Cuba

• tropical;
• moderated by trade winds;
• dry season (November to April);
• rainy season (May to October)

• air and water pollution;
• biodiversity loss;
• deforestation

party to:

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

signed, but not ratified:

Marine Life Conservation

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.056 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.001 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.838 male(s)/female

total population:

0.992 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

noun:

Cuban(s)

adjective:

Cuban

• illicit emigration is a continuing problem;
• Cubans attempt to depart the island and enter the US using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, direct flights, or falsified visas;
• Cubans also use non-maritime routes to enter the US including direct flights to Miami and over-land via the southwest border

conventional long form:

Republic of Cuba

conventional short form:

Cuba

local long form:

Republica de Cuba

local short form:

Cuba

name:

Havana

geographic coordinates:

23 07 N, 82 21 W

time difference:

UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

• 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

• based on Spanish civil law and influenced by American legal concepts, with large elements of Communist legal theory;
• has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

chief of state:

President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Fidel CASTRO Ruz (prime minister from February 1959 until 24 February 1976 when office was abolished; 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); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Fidel CASTRO Ruz (prime minister from February 1959 until 24 February 1976 when office was abolished; 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)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers proposed by the president of the Council of State and appointed by the National Assembly or the 31-member Council of State, elected by the Assembly to act on its behalf when it is not in session

elections:

president and vice presidents elected by the National Assembly for a term of five years; election last held 6 March 2003 (next to be held in 2008)

election results:

• Fidel CASTRO Ruz reelected president;
• percent of legislative vote - 100%;
• Raul CASTRO Ruz elected vice president;
• percent of legislative vote - 100%

note: due to an ongoing health problem, Fidel CASTRO Ruz provisionally transferred power to his brother Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz on 31 July 2006 in accordance with the Cuban Constitution; Fidel CASTRO has not yet reclaimed control of the government

• none;
• note - Cuba has an Interests Section in the Swiss Embassy, headed by Principal Officer Dagoberto RODRIGUEZ Barrera;
• address:
  • Cuban Interests Section,
  • Swiss Embassy,
  • 2630 16th Street NW,
  • Washington,
  • DC 20009
  ;
• telephone: [1] (202) 797-8518;
• FAX: [1] (202) 797-8521

• none;
• note - the US has an Interests Section in the Swiss Embassy, headed by Principal Officer Michael E. PARMLY;
• address:
  • USINT,
  • Swiss Embassy,
  • Calzada between L and M Streets,
  • Vedado,
  • Havana
  ;
• telephone: [53] (7) 833-3551 through 3559 (operator assistance required);
• FAX: [53] (7) 833-3700;
• protecting power in Cuba is Switzerland

• five equal horizontal bands of blue (top, center, and bottom) alternating with white;
• a red equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bears a white, five-pointed star in the center

agriculture:

20%

industry:

19.4%

services:

60.6% (2005)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

• greater investment beginning in 1994 and the establishment of a new Ministry of Information Technology and Communications in 2000 has resulted in improvements in the system;
• wireless service is expensive and must be paid in convertible pesos which effectively limits mobile cellular subscribership

domestic:

• national fiber-optic system under development;
• 95% of switches digitized by end of 2006;
• fixed telephone line density remains low, at less than 10 per 100 inhabitants;
• domestic cellular service expanding but remains at only about 2 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 53;
• fiber-optic cable laid to but not linked to US network;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)

total:

4,226 km

standard gauge:

4,226 km 1.435-m gauge (140 km electrified)

note: an additional 7,742 km of track is used by sugar plantations; about 65% of this track is standard gauge; the rest is narrow gauge (2006)

total:

60,858 km

paved:

29,820 km (includes 638 km of expressway)

unpaved:

31,038 km (1999)

total:

12 ships (1000 GRT or over) 35,030 GRT/51,388 DWT

by type:

bulk carrier 2, cargo 3, chemical tanker 1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 3, refrigerated cargo 2

foreign-owned:

1 (Spain 1)

registered in other countries:

16 (Bahamas 1, Cyprus 2, Netherlands Antilles 1, Panama 11, Spain 1) (2007)

• 17-28 years of age for compulsory military service;
• 2-year service obligation;
• both sexes subject to military service (2006)

males age 17-49:

2,967,865

females age 17-49:

2,913,559 (2005 est.)

males age 17-49:

2,441,927

females age 17-49:

2,396,741 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

91,901

females age 18-49:

87,500 (2005 est.)

current situation:

• Cuba is a source country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced child labor;
• Cuba is a major destination for sex tourism, which largely caters to European, Canadian, and Latin American tourists and involves large numbers of minors;
• there are reports that Cuban women have been trafficked to Mexico for sexual exploitation;
• forced labor victims also include children coerced into working in commercial agriculture

tier rating:

Tier 3 - Cuba does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so

• territorial waters and air space serve as transshipment zone for US- and European-bound drugs;
• established the death penalty for certain drug-related crimes in 1999