Cuba - Country information


		Cuba	Population Government Economy Geography Communication Transportation

Population		Top of page

Inhabitants		Life expectancy
11,394,043 (July 2007 est.)		total population: 77.08 years male: 74.85 years female: 79.43 years (2007 est.)

Ethnic groups		Religions
mulatto 51%, white 37%, black 11%, Chinese 1%		nominally 85% Roman Catholic prior to CASTRO assuming power; Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, and Santeria are also represented

Languages		Literacy
Spanish		definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: 97.2% female: 96.9% (2003 est.)

Government		Top of page

Government type		Capital
Communist state		Havana

Independance		National day
20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US from 1898 to 1902); not acknowledged by the Cuban Government as a day of independence		Triumph of the Revolution, 1 January (1959)

Constitution		Legal system
24 February 1976; amended July 1992 and June 2002		based on Spanish civil law and influenced by American legal concepts, with large elements of Communist legal theory; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Economy		Top of page

GDP (purchasing power parity)		Growth rate
$40 billion (2006 est.)		7.5% (2006 est.)

GDP per inhabitant		Unemployment rate
$3,900 (2006 est.)		1.9% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line		Inflation rate
NA%		5% (2006 est.)

Exports		Imports
$2.956 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)		$9.51 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		Currency
$2.618 billion (2006 est.)		Cuban peso (CUP) and Convertible peso (CUC)

Military expenditures
3.8% (2006 est.)

Geography		Top of page

Location		Area
Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, 150 km south of Key West, Florida		110,860 sq km

Climate		Natural resources
tropical; moderated by trade winds; dry season (November to April); rainy season (May to October)		cobalt, nickel, iron ore, chromium, copper, salt, timber, silica, petroleum, arable land

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