt |first38=Annette |last39=Ghazanfar |first39=Shahina A. |last40=Timberlake |first40=Jonathan |last41=Klöser |first41=Heinz |last42=Shennan-Farpón |first42=Yara |last43=Kindt |first43=Roeland |last44=Lillesø |first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow |last45=van Breugel |first45=Paulo |last46=Graudal |first46=Lars |last47=Voge |first47=Maianna |last48=Al-Shammari |first48=Khalaf F. |last49=Saleem |first49=Muhammad |title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm |journal=BioScience |volume=67 |issue=6 |year=2017 |pages=534–545 |doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |pmid=28608869 |pmc=5451287}}] It had a 2019 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 5.4/10, ranking it 102nd globally out of 172 countries.[{{cite journal |last1=Grantham |first1=H. S. |last2=Duncan |first2=A. |last3=Evans|first3=T. D. |last4=Jones |first4=K. R. |last5=Beyer |first5=H. L. |last6=Schuster |first6=R. |last7=Walston |first7=J. |last8=Ray |first8=J. C. |last9=Robinson |first9=J. G. |last10=Callow |first10=M. |last11=Clements |first11=T. |last12=Costa |first12=H. M. |last13=DeGemmis |first13=A. |last14=Elsen |first14=P. R. |last15=Ervin |first15=J. |last16=Franco |first16=P. |last17=Goldman |first17=E. |last18=Goetz |first18=S. |last19=Hansen |first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang |first20=E. |last21=Jantz |first21=P. |last22=Jupiter |first22=S. |last23=Kang |first23=A. |last24=Langhammer |first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F. |last26=Lieberman |first26=S. |last27=Linkie |first27=M. |last28=Malhi |first28=Y. |last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier |first31=R. |last32=Murray |first32=N. J. |last33=Possingham |first33=H. |last34=Radachowsky |first34=J. |last35=Saatchi |first35=S. |last36=Samper |first36=C. |last37=Silverman |first37=J. |last38=Shapiro |first38=A. |last39=Strassburg |first39=B. |last40=Stevens |first40=T. |last41=Stokes |first41=E. |last42=Taylor |first42=R. |last43=Tear |first43=T. |last44=Tizard |first44=R. |last45=Venter |first45=O. |last46=Visconti |first46=P. |last47=Wang |first47=S. |last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M. |title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material |journal=Nature Communications |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=2020 |page=5978 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3 |doi-access=free|pmid=33293507 |pmc=7723057 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G }}]
Cuba signed the [[Convention on Biological Diversity]] (CBD) in 1992.[{{cite web |url=http://www.cbd.int/convention/parties/list/ |title=List of Parties |work=cbd.int |access-date=9 December 2012 |archive-date=24 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124005746/http://www.cbd.int/convention/parties/list/ |url-status=live }}] A [[Biodiversity action plan|National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan]] was submitted in 2008.[{{cite web |url=http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cu/cu-nbsap-v2-es.pdf |title=Plan de Acción Nacional 2006/2010 sobre la Diversidad Biológica. República de Cuba |work=cbd.int |access-date=9 December 2012 |archive-date=17 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117012409/http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cu/cu-nbsap-v2-es.pdf |url-status=live }}] The report contains a detailed breakdown of the numbers of species recorded from Cuba, the main groups being: animals (17,801 species), bacteria (270), [[chromista]] (707), fungi, including [[lichen]]-forming species (5,844), plants (9,107) and [[protozoa]] (1,440).[{{cite web |url=http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cu/cu-nr-04-es.pdf |title=IV Informe Nacional al Convento sobre la Diversidad Biológica. República de Cuba. 2009 |work=cbd.int |access-date=9 December 2012 |archive-date=17 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117012400/http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cu/cu-nr-04-es.pdf |url-status=live }}]
The native [[bee hummingbird]] or ''zunzuncito'' is the world's smallest known bird, with a length of {{convert|55|mm|in|frac=8|abbr=on}}. The [[Cuban trogon]] or ''tocororo'' is the [[national bird]] of Cuba and an [[endemic]] species. Other endemic species are the [[Cuban crocodile]], [[Desmarest's hutia|Cuban hutia]], [[Cuban solenodon]], [[Cuban gar]], [[Cuban boa]], and [[Polymita picta]]. ''[[Hedychium coronarium]]'', named ''mariposa'' in Cuba, is the national flower.[{{cite book|author=Jaime Suchlicki|title=Historical Dictionary of Cuba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yzIlAZ6OPsUC&pg=PA69|year=2001|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-3779-9|page=69}}]
==Government and politics==
{{Main|Politics of Cuba}}
{{multiple image
| total_width = 320
| align = right
| perrow = 2
| image1 = Miguel Diaz-Canel on July 7, 2025 (cropped).jpg
| alt1 = Miguel Díaz-Canel
| caption1 = [[Miguel Díaz-Canel]]
[[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba|First Secretary of the Communist Party]] and [[President of Cuba|President]]
| image2 = Manuel Marrero Cruz before the funeral of Shinzo Abe.jpg
| alt2 = Manuel Marrero Cruz
| caption2 = [[Manuel Marrero Cruz]]
[[Prime Minister of Cuba|Prime Minister]]
| image3 = Salvador Valdés Mesa (cropped).jpg
| alt3 = Salvador Valdés Mesa
| caption3 = [[Salvador Valdés Mesa]]
[[Vice President of Cuba|Vice President]]
| image4 = Esteban Lazo Hernandez 2022.jpg
| alt4 = Esteban Lazo Hernández
| caption4 = [[Esteban Lazo Hernández]]
[[List of presidents of the National Assembly of People's Power (Cuba)|President of the National Assembly]]
| caption_align = center
}}
The Republic of Cuba is a unitary{{refn|[{{cite web |author=Julio Antonio Fernández Estrada |title=What is the Cuban's system of government? |url=https://oncubanews.com/en/advertorial/what-is-the-cubans-system-of-government/ |date=17 April 2018 |publisher=On Cuba News |quote=The Cuban State is also recognized as unitary, which is evident given that Cuba does not function as a federation}}][{{cite web |author1=J C Guanche Zaldívar |author2=E C Díaz Galán |author3=H Bertot Triana |title=Cuba: Legal Response to Covid-19 |url=https://oxcon.ouplaw.com/display/10.1093/law-occ19/law-occ19-e42?d=%2F10.1093%2Flaw-occ19%2Flaw-occ19-e42&p=emailAcPL1TOjat9lg |date= |publisher=Oxford Constitutional Law |quote=Cuba is a unitary republic with a sui generis system of government}}][{{cite web |title=Cuba |url=https://plataformaurbana.cepal.org/en/countries/cuba |publisher=Urban and Cities Platform of Latin America and the Caribbean |quote=Cuba is a unitary republic with a centrally planned economy that is divided into provinces and municipalities.}}]}} one-party [[socialist state (communism)|socialist state]] that adheres to the ideology of [[Marxism–Leninism]]. The [[1976 Cuban constitutional referendum|Constitution of 1976]], which defines Cuba as a [[Socialist state|socialist republic]], was amended in 1992 and 2002, and is "guided by the ideas of [[José Martí]] and the political and social ideas of [[Karl Marx|Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]] and [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]]".[{{cite web |title=The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, 1976 (as Amended to 2002) |url=http://www.constitutionnet.org/files/Cuba%20Constitution.pdf |publisher=National Assembly of People's Power |access-date=18 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117013359/http://www.constitutionnet.org/files/Cuba%20Constitution.pdf |archive-date=17 January 2013}}]
For discussion of the 1992 amendments, see {{Harvnb|Domínguez|2003}}. The constitution describes the [[Communist Party of Cuba]] as the "leading force of society and of the state".[ The political system reflects the Marxist–Leninist concept of [[democratic centralism]].][{{Cite book |last=Cederlöf |first=Gustav |title=The Low-Carbon Contradiction: Energy Transition, Geopolitics, and the Infrastructural State in Cuba |date=2023 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-39313-4 |series=Critical environments: nature, science, and politics |location=Oakland, California}}]{{rp|38}}
The [[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba]] is the most senior position in the [[one-party state]].[{{cite web|url=https://france24.com/en/20180419-raul-castro-leadership-cuba-communist-party-2021-diaz-canel|title=Raul Castro to lead Cuba's Communist Party until 2021|publisher=France 24|date=19 April 2018|quote='I confirm to this assembly that Raul Castro, as first secretary of the Communist Party, will lead the decisions about the future of the country,' Diaz-Canel said.|access-date=21 January 2021|archive-date=18 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718003647/https://france24.com/en/20180419-raul-castro-leadership-cuba-communist-party-2021-diaz-canel|url-status=live}}] The First Secretary leads the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba|Politburo]] and the [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of Cuba|Secretariat]], making the office holder the most powerful person in government.[{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1203299.stm|title=Country profile: Cuba|publisher=BBC News|date=20 August 2009|access-date=7 September 2009|archive-date=20 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220033854/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1203299.stm|url-status=live}}] Members of both councils are elected by the [[National Assembly of People's Power]].[ The President of Cuba, who is elected by the Assembly, serves for five years and since the ratification of the [[Constitution of Cuba|2019 Constitution]], there is a limit of two consecutive five-year terms.][ The [[People's Supreme Court of Cuba|People's Supreme Court]] serves as the highest judicial branch of government. It is also the court of last resort for all appeals against the decisions of provincial courts.
Cuba's national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (''Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular''), is the [[supreme state organ of power]]; 470 members serve five-year terms.][{{cite web|title=Cuba 1976 (rev. 2002)|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Cuba_2002?lang=en#796|website=Constitute|access-date=28 April 2015|archive-date=3 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603204859/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Cuba_2002?lang=en#796|url-status=live}}] Article 131 of the constitution states that voting shall be "through free, equal and secret vote".[{{cite journal|last1=Galvis|first1=Ángela Fonseca |last2=Superti|first2=Chiara|date=3 October 2019|title=Who wins the most when everybody wins? Predicting candidate performance in an authoritarian election |journal=Democratization|volume=26|issue=7|pages=1278–1298 |doi=10.1080/13510347.2019.1629420 }}] In elections for the National Assembly of People's Power there is only one candidate for each seat, which prevents [[electoral competition]].[{{Cite web |title=Cuba: Elections and Events 1991-2001 |url=http://sshl.ucsd.edu/collections/las/cuba/1990.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301123039/http://sshl.ucsd.edu/collections/las/cuba/1990.html |archive-date=1 March 2007 |access-date=23 April 2026 |website=Social Sciences & Humanities Library}}] Candidates are nominated by committees that are firmly controlled by the Communist Party.[{{cite journal |last1=Smyth |first1=Regina |last2=Bianco |first2=William |last3=Chan |first3=Kwan Nok |title=Legislative Rules in Electoral Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Hong Kong's Legislative Council |journal=The Journal of Politics |date=July 2019 |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=892–905 |doi=10.1086/703068 |jstor=26843972 |hdl=2022/32352 |url=http://iu.tind.io/record/2995 }}][{{Cite journal |last1=Braithwaite |first1=Alex |last2=Braithwaite |first2=Jessica Maves |year=2020 |title=Restricting Opposition in Elections and Terrorist Violence |journal=Terrorism and Political Violence |volume=32 |issue=7 |pages=1550–1572 |doi=10.1080/09546553.2018.1495627 }}] Voters can select individual candidates on their [[ballot]], select every candidate, or leave every question blank, with no option to vote against candidates.[{{cite journal |last1=Domínguez |first1=Jorge I. |last2=Galvis |first2=Ángela Fonseca |last3=Superti |first3=Chiara |title=Authoritarian Regimes and Their Permitted Oppositions: Election Day Outcomes in Cuba |journal=Latin American Politics and Society |date=2017 |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=27–52 |doi=10.1111/laps.12017 }}][{{Cite book |last=Leogrande |first=William M. |title=The Cuban communist party and electoral politics: Adaptation, succession, and transition |isbn=978-0-9704916-2-6 |date=2012 |publisher=Cuba Transition Project, Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami |page=11 |quote=The ban on campaigning was retained, and the nomination of provincial and national assembly candidates was entrusted to Candidacy Commissions. Through an elaborate process of consultation with and suggestions from mass organizations, municipal assemblies, and local work centers, the Candidacy Commissions (now chaired by trade union, rather than PCC, representatives) produced slates of nominees with just one candidate per seat. Voters only had the choice of voting yes or no. |url=https://aura.american.edu/articles/online_resource/The_Cuban_communist_party_and_electoral_politics_Adaptation_succession_and_transition/23846613/1/files/41841135.pdf |archive-date=23 April 2026 |access-date=23 April 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260423085319/https://aura.american.edu/articles/online_resource/The_Cuban_communist_party_and_electoral_politics_Adaptation_succession_and_transition/23846613/1/files/41841135.pdf |url-status=live }}]{{explain|reason=What does "no option to vote against candidates" mean?|date=March 2026}}
The Communist Party of Cuba holds [[Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba]] meetings once in around 5 years since 1975. In 2011, the party stated that there were 800,000 members. Party representatives generally constitute at least half of the Councils of state and the National Assembly. The remaining positions are filled by candidates nominally without party affiliation. Other political parties campaign and raise finances internationally, while activity by [[Cuban dissident movement|political opposition groups]] is minimal.{{citation needed|date=March 2026}}
[[File:Comité Central PCC.jpg|thumb|The headquarters of the [[Communist Party of Cuba|Communist Party]] ]]According to [[International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance]], Cuba performs poorly on overall democratic measures.[{{Cite web |title=Cuba {{!}} The Global State of Democracy |url=https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/country/cuba |access-date=6 October 2025 |website=www.idea.int |language=en}}][{{Cite web |title=Global State of Democracy Indices {{!}} The Global State of Democracy |url=https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/gsod-indices |access-date=6 October 2025 |website=www.idea.int |archive-date=25 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250825020600/https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/gsod-indices |url-status=live }}][{{Cite web |title=Home {{!}} The Global State of Democracy |url=https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/ |access-date=6 October 2025 |website=www.idea.int |archive-date=8 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908102653/https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/ |url-status=live }}] Cuba is considered an authoritarian regime according to [[The Economist]]'s ''[[Democracy Index]]'',[{{cite web|date=25 January 2017|title=Democracy Index 2016: Revenge of the 'deplorables'|url=https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=DemocracyIndex2016|access-date=20 July 2017|website=eiu.com|publisher=The Economist Intelligence Unit|archive-date=11 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111195322/https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=DemocracyIndex2016|url-status=live}}] ''[[Freedom in the World]]'' reports,[{{cite web |title=Country Status and ratings overview – Freedom in the World 1973–2016 |url=https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Country%20Status%20%26%20Ratings%20Overview%2C%201973-2016.pdf |access-date=29 January 2021 |website=[[Freedom House]] |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020075644/https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Country%20Status%20%26%20Ratings%20Overview%2C%201973-2016.pdf |url-status=live }}] and [[V-Dem Democracy Indices]].[{{cite web | title=Democracy Report 2025, 25 Years of Autocratization – Democracy Trumped? | url=https://v-dem.net/documents/54/v-dem_dr_2025_lowres_v1.pdf | access-date=14 March 2025 | archive-date=13 March 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250313112226/https://www.v-dem.net/documents/54/v-dem_dr_2025_lowres_v1.pdf | url-status=live }}]
Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected president on 18 April 2018 after the resignation of Raúl Castro. On 19 April 2021, Díaz-Canel became First Secretary of the Communist Party. He is the first non-Castro to be in such top position since the Cuban Revolution of 1959.[{{cite web |title=Raul Castro retires but Cuban Communist Party emphasizes continuity |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuban-president-diaz-canel-made-communist-party-leader-ending-castro-era-2021-04-19/ |work=Reuters|date=19 April 2021 |access-date=19 April 2021 |archive-date=31 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331094026/https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuban-president-diaz-canel-made-communist-party-leader-ending-castro-era-2021-04-19/ |url-status=live }}]
===Administrative divisions===
{{Main|Provinces of Cuba|Municipalities of Cuba}}
The country is subdivided into 15 provinces and one special municipality (Isla de la Juventud). These were formerly part of six larger historical provinces: Pinar del Río, Habana, Matanzas, Las Villas, Camagüey and Oriente. The present subdivisions closely resemble those of the Spanish military provinces during the Cuban Wars of Independence, when the most troublesome areas were subdivided. The provinces are divided into municipalities.
