Cuba 

Facts
Population: 11,394,043 (July 2007 est.).
Age structure: 0-14 years: 18.8% (male 1,100,672/female 1,042,327)
15-64 years: 70.5% (male 4,019,648/female 4,016,429)
65 years and over: 10.7% (male 554,043/female 660,924) (2007 est.).
Population growth rate: 0.273% (2007 est.).
Birth rate: 11.44 births/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Death rate: 7.14 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Net migration rate: -1.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.056 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.001 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.838 male(s)/female
total population: 0.992 male(s)/female (2007 est.).
Infant mortality rate: total: 6.04 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 6.76 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 5.26 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.).
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.08 years
male: 74.85 years
female: 79.43 years (2007 est.).
Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (2007 est.).
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2003 est.).
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 3,300 (2003 est.).
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.).
Nationality: noun: Cuban(s)
adjective: Cuban.
Ethnic groups: mulatto 51%, white 37%, black 11%, Chinese 1%.
Religions: nominally 85% Roman Catholic prior to CASTRO assuming power; Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, and Santeria are also represented.
Languages: Spanish.
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.8%
male: 99.8%
female: 99.8% (2002 census).
GDP (purchasing power parity): $45.51 billion (2006 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: 9.5% (2006 est.).
GDP - per capita (PPP): $4,000 (2006 est.).
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 5.1%
industry: 27.2%
services: 67.6% (2006 est.).
Labor force: 4.82 million
note: state sector 78%, non-state sector 22% (2006 est.).
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 20%
industry: 19.4%
services: 60.6% (2005).
Population below poverty line: NA%.
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%.
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (2006 est.).
Unemployment rate: 1.9% (2006 est.).
Budget: revenues: $35.07 billion
expenditures: $36.41 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.).
Agriculture - products: sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, beans; livestock.
Industries: sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals.
Industrial production growth rate: 17.6% (2006 est.).
Electricity - production: 15.34 billion kWh (2005).
Electricity - consumption: 14.1 billion kWh (2004).
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004).
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004).
Exports: $2.956 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.).
Exports - commodities: sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, coffee.
Exports - partners: Netherlands 25.8%, Canada 21.1%, China 10%, Spain 6.8% (2005).
Imports: $9.51 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.).
Imports - commodities: petroleum, food, machinery and equipment, chemicals.
Imports - partners: China 14.5%, Spain 13.7%, Canada 8.4%, US 8.3%, Germany 7.2%, Brazil 5.6%, Italy 5.6%, Mexico 5.1%, Japan 4% (2005).
Debt - external: $15.15 billion (convertible currency); another $15-20 billion owed to Russia (2006 est.).
Economic aid - recipient: $68.2 million (1997 est.).
Currency (code): Cuban peso (CUP) and Convertible peso (CUC).
Exchange rates: Convertible pesos per US dollar - 0.9231 (2006)
note: Cuba has three currencies in circulation: the Cuban peso (CUP), the convertible peso (CUC), and the US dollar (USD), although the dollar is being withdrawn from circulation; in April 2005 the official exchange rate changed from $1 per CUC to $1.08 per CUC (0.93 CUC per $1), both for individuals and enterprises; individuals can buy 24 Cuban pesos (CUP) for each CUC sold, or sell 25 Cuban pesos for each CUC bought; enterprises, however, must exchange CUP and CUC at a 1:1 ratio..
Fiscal year: calendar year.
Statistics: C.I.A. World Factbook. Updated: July 20, 2007.
Press
1 2
Displaying 1 to 7 of 8 items.
(Weekly newsmagazine), Havana
http://www.bohemia.cubaweb.cu
(biweekly humor magazine), Havana
http://www.dedete.cubaweb.cu/
(Communist Party weekly), Havana
http://www.granma.cu/
(Communist Youth Union), Havana
http://jr.co.cu
La Gaceta
(Bimonthly cultural magazine), Havana
(Government-owned news agency), Havana
http://www.prensa-latina.org/
Prisma
(English-language monthly), Havana
Cuba in the News
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Displaying 17 to 20 of 37 items.
Nick Miroff reports that Fidel Castro's attempt to crush dissent has backfired and alienated many of his old friends.
'The persecution of political opponents of the Cuban dictatorship has elicited an unusually unified protest in the Czech Republic,' Erik Tabery writes in Prague's weekly Respekt.
Damián Alin, writing for the Cuban newsmagazine Bohemia, argues in defense of Castro's crackdown on what he calls 'traitors.'
Latin American countries that opposed war in Iraq at the U.N. Security Council are feeling an economic backlash. World Press Review contributing editor Robert Taylor surveys the regional press.