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- 110,860 km²; land area: 110,860 km²
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- Comparative area: slightly smaller than Pennsylvania
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- Land boundary: 29.1 km with US Naval Base at Guantanamo;
- note--Guantanamo is leased and as such remains part of Cuba
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- Coastline: 3,735 km
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- Maritime claims:
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- Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
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- Territorial sea: 12 nm
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- Disputes: US Naval Base at Guantanamo is leased to US and only mutual
- agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease
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- Climate: tropical; moderated by trade winds; dry season (November to
- April); rainy season (May to October)
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- Terrain: mostly flat to rolling plains with rugged hills and mountains
- in the southeast
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- Natural resources: cobalt, nickel, iron ore, copper, manganese, salt,
- timber, silica
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- Land use: 23% arable land; 6% permanent crops; 23% meadows and pastures;
- 17% forest and woodland; 31% other; includes 10% irrigated
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- Environment: averages one hurricane every other year
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- Note: largest country in Caribbean; 145 km south of Florida
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- █ ≡ People ≡ █
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- Population: 10,620,099 (July 1990), growth rate 1.1% (1990)
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- Birth rate: 18 births/1,000 population (1990)
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- Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
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- Net migration rate: - 1 migrant/1,000 population (1990)
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- Infant mortality rate: 12 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
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- Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 78 years female (1990)
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- Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (1990)
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- Nationality: noun--Cuban(s); adjective--Cuban
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- Ethnic divisions: 51% mulatto, 37% white, 11% black, 1% Chinese
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- Religion: at least 85% nominally Roman Catholic before Castro assumed
- power
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- Language: Spanish
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- Literacy: 98.5%
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- Labor force: 3,400,000 in state sector; 30% services and
- government, 22% industry, 20% agriculture, 11% commerce,
- 10% construction, 7% transportation and communications (1988);
- economically active population 4,500,000 (1987)
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- Organized labor: Workers Central Union of Cuba (CTC), only labor
- federation approved by government; 2,910,000 members; the CTC is an
- umbrella organization composed of 17 member unions
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- █ ≡ Government ≡ █
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- Long-form name: Republic of Cuba
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- Type: Communist state
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- Capital: Havana
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- Administrative divisions: 14 provinces (provincias, singular--provincia)
- and 1 special municipality* (municipio especial); Camaguey, Ciego de Avila,
- Cienfuegos, Ciudad de La Habana, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin,
- Isla de la Juventud*, La Habana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio,
- Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara
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- Independence: 20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered
- by the US from 1898 to 1902)
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- Constitution: 24 February 1976
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- Legal system: based on Spanish and American law, with large elements of
- Communist legal theory; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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- National holiday: Revolution Day, 1 January (1959)
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- Executive branch: president of the Council of State, first vice
- president of the Council of State, Council of State, president of the
- Council of Ministers, first vice president of the Council of Ministers,
- Council of Ministers
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- Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly of the People's
- Power (Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular)
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- Judicial branch: People's Supreme Court
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- Leaders:
- Chief of State and Head of Government--President of the Council of
- State and President of the Council of Ministers Fidel CASTRO Ruz
- (became Prime Minister in January 1959 and President since 2 December
- 1976);
- First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President
- of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (since 2 December
- 1976)
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- Political parties and leaders: only party--Cuban Communist Party
- (PCC), Fidel Castro Ruz, first secretary
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- Suffrage: universal at age 16
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- Elections:
- National Assembly of the People's Power--last held NA December
- 1986 (next to be held December 1991);
- results--PCC is the only party;
- seats--(510 total) PCC 510 (indirectly elected)
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- Communists: about 600,000 full and candidate members
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- Member of: CEMA, ECLA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB (nonparticipant), IAEA,
- IBEC, ICAO, IFAD, ICO, IHO, ILO, IMO, IRC, ISO, ITU, IWC--International
- Wheat Council, NAM, OAS (nonparticipant), PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UNIDO,
- UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
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- Diplomatic representation: none; protecting power in the US is
- Czechoslovakia--Cuban Interests Section; Counselor Jose Antonio Arbesu
- FRAGA; 2630 and 2639 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202)
- 797-8518 or 8519, 8520, 8609, 8610; US--protecting power in Cuba is
- Switzerland--US Interests Section; Principal Officer John J. TAYLOR;
- Calzada entre L y M, Vedado Seccion, Havana; telephone 320551 or 320543
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- Flag: five equal horizontal bands of blue (top and bottom) alternating
- with white; a red equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bears a white
- five-pointed star in the center
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- █ ≡ Economy ≡ █
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- Overview: The Soviet-style economy, centrally planned and largely
- state owned, is highly dependent on the agricultural sector and foreign
- trade. Sugar provides about 75% of export revenues and is mostly exported
- to the USSR and other CEMA countries. The economy has stagnated since
- 1985 under a program that has deemphasized material incentives in the
- workplace, abolished farmers' informal produce markets, and raised prices
- of government-supplied goods and services. Castro has complained that
- the ongoing CEMA reform process has interfered with the regular flow of
- goods to Cuba. Recently the government has been trying to increase
- trade with Latin America and China. Cuba has had difficulty servicing
- its foreign debt since 1982. The government currently is encouraging
- foreign investment in tourist facilities. Other investment priorities
- include sugar, basic foods, and nickel. The annual $4 billion Soviet
- subsidy, a main prop to Cuba's threadbare economy, may be cut in view
- of the USSR's mounting economic problems.
