Cuba

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National name: República de Cuba

Current government officials

Language: Spanish

Ethnicity/race: mulatto 51%, white 37%, black 11%, Chinese 1%

National Holiday: Triumph of the Revolution, December 10

Religions: predominantly Roman Catholic and Santería (Afro-Cuban syncretic religion)

Literacy rate: 99.8% (2011 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2011 est.): $114.1 billion; per capita $9,900 . Real growth rate: 1.5%. Inflation: 4.7%. Unemployment: 1.4%. Arable land: 33%. Agriculture: sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, beans; livestock. Labor force: 5.153 million; note: state sector 78%, non-state sector 22% (2006 est.); agriculture 20%, industry 19.4%, services 60.6% (2006). Industries: sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals. Natural resources: cobalt, nickel, iron ore, copper, manganese, salt, timber, silica, petroleum, arable land. Exports: $4.679 billion (2011 est.): sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, coffee. Imports: $12.97 billion (2011 est.): petroleum, food, machinery and equipment, chemicals. Major trading partners: Netherlands, Canada, China, Russia, Spain, Venezuela, U.S., Italy, Mexico (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 1.164 million (2005); mobile cellular: 1.003 million (2011). Radio broadcast stations: AM 169, FM 55, shortwave 1 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 58 (1997). . Internet hosts: 3,196 (2011). Internet users: 1.606 million note: private citizens are prohibited from buying computers or accessing the Internet without special authorization; foreigners may access the Internet in large hotels but are subject to firewalls; some Cubans buy illegal passwords on the black market or take advantage of public outlets to access limited email and the government-controlled "intranet" (2005).

Transportation: Railways: total: 8,598 km; in addition, 7,742 km of track is in private use by sugar plantations (2011). Highways: total: 60,858 km; paved: 29,820 km (including 638 km of expressway); unpaved: 31,038 km (2011 est.). Waterways: 240 km (2004). Ports and harbors: Cienfuegos, Cienfuegos, Havana, Matanza. Airports: 136 (2011 est.).

International disputes: US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased to US and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease.

Major sources and definitions