[[File:CubaSubdivisions.png|thumb|upright=2|Provinces of Cuba]]
{| class="background:transparent"
| style="padding-right:1em;"|
{{ordered list
| [[Pinar del Río Province|Pinar del Río]]
| [[Artemisa Province|Artemisa]]
| [[Havana]]
| [[Mayabeque Province|Mayabeque]]
| [[Matanzas Province|Matanzas]]
| [[Cienfuegos Province|Cienfuegos]]
| [[Villa Clara Province|Villa Clara]]
| [[Sancti Spíritus Province|Sancti Spíritus]]
}}
|
{{ordered list|start=9
| [[Ciego de Ávila Province|Ciego de Ávila]]
| [[Camagüey Province|Camagüey]]
| [[Las Tunas Province|Las Tunas]]
| [[Granma Province|Granma]]
| [[Holguín Province|Holguín]]
| [[Santiago de Cuba Province|Santiago de Cuba]]
| [[Guantánamo Province|Guantánamo]]
| [[Isla de la Juventud]]
}}
|
|}
{{clear}}
===Foreign relations===
{{Main|Foreign relations of Cuba}}
{{See also|Cuban medical internationalism}}
[[File:Ali Khamenei and Fidel Castro in Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Zimbabwe (1986).jpg|thumb|[[Fidel Castro]] and [[Ali Khamenei]] at a meeting of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] in Zimbabwe, 3 September 1986]]
Cuba is a founding member of the [[United Nations]], [[Group of 77|G77]], [[Non-Aligned Movement]], [[Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States]], [[ALBA]], and [[Organization of American States]]. Cuba has conducted a foreign policy that is uncharacteristic of such a minor, developing country.[{{Harvnb|Domínguez|1989|p=6}}: "Cuba is a small country, but it has the foreign policy of a big power."][{{Harvnb|Feinsilver|1989|p=2}}: "Cuba has projected disproportionately greater power and influence through military might ... through economic largesse ... as a mediator in regional conflicts, and as a forceful and persuasive advocate of Third World interests in international forums. Cuba's scientific achievements, while limited, are also being shared with other Third World countries, thereby furthering Cuban influence and prestige abroad."] Under Castro, Cuba was heavily involved in wars in Africa, Central America and Asia. Cuba supported [[Algeria]] in 1961–1965[{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|1996|pp=159, 161}}: "Cuba's relationship with Algeria in 1961–5 ... clashes with the image of Cuban foreign policy—cynical ploys of a [Soviet] client state—that prevails not only in the United States but also in many European capitals. ... The aid Cuba gave Algeria in 1961–2 had nothing to do with the East-West conflict. Its roots predate Castro's victory in 1959 and lie in the Cubans' widespread identification with the struggle of the Algerian people."] and sent tens of thousands of troops to [[Cuban intervention in Angola|Angola]] during the [[Angolan Civil War]].[{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|2010|p=327}}: "The dispatch of 36,000 Cuban soldiers to Angola between November 1975 and April 1976 stunned the world; ... by 1988, there were 55,000 Cuban soldiers in Angola."] Other countries that featured Cuban involvement include [[Ethiopia]],[{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QHWGwG71hzMC&pg=PA392 392]}}: "After Angola, Cuba's largest military intervention was in Ethiopia, where in 1978 16,000 Cuban troops helped repulse the invading Somali army."][{{Harvnb|Gebru Tareke|2009|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dRIfYPTZxJsC&pg=PA62 62–3]}}. Tareke refers here to the training given to 10 members of the [[Eritrean Liberation Front]] in 1968 during the [[Eritrean War of Independence|Eritrean struggle for independence]].] [[Guinea]],[{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|1997|p=50}}: "On 14–16 October 1960, [Guinean president Ahmed Sékou] Touré went to Havana. It was the first visit of an African chief of state to Cuba. The following year Cuba's foreign aid programme to Third World governments began when fifteen students from Guinea arrived in Havana to attend the university or technical institutes."] [[Guinea-Bissau]],[{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|1997|p=45}}: "Joining the rebellion in 1966, and remaining through the war's end in 1974, this was the longest Cuban intervention in Africa before the despatch of troops to Angola in November 1975. It was also the most successful. As the Guinean paper ''Nõ Pintcha'' declared, 'The Cubans' solidarity was decisive for our struggle{{' "}}.] [[Mozambique]],[{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QHWGwG71hzMC&dq=%22not+very+important%22&pg=PA227 227]}}. The Cuban contribution to the independence of Mozambique was not very important.] and [[Yemen]].{{sfn|Ramazani|1975|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7ETnbmUmxoUC&pg=PA91 91]}} Lesser known actions include the 1959 missions to the [[Dominican Republic]].[{{Cite news |publisher=Waterloo Daily Courier|date=24 June 1959|location=Waterloo, Iowa|title=AP 1950 Invasion Wiped Out Says Trujillo|page=7}}] The expedition failed, but a prominent monument to its members was erected in their memory in Santo Domingo by the Dominican government, and they feature prominently at the country's Memorial Museum of the Resistance.[{{cite web |title=Resistencia 1916–1966 |url=http://www.museodelaresistencia.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=232 |publisher=museodelaresistencia.org |access-date=24 April 2013 |archive-date=26 November 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131126212007/http://museodelaresistencia.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=232}}]
In 2008, the European Union and Cuba agreed to resume full relations and cooperation activities.[{{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/EU-Cuba-Joint%20declaration-261108_EN.pdf |title=Joint declarations concerning areas and modalities provisionally identified for cooperation |date=26 November 2008 |publisher=European Commission |access-date=6 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511102350/http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/EU-Cuba-Joint%20declaration-261108_EN.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2011}}] Cuba is a founding member of the [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas]].[{{cite web |last=Hirst |first=Joel D. |date=2 December 2010 |title=The Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas |url=http://www.cfr.org/venezuela/bolivarian-alliance-americas/p23585 |publisher=[[Council on Foreign Relations|cfr.org]] |access-date=24 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615195732/http://www.cfr.org/venezuela/bolivarian-alliance-americas/p23585 |archive-date=15 June 2013}}] Tens of thousands of Cuban medical personnel have worked abroad,[{{cite web |last=Millman |first=Joel |date=15 January 2011 |title=New Prize in Cold War: Cuban Doctors |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203731004576045640711118766 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=24 April 2013 |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929193703/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203731004576045640711118766 |url-status=live}}] with as many as 30,000 doctors in Venezuela alone via the two countries' oil-for-doctors programme.[{{cite web |last=Arsenault |first=Chris |date=31 December 2012 |title=Cuban doctors prescribe hope in Venezuela |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/venezuelaelection/2012/10/20121039242915607.html |publisher=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |access-date=24 April 2013 |archive-date=21 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921013600/https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/venezuelaelection/2012/10/20121039242915607.html |url-status=live}}]
As the article discusses, the oil-for-doctors programme has not been welcomed uncritically in Venezuela. The initial impetus for Cuban doctors' going to Venezuela was a Chavez-government welfare project called ''[[Mission Barrio Adentro|Misión Barrio Adentro]]'' ({{Harvnb|Albornoz|2006}}).
[[File:Vladimir Putin and Raul Castro (28-09-2015).jpg|thumb|[[Raúl Castro]] with Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] in New York City, 28 September 2015]]
[[File:22.06.2023 - Encontro com o Presidente da República de Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (52994078528).jpg|thumb|Cuban leader [[Miguel Díaz-Canel]] with Brazilian President [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]] in Paris, France, 22 June 2023]]
In the wake of the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] and the ongoing international isolation of Russia, Cuba emerged as one of the few countries that maintained friendly relations with the Russian Federation.[{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/29/despite-cubas-important-history-solidarity-with-ukraine-russia-remains-key-ally/|title=Despite Cuba's important history of solidarity with Ukraine, Russia remains a key ally|author=William Kelly|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=29 March 2022|access-date=28 April 2023|archive-date=9 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609231358/https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/29/despite-cubas-important-history-solidarity-with-ukraine-russia-remains-key-ally/|url-status=live}}][{{cite web|last1=Cunningham |first1=James |url=https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/cuba-and-russia-strengthen-strategic-partnership/#.ZEsYuC-l0_U|title=Cuba and Russia Strengthen Strategic Partnership|website=dialogo-americas.com|date=6 January 2023|access-date=28 April 2023|archive-date=28 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428005728/https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/cuba-and-russia-strengthen-strategic-partnership/#.ZEsYuC-l0_U|url-status=live}}] Diaz-Canel visited [[Vladimir Putin]] in Moscow in November 2022, where the two leaders opened a monument of Fidel Castro, as well as speaking out against U.S. sanctions against Russia and Cuba.[{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/evoking-castro-putin-cuban-leader-pledge-deepen-ties-2022-11-22/|title=Evoking Castro, Putin and Cuban leader pledge to deepen ties|work=Reuters|date=22 November 2022|access-date=28 April 2023|archive-date=28 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428005729/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/evoking-castro-putin-cuban-leader-pledge-deepen-ties-2022-11-22/|url-status=live}}]
==== Embargo by the United States (1960–present) ====
{{Main|United States embargo against Cuba}}
Since 1960, the U.S. embargo on Cuba stands as one of the longest-running trade and economic measures in bilateral relations history, having endured for over six decades. This action was initiated in response to a wave of nationalizations that impacted American properties valued at over US$1 billion. U.S.[{{cite book |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499 |title=Foreign Relations of the United States |date=6 April 1960 |publisher=Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute – [[United States Department of State]] |location=Washington |chapter=499. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Mallory) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom) |quote=If the above are accepted or cannot be successfully countered, it follows that every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba. If such a policy is adopted, it should be the result of a positive decision which would call forth a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government. |access-date=13 May 2022 |archive-date=27 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927035426/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499 |url-status=live }}][{{cite book |last1=Yaffe |first1=Helen |title=Sanctions as War |chapter=US Sanctions Cuba 'to Bring About Hunger, Desperation and the Overthrow of the Government' |date=2021 |pages=129–147 |doi=10.1163/9789004501201_009 |isbn=978-90-04-50119-5 |chapter-url=http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/253303/ |archive-date=22 May 2026 |access-date=22 May 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260522165726/http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/253303/ |url-status=live }}] President Dwight Eisenhower instated an embargo that prohibited all exports to Cuba, with the exception of medicines and certain foods.[{{cite web |year=1992 |title=Cuban Democracy Act |url=https://1997-2001.state.gov/www/regions/wha/cuba/democ_act_1992.html |access-date=6 September 2009 |publisher=U.S. Department of State |archive-date=15 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115002210/https://1997-2001.state.gov/www/regions/wha/cuba/democ_act_1992.html |url-status=live }}]{{Primary source inline|date=May 2022}} The [[UN General Assembly]] has passed a resolution every year since 1992 condemning the embargo and stating that it violates the [[Charter of the United Nations]] and international law.[{{cite web |date=September 2009 |title=The US Embargo Against Cuba: Its Impact on Economic and Social Rights |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr25/007/2009/en/ |access-date=29 December 2013 |publisher=Amnesty International |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804205931/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr25/007/2009/en/ |url-status=live }}] Cuba considers the embargo a human rights violation.[{{Cite web |date=7 November 2019 |title=Cuba: UN Members overwhelmingly support end of US embargo, as Brazil backs Washington |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/11/1050891 |access-date=2 January 2021 |publisher=United Nations News |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116072030/https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/11/1050891 |url-status=live }}] The impact and effectiveness of the embargo have been subjects of intense debate. While some argue it has been "extraordinarily porous" and is not the primary cause of Cuba's economic hardships, others see it as a pressure mechanism aimed at driving change in the Cuban government.[{{Cite journal |last=Domínguez |first=Jorge I. |year=2001 |title=Reviews: ''Cuba, the United States, and the Helms-Burton Doctrine: International Reactions'' by Joaquín Roy |journal=[[Journal of Latin American Studies]] |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=888–890 |jstor=3653779 |doi=10.1017/s0022216x0133626x }}]}} In 2009, United States president [[Barack Obama]] stated "the United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba",[{{cite web |url=http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2009/April/20090421102201dmslahrellek0.4116632.html |title=Obama Says U.S., Cuba Taking Critical Steps Toward a New Day |date=21 April 2009 |publisher=Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State |access-date=6 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130044737/http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2009/April/20090421102201dmslahrellek0.4116632.html?CP.rss=true |archive-date=30 November 2009}}] and he reversed the [[George W. Bush|Bush Administration]]'s prohibition on travel and remittances by Cuban-Americans from the United States to Cuba.[{{cite web |url=http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/April/20090413170610eaifas0.2033502.html |title=U.S. Administration Announcement on U.S. Policy Toward Cuba |date=13 April 2009 |publisher=Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State |access-date=6 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830041229/http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/April/20090413170610eaifas0.2033502.html |archive-date=30 August 2009}}] In 2014 an agreement between the United States and Cuba, popularly called the "[[Cuban thaw]]", brokered in part by Canada and [[Pope Francis]], began the process of restoring international relations between the two countries. They agreed to release political prisoners, and in 2015 the United States opened an embassy in Havana.[{{cite news|author1=Daniel Trotta and Steve Holland|title=U.S., Cuba restore ties after 50 years|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa-gross-idUSKBN0JV1H520141217|access-date=13 January 2015|work=Reuters|date=17 December 2014|location=Havanna and Washington|archive-date=15 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115200949/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa-gross-idUSKBN0JV1H520141217|url-status=live}}][{{cite news|last=Baker|first=Peter|date=17 December 2014|title=U.S. to Restore Full Relations With Cuba, Erasing a Last Trace of Cold War Hostility|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/us-cuba-relations.html|access-date=13 January 2015|work=The New York Times|archive-date=5 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105152931/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/us-cuba-relations.html|url-status=live}}][{{cite news |author1=Frances Robles |author2=Julie Hirschfeld Davis |date=18 December 2014 |title=U.S. Frees Last of the 'Cuban Five,' Part of a 1990s Spy Ring |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/us-frees-last-of-the-cuban-five-part-of-a-1990s-spy-ring-.html |access-date=13 January 2015 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929200719/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/us-frees-last-of-the-cuban-five-part-of-a-1990s-spy-ring-.html |url-status=live }}][{{cite news|last=Parlapiano|first=Alicia|date=17 December 2014|title=How America's Relationship With Cuba Will Change|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/17/world/americas/cuba-sanctions.html|access-date=13 January 2015|work=The New York Times|archive-date=29 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929194015/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/17/world/americas/cuba-sanctions.html|url-status=live}}][{{cite news|author1=Mark Landler and Michael R. Gordon|date=17 December 2014|title=Journey to Reconciliation Visited Worlds of Presidents, Popes and Spies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/journey-to-rapprochement-visited-worlds-of-presidents-popes-and-spies.html|access-date=13 January 2015|work=The New York Times|archive-date=29 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929194047/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/journey-to-rapprochement-visited-worlds-of-presidents-popes-and-spies.html|url-status=live}}][{{cite news |last1=Jackson |first1=David |title=Obama, Cuba announce embassy openings |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/01/obama-cuba-raul-castro-embassy/29555255/ |access-date=1 July 2015 |date=1 July 2015 |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929200719/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/01/obama-cuba-raul-castro-embassy/29555255/ |url-status=live }}] and reestablished diplomatic relations.