Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country in the Caribbean. It comprises the eponymous main island as well as 4,195 islands, islets, and cays. Situated at the convergence of the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean, Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula, south of both Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola, and north of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Cuba is the largest country in the Caribbean by area and the third-largest by population, after Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Culturally, Cuba is considered to be part of Latin America. Its capital and largest city is Havana.
Cuba was inhabited as early as the 4th millennium BC, with the Guanahatabey and Taíno peoples present at the time of Spanish colonization in the 15th century. Cuba's population descends primarily from three groups: pre-Columbian indigenous peoples, chiefly the Taíno and Ciboney, Spanish settlers and immigrants (mainly from Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Galicia, and Asturias), and sub-Saharan Africans brought through the transatlantic slave trade. The territory remained part of the Spanish Empire until the Spanish–American War of 1898, after which it was occupied by the United States and gained independence in 1902. A 1933 coup toppled the democratically elected government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada and began a long period of military influence, particularly by Fulgencio Batista. In 1940, Cuba implemented a new constitution, but mounting political unrest culminated in the 1952 Cuban coup d'état. Batista's autocratic government was eventually overthrown in January 1959 by the 26th of July Movement, during the Cuban Revolution. The revolution established a communist government under Fidel Castro that remains to this day. Castro's government became a major point of contention between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War; the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis is widely considered to be the closest the world has come to a nuclear war.
During the 1970s through the late 1980s, Cuba intervened in numerous conflicts in support of anti-colonial and Marxist governments or movements across Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. According to a CIA declassified report, Cuba had received $33 billion in Soviet aid by 1984. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Cuba faced a severe economic downturn in the 1990s, known as the Special Period. In 2008, Castro retired after 49 years; Raúl Castro was elected his successor. Raúl retired as president of the Council of State in 2018, and Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected president by the National Assembly following parliamentary elections. Raúl retired as First Secretary of the Communist Party in 2021, and Díaz-Canel was elected thereafter, becoming Cuba's first leader to have been born after the Cuban Revolution.
Cuba is a socialist state in which the role of the Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Cuba is currently the world's only communist country outside of Asia. Cuba has an authoritarian government wherein political opposition is prohibited. Censorship is extensive, and independent journalism is repressed; Reporters Without Borders has characterized Cuba as one of the worst countries for press freedom. Cuba is a founding member of the UN, G77, NAM, OACPS, ALBA, and OAS. Since 1959, Cuba has regarded the U.S. military base in Guantánamo Bay as illegal and has maintained minefields along its side of the border since 1961.
Cuba has one of the world's few command economies, and its economy is dominated by tourism and the exports of skilled labor, sugar, tobacco, and coffee. Cuba has historically—before and during communist rule—performed better than other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in literacy. After the 1959 revolution, Cuba performed better than other Latin American countries in infant and maternal mortality, and life expectancy. According to a 2012 study, Cuba is the only country in the world to meet the conditions of sustainable development put forth by the WWF. Cuba has a universal health care system that provides free medical treatment to all Cuban citizens, although challenges include low salaries for doctors, poor facilities, poor provision of equipment, and the frequent absence of essential drugs.
A 2023 study by the US-funded Cuban Observatory of Human Rights estimated that 88% of the population lives in extreme poverty. According to the World Food Programme of the United Nations, rationed food meets only a fraction of daily nutritional needs for many Cubans, leading to health issues. Ongoing since 1960, the United States embargo against Cuba stands as one of the longest-running trade and economic measures in bilateral relations in history.
Etymology
Historians believe the name Cuba comes from the Taíno language; however, its derivation is unknown. Cuba may be translated either as 'where fertile land is abundant' (cubao), or 'great place' (coabana).
Another hypothesis on the name's origin is that the island was named after the town of Cuba, Portugal, supported by those who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese.
History
Pre-Columbian era
Humans first settled Cuba around 6,000 years ago, descending from migrations from northern South America or Central America. The arrival of humans on Cuba is associated with extinctions of the island's native fauna, particularly its endemic sloths. The Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taíno people arrived in the Caribbean in a separate migration from South America around 1,700 years ago. Recent archaeogenetic evidence indicates that this expansion largely replaced the earlier pre-ceramic populations of the island with almost no genetic admixture between the groups. Unlike the previous settlers of Cuba, the Taíno extensively produced pottery and engaged in intensive agriculture. The Taíno practice of tobacco smoking was introduced to Europe by the Spanish and spread globally through the Columbian exchange. The earliest evidence of the Taíno people on Cuba dates to the 9th century. Descendants of the first settlers of Cuba persisted on the western part of the island until Columbian contact, where they were recorded as the Guanahatabey people, who lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
Spanish colonization and rule (1492–1898)
Christopher Columbus first arrived in Cuba on 27 October 1492 during his famous first voyage and landed the following day. Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named it Isla Juana ("John's Island") after John, Prince of Asturias.
