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| República de CubaRepublic of Cuba | ||||||
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| Motto Patria y Libertad (Spanish) "Fatherland and Freedom" a | ||||||
| Anthem La Bayamesa ("The Bayamo Song") | ||||||
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| Capital (and largest city) | Havana 23°8′N, 82°23′W | |||||
| Official languages | Spanish | |||||
| Demonym | Cuban | |||||
| Government | Communist republicb | |||||
| - | President of the Council of State | Fidel Castro | ||||
| - | Acting President of the Council of State | Raúl Castro | ||||
| Independence | from Spain | |||||
| - | Declaredc | October 10, 1868 | ||||
| - | Republic declared | May 20, 1902 | ||||
| - | Cuban Revolution | January 1, 1959 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 110,861 km² (105th) 42,803 sq mi | ||||
| - | Water (%) | negligible | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2006 estimate | 11,382,820 (73rd) | ||||
| - | 2002 census | 11,177,743 | ||||
| - | Density | 102 /km² (97th) 264 /sq mi | ||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2006 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $44.54 billion (2006 est.) (not ranked) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $3,900 (not ranked) | ||||
| HDI (2004) |  0.826 (high) (50th) | |||||
| Currency | Peso (CUP)Convertible peso d ( CUC) | |||||
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | (Starts March 11; ends November 4) (UTC-4) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .cu | |||||
| Calling code | +53 | |||||
| a As shown on the obverse of the 1992 coin (Note that the Spanish word "Patria" is translated into English as either "Cradle" or "Place of Birth" or as "Fatherland.") b states that "Cuba is an independent and sovereign socialist state ... the name of the Cuban state is Republic of Cuba ." The usage "socialist republic" to describe the style of government of Cuba is nearly uniform, though forms of government have no universally agreed typology. For example, Atlapedia describes it as "Unitary Socialist Republic"; Encyclopedia Britannica omits the word "unitary," as do most sources. c At the start of the Ten Years' War. d From 1993 to 2004, the U.S. dollar was used in addition to the peso until the dollar was replaced by the convertible peso. | ||||||
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba (Spanish: Cuba (help·info) or República de Cuba (help·info) ), consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous of the Greater Antilles), the Isle of Youth and several adjacent small islands. Winston Churchill considered Cuba to be a "...large, rich, beautiful island..." Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean at the confluence of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba is south of the eastern United States and the Bahamas, west of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Haiti and east of Mexico. The Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south.
Cuba is the most populous country in the Caribbean. Its people, culture and customs draw from several sources including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples, the period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves, and its proximity to the United States. The island has a tropical climate that is moderated by the surrounding waters; however, the warm temperatures of the Caribbean Sea and the fact that the island of Cuba sits across the access to the Gulf of Mexico make Cuba prone to frequent hurricanes.
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