[{{cite news |last1=Jaffe |first1=Greg |title=U.S. and Cuba reach deal to reopen embassies and reestablish ties |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-and-cuba-reach-deal-to-reopen-embassies-and-reestablish-ties/2015/06/30/258209ba-1f70-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=30 June 2015 |archive-date=22 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422050303/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-and-cuba-reach-deal-to-reopen-embassies-and-reestablish-ties/2015/06/30/258209ba-1f70-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html |url-status=live }}] In 2015 Obama announced he would remove Cuba from the American government's list of nations that sponsor terrorism,[{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/world/americas/obama-cuba-remove-from-state-terror-list.html |title=Cuba to Be Removed From U.S. List of Nations That Sponsor Terrorism |last1=Archibold |first1=Randal C. |last2=Davis |first2=Julie Hirschfield |work=The New York Times |date=14 April 2015 |access-date=15 April 2015 |archive-date=1 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001153816/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/world/americas/obama-cuba-remove-from-state-terror-list.html |url-status=live }}][{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/u-s-cuba-relations/obama-remove-cuba-list-state-sponsors-terrorism-n341446 |title=Obama Nixing Cuba From List of State Sponsors of Terrorism |last1=Gamboa |first1=Suzanne |last2=Abdullah |first2=Halimah |publisher=NBC News |date=14 April 2015 |access-date=15 April 2015 |archive-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003131551/https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/u-s-cuba-relations/obama-remove-cuba-list-state-sponsors-terrorism-n341446 |url-status=live }}] which Cuba reportedly welcomed as "fair".[{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32313184 |title=Cuba praises 'fair' US pledge on terrorism list |publisher=BBC News |date=15 April 2015 |access-date=15 April 2015 |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929193804/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32313184 |url-status=live }}] On 17 September 2017, the United States considered closing its Cuban embassy following mysterious [[Havana syndrome|medical symptoms]] experienced by its staff.[{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/us/politics/tillerson-cuba-embassy.html|title=Tillerson Says U.S. May Close Cuba Embassy Over Mystery Ailments|last=Harris|first=Gardiner|date=17 September 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=29 October 2017 |archive-date=29 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029070032/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/us/politics/tillerson-cuba-embassy.html|url-status=live}}]
The diplomatic relations set in place by Obama were later reversed by the [[Donald Trump|Trump]] administration, which enacted new rules and re-enforced the business and travel restrictions which were loosened by the Obama administration.[{{cite web |last=Lederman |first=Josh |title=U.S. tightens travel rules to Cuba, blacklists many businesses |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/ct-us-cuba-travel-restrictions-20171108-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422150935/https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/ct-us-cuba-travel-restrictions-20171108-story.html |archive-date=22 April 2019 |access-date=13 May 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune}}] These sanctions were inherited and strengthened by the [[Joe Biden|Biden]] administration.[{{cite web |date=31 July 2021 |title=U.S. issues new Cuba sanctions, Biden promises more to come |first1=Jeff |last1=Mason |first2=Steve |last2=Holland |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/biden-meet-cuban-american-leaders-amid-calls-tougher-action-havana-2021-07-30/ |access-date=13 May 2022 |work=Reuters|archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516164157/https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/biden-meet-cuban-american-leaders-amid-calls-tougher-action-havana-2021-07-30/ |url-status=live }}]
===Military===
{{Main|Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces}}
{{As of|2018}}, Cuba spent about {{Nowrap|US$91.8 million}} on its armed forces or 2.9% of its GDP.[{{Cite web|url=https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex|title=SIPRI Military Expenditure Database | SIPRI|website=sipri.org|access-date=19 July 2021|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502184705/https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex|url-status=live}}] In 1985, Cuba devoted more than 10% of its GDP to military expenditures.[{{cite magazine |author-last=Williams |author-first=John Hoyt |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1988/08/cuba-havanas-military-machine/305932/|access-date=19 July 2013|magazine=[[The Atlantic]]|date=August 1988|archive-date=7 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607110023/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1988/08/cuba-havanas-military-machine/305932/|url-status=live|title=Cuba: Havana's Military Machine}}] During the Cold War, Cuba built up the largest per capita armed forces in Latin America, funded and equipped by the Soviet Union.[{{cite web|url=http://www.disam.dsca.mil/pubs/Vol%205-2/Cuban.pdf|title=Cuban armed forces and the Soviet military presence|access-date=24 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324232416/http://www.disam.dsca.mil/pubs/Vol%205-2/Cuban.pdf|archive-date=24 March 2009}}] From 1975 until the late 1980s, [[Soviet Armed Forces|Soviet military]] assistance enabled Cuba to upgrade its military capabilities. After the loss of Soviet subsidies, Cuba scaled down the numbers of military personnel, from 235,000 in 1994 to about 49,000 in 2021.[{{cite web|url=https://www.redorbit.com/news/general/618165/cuban_army_called_key_in_any_postcastro_scenario/index.html/|title=Cuban army called key in any post-Castro scenario|date=15 August 2006|website=Redorbit|access-date=30 December 2019|archive-date=17 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817082243/https://www.redorbit.com/news/general/618165/cuban_army_called_key_in_any_postcastro_scenario/index.html/|url-status=live}}]
In 2017, Cuba signed the UN treaty on the [[Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons|Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons]].[{{cite web |url=https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |title=Chapter XXVI: Disarmament – No. 9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons |publisher=United Nations Treaty Collection |date=7 July 2017 |access-date=10 August 2019 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230171334/https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |url-status=live }}] Since signing a defense pact with Belarus in January 2024, Cuba has upgraded its [[S-125 Pechora]] air defense systems with Belarusian support,[{{cite web |title=Cuba modernizes the S-125 Pechora missiles in military cooperation with Belarus |url=https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2025-05-04-u1-e208933-s27061-nid302096-cuba-moderniza-misiles-s-125-pechora-cooperacion |date=4 May 2025 |website=en.cibercuba.com}}] but it does not have a modern networked air defense system.
According to the [[Global Peace Index]], Cuba has a medium state of peace ranked 102 out of 163 countries.[{{Cite web|url=https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf|title=2024 Global Peace Index|accessdate=21 November 2025|archive-date=19 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240819091540/https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf|url-status=live}}]
Cuba is considered a [[military dictatorship]] in the [[Democracy-Dictatorship Index]] and has been described as "a militarized society"[Hugo Prieto. [https://historico.prodavinci.com/2017/07/30/actualidad/elizabeth-burgos-los-cubanos-se-han-dedicado-al-control-de-las-fuerzas-armadas-por-hugo-prieto/ "Elizabeth Burgos: 'Los cubanos se han dedicado al control de las Fuerzas Armadas'."] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220905002151/https://historico.prodavinci.com/2017/07/30/actualidad/elizabeth-burgos-los-cubanos-se-han-dedicado-al-control-de-las-fuerzas-armadas-por-hugo-prieto/ |date=5 September 2022}} ''Prodavinci''. 30 July 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2022. ''"Cuba es una dictadura militar y una sociedad militarizada."''] with the armed forces having long been the most powerful institution in the country.[{{cite web |url=http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/Research_Studies/BLatell.pdf |title=The Cuban military and transition dynamics |access-date=27 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326012540/http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/Research_Studies/BLatell.pdf|archive-date=26 March 2009}}]
===Law enforcement===
{{Main|Law enforcement in Cuba}}
{{See also|Crime in Cuba}}
[[File:Cuba police car 01.JPG|thumb|A [[Lada Riva]] police car in [[Holguín]] ]]
All law enforcement agencies are maintained under Cuba's Ministry of the Interior, which is supervised by the [[Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces|Revolutionary Armed Forces]]. The [[Dirección de Inteligencia|Intelligence Directorate]] conducts intelligence operations and maintains close ties with the [[Federal Security Service (Russia)|Russian Federal Security Service]].[{{cite web |url=http://duma.gov.ru/en/news/55808/ |title=Vyacheslav Volodin: for us, Cuba is a symbol of the struggle for independence, struggle for self-determination of the people |website=State Duma |date=22 November 2022 |access-date=28 April 2023 |archive-date=28 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428005729/http://duma.gov.ru/en/news/55808/ |url-status=live }}] The US Justice Department considers Cuba a significant counterintelligence threat.[{{Cite news |last=Strobel |first=Brett Forrest and Warren P. |title=How Cuba Recruits Spies to Penetrate Inner Circles of the U.S. Government |url=https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/how-cuba-recruits-spies-to-penetrate-inner-circles-of-the-u-s-government-d277b931?mod=hp_lead_pos6 |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |archive-date=17 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317002544/https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/how-cuba-recruits-spies-to-penetrate-inner-circles-of-the-u-s-government-d277b931?mod=hp_lead_pos6 |url-status=live }}]
===Censorship===
{{Main|Censorship in Cuba}}
The unconditional release of all [[political prisoners]] was called for by the EU.[{{cite book |last=Laursen |first=F. |title=The EU in the Global Political Economy |publisher=P.I.E. Peter Lang |year=2009 |isbn=978-90-5201-554-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8N66N1M3fVMC&pg=PA279 |page=279 |access-date=14 October 2016 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209040624/https://books.google.com/books?id=8N66N1M3fVMC&pg=PA279 |url-status=live }}][{{cite web |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2004:076E:0384:0386:EN:PDF|title=EU-Cuba relations|date=4 September 2003|publisher=European Communities|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=5 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905060853/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2004:076E:0384:0386:EN:PDF}}] In July 2010, the unofficial Cuban Human Rights Commission said there were 167 political prisoners in Cuba, a fall from 201 at the start of the year. The head of the commission stated that long prison sentences were being replaced by harassment and intimidation.[{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10517497|title=Number of Cuban political prisoners dips – rights group|date=5 July 2010|access-date=2 June 2014|publisher=BBC News|archive-date=5 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605082130/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10517497|url-status=live}}] Cuba was ranked 19th by the number of imprisoned journalists of any nation in {{As of|2021|bare=y}} according to various sources, including the [[Committee to Protect Journalists]] and Human Rights Watch.[{{cite web |url=https://cpj.org/2021/12/attacks-on-the-press-in-2021/ |title=Attacks on the Press in 2021 |date=9 December 2021 |publisher=Committee to Protect Journalists |access-date=13 May 2022 |archive-date=13 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513072703/https://cpj.org/2021/12/attacks-on-the-press-in-2021/ |url-status=live }}][{{cite book |title=World Report 2008: Events of 2007 |publisher=[[Seven Stories Press]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-58322-774-9 |author=Human Rights Watch |author-link=Human Rights Watch |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldreport2008e0000unse/page/207 207] |url=https://archive.org/details/worldreport2008e0000unse/page/207 }}] Cuba ranks 171st out of 180 on the {{As of|2020|bare=y}} [[Press Freedom Index|World Press Freedom Index]].[{{Cite web |title=Cuba – Constant ordeal for independent media |url=https://rsf.org/en/cuba |access-date=14 October 2021 |website=[[Reporters without Borders]] |archive-date=6 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006091631/https://rsf.org/en/cuba |url-status=live }}]
The [[Committees for the Defense of the Revolution]] surveil their neighborhoods for "counter-revolutionary" activity.[{{Cite news |last=Sanchez |first=Isabel |date=27 September 2010 |title=Cuba's neighborhood watches: 50 years of eyes, ears |url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gq3GU2QzFyRWT84_YNvI3mgOy7tg?docId=CNG.cd0ab416a2c7901c0abb23f392c5057d.ad1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130410190428/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gq3GU2QzFyRWT84_YNvI3mgOy7tg?docId=CNG.cd0ab416a2c7901c0abb23f392c5057d.ad1 |archive-date=10 April 2013 |access-date=23 April 2026 |work=AFP |via=Google News}}] Membership is not selective, but leading members are approved by the Cuban Communist Party.[{{Cite book|title=Back from the Future: Cuba under Castro|last=Eckstein|first=Susan|publisher=Routledge|year=1994|isbn=0-415-94793-6|location=Great Britain|pages=29}}]
===Identity politics===
{{Main|LGBT rights in Cuba|Women in Cuba}}
[[File:Damas de Blanco demonstration in Havana, Cuba.jpg|thumb|[[Ladies in White]] demonstration in [[Havana]] (April 2012)]]
Cuba performs in the top 25% of nations in [[gender equality]].[{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Lydia |date=4 January 2018 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cuba-lgbt-revolution-gay-lesbian-transgender-rights-havana-raul-castro-a8122591.html |title=Inside Cuba's LGBT revolution: How the island's attitudes to sexuality and gender were transformed |newspaper=The Independent |location=Havana |access-date=3 May 2023 |archive-date=14 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514152751/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cuba-lgbt-revolution-gay-lesbian-transgender-rights-havana-raul-castro-a8122591.html |url-status=live }}][{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-63035426 |title=Cuba Family Code: Country votes to legalise same-sex marriage |publisher=BBC News |date=26 September 2022 |access-date=28 September 2022 |archive-date=28 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928110542/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-63035426 |url-status=live }}]
==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of Cuba}}
{{Further|Dual economy of Cuba|Rationing in Cuba|Sociolismo|United States embargo against Cuba}}
[[File:GDP per capita development of Cuba.svg|thumb|right|Historical GDP per capita development]]
