The Land and Its Economy

Cuba is an archipelago made up of some 1600 islands, islets, and cays (=keys) in the Caribbean Sea, roughly 90 miles south of Florida. The largest island—Cuba itself—is a long, narrow island covering about 41,000 square miles, approximately the same area as Pennsylvania. Running roughly west to east, Cuba forms a boundary between the Atlantic and the Caribbean.

The capital city is Havana, on the northwest coast, with a population of about 2 million. Other major cities include Santiago de Cuba, Camagüey, and Santa Clara.

Cuba has extensive plains, fertile soil, plenty of water from rainfall (the rainy season is from May to October) and underground sources, and a tropical climate like Miami's. The farmlands and climate support two crops a year with sensible land management and attention to soil renewal. Although the island is in danger every year from the same hurricanes that threaten the southeast United States, in most years the crops are brought in safely.

Sugar has always been Cuba's dominant crop, and its export has formed the basis for the Cuban economy since sugar cultivation was established by the Spanish colonial government in the 16th century. Cuban tobacco is some of the finest in the world, and one of the most publicly regretted effects of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba is that Cuban cigars are not legally importable. Cuban citrus is also excellent, and there are extensive deposits of nickel, used extensively in manufacturing (nickel is one of the elements in stainless steel).

Cuba has always needed a large and steady if not sympathetic market for its sugar and other exports. At first, Spain supplied the market, when Cuba was a colony of that country. Even before independence at the end of the 19th century, the United States had developed into the most important buyer of Cuban exports, and extended this relationship during the first half of the 20th century. After the revolution in 1959 and the American embargo, the Soviet Union took the United States' place as Cuba's major market and supplier. Now, with the Soviet Union in dissolution and the U.S. embargo still in place, Cuba has no single dominant market, although it trades extensively with Spain, Canada, and Mexico, and is suffering heavily from the lack of hard currency to pay for imports.

www.culturalorientation.net.
For more information contact sanja@cal.org.
Designed by SAGARTdesign
This site looks best when viewed using Netscape Navigator 3.0 or higher. Last Updated:02/18/04