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==About Cuba== | |||
The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule eventually provoked an independence movement and occasional rebellions that were harshly suppressed. US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 assisted the Cubans in overthrowing Spanish rule. The Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence from the US in 1902 after which the island experienced a string of governments mostly dominated by the military and corrupt politicians. Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule held the subsequent regime together for nearly five decades. He stepped down as president in February 2008 in favor of his younger brother Raul CASTRO. Cuba's Communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country faced a severe economic downturn in 1990 following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba at times portrays the US embargo, in place since 1961, as the source if its difficulties. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, air flights, or via the US's southwest border - is a continuing problem. The US Coast Guard interdicted 1,275 Cuban nationals attempting to cross the Straits of Florida in 2012.a | The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule eventually provoked an independence movement and occasional rebellions that were harshly suppressed. US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 assisted the Cubans in overthrowing Spanish rule. The Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence from the US in 1902 after which the island experienced a string of governments mostly dominated by the military and corrupt politicians. Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule held the subsequent regime together for nearly five decades. He stepped down as president in February 2008 in favor of his younger brother Raul CASTRO. Cuba's Communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country faced a severe economic downturn in 1990 following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba at times portrays the US embargo, in place since 1961, as the source if its difficulties. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, air flights, or via the US's southwest border - is a continuing problem. The US Coast Guard interdicted 1,275 Cuban nationals attempting to cross the Straits of Florida in 2012.a | ||
Cuba, country of the West Indies, the largest single island of the archipelago, and one of the more-influential states of the Caribbean region. | |||
The domain of Taino-speaking American Indians who had displaced even earlier inhabitants, Cuba was claimed by Christopher Columbus in 1492. It became the Spanish empire’s most important source of raw sugar in the 18th century and later earned the sobriquet “Pearl of the Antilles.” Though Spain had to fight several difficult and costly campaigns against independence movements, it retained rule of Cuba until 1898, when it was defeated by the United States and Cuban forces in the Spanish-American War. Cuba soon gained formal independence, though it remained overshadowed by the nearby United States. | |||
On New Year’s Day, 1959, revolutionary forces led by Fidel Castro overthrew the government of dictator Fulgencio Batista. Two years later Castro proclaimed the Marxist-Leninist nature of the revolution. Cuba became economically isolated from its northern neighbour as it developed close links to the Soviet Union. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s isolated Cuba still further, bringing on what Cubans euphemistically call the período especial (“special period”), a time of widespread shortages and financial uncertainty. By the early 21st century, Cuba had loosened some of its more restrictive economic and social policies, but the United States continued its decades-long economic embargo against the Castro regime, assuring that economic hardships would persist. | |||
Life in contemporary Cuba is thus challenging, given the limited access to food, transportation, electrical power, and other necessities. Even so, many Cubans show a fierce pride in their revolutionary society, the only one of its kind in Latin America. The protagonist of anthropologist Miguel Barnet’s novel Canción de Rachel (1969; Rachel’s Song, 1991) describes it thus: | |||
:This island is something special. The strangest, most tragic things have happened here. And it will always be that way. The earth, like humankind, has its destiny. And Cuba’s is a mysterious destiny. | |||
Cuba is a multicultural, largely urban nation, although it has only one major city: Havana (La Habana), the capital and commercial hub of the country, on the northwestern coast. Handsome if rather run-down, Havana has a scenic waterfront and is surrounded by fine beaches, an attraction for increasing numbers of visitors from abroad. Cuba’s other cities—including Santiago, Camagüey, Holguín, and, especially, Trinidad—offer a rich legacy of colonial Spanish architecture to complement contemporary buildings. | |||
== | ==Geography of Cuba== | ||
== | ==Demography of Cuba== | ||
== | ==Economy of Cuba]]== | ||
== | ==Government and Society of Cuba== | ||
== | ==Life Culture of Cuba== | ||
== | ==History of Cuba== | ||
==Disclaimer== | ==Disclaimer== | ||
{{disclaimer countries}} | {{disclaimer countries}} | ||
[[category:countries]] | [[category:countries]] | ||