The Cuban state asserts its adherence to socialist principles in organizing its largely state-controlled [[planned economy]]. Most of the [[means of production]] are owned and run by the government, and most of the labor force is employed by the state. Recent years have seen a trend toward more private sector employment. By 2006, public sector employment was 78% and private sector 22%, compared to 91.8% to 8.2% in 1981.[{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/publications/research_reports/art3670.html/OA-Cuba_Social_Policy_at_Crossroads-en.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009163422/http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/publications/research_reports/art3670.html/OA-Cuba_Social_Policy_at_Crossroads-en.pdf|archive-date=9 October 2007|title=Social Policy at the crossroads |publisher=oxfamamerica.org|access-date=5 February 2009}}] Government spending is 78.1% of GDP.[{{Cite news|url=https://www.reference.com/government-politics/countries-planned-economy-3f07e563b79708ba|title=What countries have a planned economy?|newspaper=Reference|access-date=18 October 2016|archive-date=26 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826083115/https://www.reference.com/government-politics/countries-planned-economy-3f07e563b79708ba|url-status=live}}] Since the early 2010s, following the initial market reforms, it has become popular to describe the economy as being, or moving toward, [[market socialism]].[{{cite news |last=Plummer |first=Robert |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-12565417 |title=Cuba inches towards market socialism |date=27 March 2011 |publisher=BBC |access-date=22 October 2022 |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929020629/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-12565417 |url-status=live }}][{{cite book |last=Feinberg |first=Richard |title=Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy |pages=214–215 |date=14 June 2016 |publisher=Publisher: Brookings Institution Press |isbn=9780815727699}}][{{cite web |last=LeoGrande |first=William |url=https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/is-cuba-s-vision-of-market-socialism-sustainable/ |title=Is Cuba's Vision of Market Socialism Sustainable? |date=31 July 2018 |access-date=22 October 2022 |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203031714/https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/is-cuba-s-vision-of-market-socialism-sustainable/ |url-status=live }}] Any firm that hires a Cuban must pay the Cuban government, which in turn pays the employee in [[Cuban peso|Cuban pesos]] (CUP).[{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-01.htm#P392_35421|title=Cuba's repressive machinery: Summary and recommendations|publisher=Human Rights Watch|year=1999|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-date=22 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522224702/https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-01.htm#P392_35421|url-status=live}}] After a reform in 2021, the minimum monthly wage is about 2100 CUP (US$81), and the median monthly wage is about 4000 CUP (US$155).[{{cite web|url=https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/economy/cuban-economy/cuba-raises-minimum-wage-to-2100-pesos-and-sets-pensions-cap-at-1528|title=Cuba raises minimum wage to 2,100 pesos and sets pensions cap at 1,528|publisher=OnCuba|year=2020|access-date=6 May 2025}}] According to Carmelo Mesa-Lago, there is widespread consensus that the policies of the revolutionary government decreased poverty until the end of the Cold War.[{{Cite book |last=Mesa-Lago |first=Carmelo |title=Comparing Socialist Approaches: Economics and Social Security in Cuba, China, and Vietnam |publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh Press]] |year=2025 |isbn=9780822948476 |series=Pitt Latin American Series|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COg4EQAAQBAJ&dq=Comparing%20Socialist%20Approaches%3A%20Economics%20and%20Social%20Security%20in%20Cuba%2C%20China%2C%20and%20Vietnam.&pg=PA61|location=Pittsburgh, PA|page=61}}] Every Cuban household has a ration book (known as [[libreta]]) entitling it to a monthly supply of food and other staples, which are provided at nominal cost.[{{cite news|title=Inequality: The deal's off|url=https://www.economist.com/special-report/2012/03/24/the-deals-off|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=21 July 2013|date=24 March 2012|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612184844/https://www.economist.com/node/21550421|url-status=live}}] Cuba’s economy is heavily impacted by the US trade embargo, which began in the 1960s.[{{cite news |title=CUBA: The Fastest Growing Remittances Market in Latin America |url=http://www.thehavanaconsultinggroup.com/en-US/Articles/Article/20?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 |access-date=29 May 2022 |publisher=The Havana Consulting Group & Tech |date=23 June 2016 |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307204623/http://www.thehavanaconsultinggroup.com/en-US/Articles/Article/20?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 |url-status=live }}] In 2019, remittances had grown to US$6,616 million, but dropped down to US$1,967 million in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[{{cite news |title=Envío de remesas a Cuba cayó el 54,14 % en 2020, según expertos |url=https://oncubanews.com/cuba/envio-de-remesas-a-cuba-cayo-el-5414-en-2020-segun-expertos/ |access-date=29 May 2022 |work=On Cuba News |date=24 November 2020 |language=Spanish |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929195112/https://oncubanews.com/cuba/envio-de-remesas-a-cuba-cayo-el-5414-en-2020-segun-expertos/ |url-status=live }}] The pandemic devastated Cuba's tourist industry, which along with a tightening of U.S. sanctions, led to large increase in emigration among younger working-age Cubans. It has been described as a crisis that is "threatening the stability" of Cuba, which "already has one of the hemisphere's oldest populations".[{{cite news |last1=Augustin |first1=Ed |last2=Robles |first2=Frances |title='Cuba Is Depopulating': Largest Exodus Yet Threatens Country's Future |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/10/world/americas/cuba-us-migration.html |access-date=11 December 2022 |date=10 December 2022 |archive-date=29 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829220932/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/10/world/americas/cuba-us-migration.html |url-status=live }}] According to a controversial 2023 report by the [[Cuban Observatory of Human Rights]], 88% of Cuban citizens live in extreme poverty. The report states that Cubans were concerned about food security and the difficulty in acquiring basic goods.[{{Cite web |date=29 September 2023 |title=Un informe asegura que el 88% de los cubanos vive en la pobreza extrema |url=https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2023/09/29/un-informe-asegura-que-el-88-de-los-cubanos-vive-en-la-pobreza-extrema/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |website=infobae |language=es-ES |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929152636/https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2023/09/29/un-informe-asegura-que-el-88-de-los-cubanos-vive-en-la-pobreza-extrema/ |url-status=live }}]
According to the [[World Bank]], Cuba's [[List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita|GDP per capita]] was $9,500 as of 2020.[{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=CU|title=GDP per capita (current US$) – Cuba|publisher=World Bank|access-date=3 January 2024|archive-date=1 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801033400/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=CU|url-status=live}}] But according to the [[The World Factbook|CIA World Factbook]], it was $12,300 as of 2016.[{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/|title=Cuba|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=3 January 2024|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812170744/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/|url-status=dead}}] The [[United Nations Development Programme]] gave Cuba a [[List of countries by Human Development Index|Human Development Index]] of 0.764 in 2021.[{{cite web|url=https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI|title=Human Development Index (HDI)|publisher=United Nations Development Programme|access-date=3 January 2024|archive-date=10 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610040330/https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI|url-status=live}}] The same United Nations agency estimated the country's [[Multidimensional Poverty Index]] of 0.003 in 2023.[{{cite web|url=https://hdr.undp.org/content/2023-global-multidimensional-poverty-index-mpi#/indicies/MPI|title=2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)|date=11 July 2023 |publisher=United Nations Development Programme|access-date=3 January 2024|archive-date=13 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713210119/https://hdr.undp.org/content/2023-global-multidimensional-poverty-index-mpi#/indicies/MPI|url-status=live}}]
In 2005, Cuba had exports of {{Nowrap|US$2.4 billion}}, ranking 114 of 226 world countries, and imports of {{Nowrap|US$6.9 billion}}, ranking 87 of 226 countries.[{{cite web|date=29 June 2006 |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html|title=Rank Order Exports|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=30 April 2014|archive-date=19 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819103836/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html}}] Its major export partners are Canada 17.7%, China 16.9%, Venezuela 12.5%, Netherlands 9%, and Spain 5.9% (2012).[{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/|title=Cuba|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=6 April 2009|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812170744/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/|url-status=dead}}] Major exports include sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus fruits, and coffee;[{{cite web|last=Calzon |first=Frank |date=13 March 2005 |url=http://www.cubacenter.org/media/calzon/cuba_makes_poor_trade.html |title=Cuba makes poor trade partner for Louisiana |publisher=Center for a Free Cuba |access-date=7 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513073046/http://www.cubacenter.org/media/calzon/cuba_makes_poor_trade.html |archive-date=13 May 2008 }}] approximately 38% of GDP.[{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html |title=Rank Order – GDP (purchasing power parity)|publisher=CIA Fact Book|access-date=9 July 2006|archive-date=4 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604195034/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html}}] Cuba's prior 35% supply of the world's export market for sugar has declined to 10% due to a variety of factors, including a global sugar commodity price drop that made Cuba less competitive on world markets.[{{cite web|date=6 December 2001 |url=http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/highlights/2001/IATR/cubaiatr.pdf |title=Cuba's Sugar Industry and the Impact of Hurricane Michele |publisher=International Agricultural Trade Report |access-date=9 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060623123242/http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/highlights/2001/IATR/cubaiatr.pdf |archive-date=23 June 2006 }}] It was announced in 2008 that wage caps would be abandoned to improve the nation's productivity.[{{cite web |title=Cuba to abandon wage caps |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/12/cuba |website=The Guardian |access-date=7 May 2015 |first=Lee |last=Glendinning |date=12 June 2008 |archive-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620091712/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/12/cuba |url-status=live }}]
Cuba's leadership has called for reforms in the country's [[Agriculture in Cuba|agricultural system]]. In 2008, Raúl Castro began enacting agrarian reforms to boost food production, as at that time 80% of food was imported. The reforms aim to expand land use and increase efficiency.[{{Cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/16/cuba.farming/index.html|title=Cuban leader looks to boost food production|publisher=CNN|date=17 April 2008|access-date=14 September 2009|archive-date=6 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206084002/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/16/cuba.farming/index.html|url-status=live}}] Venezuela supplies Cuba with an estimated {{convert|110000|oilbbl|m3}} of oil per day in exchange for money and the services of some 44,000 Cubans, most of them medical personnel, in Venezuela.[{{cite news|title=Venezuela's Maduro pledges continued alliance with Cuba|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-venezuela-maduro-idUSBRE93R00Y20130428|access-date=19 July 2013|work=Reuters|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222221531/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-venezuela-maduro-idUSBRE93R00Y20130428|url-status=live|date=28 April 2013}}][{{cite web|title=Cuba Ill-Prepared for Venezuelan Shock |url=http://ascecuba.org/blog/post/Cuba-Ill-Prepared-for-Venezuelan-Shock-.aspx |publisher=Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy |access-date=23 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423062457/http://www.ascecuba.org/blog/post/Cuba-Ill-Prepared-for-Venezuelan-Shock-.aspx |archive-date=23 April 2013 }}]
[[File:Havana - Cuba - 2756.jpg|thumb|Cubans are now permitted to own small businesses in certain sectors.]]
{{As of|2010|alt=In 2010}}, Cubans were allowed to build their own houses. According to Raúl Castro, they could now improve their houses, but the government would not endorse these new houses or improvements.[{{cite web |url=http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/152868/gobierno-de-castro-otorga-a-cubanos-permiso-para-construir-viviendas-por-esfuerzo-propio/ |title=Gobierno de Castro otorga a cubanos permiso para construir viviendas 'por esfuerzo propio' en |publisher=Noticias24.com |access-date=7 November 2010 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012090759/http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/152868/gobierno-de-castro-otorga-a-cubanos-permiso-para-construir-viviendas-por-esfuerzo-propio/}}] There is virtually no homelessness in Cuba,[{{Cite web|last=Alliance|first=Community|date=13 September 2011|title=Homeless in Cuba? Not Likely|url=https://fresnoalliance.com/homeless-in-cuba-not-likely/|access-date=2 January 2021|website=Community Alliance|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107062112/https://fresnoalliance.com/homeless-in-cuba-not-likely/|url-status=live}}][{{Cite web|date=20 June 2017|title=Opinion: Universal healthcare, no illiteracy and other Cuban feats under a U.S. embargo|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-cuba-us-embargo-trump-20170620-story.html|access-date=2 January 2021|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=21 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121033955/https://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-cuba-us-embargo-trump-20170620-story.html|url-status=live}}] and 85% of Cubans own their homes[{{Cite journal|last=Grein|first=John|date=1 January 2015|title=Recent Reforms in Cuban Housing Policy|url=https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/international_immersion_program_papers/17|journal=International Immersion Program Papers|access-date=2 January 2021|archive-date=5 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905215045/https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/international_immersion_program_papers/17/|url-status=live}}] and pay no property taxes or mortgage interest.
On 2 August 2011, ''The New York Times'' reported that Cuba reaffirmed its intent to legalize "buying and selling" of private property before the year's end. According to experts, the private sale of property could "transform Cuba more than any of the economic reforms announced by Cuban leader Raúl Castro's government".[{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/world/americas/03cuba.html |work=The New York Times |first=Damien |last=Cave |title=Cuba Prepares for Private Property |date=2 August 2011 |access-date=26 February 2017 |archive-date=22 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222142756/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/world/americas/03cuba.html |url-status=live }}] It would cut more than one million state jobs, including party bureaucrats who resist the changes.[{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14368316 |title=Cuba National Assembly approves economic reforms |date=2 August 2011 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=28 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128050834/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14368316 |url-status=live }}] The reforms created what some call "New Cuban Economy".[{{cite web |author=Categoría: Lucha de nuestros pueblos |url=http://semanarioaqui.com/index.php/lucha-de-nuestros-pueblos-2/357-cuba-adopta-nuevos-lineamientos-economicos-para-aumentar-la-produccion |title=Los nuevos lineamientos económicos |publisher=Semanarioaqui.com |date=1 April 2014 |access-date=23 April 2014 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012091219/http://semanarioaqui.com/index.php/lucha-de-nuestros-pueblos-2/357-cuba-adopta-nuevos-lineamientos-economicos-para-aumentar-la-produccion |url-status=live }}][{{cite web |url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/12/cuba%20economy%20feinberg/cuba%20economy%20feinberg%209.pdf |title=New Cuban Economy |access-date=23 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730061603/http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/12/cuba%20economy%20feinberg/cuba%20economy%20feinberg%209.pdf |archive-date=30 July 2013 }}] In October 2013, Raúl said he intended to merge the two currencies, which eventually occurred in 2021.
[[File:Cuba 2013-01-23 (8503121480).jpg|thumb|Tobacco fields in [[Viñales Valley|Viñales]]]]
In 2016, the ''Miami Herald'' wrote, "... about 27 percent of Cubans earn under $50 per month; 34 percent earn the equivalent of $50 to $100 per month; and 20 percent earn $101 to $200. Twelve percent reported earning $201 to $500 a month; and almost 4 percent said their monthly earnings topped $500, including 1.5 percent who said they earned more than $1,000."[[http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article89133407.html Study: Cubans don't make much, but it's more than state salaries indicate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904013753/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article89133407.html |date=4 September 2017 }}, Miami Herald, 12 July 2016]
In May 2019, Cuba imposed rationing of staples such as chicken, eggs, rice, beans, soap and other basic goods. (Some two-thirds of food in the country is imported.) A spokesperson blamed the increased U.S. trade embargo although economists believe that an equally important problem is the massive decline of aid from Venezuela and the failure of Cuba's state-run oil company which had subsidized fuel costs.[{{cite news|title=Cuba rations chicken, eggs and rice as economic crisis worsens|date=10 May 2019|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/world/cuba-launches-rationing-in-face-of-economic-crisis|work=National Post|access-date=12 May 2019|quote=Cuba imports roughly two-thirds of its food at an annual cost of more than $2.7 billion and brief shortages of individual products have been common for years. In recent months, a growing number of products have started to go missing for days or weeks at a time, and long lines have sprung up within minutes of the appearance of scarce products like chicken or flour.}}{{Dead link|date=June 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}]
In June 2019, the government announced an increase in public sector wages of about 300%, specifically for teachers and health personnel.[{{cite news |title=Cuba announces increase in wages as part of economic reform |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-announces-increase-wages-part-economic-reform-n1024451 |access-date=8 June 2021 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=NBC News |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608170918/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-announces-increase-wages-part-economic-reform-n1024451 |url-status=live }}] In October, the government allowed stores to purchase house equipment and similar items, using international currency, and send it to Cuba by emigration.{{clarify|date=June 2026}} The leaders of the government recognized that the new measures were unpopular but necessary to contain the capital flight to other countries as Panamá where Cuban citizens traveled and imported items to resell on the island. Other measures included allowing private companies to export and import, through state companies, resources to produce products and services in Cuba.
