Cuba
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Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is the most populous insular nation in the Caribbean.
Its major environmental issues include air and water pollution; biodiversity loss; and, deforestation.
Background
The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru.
Spanish rule, marked initially by neglect, became increasingly repressive, provoking an independence movement and occasional rebellions that were harshly suppressed. The United States intervened in 1898 during the Spanish-American War and ended Spanish rule. The subsequent Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence, which was granted in 1902 after a three-year transition period. Following an uprising in 1906, the United States intervened again before self-rule was restored again in 1908. In 1959, following fifty years of democracy interspersed with coups and revolts, Fidel Castro led a successful military campaign again Fulgencio Batista (who had come to power through a coup in 1952). Castro established political control under a single political party (communist) and ruled as head of state for nearly fifty-years. The United States has maintained an economic embargo since Castro came to power.
The United States has territorial control over 45 square miles of the island around Guantánamo Bay which it gained to right to lease in perpetuity by treaty in 1903 (a provision now contested by the Cuban government) at which it maintains a naval base. Note that while Guantanamo Naval Base is leased by the US, it remains, officially at least, part of Cuba.
Geography
Location: Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, 150 km south of Key West, Florida
Geographic Coordinates: 21 30 N, 80 00 W
Area: 110,860 sq km (all land)
arable land: 27.63%
permanent crops: 6.54%
other: 65.83% (2005)
Land Boundaries: 29 km bordering the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay note: Guantanamo Naval Base is leased by the US and remains part of Cuba
Coastline: 3,735 km
Maritime Claims: Territorial sea to 12 nautical miles; contiguous zone to 24 nautical miles; and, an exclusive economic zone to 200 nautical miles.
Natural Hazards: Cobalt, nickel, iron ore, chromium, copper, salt, timber, silica, petroleum, arable land.
Terrain: Mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast. The highest point is (Pico Turquino) (2,005 meters).
Climate: Tropical; moderated by trade winds; dry season (November to April); rainy season (May to October).
Ecology and biodiversity
The Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot consists mainly of three large groups of islands between North and South America: the Bahamas, the Lesser Antilles, and the Greater Antilles (Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cuba, and Hispaniola, which includes the Dominican Republic and Haiti). While the hotspot spans more than 4 million square kilometers (km) of ocean, it covers roughly 230,000 km2 of land area, with the four islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico making up around 90 percent of land area.
Terrestrial ecoregions
The Cuban pine forests are located in bipolar form in the island's west and east. In the east they are abundant in the province of Pinar del Río surrounding the Sierra de los Organos particularly in the northern and southern plains and on the northern half of Isla de la Juventud. In the east, there are small patches around the Sierra del Cristal and Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa Mountains and in the Sierra Maestra. There is concern about the future of this ecoregion, as seventy percent of the original forest has been altered and fires are a major threat to the remaining forest.
The wet forests of Cuba retain exceptionally distinctive insular flora and fauna, with many species, genera and families unique to its forests that have retained various relict taxons. The island’s long-standing isolation has made it possible for these relict taxons to continue and many unique groups have also diversified. Many of the old lines that survive in these forests are extinct on the nearby continents. The rich flora and diverse fauna should be pointed out, particularly land snails. At present, these forests are seriously reduced. Expansion in the production of cacao, coffee and tobacco as well as mining and other human activities represent a serious threat in some areas.
The dry forests of Cuba occupied most of the island’s plains and lowlands as well as some submontane zones along the coast or with specific edaphic characteristics (serpentinites, karstic limestone), representing more than 50% of the original natural vegetation. Currently, most of these forests have been replaced by anthropic vegetation or changed into savannas. There are multiple types of dry forest, some of them with a high level of endemism and distinctive species.
Representing about 3 percent of Cuba’s original vegetation, the cactus scrublands of this Caribbean island are a plant formation of great national value due to the high degree of both plant and animal endemisms and as important centers of diversity for the island. They are located primarily on the southern coast of Oriente, as well as different patches on the west coast and to a lesser extent in the central part of the island, and are always associated with dry coastal climates. The conservation status is vulnerable, particularly due to threats such as grazing and habitat conversion.
