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Map of Cuba in the Caribbean Sea

Cuba is a country in the Caribbean Sea. The country is made up of one big island and many smaller islands. It is near the United States, Mexico, Haiti, Jamaica and the Bahamas. People from Cuba are called Cubans, and they speak Spanish. Cuba has a warm climate, but has many hurricanes every year. The capital city of Cuba is Havana. In Spanish, the capital is called "La Habana".

Culture[edit | edit source]

Cuba is famous for many types of music, especially dance music such as the Salsa and Mambo. Because Cubans come from Spain, Africa, South America and North America, Cuban music is special and different.

History[edit | edit source]

Early history[edit | edit source]


The Spanish ruled for many years. Cuba became the most important producer of sugar. In the 19th century, Cubans rebelled against the Spanish rulers, but failed until 1898, when the United States went to war with the Spanish and defeated them. Cuba became American for four years afterwards, before it became an independent republic in 1902. Even though Cuba was independent, the Americans still controlled the island by a law called the Platt Amendment. In 1933 the Cubans stopped the Platt Amendment, but the Americans still had a big say in Cuban politics. Americans owned most of Cuba's businesses. The Americans supported the leader Fulgencio Batista, who was seen by many Cubans as corrupt.

Cuban Revolution[edit | edit source]

In 1959, Fidel Castro led a revolution against Fulgencio Batista. Castro took power of Cuba with Che Guevara from Argentina, his brother Raul, and others who fought against Batista. Castro made many changes to Cuba and ended American ownership of Cuban businesses. This made Castro unpopular in America and the United States banned all contact with Cuba. Many Cubans also went to America because of this. In 1961 the Americans helped some of these Cubans to attack Cuba and remove Castro, but they failed. Castro then asked the Soviet Union to help defend them from the Americans, which they did. The Soviet Union put nuclear weapons in Cuba and aimed them at America, after the U.S put nuclear weapons in Turkey. American President Kennedy demanded that they be removed or a new war would begin. This was known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviet Union then removed the missiles.

Cuba became a socialist country like the Soviet Union after this. The Soviet Union bought most of Cuba's sugar for expensive prices. Cuba spent this money on health, education and the army. This made Cuba's schools and hospitals some of the best in the world, and the army fought in Africa to support black Africans against the white South African army. Cuba also supported groups in South America fighting against the dictators of those countries.

However, the Cuban government began to seize the property of people who had been rich and powerful prior to the revolution. Many wealthy Cubans did not like this and tried to leave Cuba. Most Cubans who left went to America.

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. This meant that Cuba, which had sold most of its products to the Soviet Union, had no money coming into the country. The Americans made the restrictions against contact with Cuba tighter. America said the restrictions on contact would continue unless Fidel Castro gave up power. Cuba became very poor in the 1990s. This became known in Cuba as “The Special Period”. Because of the disaster, Cuba changed to allow less control by the government over the economy, non-communist parties were allowed to operate in Cuba, and the government allowed small businesses to be created. Cuba also tried to get tourists to visit the island.

In the 2000s, tourism to Cuba began to make money for the island again. Though Fidel Castro had remained in power, he had passed all duties to his brother Raul after an illness. Fidel Castro is 80 years old and was one of the longest serving heads of state. In 2008, Raúl Castro became the official president of Cuba, and in 2019, Miguel Diaz-Canel become the President. In 2016, Fidel Castro died.

Men who are between the ages of 16 and 28 are required to serve at least two years of active military service.

Demographics[edit | edit source]

The population of Cuba is close to 13 million. The ethnic groups of Cuba is 48% White, 30% Black, 22% Mulatto, 1% Amerindian and 1% other.

Geography[edit | edit source]


Sugar is the most important crop of Cuba, and they may get it from the sugar cane. Sugar cane is the largest cash crop growin in Cuba, and it brings in most of the money. After that, the second is Tobacco. Tobacco is made into cigars by hand. A hand-made cigar is considered by many people to be the finest in the world.[1] Other important crops are rice, coffee, and fruit. Cuba also has many minerals. Cobalt, nickel, iron, coopper, and manganese are all on the island. Salt, petroleum, and natural gas are there too.[1] The coast of Cuba has many bays and a few good harbors. Havana, which is the capital, is also a port. Other harbors have port cities. Nuevitas is a port city on the north coast. Cienfuegos, Guantánamo, and Santiago de Cubaare some of the port cities on the south coast.


Life[edit | edit source]

The people of Cuba come from three different groups. The largest group is the descendants of the Spanish settlers who came to Cuba. The smallest group is the descendants of the black African slaves who were brought in to do the work. The middle-sized group is a mix of African and Spanish. The government succeeded in seeing that the three different groups were treated the same. The socialist government guarantees the people the right to a basic education. All the children are required to go to school from six to twelve years old, and nearly everybody are able to read and write at least.

Reading is very popular in Cuba. Many people especially enjoy reading books or things that came from outside the country. 99 percent of the Cuban population is literate.

Cuban people love music and sports. Cuban music is very lively. This is because a lot of it comes from African and Spanish rhythms. Baseball, basketball, and track and field events are loved by many Cuban people.[1]

Fidel Castro[edit | edit source]

Fidel Castro was a very important man in Cuba.[1] There were pictures of him all over the country, and his speeches were often printed in the newspapers and broadcast on television or radio.[1] Because of Castro, many times soldiers have been sent to other countries to support communist and anti-imperialist rebels. Cuban soldiers have fought against anti-communist groups in Angola, Ethiopia, and Nicaragua. But after the fall of socialism in Europe, Russia has stopped paying for these soldiers, and almost all of them came home.[1]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Buskey, Theresa. Alan Christopherson, M.S.. ed (in English). History and Geography. LIFEPAC. 804 N. 2nd Ave. E., Rock Rapids: Alpha Omega Publications, Inc. pp. 11. ISBN 978-1-58095-158-6.

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