[[File:La Habana Cuba.jpg|thumb|Hotel [[Parque Central, Havana|Parque Central]] in Havana]]
On 1 January 2021, Cuba's dual currency system was formally ended, and the [[Cuban convertible peso|convertible Cuban peso]] (CUC) was phased out, leaving the [[Cuban peso]] (CUP) as the country's sole currency unit. Cuban citizens had until June 2021 to exchange their CUCs. However, this devalued the Cuban peso and caused economic problems for people who had been previously paid in CUCs, particularly workers in the tourism industry.[{{cite news |title=Cuba eliminates the CUC and announces currency unification |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article247776195.html |access-date=18 February 2022 |work=Miami Herald |date=11 December 2020 |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127222459/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article247776195.html |url-status=live }}][{{cite news |last1=Forde |first1=Kaelyn |title=Cuba protests: The economic woes driving discontent |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/7/16/cuba-protests-the-economic-woes-helping-drive-discontent |access-date=18 February 2022 |publisher=Al Jazeera|date=16 July 2021 |language=en |archive-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815202251/https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/7/16/cuba-protests-the-economic-woes-helping-drive-discontent |url-status=live }}] Also, in February, the government dictated new measures to the private sector, with prohibitions for only 124 activities,[{{cite news |title=Cuba opens up its economy to private businesses |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55967709 |access-date=8 June 2021 |publisher=BBC |date=7 February 2021 |archive-date=28 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528044943/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55967709 |url-status=live }}] in areas like national security, health and educational services.[{{cite news |title=Cuba to reform economy, allow more private enterprise |url=https://dailyfriend.co.za/2021/02/08/cuba-to-reform-economy-allow-more-private-enterprise/ |access-date=8 June 2021 |work=Daily Friend |date=8 February 2021 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608170922/https://dailyfriend.co.za/2021/02/08/cuba-to-reform-economy-allow-more-private-enterprise/ |url-status=live }}] The wages were increased again, between 4 and 9 times, for all the sectors. Also, new facilities were allowed to the state companies, with much more autonomy.[{{cite news |title=What will Cuba's new single currency mean for the island? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/1/1/what-will-cubas-new-single-currency-mean-for-the-island |access-date=8 June 2021 |publisher=Al Jazeera|date=1 January 2021 |archive-date=17 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617115037/https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/1/1/what-will-cubas-new-single-currency-mean-for-the-island |url-status=live }}]
The first problem with the new reform, in terms of public opinion, were electricity prices, but that was amended quickly. Other measures corrected were in the prices for private farmers.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} In July 2020, Cuba opened new stores accepting only foreign currency while simultaneously eliminating a special tax on the U.S. dollar[{{cite news |title=Cuba opens foreign currency-only shops, ends tax on dollar |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cuba-opens-foreign-currency-shops-ends-tax-dollar-71886770 |access-date=8 June 2021 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=ABC News|location=United States |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608170919/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cuba-opens-foreign-currency-shops-ends-tax-dollar-71886770 |url-status=live }}] to combat an economic crisis arising initially due to economic sanctions imposed by the Trump administration,[{{cite news |last1=Chalfant |first1=Morgan |title=Trump announces new sanctions on Cuba |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-announces-new-sanctions-on-cuba/ar-BB19lMIc |access-date=8 June 2021 |publisher=MSNnews |date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608170921/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-announces-new-sanctions-on-cuba/ar-BB19lMIc |url-status=live }}] then later worsened by a lack of tourism during the [[COVID-19 pandemic|coronavirus pandemic]].
Cooperatives will play a larger role in the emerging Cuban economy. The transfer of state-run businesses into cooperatives could result in 20 – 30 percent of Cuba's workers being actively involved in cooperatives. All state-run restaurants (over 8,000) will be converted to worker owned cooperatives, and by 2017 the Cuban government expects there to be approximately 10,000 cooperatives operating.[{{Cite web |title=US - Cuba Cooperative Working Group Project |url=https://ncbaclusa.coop/project/cuba-u-s-cuba-cooperative-working-group-usccwg/ |access-date=13 April 2025 |website=NCBA CLUSA}}]
According to 2019 data, China stands as Cuba's main trading partner, followed by countries such as Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Cyprus. Cuba's main exports include tobacco, sugar, and alcoholic beverages, while it primarily imports chicken meat, wheat, corn, and condensed milk.[{{cite web |url=http://legacy.intracen.org/appli1/TradeCom/TP_EP_CI.aspx?RP=192&YR=2011 |title=World Competitiveness Map |publisher=International Trade Center |access-date=9 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109163626/http://legacy.intracen.org/appli1/TradeCom/TP_EP_CI.aspx?RP=192&YR=2011 |archive-date=9 November 2013 }}] The output of Cuba's nickel mines that year was 71,000 tons, approaching 4% of world production.[{{cite web|url=https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nickel/mcs-2013-nicke.pdf|title=Nickel|publisher=United States Geological Survey|access-date=9 November 2013|archive-date=9 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509061155/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nickel/mcs-2013-nicke.pdf|url-status=live}}] {{As of| 2013}} its reserves were estimated at 5.5 million tons, over 7% of the world total.[ [[Sherritt International]] of Canada operates a large nickel mining facility in [[Moa, Cuba|Moa]]. Cuba is also a major producer of refined [[cobalt]], a by-product of nickel mining.][{{cite web|url=https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/1997/9509097.pdf|title=The Mineral Industry of Cuba|author=Ivette E. Torres|year=1997|publisher=United States Geological Survey|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=12 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012091655/https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/1997/9509097.pdf|url-status=live}}]
Oil exploration in 2005 by the [[United States Geological Survey|US Geological Survey]] revealed that the North Cuba Basin could produce about {{convert|4.6|Goilbbl|m3}} to {{convert|9.3|Goilbbl|m3}} of oil. In 2006, Cuba started to test-drill these locations for possible exploitation.[{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,,1936186,00.html|author=Wayne S. Smith|title=After 46 years of failure, we must change course on Cuba|work=The Guardian|date=1 November 2006|access-date=6 September 2009|location=London|archive-date=17 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617133641/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/nov/01/comment.cuba|url-status=live}}]
===Tourism===
{{main|Tourism in Cuba}}
[[File:Camaguey rooftops 2.jpg|thumb|Historic Centre of [[Camagüey]], a colonial city UNESCO World Heritage Site]]
[[File:Varaderos beach (5982433102).jpg|thumb|[[Varadero]] resort area]]
Tourism was initially restricted to enclave resorts where tourists would be segregated from Cuban society, referred to as "enclave tourism" and "tourism apartheid".[{{Harvnb|Espino|2000}}.] Contact between foreign visitors and ordinary Cubans were {{lang|la|de facto}} illegal between 1992 and 1997.[{{Harvnb|Corbett|2002|p=33}}.] The rapid growth of tourism during the Special Period had widespread social and economic repercussions in Cuba, and led to speculation about the emergence of a two-tier economy.[{{cite journal |url=http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/conferences/cuba/TLCP/Volume%201/Facio.pdf |title=Tourism in Cuba During the Special Period |first1=Elisa |last1=Facio |author2=Maura Toro-Morn, and Anne R. Roschelle |publisher=University of Iowa College of Law |journal=Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems |volume=14 |page=119 |date=Spring 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822042043/http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/conferences/cuba/TLCP/Volume%201/Facio.pdf |archive-date=22 August 2006}}]
{{Nowrap|1.9 million}} tourists visited Cuba in 2003, predominantly from Canada and the European Union, generating revenue of {{Nowrap|US$2.1 billion}}.[{{cite web|date=December 2005|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2886.htm|title=Background Note: Cuba|publisher=U.S. Department of State|access-date=9 July 2006|archive-date=22 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122194359/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2886.htm|url-status=live}}] Cuba recorded 2,688,000 international tourists in 2011, the third-highest figure in the Caribbean (behind the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico).[{{cite web|title=UNWTO Tourism Highlights, 2013 Edition |url=http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/unwto_highlights13_en_lr.pdf |publisher=Tourism Trends and Marketing Strategies UNWTO |access-date=21 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718115306/http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/unwto_highlights13_en_lr.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2013 }}] American tourism was incredibly limited due to the Cuban Missile Crisis until 2016, when most restrictions were limited but some remained in place.[{{cite web |last1=Perrottet |first1=Tony |title=Can Americans Travel to Cuba? |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/story/can-americans-travel-to-cuba |website=Condé Nest Traveller |date=21 May 2024 |access-date=19 December 2024}}]
A study in 2018 indicated that Cuba has a potential for [[mountaineering]] activity, and that mountaineering could be a key contributor to tourism, along with other activities, e.g. biking, diving, caving. Promoting these resources could contribute to regional development, prosperity, and well-being.[{{cite journal |last1=Apollo |first1=Michal |last2=Rettinger |first2=Renata |title=Mountaineering in Cuba: improvement of true accessibility as an opportunity for regional development of communities outside the tourism enclaves |journal=Current Issues in Tourism |date=14 September 2019 |volume=22 |issue=15 |pages=1797–1804 |doi=10.1080/13683500.2018.1446920 }}]
The Cuban Justice minister downplays allegations of widespread [[sex tourism]].[{{cite news|last=Tamayo |first=Juan O. |title=Cuba's Justice Minister says the government fights prostitution |newspaper=Miami Herald |date=16 October 2013 |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/16/3691714/cubas-justice-minister-says-the.html |access-date=2 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017051027/http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/16/3691714/cubas-justice-minister-says-the.html |archive-date=17 October 2013 }}] According to a Government of Canada travel advice website, "Cuba is actively working to prevent child sex tourism, and a number of tourists, including Canadians, have been convicted of offenses related to the corruption of minors aged 16 and under. Prison sentences range from 7 to 25 years."[{{cite web|title=Travel Advice and Advisories for Cuba: Sex tourism|date=16 November 2012|url=http://travel.gc.ca/destinations/cuba|publisher=Government of Canada|access-date=4 January 2014|archive-date=10 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510150629/https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/cuba|url-status=live}}]
===Transport===
{{Main|Transport in Cuba}}
==Demographics==
{{Main|Cubans|Demographics of Cuba}}
According to the official census of 2010, Cuba's population was 11,241,161, comprising 5,628,996 men and 5,612,165 women.[{{cite web |url=http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/anuario_2010/anuario_demografico_2010.pdf |title=ANUARIO DEMOGRAFICO DE CUBA 2010 |publisher=Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas |access-date=22 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021100817/http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/anuario_2010/anuario_demografico_2010.pdf |archive-date=21 October 2012}}] Its [[birth rate]] (9.88 births per thousand population in 2006)[{{cite web |url=http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Americas&month=May2007&file=World_News2007051741913.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926222652/http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Americas&month=May2007&file=World_News2007051741913.xml|archive-date=26 September 2007 |title=Population, birth rate falling in Cuba: Official |publisher=The Peninsula On-line |access-date=19 July 2013}}] is one of the lowest in the [[Western Hemisphere]]. Although the country's population has grown by about four million people since 1961, the rate of growth slowed during that period, and the population began to decline in 2006, due to the country's low [[fertility rate]] (1.43 children per woman) coupled with emigration.[{{cite web |url=http://www.periodico26.cu/english/features/june2008/cuba-population060508.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113074404/http://www.periodico26.cu/english/features/june2008/cuba-population060508.html|archive-date=13 January 2009 |title=Population Decrease Must be Reverted |access-date=19 July 2013}}]
===Largest cities===
{{See also|List of cities in Cuba}}
{{Largest cities
| country = Cuba
| stat_ref = According to the 2018 Estimate[{{cite web |url=http://citypopulation.de/en/cuba/cities/ |title=Cuba: Major Cities |website=citypopulation.de |access-date=9 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022083213/http://citypopulation.de/en/cuba/cities/ |archive-date=22 October 2021}}]
| div_name = Province
| city_1 = Havana | div_1 = La Habana Province{{!}}La Habana | pop_1 = 2,131,480 | city_2 = Santiago de Cuba | div_2 = Santiago de Cuba Province{{!}}Santiago de Cuba | pop_2 = 433,581 | city_3 = Camagüey | div_3 = Camagüey Province{{!}}Camagüey | pop_3 = 308,902 | city_4 = Holguín | div_4 = Holguín Province{{!}}Holguín | pop_4 = 297,433 | city_5 = Santa Clara, Cuba{{!}}Santa Clara | div_5 = Villa Clara Province{{!}}Villa Clara | pop_5 = 216,854
| city_6 = Guantánamo | div_6 = Guantánamo Province{{!}}Guantánamo | pop_6 = 216,003
| city_7 = Las Tunas (city){{!}}Las Tunas | div_7 = Las Tunas Province{{!}}Las Tunas | pop_7 = 173,552
| city_8 = Bayamo | div_8 = Granma Province{{!}}Granma | pop_8 = 159,966
| city_9 = Cienfuegos | div_9 = Cienfuegos Province{{!}}Cienfuegos | pop_9 = 151,838
| city_10 = Pinar del Río | div_10 = Pinar del Río Province{{!}}Pinar del Río | pop_10 = 145,193
}}
===Ethnoracial groups===
[[Cubans#Ethnography of Cuba|Ethnography of Cuba]]
{{Pie chart|thumb=right|caption=Racial groups in Cuba (2012 census)[{{cite web |url=http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/cpv2012/20140428informenacional/46_tabla_II_4.pdf |title=2012 census |website=www.one.cu |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140603230454/http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/cpv2012/20140428informenacional/46_tabla_II_4.pdf |archive-date=3 June 2014 |url-status=dead}}]
