Cuba History, Geography, Economy and Important Events

The area that is now Cuba was inhabited by the Sibanye Taino people from the 4th millennium BCE to the Spanish colony in the 15th century. From the 15th century, it was a colony of Spain until the Spanish-American War of 1898, when Cuba was held by the United States and in 1902 gained nominal independence as a United States defense zone. As a fragile republic in 1940, Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system. Since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. The country was the subject of controversy during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, and nearly a nuclear war ensued during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuba is one of the few Marxist-Leninist socialist states, where the role of the Vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution.

Cuba is an archipelago of islands located in the northern Caribbean Sea at the confluence with the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The United States is located 150 kilometers (93 mi) north and northwest (to the nearest tip of Key West, Florida) and the Bahamas 21 km (13 mi) north of the Straits of Florida. Mexico is 210 kilometers (130 mi) west of the Yucatan Channel.

The state of Cuba claims to follow socialist principles in organizing its largely state-controlled planned economy. Most of the means of production are owned and operated by the government and most of the labor force is employed by the state. Recent years have seen a trend towards more private sector employment. As of 2006, public sector employment was 78% and private sector 22%, compared to 91.8% in 1981 to 8.2%. Government expenditure is 78.1% of GDP.

The official language of Cuba is Spanish, and the majority of Cubans speak it. Spanish spoken in Cuba is known as Cuban Spanish and is a variant of Caribbean Spanish. Lusumi, a dialect of the West African language Yoruba, is also used as a prevalent language by physicians in Santaria, and therefore only as a second language. Haitian Creole is the second most spoken language in Cuba, and is spoken by Haitian immigrants and their descendants. Other languages ​​spoken by immigrants include Galician and Corsican.

Bahamas [M] , Haiti [LM] , Honduras [M] , Jamaica [M] , Mexico [M] , United Kingdom [M] , United States of America [M] ,
Definition of international border: L = Land Border | M = Maritime Border