Location Northwest Caribbean.
Time GMT - 5 (GMT - 4 from last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October.)
Area 110,922 sq km (44,218 sq miles).
Length: 1200 kms
Width: 32-200 kms
Population: over 11 120 000 inhabitants
Population Density 102 per sq km.
Capital :Havana
Population: 2.2 million (2006)

 

Geography
The Republic of Cuba is an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea, close to the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico. The country consists of the main island of Cuba,the largest in the Caribbean, the Isle of Youth, and some 4195 islets and keys.
Is the Greater Antilles group, lying 145km (90 miles) south of Florida. A quarter of the country is fairly mountainous. West of Havana is the narrow Guaniguanico mountain range, rising to 750m (2,461ft), divided into 2 main parts: Sierra de los Organos westernmost and Sierra del Rosario in the east. Central part of Cuab is located the Guamuaya , rising to 1,100m (3,609ft. Encircling the port of Santiago and exlarge to Garnma and Guantanamo provinces,are the rugged mountains of the Sierra Maestra, the highest hills, 1974 mts. A quarter of the island is covered with mountains, forests of pine and mahogany.

Government
The republic of Cuba is one of the last bastions of Socialism, and the people exercise their power through the Municipal, Provincial and national Assemblies. Raul Castro is the President of the Council of Ministers and the general Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party since 2008.
History
Cuba was first discovered by Christopher Columbus on October 27th; 1492.For a man who had seen countless tropical islands, he was extremely impressed with Cuba and said ¨it is the most beautiful land human eyes have ever seen¨. After its discovery, the island was quickly colonized by the Spaniards, at the expense of the local aborigine population, and by the sixteen hundreds, had founded the first seven settlements: Baracoa, Bayamo,Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus, Puerto Principe and San Cristobal de la Habana.
Into the nineteenth century the Cuban population had become so distanced from their cousins in Spain,that a movement began for Independence from Europe.
The first war of Independence began on October 1868 and was led by Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, ¨the father of the country¨. After ten years of fighting, the struggle ended in defeat.
The second attempt started on February 24th,1895, and was led this time by Jose Marti who is consider the National Hero of the country. He founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party and by 1898 victory was within sight. However, the US Government intervened, declared war on Spain, and after they were defeated, kept Cuban from attaining power.
The Republic was declared on May 20th, 1902, and was followed by a long period of economic and political dominance by the US that lasted till January 1st, 1959, when the Revolution finally triumphed. This was after several years of fighting in Sierra Maestra Mountains near to Santiago, and an underground struggle in the cities that finally toppled the Batista government on New Year’s Eve.

Language
The official language is Spanish, although many Cubans have studied either English, French, German or Russian.

Religion
Cuba characterizes for presenting a singular religious variety in which no specific religion prevails over others. Beliefs and religious practices are mainly identified as popular religiousness and are the result of racial interbreeding and the cultural synthesis forming Cuban nationality.
Health:
Cuba´s welfare state is the envy of all its Latin American neighbors. Medical care is essentially free for Cubans and the population has the highest life expectancy in the third world (77 years) and the lowest infant mortality rate; about the same as New Zeland.
Education:
The government provides all education, from day-care centers to college and books for free.
Ethnic Background:
Most Cubans are of a mixed race. Criollos ( over 65%) are from European descent, Mulatos( 25%) are a fusion of European and African descent, Moreno ( 10%) are of pure African descent and finally a small percentage of Spanish and Chinese.
The Media:
Television: On Cuban TV, there are 5 channels. They broadcast in the morning and then from mid afternoon, showing mostly official news, documentaries and some soap operas mainly fro Brazil which involves a lot of shouting and drama , sports events such as Baseball and Boxing, Art and Music shows and vast number of films in English.
However, most of you will have access to satellite TV that shows a wide range of films, sports and news.
Radio: The Cuban radio stations broadcast 24 hour a day and have some British links. There is a tourism station called ¨Radio Taino¨ on 1160 Hz AM. The best time to receive the BBC World Service is early in the morning on short-wave radio.
Press
• Papers are in Spanish, although the Communist Party daily newspaper, Granma, publishes a weekly edition, called Granma International, in English, German, Portuguese and French.
• There is also a fortnightly international newspaper, Prisma, published in Spanish and English.