|label1 = [[White Cubans|Whites]]
|value1 = 64.12
|color1 = #FBC5A7
|label2 = [[Mulattos]]
|value2 = 26.62
|color2 = #AA7E54
|label3 = [[Black Cubans|Blacks]]
|value3 = 9.26
|color3 = #62402F
}}
Cuba's population descends primarily from three groups: [[Spanish people|Spanish settlers and immigrants]]—drawn largely from [[Andalusia]], [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], [[Asturias]], and the [[Canary Islands]][{{cite book |last=Pérez Jr. |first=Louis A. |title=Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |edition=3rd |isbn=978-0-19-517911-8}}]—[[Sub-Saharan Africa|sub-Saharan Africans]] transported to the island through the [[Atlantic slave trade|transatlantic slave trade]],[{{cite book |last=Klein |first=Herbert S. |title=The Atlantic Slave Trade |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-521-18250-8}}] and the pre-Columbian indigenous peoples, chiefly the [[Taíno]] and [[Ciboney]].[{{cite journal |last1=Mendizabal |first1=Isabel |last2=Sandoval |first2=Karla |last3=Berniell-Lee |first3=Gemma |last4=Calafell |first4=Francesc |last5=Salas |first5=Antonio |last6=Martínez-Fuentes |first6=Antonio |last7=Comas |first7=David |title=Genetic origin, admixture, and asymmetry in maternal and paternal human lineages in Cuba |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=8 |article-number=213 |year=2008 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-8-213 |doi-access=free |pmc=2492877 |pmid=18644108 |bibcode=2008BMCEE...8..213M }}][{{cite journal |last1=Lalueza-Fox |first1=Carles |last2=Gilbert |first2=M. Thomas P. |last3=Martínez-Fuentes |first3=Antonio J. |last4=Calafell |first4=Francesc |last5=Bertranpetit |first5=Jaume |title=Mitochondrial DNA from Pre-Columbian Ciboneys from Cuba and the Prehistoric Colonization of the Caribbean |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=121 |issue=2 |pages=97–108 |year=2003 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.10236 |pmid=12740952 |bibcode=2003AJPA..121...97L }}]
Afro-Cubans are descended primarily from the [[Yoruba people]], Bantu people from the [[Congo basin]], [[Kalabari tribe]] and Arará from the [[Dahomey]], as well as several thousand North African refugees, most notably the [[Sahrawi people|Sahrawi Arabs]] of [[Western Sahara]].[{{cite web |url=http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=2&id=13816 |date=31 March 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061125161820/http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=2&id=13816 |archive-date=25 November 2006 |title=Sahrawi children inhumanely treated in Cuba, former Cuban official |publisher=MoroccoTimes.com |access-date=9 July 2006}}]
While [[Afro-Cubans]] and [[White Cubans|Cubans of Spanish descent]] have endured as distinct ethnocultural units, no equivalent indigenous-descended group survived the catastrophic demographic collapse of the sixteenth century;[{{cite book |last=Cook |first=Noble David |title=Born to Die: Disease and New World Conquest, 1492–1650 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-521-62730-6}}] [[Taíno]] ancestry nonetheless persists in the Cuban population at the genetic level, as evidenced by mitochondrial DNA studies.[{{cite journal |last1=Bukhari |first1=A. |display-authors=etal |title=Taino and African maternal heritage in the Greater Antilles |journal=Gene |volume=637 |pages=33–40 |year=2017 |doi=10.1016/j.gene.2017.09.004 |pmid=28912065}}][{{cite journal |last1=Schroeder |first1=Hannes |display-authors=etal |title=Origins and genetic legacies of the Caribbean Taino |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=115 |issue=10 |pages=2341–2346 |year=2018 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1716839115 |doi-access=free |pmc=5877975 |pmid=29463742 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.2341S }}]
Cuba's population is therefore multiethnic, and intermarriage between these groups has been widespread across many centuries, producing a significant population of mixed ancestry—not as a product of recent admixture but of long-accumulated intergenerational intermarriage.[{{cite book |last=Sawyer |first=Mark Q. |title=Racial Politics in Post-Revolutionary Cuba |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-61267-8}}][{{cite web |title=Cuba |date=2 November 2023 |publisher=Minority Rights Group International |url=https://minorityrights.org/country/cuba/ |access-date=22 May 2026}}] Consequently, there is significant discrepancy between different estimates of the country's racial composition. A 2014 study based on [[Ancestry-informative marker|ancestry-informative markers]] found that [[autosome|autosomal]] genetic ancestry in Cuba is 72% European, 20% African, and 8% Indigenous.[{{cite journal |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004488 |pmid=25058410 |pmc=4109857 |title=Cuba: Exploring the History of Admixture and the Genetic Basis of Pigmentation Using Autosomal and Uniparental Markers |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=10 |issue=7 |at=e1004488 |year=2014 |last1=Marcheco-Teruel |first1=Beatriz |last2=Parra |first2=Esteban J. |last3=Fuentes-Smith |first3=Evelyn |last4=Salas |first4=Antonio |last5=Buttenschøn |first5=Henriette N. |last6=Demontis |first6=Ditte |last7=Torres-Español |first7=María |last8=Marín-Padrón |first8=Lilia C. |last9=Gómez-Cabezas |first9=Enrique J. |last10=Álvarez-Iglesias |first10=Vanesa |last11=Mosquera-Miguel |first11=Ana |last12=Martínez-Fuentes |first12=Antonio |last13=Carracedo |first13=Ángel |last14=Børglum |first14=Anders D. |last15=Mors |first15=Ole |doi-access=free }}]
The 2002 Cuban census, in which respondents self-identified, found that 65.05% of the population was white, while the 2012 census recorded approximately 27% of Cubans as mestizo o mulato and just under 10% as negro (Black).[{{cite journal |last=Burchardt |first=Tania |display-authors=etal |title=Racial inequality in Latin America |journal=Oxford Open Economics |volume=4 |issue=Supplement 1 |pages=i200–i218 |year=2025 |doi=10.1093/ooec/odae044 |doi-access=free|doi-broken-date=29 May 2026 }}] The [[2012 Cuba census|2012 Cuban census]] recorded, on the same basis, that 64.1% of the population was white (blanco), 26.6% mestizo o mulato (mixed race), and 9.3% Black (negro).[{{cite report |author=Centro de Estudios de Población y Desarrollo (CEPDE) |publisher=Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas e Información (ONEI) |title=El Color de la Piel según el Censo de Población y Viviendas de 2012 |year=2016 |location=Havana |url=https://www.almendron.com/tribuna/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/publicacion-completa-color-de-la-piel.pdf |language=es}}] As with the 2002 census, these figures reflect self-perception rather than genetic ancestry or externally assigned classification, and have been widely contested by independent researchers who argue that they significantly under-report the Black and mixed-race population.[{{cite web |title=Afro-Cubans in Cuba |publisher=Minority Rights Group International |url=https://minorityrights.org/communities/afro-cubans/ |access-date=28 May 2026}}]
These figures also diverge markedly from estimates produced by applying the [[one-drop rule]], the [[hypodescent]] convention historically specific to the United States, under which any traceable African ancestry classifies a person as Black. The [[Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies]] at the [[University of Miami]], using that framework, concluded that 62% of Cubans are Black.[{{cite web |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/afrolatin/part4/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821113550/http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/afrolatin/part4/index.html|archive-date=21 August 2013|title=A barrier for Cuba's blacks|work=Miami Herald}}] However, the one-drop rule does not reflect Cuban or broader Latin American racial classification. In Cuba, as across most of Latin America, people of mixed African and European ancestry—commonly designated mulato—have historically constituted and understood themselves as a distinct category, neither defined in opposition to Blackness nor in denial of it, but in acknowledgement of a mixed heritage that carries its own social and cultural meaning. The Cuban census formally recognises this through its separate mestizo o mulato classification.[{{cite journal |last1=Telles |first1=Edward E. |last2=Bailey |first2=Stanley R. |last3=Davoudpour |first3=Shahin |last4=Freeman |first4=Nicholas C. |title=Racial inequality in Latin America |journal=Oxford Open Economics |volume=4 |issue=Supplement_1 |pages=i200–i218 |year=2025 |doi=10.1093/ooec/odae022 |doi-access=free}}][{{cite book |last=de la Fuente |first=Alejandro |title=A Nation for All: Race, Inequality, and Politics in Twentieth-Century Cuba |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8078-4922-4}}] Applying a binary Black/white framework derived from U.S. legal and social history to Cuban racial self-identification therefore imposes a classificatory logic that Cuban society does not use and that systematically erases the identities of a substantial portion of the population.[{{cite book |last=de la Fuente |first=Alejandro |title=A Nation for All: Race, Inequality, and Politics in Twentieth-Century Cuba |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8078-4922-4}}][{{cite book |last=Sawyer |first=Mark Q. |title=Racial Politics in Post-Revolutionary Cuba |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-61267-8}}]
In light of these methodological divergences, the [[Minority Rights Group International]] has cautioned that "an objective assessment of the situation of [[Afro-Cubans]] remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution," and that estimates of the percentage of people of African descent in the Cuban population vary enormously, ranging from 33.9% to 62%.[{{cite web |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/49749d342c.html |title=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Cuba: Afro-Cubans |author=Minority Rights Group International |year=2008 |publisher=Minority Rights Group International |via=Refworld (UNHCR) |access-date=30 December 2019 |archive-date=17 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117034058/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49749d342c.html |url-status=usurped}}]
[[Asian people|Asians]] make up about 1% of the population and are largely of [[Chinese Cubans|Chinese ancestry]], followed by [[Japanese Cubans|Japanese]] and [[Filipino Cubans|Filipino]].[{{cite web |url=http://www.com/topics/cuba |title=Cuba |access-date=29 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130040841/http://www.com/topics/cuba |archive-date=30 November 2016 }}][{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HpqAAAAMAAJ&q=30,000+cantonese+immigrants+cuba|title=Cuba: a Lonely Planet travel survival kit |publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=9780864424037|year=1997}}] Many are descendants of farm laborers brought to the island by Spanish and American contractors during the 19th and early 20th century.[{{cite web|last=Chiu|first=Lisa |url=http://chineseculture.about.com/od/thechinesediaspora/a/ChineseinCuba.htm|title=A Short History of the Chinese in Cuba|work=About.com News & Issues|access-date=26 July 2014|archive-date=3 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103123851/http://chineseculture.about.com/od/thechinesediaspora/a/ChineseinCuba.htm}}] The current recorded number of Cubans with Chinese ancestry is 114,240.[{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606223728/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 June 2023 |title=Central America :: Cuba – The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=30 July 2019}}]
===Migration===
====Immigration====
{{Main|French immigration to Cuba|Spanish immigration to Cuba}}
Immigration and emigration have played a prominent part in Cuba's demographic profile. Between the 18th and early 20th century, large waves of [[Canarian]], [[Catalans|Catalan]], [[Andalusians|Andalusian]], [[Galician people|Galician]], and other Spanish people immigrated to Cuba. Between 1899 and 1930 alone, nearly one million Spaniards entered Cuba, although many eventually returned to Spain.[{{cite web |url=http://www.tau.ac.il/eial/IV_2/bejarano.htm |title=La inmigración entre 1902 y 1920 |publisher=Tau.ac.il |access-date=7 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606060146/http://www.tau.ac.il/eial/IV_2/bejarano.htm |archive-date=6 June 2009}}] Other prominent immigrant groups included French,[{{cite web |title=Etat des propriétés rurales appartenant à des Français dans l'île de Cuba |url=http://www.cubagenweb.org/french/index.htm#refugees |publisher=Cuban Genealogy Center |date=10 July 2007 |access-date=19 July 2013}}] [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]], Italian, Russian, [[Dutch people|Dutch]], [[Greeks|Greek]], British, and Irish, as well as small number of descendants of U.S. citizens who arrived in Cuba in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As of 2015, the foreign-born population in Cuba was 13,336 inhabitants per the [[World Bank]] data.[{{Cite web |title=International migrant stock, total – Cuba {{!}} Data |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SM.POP.TOTL?locations=CU |access-date=8 September 2022 |publisher=World Bank}}]
====Emigration====
{{Main|Cuban exile|Cuban immigration to the United States}}
[[File:6.6.10CubanParadeUCByLuigiNovi5.jpg|thumb|[[Havana on the Hudson|North Hudson, New Jersey]], is home to a large [[Cuban American]] population.]]
Post-revolution Cuba has been characterized by significant levels of emigration, which has led to a [[Cuban exile|large and influential diaspora community]]. During the three decades after January 1959, more than one million Cubans of all social classes—constituting 10% of the total population—[[Cuban migration to Miami|emigrated to the United States]], a proportion that matches the extent of emigration to the U.S. from the Caribbean as a whole during that period.[{{cite encyclopedia |last=Powell |first=John |title=Cuban immigration |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of North American Immigration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VNCX6UsdZYkC&q=%22cubans+are+usually+considered+to+be+the+most+successful%22&pg=PA68|access-date=30 November 2016 |pages=68–71 |publisher=Facts on File |year=2005 |isbn=9781438110127}}]{{sfn|Pedraza|2007|p={{page needed|date=December 2023}}}}[{{Harvnb|Falk|1988|p=74}}: "[A] tenth of the entire Caribbean population has ... [emigrated to the U.S.] over the past 30 years".][{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/000797.html |access-date=19 July 2013 |date=3 September 2002 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090709154810/http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/000797.html |archive-date=9 July 2009 |title=US Census Press Releases}}]{{sfn|Pedraza|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QCSJ61F4j34C&pg=PA5 5]}} Prior to 13 January 2013, Cuban citizens could not travel abroad, leave or return to Cuba without first obtaining official permission along with applying for a government-issued passport and travel visa, which was often denied.[{{cite web |date=31 December 2005 |url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/cuba12207.htm |publisher=Human Rights Watch|title=Essential Background: Overview of human rights issues in Cuba |access-date=13 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305201021/https://www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2006/01/18/cuba12207.htm|archive-date=5 March 2016}}] Those who left the country typically did so by sea, in small boats and fragile rafts.