-
- GNP: $20.9 billion, per capita $2,000; real growth rate - 1%
- (1989 est.)
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- Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
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- Unemployment: 6% overall, 10% for women (1989)
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- Budget: revenues $11.7 billion; expenditures $13.5 billion,
- including capital expenditures of $NA (1989 est.)
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- Exports: $5.5 billion (f.o.b., 1988);
- commodities--sugar, nickel, shellfish, citrus, tobacco, coffee;
- partners--USSR 67%, GDR 6%, China 4% (1988)
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- Imports: $7.6 billion (c.i.f., 1988);
- commodities--capital goods, industrial raw materials, food, petroleum;
- partners--USSR 71%, other Communist countries 15% (1988)
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- External debt: $6.8 billion (convertible currency, July 1989)
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- Industrial production: 3% (1988)
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- Electricity: 3,991,000 kW capacity; 14,972 million kWh produced,
- 1,425 kWh per capita (1989)
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- Industries: sugar milling, petroleum refining, food and tobacco
- processing, textiles, chemicals, paper and wood products, metals
- (particularly nickel), cement, fertilizers, consumer goods, agricultural
- machinery
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- Agriculture: accounts for 11% of GNP (including fishing and forestry); key
- commercial crops--sugarcane, tobacco, and citrus fruits; other products--
- coffee, rice, potatoes, meat, beans; world's largest sugar exporter; not
- self-sufficient in food
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- Aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
- (1970-87), $657.5 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $13.5 billion
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- Currency: Cuban peso (plural--pesos); 1 Cuban peso (Cu$) = 100
- centavos
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- Exchange rates: Cuban pesos (Cu$) per US$1--1.0000 (linked to the
- US dollar)
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- Fiscal year: calendar year
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- █ ≡ Communications ≡ █
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- Railroads: 14,925 km total; Cuban National Railways operates 5,295 km of
- 1.435-meter gauge track; 199 km electrified; 9,630 km of sugar plantation
- lines of 0.914-1.435-meter gauge
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- Highways: about 21,000 km total; 9,000 km paved, 12,000 km gravel and
- earth surfaced
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- Inland waterways: 240 km
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- Ports: Cienfuegos, Havana, Mariel, Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba;
- 7 secondary, 35 minor
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- Merchant marine: 91 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
- 701,418 GRT/1,014,014 DWT; includes 62 cargo, 7 refrigerated cargo, 3
- cargo/training, 10 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1
- chemical tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 6 bulk; note--Cuba beneficially owns
- an additional 34 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 475,864 DWT under
- the registry of Panama, Cyprus, and Malta
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- Civil air: 59 major transport aircraft
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- Airports: 197 total, 168 usable; 72 with permanent-surface runways;
- 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 14 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 17 with runways
- 1,220-2,439 m
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- Telecommunications: stations--150 AM, 5 FM, 58 TV; 1,530,000 TV sets;
- 2,140,000 radio receivers; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
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- █ ≡ Defense Forces ≡ █
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- Branches: Revolutionary Armed Forces (Ground Forces, Revolutionary Navy,
- Air and Air Defense Force), Ministry of Interior Special Troops, Border
- Guard Troops, Territorial Militia Troops, Youth Labor Army
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- Military manpower: eligible 15-49, 6,027,131; of the 3,024,385 males 15-49,
- 1,897,175 are fit for military service; of the 3,002,746 females 15-49
- 1,879,471 are fit for military service; 96,319 males and 92,765 females
- reach military age (17) annually
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- Defense expenditures: about 6% of GNP, or $1.2-$1.4 billion
- (1989 est.)