Cuba – Study of a CountryJoin now to read essay Cuba – Study of a CountryCuba – Study of a CountryThis paper provides several basic facts about Cuba in the past and today. It looks at the countrys geography, demography, political and economic situation. The diverse culture is also mentioned and discussed.
GEOGRAPHYCuba is now divided into 14 provinces, and one special municipality (the Isla de la Juventud). Cuba in the Early 20th Century, (see History of Cuba) was divided into six much larger provinces. The present subdivisions closely resemble those of Spanish military provinces during the Cuban Wars of Independence.
Geologically Cuba was once in the Pacific, crossing between North and South America before they were joined into what is now Florida. The elongated island (aprox. 760 miles long) of Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean and is bounded to the north by the Straits of Florida and the greater North Atlantic Ocean, to the northwest by the Gulf of Mexico, to the west by the Yucatan Channel, to the south by the Caribbean Sea, and to the east by the Windward Passage. The Republic comprises the entire island, including many outlying islands such as the Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth), previously known as the Isla de los Pinos (Isle of Pines). Guantбnamo Bay, is a naval base that has been leased by the United States since 1903, a lease that has been contested since 1960 by Castro.
The main island is the worlds 16th largest. The island consists mostly of flat to rolling plains, with more rugged hills and mountains primarily in the southeast and the highest point is the Pico Real del Turquino at 2,005 m. The climate is tropical, moderated by trade winds. There is a drier season from November to April, and the rainy season from May to October. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagьey.
DEMOGRAPHICSAccording to the CIAs World Factbook, Cuba is 51% mulatto (mixed white and black), 37% white, 11% black, and 1% Chinese. The Chinese population in Cuba derives mostly from Chinese taken to Cuba during the 19th century to build railroads and work in the mines, as was also occurring in the United States at this time. Once the work was completed, however, most of them could not afford the passage back to China and remained in the Island. Historical papers show that, while considered inferior to Cubans of European descent, they were considered to be superior to blacks because they had lighter skin.
In Cuba there is little racial tension in the attitude of people towards each other. Still, in Santiago de Cuba there is a sizeable Jamaican population that suffers from an image of being lazy. Also, lighter skinned people often have higher jobs (although in socialist Cuba this does not translate in a high difference in income). The melting pot is expressed not only in a racial sense, but also in religion (see below) and the music of Cuba. There is internal illegal immigration to Havana seeking greater opportunities, these internal illegals are called “palestinos.”
Cuba has a low birth rate. The fertility rate of 1.5 children per woman (in 1995-2000) is the lowest of any country in the western hemisphere (tied with Canada and Barbados). A contributing cause is Cubas policy of abortion on demand. Cuba has a high abortion rate of 77.7 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in 1996, 3rd highest in the world among 55 countries whose abortion rate was available to be compiled in a 1999 UN study. [13] Selective terminiation of high-risk pregnancies is one factor contributing to the low official infant mortality rate in Cuba of 5.8 per thousand births. (State of the Worlds Children 2005) However, this high abortion rate and very low birth rate, reminiscent of former Communist Eastern Europe and Russia, threatens to cause the population to shrink significantly in the coming decades, although this has not happened yet due to relatively small numbers of elderly.
Immigration and emigration have had noticeable changes in the demographic profile of Cuba during the 20th century. Between 1900 and 1930 close to a million Spaniards arrived from Spain. Cuba has historically been more heavily European than other Caribbean islands, and in 1950 was said to have a 75% white majority. Since 1959, over a million Cubans have left the island, primarily to Miami, Florida where a vocal, well educated and economically very successful anti-Castro community exists Cuban-American lobby. [14] The emigration that occurred immediately after the Cuban Revolution was primarily of the upper and middle classes that were predominantly white, thus contributing to a demographic shift along with changes in birth rates among the various ethnic groups. After the chaos that accompanied the Mariel boatlift, Cuba and the United States
of the 1980’s, the Cuban government’s efforts to bring a peaceful end to the Cuba migrant crisis focused on restoring and strengthening local and international order to a country that had seen its foreign policy since the 1960’s transformed by a bloody and repressive regime. In 1994 the International Organization for Migration (INM) began providing services to facilitate the resumption of the flow of Cubans. However, as with the previous Cuban crises, there were no public transport service access to Cuba as at the time of the Cuban-Americans’, and many other international organizations were unable to keep up with this demand which, combined with the limited availability of a public road, limited access to domestic transport, and limited access to foreign aid, left many Cubans living in exile for decades.
The U.S. government provided a series of services, including the resettlement of 800.000 refugees to St. Petersburg, Russia during the same period.[15] Some of the U.S. government’s assistance helped a third of American citizens. The resettlement provided a further $2 billion between 2004 and 2006, and a further $5 billion by 2008—about half of that amount coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A U.S. military base in Cuba was built by private investors and is said to have facilitated approximately 500,000 Cubans living in shelters, sleeping arrangements, cooking facilities, and other basic services in Cuba.
After the Mariel vessellift, Cuba’s top political leaders had been very reluctant or unaware of the deteriorating situation within the U.S. government. The Cuban Communist Party has been the only major party to be openly on the receiving end of U.S. political largesse. In 1979, John Connally (R) and Henry Cabot Lodge (T) won a majority in the House of Representatives in the Cuban Revolution. At the time, U.S. presidents including Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush had been deeply supportive of the U.S.-Cuban policy of creating a multipolar world based on the “socialist” paradigm. President Carter, during his campaign for his Senate nomination, promised that the Cuban revolution would serve as an impetus to develop a more open international community. In this light, President Carter and his White House did not go far enough, particularly on the issue of social policies. The U.S. administration’s efforts to prevent some U.S.-Cuban cooperation have also been seen as promoting U.S. involvement of the Cuban Revolution as a “humanitarian intervention movement and a strategic tool in promoting a peace-oriented Cuban society.”
In the 1980s and 1990s during a period when the Cuban people struggled to find themselves in place for some time, and who wished to return to social order, the Cuban government turned against the U.S. for their inability to recognize the legitimacy of the Cuban Revolution and to develop a new and better Cuban nation. As a result of their failure in this task, the Cuban people became increasingly isolated from the community that had become their community. The U.S. turned itself against them by imposing their own “legal and administrative laws,” without seeking to help the Cuban people organize a countrywide federation which would provide a true representative for the Cuban people, and with a set of legal rights established. The Cuban people also sought to form a political organization which would represent them directly in political decisions, regardless of whether or not they voted for Fidel