On 9 September 1994, the U.S. and Cuban governments agreed that the U.S. would grant at least 20,000 visas annually in exchange for Cuba's pledge to prevent further unlawful departures on boats.[{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/13/world/visa-lottery-for-cubans.html|title=Visa Lottery for Cubans |agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=13 October 1994|work=The New York Times |access-date=16 January 2019 }}]
In the 2020s Cuba is undergoing its most severe socioeconomic crisis since the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|fall of the Soviet Union]], leading to a record number of Cubans fleeing the island.[{{Cite web |last1=Hull |first1=Christopher |last2=Kent |first2=James Clifford |date=20 February 2023 |title=Cuba sufre el mayor éxodo ante su peor crisis desde el colapso de la URSS |url=http://theconversation.com/cuba-sufre-el-mayor-exodo-ante-su-peor-crisis-desde-el-colapso-de-la-urss-200237 |access-date=8 October 2023 |website=The Conversation |language=en}}] The number of Cubans trying to enter the United States, primarily through the [[Borders of Mexico|Mexican border]], surged from 39,000 in 2021 to over 224,000 in 2022. In 2022, more than 2% of the population (almost 250,000 Cubans out of 11 million) migrated to the United States, and thousands more went to other countries, a number "larger than the 1980 [[Mariel boatlift]] and the [[1994 Cuban rafter crisis]] combined", which were Cuba's previous largest migration events.[{{Cite news |date=30 April 2025 |title=Cuba faces population decline and aging amid mass migration exodus |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/04/30/cuba-faces-population-decline-and-aging-amid-mass-migration-exodus_6740756_4.html |access-date=6 August 2025 |language=en}}]
Cuba's "Special Period" saw the country relying heavily on foreign tourism and the earnings of nationals working abroad. The 2020 pandemic, however, severely affected this revenue stream, decreasing the number of tourists by 75% in 2020. Monetary reforms in 2021 introduced shocks of inflation, further exacerbating the country's food scarcity and boosting the black market's prominence.[{{cite web |title=Cuba Migration Profiles |url=https://esa.un.org/miggmgprofiles/indicators/files/Cuba.pdf |access-date=16 January 2019 |website=UNICEF}}]
===Languages===
{{Main|Cuban Spanish}}
[[File:Multilingual social distancing sign in Cuba.jpg|thumb|A trilingual sign encouraging social distancing in Cuba during the Covid-19 pandemic, written in Spanish, English, and Russian]]
The official language is Spanish, and the vast majority of Cubans speak [[Cuban Spanish]], a form of [[Caribbean Spanish]]. [[Lucumí language|Lucumí]], a dialect of the West African language [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]], is also used as a [[liturgical language]] by practitioners of [[Santería]],[{{cite book |last=Brandon |first=George |title=Santeria from Africa to the New World |url=https://archive.org/details/santeriafromafri00bran |url-access=registration |quote=lucumi language. |page=[https://archive.org/details/santeriafromafri00bran/page/56 56] |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-21114-9 |date=1 March 1997}}] and so only as a second language.[{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=luq |title=Lucumi: A Language of Cuba (Ethnologue) |access-date=10 March 2010}}] [[Haitian Creole]] is the second-most spoken language and is spoken by [[Haitians|Haitian]] immigrants and their descendants.[{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10130814 |title=Cuban Creole choir brings solace to Haiti's children |access-date=10 March 2010 |publisher=BBC News}}] Other languages spoken by immigrants include [[Galician language|Galician]] and [[Corsican language|Corsican]].[{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=CU |title=Languages of Cuba |access-date=31 October 2010}}] Russian will be the first foreign language taught in schools, as of the 2026-2027 school year.[{{Cite news |date=19 March 2026 |title=Russia, Cuba agreed to introduce Russian as 1st foreign language in Cuban schools from 2026/27 academic year |url=https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/116719/ |access-date=23 April 2026 |work=Interfax}}]
===Religion===
{{Main|Religion in Cuba}}
[[File:Havana Cathedral crop.jpg|thumb|[[Havana Cathedral]], built between 1748 and 1777]]
Cuba is officially a secular state. Religious freedom increased through the 1980s,[{{Harvnb|Smith|1996|p=105}}: "The expansion of religious liberty began more than a decade ago, for example, and Cuban citizens, by and large, are free to practice their faiths without fear of persecution."] with the government amending the constitution in 1992 to drop the state's characterization as atheistic.[{{Harvnb|Domínguez|2003|p=4}}.] In 2010, the [[Pew Forum]] estimated that religious affiliation is 59.2% Christian, 23% unaffiliated, 17.4% [[folk religion]] (such as [[Santería]]), and the remaining 0.4% consisting of other religions.[{{cite web|title=Religious Composition by Country |url=http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/globalReligion-tables.pdf|work=Global Religious Landscape |publisher=Pew Forum|access-date=9 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909201109/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2012/12/globalReligion-tables.pdf|archive-date=9 September 2013}}] In a 2015 survey sponsored by Univision, 44% of Cubans said they were not religious, and 9% did not give an answer while only 34% said they were Christian.[{{cite news|title=Cubans love the pope and the Catholic Church, but they're just not that into religion |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/04/10/cubans-love-the-pope-and-the-catholic-church-but-theyre-just-not-that-into-religion/|access-date=20 July 2021 |date=10 April 2015}}]
[[Roman Catholicism]] is the largest religion, with its origins in Spanish colonization. Despite less than half of the population identifying as Catholics in 2006, it nonetheless remains the dominant faith.[{{cite web |url=http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2006a/033106/033106o.php|title=Catholic church in Cuba strives to re-establish the faith |author=Einhorn|publisher=National Catholic Reporter|date=31 March 2006|access-date=7 September 2009|first=David}}] Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba in 1998 and 2011, respectively, and Pope Francis visited in 2015.[{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/sep/21/pope-francis-in-cuba-pontiff-to-hold-mass-in-holguins-revolution-square-live |title=Pope Francis in Cuba: pontiff arrives in Santiago – as it happened |last1=Woolf |first1=Nicky |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=21 March 2016 |last2=Holpuch |first2=Amanda |last3=Bruno |first3=Angela |last4=Watts |first4=Jonathan in |last5=Kirchgaessner |first5=Stephanie |date=22 September 2015}}][{{cite web|title=Cuba to Free 3,500 Prisoners Ahead of Pope Visit |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/cuba-pope-francis-visit-prisoners-amnesty/2959896.html |publisher=Voice of America |date=11 September 2015 |access-date=11 September 2015|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115200947/http://www.voanews.com/content/cuba-pope-francis-visit-prisoners-amnesty/2959896.html|archive-date=15 January 2016}}] Prior to each papal visit, the government pardoned prisoners as a humanitarian gesture.[{{cite news|last1=Miroff|first1=Nick|title=Cuba pardons more than 3,500 prisoners ahead of Pope Francis visit |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/cuba-pardons-more-than-3500-prisoners-ahead-of-pope-francis-visit/2015/09/11/5e1c1f27-ab63-444f-98ca-fff75cb92d3b_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=11 September 2015 |date=11 September 2015}}][{{cite web|last=Alexander |first=Harriett|date=11 September 2015|title=Cuba pardons 3,522 prisoners ahead of Pope Francis visit |work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/11858266/Cuba-pardons-3522-prisoners-ahead-of-Pope-Francis-visit.html |access-date=11 September 2015 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/11858266/Cuba-pardons-3522-prisoners-ahead-of-Pope-Francis-visit.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live }}{{cbignore}}]
The government's relaxation of restrictions on [[house church]]es in the 1990s led to an explosion of [[Pentecostalism]], with some groups claiming as many as 100,000 members. However, [[Evangelical Protestant]] denominations, organized into the umbrella Cuban Council of Churches, remain much more vibrant and powerful.[{{cite book |last1=Edmonds |first1=E.B. |last2=Gonzalez |first2=M.A. |title=Caribbean Religious History: An Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oFQ65RzBm5wC&pg=PA171 |publisher=NYU Press |year=2010 |page=171 |isbn=978-0-8147-2250-3}}] Several well-known Cuban religious figures have operated outside the island, including the humanitarian and author [[Jorge Armando Pérez]].
The religious landscape of is strongly defined by [[syncretisms]] of various kinds. Christianity is often practiced in tandem with Santería, a mixture of Catholicism and mostly African faiths, which include a number of cults. La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (the Virgin of ''Cobre'') is the Catholic patroness of Cuba, and a symbol of Cuban culture. In Santería, she has been syncretized with the goddess [[Oshun]]. A breakdown of the followers of Afro-Cuban religions showed that most practitioners of [[Palo Mayombe]] were black and dark brown-skinned, most practitioners of [[Cuban Vodú|Vodú]] were medium brown and light brown-skinned, and most practitioners of Santería were light brown and white-skinned.[{{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Jualynne E. |last2=Millet Batista |first2=José |title=Sacred Spaces and Religious Traditions in Oriente Cuba |pages=12–13 |publisher=UNM Press |year=2008}}]
Cuba hosts small communities of [[History of the Jews in Cuba|Jews]] (500 in 2012), [[Islam in Cuba|Muslims]] (6,000 in 2011), and members of the [[Baháʼí Faith]].[{{cite web|date=13 June 2005 |url=https://news.bahai.org/story/377/government-officials-visit-bahai-center|title=Government officials visit Baha'i center|publisher=Baha'iWorldNewsService.com|access-date=23 April 2026}}]
===Education===
{{Main|Education in Cuba}}
[[File:Front view of Universidad de La Habana.jpg|thumb|[[University of Havana]], founded in 1728]]
The [[University of Havana]] was founded in 1728, and there are several other well-established [[List of universities in Cuba|colleges and universities]]. In 1957, just before Castro came to power, the literacy rate was as low as fourth in Latin America at 76% according to the United Nations, yet higher than in Spain.[ Castro created an entirely state-operated system and banned private institutions. School attendance is compulsory from ages six to the end of basic secondary education (normally at age 15), and all students, regardless of age or gender, wear school uniforms with the color denoting grade level. Primary education lasts for six years, secondary education is divided into basic and pre-university education.][{{Cite web |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1099079877269/547664-1099080026826/The_Cuban_education_system_lessonsEn00.pdf |title=The Cuban Education System: Lessons and Dilemmas. Human Development Network Education. World Bank |access-date=5 April 2007 |archive-date=10 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810172258/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1099079877269/547664-1099080026826/The_Cuban_education_system_lessonsEn00.pdf }}] Cuba's [[literacy rate]] of 99.8 percent[{{cite web |url=http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/SeriesDetail.aspx?srid=656&crid=192 |title=unstats – Millennium Indicators |publisher=United Nations |date=23 June 2010 |access-date=7 November 2010 |archive-date=21 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121152701/http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/SeriesDetail.aspx?srid=656&crid=192 |url-status=dead }}] is eight points higher than the Caribbean average[{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/latin-lessons-what-can-we-learn-from-the-worldrsquos-most-ambitious-literacy-campaign-2124433.html |title=Latin lessons: What can we Learn from the World's most Ambitious Literacy Campaign? |work=The Independent |date=7 November 2010 |access-date=19 July 2013}}] The high school graduation rate is 94 percent.[[https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2009/december/getting-a-reading-on-high-literacy-in-cuba/ Getting a Reading on High Literacy in Cuba] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408223929/http://www.tc.columbia.edu/news.htm?articleID=7292 |date=8 April 2016}}. [[Teachers College, Columbia University]]. 22 December 2009.]
Higher education is provided by universities, higher institutes, higher [[pedagogical]] institutes, and higher [[List of institutions using the term "institute of technology" or "polytechnic"|polytechnic]] institutes. The Ministry of Higher Education operates a distance education program that provides regular afternoon and evening courses in rural areas for agricultural workers. Education has a strong political and ideological emphasis, and students progressing to higher education are expected to have a commitment to the goals of Cuba.[{{cite web |title=Students graduate from Cuban school |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19942866 |publisher=NBC News |date=25 July 2007 |access-date=7 November 2010}}][{{cite news |title=Cuba-trained US doctors graduate |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6914265.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=25 July 2007 |access-date=7 September 2009}}]
===Health===
{{Main|Healthcare in Cuba}}
[[File:Life expectancy development in Cuba.svg|thumb|Life expectancy development in Cuba]]
After the revolution, Cuba established a free public health system.[{{Citation |title=Central America :: Cuba – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606223728/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 June 2023 |date=6 June 2023 |access-date=12 June 2023}}] Infant mortality declined from 32 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 1957, to 10 in 1990–95,[{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf|title=World population Prospects: The 2006 Revision: Highlights|publisher=United Nations.|access-date=19 July 2013}}] 6.1 in 2000–2005 and 5.13 in 2009.[{{Harvnb|Whiteford|Branch|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lJe7uc7X3pYC&pg=PA2 2]}}] Primary care is available throughout the island, and infant and maternal mortality rates compare favorably with those in developed nations.[ That an impoverished nation like Cuba has health outcomes rivaling the developed world is referred to by researchers as the Cuban Health Paradox.][{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/billfrist/2015/06/08/cubas-most-valuable-export-its-healthcare-expertise/|title=Cuba's Most Valuable Export: Its Healthcare Expertise|last=Frist |first=Bill |date=8 June 2015 |website=Forbes |access-date=18 November 2018 }}] Cuba ranks 29th on the 2024 Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, the highest ranking of a developing country.[{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Lee J. |last2=Lu |first2=Wei |date=24 February 2019 |title=These Are the World's Healthiest Nations |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-24/spain-tops-italy-as-world-s-healthiest-nation-while-u-s-slips|publisher=Bloomberg News |access-date=16 March 2019 }}] The healthcare system, renowned for its medical services, has emphasized the export of health professionals through international missions, aiding global health efforts.[{{Cite web |last=Ramos |first=Javier |date=18 November 2021 |title=La otra cara de Cuba: el negocio de las batas blancas |url=https://es.globalvoices.org/2021/11/18/la-otra-cara-de-cuba-el-negocio-de-las-batas-blancas/ |access-date=8 October 2023 |website=Global Voices en Español |language=es}}] However, while these missions generate significant revenue and serve as a tool for political influence, domestically, Cuba faces challenges including medication shortages and disparities between medical services for locals and foreigners.[''Cuba: A Different America'', By Wilber A. Chaffee, Gary Prevost, Rowland and Littlefield, 1992, p. 106] Recovery occurred by the 1980s,[ and the country's health care has been widely praised.][{{Harvnb|Feinsilver|1989|pp=4–5}}: "Its success has been acclaimed by Dr. Halfdan Mahler, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), and Dr. Carlysle Guerra de Macedo, Director-General of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), as well as by medical professionals from the United States and other capitalist countries who have observed the Cuban health system in action. Despite U.S. hostility toward Cuba, a U.S. government document stated in 1982 that the 'Cuban Revolution has managed social achievements, especially in education and health care, that are highly respected in the Third World ..., [including] a national health care program that is superior in the Third World and rivals that of numerous developed countries.{{' "}}] The Communist government stated that universal health care was a priority of state planning and progress was made in rural areas.[Lundy, Karen Saucier. ''Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Public's Health''. Jones and Bartlett: 2005, p. 377.] After the revolution, the government increased rural hospitals from one to 62.[{{cite book|title=Global Health Policy, Local Realities: The Fallacy of the Level Playing Field|page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gYc_LgzsRDMC&pg=PA69|editor-last=Whiteford|editor-first=Linda M.|editor2-last=Manderson|editor2-first=Lenore|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers|location=Boulder, Col.|year=2000|isbn=978-1-55587-874-0|access-date=14 September 2009}}] Challenges include low salaries for doctors,[{{cite news |author=Editorial |date=16 May 2015 |title=Be more libre |url=https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21651216-transformation-economy-needs-happen-much-faster-be-more-libre |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=20 May 2015}}] poor facilities, poor provision of equipment, and the frequent absence of essential drugs.[{{cite web|author=The Committee Office, House of Commons |url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmhealth/30/30ap91.htm |title=Cuban Health Care Systems and its implications for the NHS Plan |publisher=Select Committee on Health |date=28 March 2001 |access-date=19 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821213607/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmhealth/30/30ap91.htm |archive-date=21 August 2013 }}]
Cuba has the highest doctor-to-population ratio in the world and has sent thousands of doctors to more than 40 countries around the world.{{sfn|Breier|Wildschut|2007|pp=16, 81}} According to the [[World Health Organization]], Cuba is "known the world over for its ability to train excellent doctors and nurses who can then go out to help other countries in need".[{{cite web |title=Cuban medical team heading for Sierra Leone |url=https://www.who.int/features/2014/cuban-ebola-team/en/ |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=27 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914045119/https://www.who.int/features/2014/cuban-ebola-team/en/ |archive-date=14 September 2014 |date=14 September 2014}}] In 2014 there were around 50,000 Cuban-trained health care workers aiding 66 nations.[{{Cite web |date=September 2014 |title=Cuban medical team heading for Sierra Leone |url=http://www.who.int/features/2014/cuban-ebola-team/en/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228051729/http://www.who.int/features/2014/cuban-ebola-team/en/ |archive-date=28 December 2016 |access-date=23 April 2026 |website=World Health Organization}}] Cuban physicians have played a leading role in combating the [[Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa]].[Alexandra Sifferlin (5 November 2014). [https://time.com/3556670/ebola-cuba/ Why Cuba Is So Good at Fighting Ebola] . ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]].'' Retrieved 28 April 2015.] [[Preventative medicine]] is very important within the Cuban medical system, which provides citizens with easy to obtain regular health checks.[{{cite web |url=http://www.cepec.cu/farmacuba.php |title=Centro de Promoción del Comercio Exterior y la Inversión Extranjera de Cuba – CEPEC |publisher=Cepec.cu |access-date=10 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620084258/http://www.cepec.cu/farmacuba.php |archive-date=20 June 2012}}] Isolated from the West by the US embargo, Cuba developed the successful lung cancer vaccine, [[CimaVax-EGF|Cimavax]], which is now available to US researchers for the first time, along with other novel Cuban cancer treatments. The vaccine has been available for free to the Cuban population since 2011.[Erin Schumaker (14 May 2015). [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/14/cuba-lung-cancer-vaccine_n_7267518.html Cuba's Had A Lung Cancer Vaccine For Years, And Now It's Coming To The U.S.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503231329/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/14/cuba-lung-cancer-vaccine_n_7267518.html |date=3 May 2016 }} ''[[The Huffington Post]].'' Retrieved 18 May 2015.] According to [[Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center]] CEO Candace Johnson: "They've had to do more with less, so they've had to be even more innovative with how they approach things. For over 40 years, they have had a preeminent immunology community."[Rob Quinn (12 May 2015). [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/05/12/lung-cancer-vaccine-cimavax-cuba/27168559/ USA about to get Cuba's lung cancer vaccine] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423115808/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/05/12/lung-cancer-vaccine-cimavax-cuba/27168559/ |date=23 April 2016 }}. ''[[USA Today]].'' Retrieved 14 May 2015.] During the thaw in Cuba–U.S. relations, many U.S. lung cancer patients traveled to Cuba to receive vaccine treatment. The end of the thaw under the Trump Administration resulted in a tightening of travel restrictions, making it harder for U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba for treatment.[{{cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Sally |date=10 January 2018 |title=Cuba has a lung cancer vaccine. Many U.S. patients can't get it without breaking the law |work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/09/cuba-has-lung-cancer-vaccine-many-u-s-patients-cant-get-without-breaking-law/1019093001/ |access-date=16 October 2018}}]
In 2015, Cuba became the first country to eradicate [[mother-to-child transmission]] of HIV and syphilis,[{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/mtct-hiv-cuba/en/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702063246/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/mtct-hiv-cuba/en/| archive-date=2 July 2015| title=WHO validates elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in Cuba| publisher=[[World Health Organization]]| date=30 June 2015| access-date=30 August 2015}}] a milestone hailed by the [[World Health Organization]] as "one of the greatest public health achievements possible".[{{cite web |last=O'Carroll |first=Lisa |date=30 June 2015 |title=Cuba first to eliminate mother-to-baby HIV transmission |website=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/30/cuba-first-eliminate-mother-baby-hiv-transmission |access-date=1 July 2015}}]
==Culture==
[[File:Casa de la Trova Santiago Cuba.jpg|thumb|right|A local musical house, Casa de la Trova in Santiago de Cuba]]
[[Culture of Cuba|Cuban culture]] is influenced by its melting pot of cultures, primarily those of [[Culture of Spain|Spain]], West Africa, and the indigenous [[Guanahatabey]] and Taíno. After the 1959 revolution, the government started a national literacy campaign, offered free education to all and established rigorous [[Sport in Cuba|sports]], ballet, and music programs.[{{cite news|title=For Cuba, a Harsh Self-Assessment |last1=Burnett |first1=Victoria |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/24/world/americas/harsh-self-assessment-as-cuba-looks-within.html |work=The New York Times |date=24 July 2013 |access-date=24 July 2013}}]
=== Architecture ===
[[File:CU La Habana 9709 028 (17229424611).jpg|thumb|The 18th-century entrance of the [[Castillo del Príncipe]] in Havana, photo taken in 1997]] [[Architecture of Cuba|Cuban architecture]] reflects a range of historical influences, with its foundations rooted primarily in the Spanish colonial period. Early settlements, or villas, were typically organized around a central church, surrounded by residential structures. These homes often featured interior courtyards and iron grilles, a characteristic element of colonial domestic architecture. Spanish [[Baroque architecture]] played a significant role during this era, exemplified by religious buildings such as the [[Basilica of San Francisco de Asís, Havana|Basílica de San Francisco]] in Havana. In response to the threat of piracy, large fortifications were also constructed, contributing to the island's defensive infrastructure.
