Coor din ates: 2 2 °00′N 80°00′W Cuba Cuba (/ kju bə/; Spanish pronu nciation: [ kuβa]), ˈ ː ˈ Republic of Cuba officially the Republic of Cuba (Spanish: República de Cuba ), is a country comprising the República de Cuba (Spanish) island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean meet. It is south of both the U.S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti Flag and north of Jamaica. Havana is the largest city and Coat of arms capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba Motto: and Camagüey. The area of the Republic of Cuba is "¡Patria o Muerte, Venceremos!" (Spanish) 110,860 square kilometres (42,800 sq mi) (109,884 "Homeland or Death, we shall overcome!"[1] square kilometres (42,426 sq mi) without the Anthem: La Bayamesa territorial waters). The island of Cuba is the largest Bayamo Song [2] island in Cuba and in the Caribbean, with an area of 0:00 MENU 105,006 square kilometres (40,543 sq mi), and the second-most populous after Hispaniola, with over 11 million inhabitants.[13] The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited by the Ciboney Taíno people from the 4th millennium BC until Spanish colonisation in the 15th century.[14] From the 15th century, it was a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, when Cuba was occupied by the United States and gained nominal independence as a de facto United States protectorate in 1902. As a fragile republic, in 1940 Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system, but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in Location of Cuba (green) the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952.[15] Further unrest and instability led to Batista's ousting in January 1959 by the 26th of July Movement, which afterwards established communist rule under the leadership of Fidel Castro.[16][17][18] Since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. The country was a point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, and a nuclear war nearly broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Cuba is one of the few remaining Marxist–Leninist socialist states, where the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Independent observers have Capital Havana and largest city 23°8′N 82°23′W accused the Cuban government of numerous human rights abuses, including arbitrary imprisonment.[19] Official languages Spanish Ethnic groups 64.1% White Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin (2012[3]) [20] 26.6% Mixed America. It is a multiethnic country whose people, (including Mulatto, Mestizo, culture and customs derive from diverse origins, Zambo, or Pardo) including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples, 9.3% Black the long period of Spanish colonialism, the Demonym Cuban introduction of African slaves and a close relationship with the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Government Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic[4] Cuba is a founding member of the United Nations, the G7 7 , the Non-Aligned Movement, the African, • First Secretary of Raúl Castro the Communist Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, ALBA and Party Organization of American States. The country is a • President Miguel Díaz-Canel regional power in Latin America and a middle power • First Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa in world affairs. It has currently one of the world's • Second Secretary José Machado Ventura of the Communist only planned economies, and its economy is Party dominated by the exports of sugar, tobacco, coffee • President of the Esteban Lazo Hernández and skilled labor. According to the Human National Development Index, Cuba has high human Assembly development and is ranked the eighth highest in North Legislature National Assembly of People's Power America, though 67 th in the world.[21] It also ranks highly in some metrics of national performance, Independence including health care and education.[22][23] • Declaration of 10 October 1868 Independence • War of 24 February 1895 Independence Contents • Recognized 10 December 1898 (handed over from Etymology Spain to the United States) History Pre-Columbian era • Republic declared 20 May 1902 Spanish colonization and rule (1492–1898) (independence Independence movements from United States) Republic (1902–59) First years (1902–1925) • Cuban Revolution 26 July 1953 – 1 Revolution of 1933–1940 January 1959 Constitution of 1940 • Current 24 February 1976 constitution Revolution and Communist party rule (1959– present) Area Government and politics • Total 109,884 km2 Administrative divisions (42,426 sq mi) (104th) Human rights • Water (%) 0.94 Foreign relations Crime and law enforcement Population Military • 2017 census 11,221,060[5] (82nd) 2 Economy • Density 102.1/km (264.4/sq mi) Resources (114th) Tourism GDP (PPP) 2015 estimate Geography • Total US$ 254.865 billion[6] Climate • Per capita US$ 22,237[7][8] Biodiversity GDP (nominal) 2016 estimate Demographics [9] Ethnoracial groups • Total US$ 89.689 billion Immigration and emigration (65th) Religion • Per capita US$ 7,815[10] (77th) Languages Gini (2000) 38.0[11] Largest cities medium Media Press HDI (2015) 0.775[12] Television high · 68th Internet Currency Peso (CUP) Culture a Music Convertible peso Cuisine (CUC) Literature Time zone CST (UTC−5) Dance • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC−4) Sports Education Drives on the right Health Calling code +53 See also ISO 3166 code CU References Internet TLD .cu Bibliography External links Website www.cubagob.cu (http://www.cubagob.cu) a. From 1993 to 2004, the United States dollar Etymology was used alongside the peso until the dollar was replaced by the convertible peso. Historians believe the name Cuba comes from the Taíno language, however "its exact derivation [is] unknown".[24] The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as 'where fertile land is abundant' (cubao),[25] or 'great place' (coabana).[26] Authors who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal.[27][28] History Pre-Columbian era Before the arrival of the Spanish, Cuba was inhabited by three distinct tribes of indigenous peoples of the Americas. The Taíno (an Arawak people), the Guanahatabey and the Ciboney people. The ancestors of the Ciboney migrated from the mainland of South America, with the earliest sites dated to 5,000 BP.[29] The Taíno arrived from Hispanola sometime in the 3rd century A.D. When Columbus arrived they were the dominant culture in Cuba, having an estimated population of 150,000.[29] The Taíno were farmers, while the Ciboney were farmers as well as fishers and hunter-gatherers. Spanish colonization and rule (1492–1898) After first landing on an island then called Guanahani, Bahamas, on 12 October 1492,[30] Christopher Columbus commanded his three ships: La Pinta, La Niña and the Santa María, to land on Cuba's northeastern coast on 28 October 1492.[31] (This was near what is now Bariay, Holguín Province.) Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain[32] and named it Isla Juana after Juan, Prince of Asturias.[33] In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa. Other towns soon followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1515, which later Monument of Hatuey, an became the capital. The native Taíno early Taíno chief of Cuba were forced to work under the encomienda system,[34] which resembled a feudal system in Medieval Europe.[35] Within a century the indigenous people were virtually wiped out due to multiple factors, primarily Eurasian infectious diseases, to which they had no natural resistance (immunity), aggravated by harsh conditions of the repressive Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, colonial subjugation.[36] In 1529, a measles outbreak in Cuba killed two- conquistador of Cuba thirds of those few natives who had previously survived smallpox.[37][38] On 18 May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto departed from Havana at the head of some 600 followers into a vast expedition through the Southeastern United States, starting at La Florida, in search of gold, treasure, fame and power.[39] On 1 September 1548, Dr. Gonzalo Perez de Angulo was appointed governor of Cuba. He arrived in Santiago, Cuba on 4 November 1549 and immediately declared the liberty of all natives.[40] He became Cuba's first permanent governor to reside in Havana instead of Santiago, and he built Havana's first church made of masonry.[41] After the French took Havana in 1555, the governor's son, Francisco de Angulo, went to Mexico.[42] Cuba developed slowly and, unlike the plantation islands of the Caribbean, had a diversified agriculture. But what was most important was that the colony developed as an urbanized society that primarily supported the Spanish colonial empire. By the mid-18th century, its colonists held 50,000 slaves, compared to 60,000 in British map of Cuba 1680 Barbados; 300,000 in Virginia, both British colonies; and 450,000 in French Saint-Domingue, which had large-scale sugar cane plantations.[43] The Seven Y ears' War, which erupted in 17 54 across three continents, eventually arrived in the Spanish Caribbean. Spain's alliance with the French pitched them into direct conflict with the British, and in 17 62 a British expedition of five warships and 4,000 troops set out from Portsmouth to capture Cuba. The British arrived on 6 June, and by August had Havana under siege.[44] When Havana surrendered, the admiral of the British fleet, George Keppel, the 3rd Earl of Albemarle, entered the city as a conquering new governor and took control of the whole western part of the island.