CUBA
(See reference map III) |
LAND
114,478 km²; 35% cultivated, 30% meadow and pasture, 20% waste, urban, or other, 15% forested
WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm (fishing 200 nm; 200 nm exclusive economic zone)
Coastline: 3,735 km
PEOPLE
Population: 9,771,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 0.8%
Nationality: noun—Cuban(s); adjective—Cuban
Ethnic divisions: 51% mulatto, 37% white, 11% Negro, 1% Chinese
Religion: at least 85% nominally Roman Catholic before Castro assumed power
Language: Spanish
Literacy: about 96%
Labor force: 2.9 million in 1978; 33% agriculture, 17% industry, 9% construction, 7% transportation, 32% services, 2% unemployed
GOVERNMENT
Official name: Republic of Cuba
Type: Communist state
Capital: Havana
Political subdivisions: 14 provinces and 169 municipalities
Legal system: based on Spanish and American law, with large elements of Communist legal theory; Fundamental Law of 1959 replaced constitution of 1940; a new constitution was approved at the Cuban Communist Party's First Party Congress in December 1975 and by a popular referendum which took place on 15 February 1976; portions of the new constitution were put into effecton 24 February 1976, by means of a Constitutional Transition Law, and the entire constitution became effective on 2 December1976; legal education at Universities of Havana, Oriente, and Las Villas; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Anniversary of the Revolution, 1 January
Branches: executive; legislature (National People's Assembly); controlled judiciary
Government leader: President Fidel CASTRO Ruz
Suffrage: universal, but not compulsory, over age 16
Elections: National People's Assembly (indirect election) every five years; election held November 1981
Political parties and leaders: Cuban Communist Party (PCC), First Secretary Fidel Castro Ruz, Second Secretary Raúl Castro Ruz
Communists: approx. 400,000 party members
Member of: CEMA, ECLA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB (nonparticipant), IAEA, ICAO, IFAD, IHO, ILO, IMCO, International Rice Commission, ISO, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, NAM, NAMUCAR (Caribbean Multinational Shipping Line—Naviera Multinacional del Caribe), OAS (nonparticipant), PAHO, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Postal Union of the Americas and Spain, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
ECONOMY
GDP: $13.3 billion (1978 est., in 1978 prices), $1,360 per capita; real growth rate 1978, 4.0%
Agriculture: main crops—sugar, tobacco, rice, potatoes, tubers, citrus fruits, coffee
Fishing: catch 186,000 metric tons (1980); exports $127million (1980)
Major industries: sugar milling, petroleum refining, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, paper and wood products, metals
Shortages: spare parts for transportation and industrial machinery, consumer goods
Crude steel: 313,500 metric tons produced (1979); 30 kg per capita
Electric power: 2,870,000 kW capacity (1981); 10.1 billion kWh produced (1981), 1,029 kWh per capita
Exports: $5.6 billion (f.o.b., 1980); sugar, nickel, shellfish, tobacco
Imports: $6.4 billion (c.i.f., 1980); capital goods, industrial raw materials, food, petroleum
Major trade partners: exports—57% USSR, 13% other Communist countries; imports—62% USSR, 16% other Communist countries (1980 prelim.)
Aid: from US (FY46-61), $41.5 million (loans $37.5 million, grants $4.0 million); economic aid (1960-78) from USSR, $5.7 billion in economic credit and $11.0 billion in subsidies; military assistance from the USSR (1959-78), $1.6 billion
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