Several historic urban centers developed during the colonial period, many of which have been recognized for their architectural and cultural value. Notable examples include Havana, [[Camagüey]], [[Cienfuegos]] and [[Trinidad, Cuba|Trinidad]], all of which are inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These cities display a variety of architectural styles, ranging from Baroque and [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] to [[Eclecticism|eclectic]] influences. Additional towns such as [[Santiago de Cuba]], [[Matanzas]] or [[Remedios, Cuba|Remedios]] also preserve significant colonial-era architecture.
During the Republican period (1902–1959), Cuban architecture saw the construction of prominent public and commercial buildings. Notable examples include [[National Capitol of Cuba|El Capitolio]], inspired by the [[United States Capitol]], as well as modern high-rise structures such as the [[FOCSA Building]] and the [[Tryp Habana Libre|Habana Hilton]] (later renamed Habana Libre). Architect [[Antonio Quintana Simonetti]] emerged as a leading figure during the mid-20th century, contributing to the development of modern Cuban architecture.
Following revolution, architectural styles were heavily influenced by Soviet urban planning, emphasizing functionality, uniformity, and efficiency. Residential neighborhoods constructed during this period reflected the characteristics of socialist realism seen in cities like [[Moscow]] and [[Minsk]]. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, architecture became more varied. The 1990s and early 21st century saw a rise in the construction of luxury hotels, incorporating modern materials such as glass and steel, and reflecting global architectural trends similar to those found in cities like [[Mexico City]], [[Caracas]], and [[New York City|New York]].
===Literature===
[[Cuban literature]] began to find its voice in the early 19th century. Dominant themes of independence and freedom were exemplified by José Martí, who led the Modernist movement in Cuban literature. Writers such as [[Nicolás Guillén]] and José Z. Tallet focused on literature as social protest. The poetry and novels of [[Dulce María Loynaz]] and [[José Lezama Lima]] have been influential. Romanticist [[Miguel Barnet]], who wrote ''Everyone Dreamed of Cuba'', reflects a more melancholy Cuba.[{{Cite web|url=http://www.tobias-hauser.de/vortraege/?cmd=en|title=TOBIAS HAUSER | Lectures|website=www.tobias-hauser.de|accessdate=5 January 2026}}]
[[Alejo Carpentier]] was important in the [[magic realism]] movement. Writers such as [[Reinaldo Arenas]], [[Guillermo Cabrera Infante]], and [[Daína Chaviano]], [[Pedro Juan Gutiérrez]], [[Zoé Valdés]], [[Guillermo Rosales]] and [[Leonardo Padura]] have earned international recognition in the post-revolutionary era, though many of these have felt compelled to continue their work in exile due to ideological control of media by the Cuban authorities. However, some Cuban writers continue living and writing in Cuba, including Nancy Morejón.[{{Cite web|title=Nancy Morejón |work=Smith College |url=https://www.smith.edu/academics/poetry-center/nancy-morej%C3%B3n|access-date=20 July 2021}}]
===Music===
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[[Music of Cuba|Cuban music]] is rich and is the most commonly known expression of Cuban culture. The central form of this music is ''[[Son cubano|son]]'', which has been the basis of many other musical styles like "[[Danzón]] de nuevo ritmo", [[mambo (music)|mambo]], [[Cha-cha-chá (music)|cha-cha-chá]] and [[salsa music]]. Rumba ("de cajón o de solar") music originated in the early Afro-Cuban culture, mixed with Spanish elements of style.[{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Robin|title=Nationalizing Blackness: Afrocubanismo and Artistic Revolution in Havana, 1920–1940|year=1997|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|isbn=978-0-8229-5645-7}}] The [[Tres (instrument)|tres]] was invented in Cuba from Spanish cordophone instruments models (the instrument is actually a fusion of elements from the Spanish guitar and lute). Other traditional Cuban instruments are of African origin, Taíno origin, or both, such as the [[maraca]]s, [[güiro]], [[marímbula]] and various wooden drums including the [[mayohuacán]].
Popular Cuban music of all styles has been enjoyed and praised widely across the world. Cuban classical music, which includes music with strong African and European influences, and features symphonic works as well as music for soloists, has received international acclaim thanks to composers like [[Ernesto Lecuona]]. Havana was the heart of the [[rap]] scene in Cuba when it began in the 1990s.
===Dance===
{{Main|Dance from Cuba}}
The culture encompasses a wide range of dance forms.[{{cite book|last1=Daniel|first1=Yvonne|title=Rumba: Dance and Social Change in Contemporary Cuba|date=1995|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington, IN|page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aek7fmzOnu4C|isbn=9780253209481}}] Danzón was the official musical genre and dance of Cuba.[Urfé, Odilio 1965. ''El danzón''. La Habana.] Mambo music and dance developed originally in Cuba, with further significant developments by Cuban musicians in Mexico and the US. The [[cha-cha-cha (dance)|cha-cha-cha]] is another dance of Cuban origin,[Orovio, Helio 2004. ''Cuban music from A to Z''. p50] while the Cuban [[bolero]] originated in Santiago de Cuba in the 19th century.[Cristobal Diaz offers 1885: "el bolero, creado aproximadamente para 1885". Diaz Ayala, Cristobal 1999. ''Cuando sali de la Habana 1898-1997: cien años de música cubana por el mundo''. 3rd ed, Cubanacán, San Juan P.R. p24-25] [[Concert dance]] is supported by the government and includes internationally renowned companies such as the [[Ballet Nacional de Cuba]].[{{cite book | last=John | first=S. | title=Contemporary Dance in Cuba: Tecnica Cubana as Revolutionary Movement | publisher=McFarland & Company | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-7864-9325-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=drE0KI3h-7UC&pg=PA23 | page=23}}] [[Salsa (dance)|Salsa dancing]] originated in Cuba, and [[Cuban salsa]] is danced around the world.
===Media===
{{Main|Mass media in Cuba}}
[[File:WiFi Internet Access Havanna.JPG|thumb|Users of a public WiFi hotspot in Havana, Cuba]]
[[ETECSA]] opened 118 cybercafes across the country in 2013.[{{cite web|title=Cuba's New Internet Service is Also No Bed of Roses |work=MIT Technology Review |date=16 July 2013 |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/view/517241/cubas-new-internet-service-is-also-no-bed-of-roses/|access-date=19 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718212018/http://www.technologyreview.com/view/517241/cubas-new-internet-service-is-also-no-bed-of-roses/|archive-date=18 July 2013}}] The government of Cuba provides an online encyclopedia website called [[EcuRed]] that operates in a "[[wiki]]" format.[{{cite web |date=13 December 2010 |title=Cuba launches Wikipedia-like online encyclopedia |url=http://ca.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idCATRE6BD02E20101214?sp=true |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050027/http://ca.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idCATRE6BD02E20101214?sp=true |archive-date=4 March 2016 |work=[[Reuters]]}}] Internet access is controlled, and e-mail is closely monitored.[{{cite web |url=http://arabia.reporters-sans-frontieres.org/article.php3?id_article=10611 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727014516/http://arabia.reporters-sans-frontieres.org/article.php3?id_article=10611 |archive-date=27 July 2011 |title=Internet in Cuba |publisher=[[Reporters Without Borders]] }}]
Since 2018, access to Internet by mobile data is available. In 2019, 7.1 million Cubans could access the Internet.[{{cite news |title=El acceso a internet en Cuba llega a 7,1 millones de usuarios en 2019 |url=https://www.efe.com/efe/america/tecnologia/el-acceso-a-internet-en-cuba-llega-7-1-millones-de-usuarios-2019/20000036-4182015 |access-date=3 June 2021 |agency=EFE |date=26 February 2020}}] The prices of connections, since{{clarify|date=June 2021}} WiFi zones, or mobile data, or from houses through "Nauta Hogar" service have been decreasing, especially since the economic reform of January 2021, when all the salaries increased by at least 5 times, and the prices of Internet remain in the same point.[{{cite news |title=Internet access in Cuba: How data plans work on the Island |url=https://blog.fonoma.com/internet-in-cuba-cb82c289a491 |access-date=3 June 2021}}][{{Cite web |url=https://www.efe.com/efe/america/tecnologia/el-acceso-a-internet-en-cuba-llega-7-1-millones-de-usuarios-2019/20000036-4182015|title=El acceso a internet en Cuba llega a 7,1 millones de usuarios en 2019}}] In 2024, it was reported that 8.19 million Cuban people have Internet access.[{{cite news |date=23 February 2024 |title=Digital 2024: Cuba |url=https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-cuba |access-date=11 April 2025}}] There were 6.68 million mobile connections in Cuba in January 2021.[{{Harvnb|Alvarez|2001}}.] The traditional meal is not served in courses; all food items are served at the same time.
The typical meal could consist of plantains, black beans and rice, ''[[ropa vieja]]'' (shredded beef), [[Cuban bread]], pork with onions, and tropical fruits. Black beans and rice, referred to as ''[[Moros y Cristianos (food)|moros y cristianos]]'' (or ''moros'' for short), and plantains are staples. Many of the meat dishes are cooked slowly with light sauces. Garlic, cumin, oregano, and bay leaves are the dominant spices.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}
===Sports===
{{Main|Sport in Cuba}}
Due to historical associations with the United States, many Cubans participate in sports that are popular in North America, rather than sports traditionally played in other Latin American nations. [[Baseball in Cuba|Baseball]] is the most popular. Other popular sports include volleyball, [[boxing]], [[sport of athletics|athletics]], [[wrestling]], basketball and [[water sports]].[[https://www.whatcuba.com/cuban-sports.html Cuban Sports] whatcuba.com. Retrieved 23 February 2021.] Cuba is a dominant force in [[amateur boxing]], consistently achieving high medal tallies in major international competitions. Boxers [[Rances Barthelemy]] and [[Erislandy Lara]] defected to the U.S. and Mexico respectively.[{{Cite web |url=http://sports.yahoo.com/news/meet-the-cuban-boxer-who-failed-to-defect-38-times-before-realizing-u-s--dream-200229434-boxing.html|title=Cuban boxer defected unsuccessfully 38 times before realizing U.S. dream|publisher=Yahoo Sports|date=18 June 2015 }}][{{Cite web |url=https://www.premierboxingchampions.com/news/cuba-world-champion-arduous-defection-continues-drive-erislandy-lara |title=From Cuba to world champion: Arduous defection continues to drive Erislandy Lara |first=Lem |last=Satterfield |website=PBC Boxing |date=10 June 2015}}] Cuba also provides a [[Cuba at the Olympics|national team]] that competes in the [[Olympic Games]].[{{cite web |url=http://www.olympic.org/cuba |title=Cuba – Comité Olímpico Cubano – National Olympic Committee |publisher=International Olympic Committee |access-date=10 June 2013}}] [[Jose R. Capablanca]] was a Cuban [[World Chess Championship#Capablanca, Alekhine and Euwe (1921–1946)|world chess champion from 1921 to 1927]].
==See also==
{{portal|Cuba|Countries|Caribbean|Islands|Latin America|North America
}}
* [[Human rights in Cuba]]
* [[List of Caribbean islands]]
* [[Outline of Cuba]]
* ''[[The Cuba Libre Story]]''
{{Clear}}
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
{{Clear}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
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|publisher= Department of Food and Resource Economics, [[University of Florida]]
|access-date= 25 March 2013
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|title= Cuba in Transition, Volume 8
|url= http://www.ascecuba.org/publications/annual-proceedings/cuba-in-transition-volume-08/
|location= Silver Spring, MD
|publisher= ASCE
|pages= 260–272
|isbn= 978-0-9649082-7-7
|access-date= 25 March 2013
|archive-date= 6 April 2023
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230406061627/https://www.ascecuba.org/publications/annual-proceedings/cuba-in-transition-volume-08/
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{{Refend}}
==External links==
{{Sister project links|auto=1|wikt=y|v=y}}
* [https://cubaminrex.cu/en Official site of the Government of Cuba] {{in lang|en}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080830044824/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/cuba.htm Cuba] from [[University of Colorado Boulder]] Libraries
* {{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Cuba}}
* [https://www.ifs.du.edu/IFs/frm_CountryProfile/CU Key Development Forecasts for Cuba] from [[International Futures]]
* {{Wikiatlas|Cuba}}
{{Cuba topics}}
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