Cuba

C

Natural Resources

The land and climate of Cuba favor agriculture, and some 28 percent of the land is cultivated. Only about one-fifth of the island is still forested. The country also has significant mineral reserves. The nickel mines located in northeastern Cuba are the most important reserves, along with deposits of chromium, copper, iron, and manganese. Reserves of sulfur, cobalt, pyrites, gypsum, asbestos, petroleum, salt, sand, clay, and limestone are also exploited. All subsurface deposits are the property of the government.

D

Climate

Cuba’s geographical expanse and the varieties of mountain ranges, savannas, caves, swamps, beaches, and tropical rain forests produce microclimates, small regions that exhibit differing temperatures, rainfalls, soil conditions, wildlife, and vegetation. The climate of Cuba is semitropical, the mean annual temperature being 25°C (77°F). The temperature ranges from an average of 23°C (73°F) in January to an average of 28°C (82°F) in August. The heat and high relative humidity (80 percent) of the summer season are tempered by the prevailing northeasterly trade winds. The annual rainfall averages 1,320 mm (52 in). More than 60 percent of the rain falls during the wet season, which extends from May to October. The island lies in a region traversed occasionally by violent tropical hurricanes during August, September, and October.

E

Environmental Issues

Some of Cuba’s indigenous plants and animals are threatened. Over the years, sugar has been Cuba’s main export, and native plants have been cleared for sugarcane. For example, more than 30 different kinds of bananas grew on the island before 1959, but most of the banana trees have been replaced by sugarcane. Pests and diseases introduced from abroad, particularly the blue mold fungus and swine flu, have affected the island’s crops and animals. Coastal pollution and excessive hunting also present severe threats to wildlife populations. Cuba experiences little air pollution because sea breezes move airborne pollution off the island.

Although Cuba was once almost entirely forested, by the late 1950s only 14 percent of the country remained under forest cover. As a result of reforestation efforts, this figure had risen to 24.5 percent by 2005. Reforestation efforts are still under way. Deforestation and agriculture contribute to soil erosion, another environmental challenge in Cuba. Agriculture is vital to Cuba’s economy. Cuba’s integrated pest management program, an alternative to pesticide use, has made environmental gains while maintaining agricultural output and reducing costs.

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III

People

The Cuban population has grown slowly and consistently, from 7,027,210 people in 1960 to 11,451,652 in 2009. However, population growth was affected by emigration, especially between 1959 and 1964 when about 1 million Cubans left following the Cuban Revolution. The early flood of emigrants belonged largely to the professional classes. As a result, the revolutionary government was left with the task of filling their positions with recent graduates from socialist schools and with foreign advisers. Subsequent waves of emigrants belonged to all levels of professions, from the least powerful to high-ranking officers. In 1980 the government allowed another 120,000 Cubans to depart. Since 1994 the U.S. State Department and Cuba’s Foreign Ministry have agreed to allow 20,000 Cubans to emigrate to the United States per year.

Since 1959 Cuba’s birth rate has slowed, partially due to the availability of contraceptives (see Birth Control) and abortion. The death rate has also declined due to improved health facilities and their distribution throughout the island. In 2005, 76 percent of the population was urban, concentrating in the capital, Havana (2,168,255 people, 2007 estimate), and in Santiago de Cuba (494,430 people, 2007 estimate).

A

Ethnic Groups and Languages

The Spanish conquest eliminated the indigenous people in Cuba but introduced enslaved Africans from the Congo, Guinea, and Nigeria. In the 19th century, Chinese laborers joined the working class. In the 20th century immigrants from the United States, Spain, and the USSR added to the ethnic mix. In 2000, mulattoes (people of mixed white and black ancestry) made up 51 percent of the population, whites 37 percent, and blacks 11 percent. Almost all of the inhabitants of Cuba were born there. Since 1959 racial distinctions have blurred as the Castro government has worked to eliminate race and class prejudices.

The official language of Cuba is Spanish, but immigration has left pockets of Haitians and Jamaicans in Cuba who speak French-based and English-based creoles (hybrid languages created by the mixture of European and African languages). Both English and Russian are spoken and understood in major cities.

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