Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule has held the country together since then. Cuba's Communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country is now slowly recovering from a severe economic recession in 1990, following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies, worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba portrays its difficulties as the result of the US embargo in place since 1961. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, or falsified visas - is a continuing problem. Some 2,500 Cubans attempted the crossing of the Straits of Florida in 2002; the US Coast Guard apprehended about 60% of the individuals.

cobalt, nickel, iron ore, copper, manganese, salt, timber, silica, petroleum, arable land

arable land: 33.04%
other: 59.35% (1998 est.)
permanent crops: 7.61%

11,263,429 (July 2003 est.)

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

Spanish

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

Havana

Communist state

20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US from 1898 to 1902)

Independence Day, 10 December (1898); note - 10 December 1898 is the date of independence from Spain, 20 May 1902 is the date of independence from US administration; Rebellion Day, 26 July (1953)