Cuba

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

agricultural land:

60.3%;

• arable land 33.8%;
• permanent crops 3.6%;
• permanent pasture 22.9%

forest:

27.3%

other:

12.4% (2011 est.)

• 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

noun:

Cuban(s)

adjective:

Cuban

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.08 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.81 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

• 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 overland via the southwest border;
• the number of Cubans migrating to the US has surged since the beginning of improved US-Cuban relations in late December 2014

conventional long form:

Republic of Cuba

conventional short form:

Cuba

local long form:

Republica de Cuba

local short form:

Cuba

etymology:

name derives from the Taino Indian designation for the island "coabana" meaning "great place"

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 second Sunday in March;
• ends first Sunday in November;
• note - Cuba has been known to alter the schedule of DST on short notice in an attempt to conserve electricity for lighting

• 15 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 special municipality* (municipio especial);
• Artemisa, Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Cienfuegos, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Isla de la Juventud*, La Habana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Mayabeque, Pinar del Rio, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara

• several previous;
• latest adopted by referendum 15 February 1976, effective 24 February 1976;
• amended 1978, 1992, 2002 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

unknown

chief of state:

President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (president since 24 February 2008); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Miguel DIAZ-CANEL Bermudez (since 24 February 2013); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (president since 24 February 2008); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Miguel DIAZ-CANEL Bermudez (since 24 February 2013)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers proposed by the president of the Council of State, appointed by the National Assembly or the 28-member Council of State, and elected by the assembly to act on its behalf when it is not in session

elections/appointments:

• president and vice presidents indirectly elected by the National Assembly for a 5-year term (no term limit);
• election last held on 24 February 2013 (next to be held in 2018)

election results:

Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (PCC) reelected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 100%; Miguel DIAZ-CANEL (PCC) Bermudez elected vice president; percent of National Assembly vote- 100%

description:

• unicameral National Assembly of People's Power or Asemblea Nacional del Poder Popular (614 seats; members directly elected by absolute majority in a modified two-round vote; members serve 5-year terms);
• note - the National Candidature Commission submits a slate of approved candidates who must obtain 50-percent of valid votes to be elected;
• if not, a byelection may be held or the seat remains vacant

elections:

last held on 3 February 2013 (next to be held in 2018)

election results:

Cuba's Communist Party is the only legal party, and officially sanctioned candidates run unopposed

highest court(s):

• People's Supreme Court (consists of court president, vice president, 41 professional justices, and NA lay judges);
• organization includes the State Council, criminal, civil, administrative, labor, crimes against the state, and military courts)

judge selection and term of office:

• professional judges elected by the National Assembly to serve 2.5-year terms;
• lay judges nominated by workplace collectives and neighborhood associations and elected by municipal or provincial assemblies;
• lay judges appointed for 5-year terms and serve up to 30 days per year

subordinate courts:

• People's Provincial Courts;
• People's Regional Courts;
• People's Courts

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jose Ramon CABANAS Rodriguez (since 17 September 2015)

chancery:

2630 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 797-8518

FAX:

NA

consulate(s) general:

NA

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Jeffrey DELAURENTIS (since 20 July 2015)

embassy:

Calzada between L & M Streets, Vedado, Havana

mailing address:

use embassy street address

telephone:

[53] (7) 839-4100

FAX:

NA

• 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;
• the blue bands refer to the three old divisions of the island: central, occidental, and oriental;
• the white bands describe the purity of the independence ideal;
• the triangle symbolizes liberty, equality, and fraternity, while the red color stands for the blood shed in the independence struggle;
• the white star, called La Estrella Solitaria (the Lone Star) lights the way to freedom and was taken from the flag of Texas

note: design similar to the Puerto Rican flag, with the colors of the bands and triangle reversed

agriculture:

18%

industry:

10%

services:

72% (2013 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

• fixed-line and mobile services still under the monopoly of state-run ETESCA;
• mobile-cellular telephone service is expensive and must be paid in convertible pesos;
• Cuban Government has opened Internet cafes around the island, which are expensive and offer slow-speed connections

domestic:

fixed-line density remains low at about 10 per 100 inhabitants; mobile-cellular service expanding but remains only about 30 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 53;
• the ALBA-1 fiber-optic submarine cable links Cuba, Jamaica, and Venezuela;
• fiber-optic cable laid to but not linked to US network;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) (2015)

• government owns and controls all broadcast media with private ownership of electronic media prohibited;
• government operates 4 national TV networks and many local TV stations;
• government operates 6 national radio networks, an international station, and many local radio stations;
• Radio-TV Marti is beamed from the US (2007)

number of registered air carriers:

3; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 18

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

1,294,458

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

20,919,645 mt-km (2015)

total:

8,285 km

standard gauge:

8,125 km 1.435-m gauge (105 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

160 km 1.000-m gauge

note: 82 km of standard gauge track is not for public use (2014)

country comparison to the world: 25

total:

60,858 km

paved:

29,820 km (includes 639 km of expressways)

unpaved:

31,038 km (2001)

country comparison to the world: 68

total:

3

by type:

cargo 1, passenger 1, refrigerated cargo 1

registered in other countries:

5 (Curacao 1, Panama 2, unknown 2) (2010)

country comparison to the world: 135

• Revolutionary Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, FAR): Revolutionary Army (Ejercito Revolucionario, ER, includes Territorial Militia Troops (Milicia de Tropas de Territoriales, MTT)), Revolutionary Navy (Marina de Guerra Revolucionaria, MGR, includes Marine Corps), Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Forces (Defensas Anti-Aereas y Fuerza Aerea Revolucionaria, DAAFAR);
• Youth Labor Army (Ejercito Juvenil del Trabajo, EJT) (2013)

• 17-28 years of age for compulsory military service;
• 2-year service obligation;
• both sexes subject to military service (2012)

• the collapse of the Soviet Union deprived the Cuban military of its major economic and logistic support and had a significant impact on the state of Cuban equipment;
• the army remains well trained and professional in nature;
• the lack of replacement parts for its existing equipment has increasingly affected operational capabilities (2013)

current situation:

• Cuba is a source country for adults and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
• child sex trafficking and child sex tourism occur in Cuba, while some Cubans are forced into prostitution in South America and the Caribbean;
• allegations have been made that some Cubans have been forced or coerced to work at Cuban medical missions abroad;
• assessing the scope of trafficking within Cuba is difficult because of the lack of information

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Cuba does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
• Cuba’s penal code does not criminalize all forms of human trafficking, but the government reported that it is in the process of amending its criminal code to comply with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol, to which it acceded in 2013;
• the government in 2014 prosecuted and convicted 13 sex traffickers and provided services to the victims in those cases but does not have shelters specifically for trafficking victims;
• the government did not recognize forced labor as a problem and took no action to address it;
• state media produced newspaper articles and TV and radio programs to raise public awareness about sex trafficking (2015)

• 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 (2008)