Wetlands and marine ecoregions
The wetlands of Cuba represent about 4% of the island's territory and include habitats with unique and ideal vegetation for numerous organisms such as manatis, crocodiles, fish, and turtles, many resident and particularly migrant birds and numerous endangered endemic species. The Zapata Swamp, the largest wetland in Cuba, is also the largest in the Caribbean, and the best preserved to date in the Antilles, although it is currently subject to numerous threats.
Situated on large islands, the Greater Antillean mangroves have relatively high levels of endemic wildlife, including the Cuban crocodile Crocodylus rhombifer found on the Zapata peninsula of Cuba, and several birds. Some protected areas that are important centers of both floral and faunal endemism are the Desembarco del Granma National Park, also a World Heritage Site, where mangroves are part of an assemblage of habitats that include coral reefs and sea grass beds, that are all located within a system of marine terraces that create altitudinal and climatic diversity within a small area.
The Gulf of Mexico large marine ecosystem is characterized by its tropical climate. The Gulf of Mexico is partially isolated from the Atlantic Ocean. Important hypotheses concerned with the growing impacts of pollution, overexploitation, and environmental changes on sustained biomass yields of fisheries are under investigation for this Large Marine Ecosystem.
See also Biological diversity in the Caribbean Islands.
Protected areas
National Parks:
- Alejandro de Humboldt National Park (Parque Nacional Alejandro de Humboldt) - also World Heritage Site
- Caguanes National Park (Parque Nacional Caguanes)
- Zapata Swamp (Ciénaga de Zapata)
- Desembarco del Granma National Park - also World Heritage Site
- Guanahacabibes National Park (Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes)
- Jardines de la Reina National Park (Parque Nacional Jardines de la Reina
- Sierra Cristal National Park (Parque Nacional Sierra Cristal)
- Turquino National Park (Parque Nacional Turquino)
- Viñales National Park (Parque Nacional Viñales)
Biosphere Reserves:
- Sierra del Rosario
- Cuchillas del Toa
- Península de Guanahacabibes
- Baconao
- Ciénaga de Zapata
- Buena Vista
International Environmental Agreements
Cuba is party to international agreements on: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands. Cuba has signed but not ratified an international treaty on Marine Life Conservation.
People and Society
Population: 11,451,652 (July 2009 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 18.3% (male 1,077,745/female 1,020,393)
15-64 years: 70.4% (male 4,035,691/female 4,030,103)
65 years and over: 11.2% (male 584,478/female 703,242) (2009 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 0.233% (2009 est.)
Birthrate: 11.27 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 7.19 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: -1.56 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 77.45 years
Total Fertility Rate: 1.61 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Languages: Spanish
Literacy: 99.8%
The Human Development Index for Cuba is 0.826, which gives Cuba a rank of 50th out of 177 countries with data.
Economy
The government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. It has rolled back limited reforms undertaken in the 1990s to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. The average Cuban's standard of living remains at a lower level than before the downturn of the 1990s, which was caused by the loss of Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. Since late 2000, Venezuela has been providing oil on preferential terms, and it currently supplies about 100,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Cuba has been paying for the oil, in part, with the services of Cuban personnel in Venezuela, including some 30,000 medical professionals.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): (Purchasing Power Parity): $108.2 billion (2008 est.)
GDP: (Official Exchange Rate): $55.18 billion (2008 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 4.3% (2008 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $9,500 (2008 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 4.4%
industry: 22.8%
services: 72.8% (2008 est.)
Industries: sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals
Natural Resources: cobalt, nickel, iron ore, chromium, copper, salt, timber, silica, petroleum, arable land
Currency: Cuba has two currencies in circulation: the Cuban peso (CUP) and the Convertible Peso (CUC)
Energy
Cuba produced 76,000 bbl/d of oil during the first half of 2006, while the country consumed 209,000 bbl/d. Cuba's oil production has increased significantly in the past two decades, with the country only producing 16,000 bbl/d in 1984. Most of Cuba's oil production occurs in the northern Matanzas province, resulting in a heavy, sour crude that requires special processing at the country's refineries.
See Energy profile of Caribbean
Further Reading
Return to Cuba's country profile
Return to the Latin America and the Caribbean Collection