Cuba Country Info - North America

Description and Basic Information

Cuba with its capital Havana is located in North America (Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean). It covers some 110,861 square kilometres (slightly smaller than Pennsylvania) with 11,423,000 citizens. Spanish is the language used by the people in Cuba. United States is a bordering country.

Cuba is the largest Caribbean island, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. Walk along the Malécon during the early evening and take in some of Havana's culture. A popular saying goes that the best Cuban food can be found in the United States. Within Cuba, the best food will generally be found in your casa particular or in paladares (locally owned restaurants in private homes). Cuban national cocktails include the Cuba Libre (rum and cola) and the Mojito (rum, lime, sugar, mint leaves, club soda and ice). Cuba is generally a very safe country; strict and prominent policing, combined with neighborhood-watch-style programs keep the streets safe from violent crime. Cuba is considered very healthy except for the water; even many Cubans boil their water. That said, some travelers drink untreated water without ill effect. The best solution is bottled water and lots of it, especially for visitors who are not used to the 30+°C/85+°F temperatures. Cubans are generally friendly and helpful people. If you're staying at a hotel or casa particular, it's likely there will be a television, and watching Cuban television is a good place to observe Cuba's unique mix of vibrant culture, sports and controversial politics.

Pictures from Capital (Havana)

Photos provided by Panoramio are under the copyright of their owners.

About Cuba

The landscape features mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast. The average density of population is about 103 per km². The climate in Cuba can be described as tropical with moderated by trade winds, dry season (November to April), rainy season (May to October). Potential threats by nature are the east coast being subject to hurricanes from August to November (in general, the country averages about one hurricane every other year) or droughts are common.

To reach someone in Cuba dial +53 prior to a number. There are 1,168,000 installed telephones. And there are 443,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks operate on frequencies of 900 Mhz. Websites typically end with the top level domain ".cu". If you want to bring electric appliances (e.g. battery charger), keep in mind the local 110/220V - 60Hz. The following list are the 15 regions/states in Cuba we know off.

Demographic Statistics

In the year 2010, the total Cuban population grew at a rate of 0.22% (or by 24,906 citizens). With 83,671 deaths and 126,482 babies born, the natural increase rate lies at 0.37%. -17,905 persons more in total emmigrated from the country than immigrated.

An overview of age distribution in Cuba: Each pair of bars represents a single age group (male/female). Each group is spanning 5 years. E.g. 0 to 5 years, 5 to 10 etc. and group "0 to 5" being at the left end and "100 +" at the right end of the chart.

Based on content from wikitravel.org. The original article can be found here based on the work of these users.
Geographic information is based on the data provided by geonames.org, CIA factsbook and Unesco.