In 1511 the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa. Other settlements followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1514 (southern coast of the island) and then in 1519 (current place), which later became the capital (1607). The Taíno were forced to work under the encomienda system, which resembled the feudal system in medieval Europe. Within a century, the Taíno faced high incidence of mortality from multiple factors—primarily Eurasian infectious diseases to which they had no acquired immunity, aggravated by the harsh conditions of the repressive colonial subjugation. In 1529, a measles outbreak killed two-thirds of those few indigenous individuals who had previously survived smallpox.
On 18 May 1539, conquistador Hernando de Soto departed from Havana with some 600 followers on an extensive expedition through the Southeastern United States in search of gold, treasure, fame, and power. On 1 September 1548, Gonzalo Perez de Angulo was appointed governor of Cuba. He arrived in Santiago de Cuba on 4 November 1549 and declared the liberty of the indigenous population. He became Cuba's first permanent governor, residing in Havana, and he built the first church made of masonry in Cuba.
By 1570, most residents of Cuba had a mixture of Spanish, African, and Taíno heritages. Cuba developed slowly and, unlike the plantation islands of the Caribbean, had a diversified agriculture. Most importantly, the colony developed as an urbanized society that primarily supported the Spanish colonial empire. By the mid-18th century, there were 50,000 slaves on the island. Estimates suggest that between 1790 and 1820, some 325,000 Africans were imported to Cuba as slaves, which was four times the amount that had arrived between 1760 and 1790.
In 1812, the Aponte slave rebellion took place, but it was ultimately suppressed. The population in 1817 was 630,980 (of which 291,021 were white, 115,691 were free people of color (mixed-race), and 224,268 black slaves). The population in 1841 was 1,007,624, of whom 425,521 were black slaves, 418,291 were white.
By the 19th century, the practice of coartacion had developed (or "buying oneself out of slavery", a "uniquely Cuban development"). With a shortage of white labor, blacks dominated urban industries to such an extent that when whites in large numbers came to Cuba in the middle of the 19th century, they were unable to displace black workers. A system of diversified agriculture, with small farms and fewer slaves, served to supply the cities with produce and other goods.
In the 1820s, when the rest of Spain's empire in Latin America rebelled and formed independent states, Cuba remained loyal to Spain. Its economy was based on serving the empire. By 1860, Cuba had 213,167 free people of color (39% of its non-white population of 550,000).
Independence movements
Full independence from Spain was the goal of a rebellion in 1868 led by planter Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. De Céspedes, a sugar planter, freed his slaves to fight with him for an independent Cuba. On 27 December 1868, he issued a decree condemning slavery in theory—but accepting it in practice—and declaring free any slaves whose masters presented them for military service. The 1868 rebellion resulted in a prolonged conflict known as the Ten Years' War. The Cuban rebels were joined by former Dominican colonial officers, volunteers from Canada, Colombia, France, Mexico, the United States, and Chinese indentured servants, but lacked support from wealthy planters and the majority of slaves. In the early stages of the Ten Years' War, Dominicans commanded four of the six insurgent regions in eastern Cuba. Racial, social, and regional bias significantly contributed to the defeat of the Cuban Liberation Army.
The United States declined to recognize the new Cuban government, although many European and Latin American nations did. In 1878, the Pact of Zanjón ended the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba. In 1879–80, Cuban patriot Calixto García attempted to start another war known as the Little War but failed to receive enough support. Slavery in Cuba was abolished in 1875, with the process completed by 1886. Exiled dissident José Martí founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York City in 1892. The party aimed to achieve Cuban independence from Spain. In 1895, he traveled to San Fernando de Monte Cristi and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to join the efforts of Máximo Gómez. He recorded his political views in the Manifesto of Montecristi. Fighting against the Spanish army began in Cuba on 24 February 1895, and Martí arrived in April. He was killed in the Battle of Dos Rios on 19 May 1895. His death immortalized him as Cuba's national hero.
Around 200,000 Spanish troops outnumbered the much smaller rebel army, which relied mostly on guerrilla and sabotage tactics. The Spaniards began a campaign of suppression. General Valeriano Weyler, the military governor of Cuba, herded the rural population into what he called reconcentrados, described by international observers as "fortified towns". These are often considered the prototype for 20th-century concentration camps. Between 200,000 and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease in the Spanish concentration camps, numbers verified by the Red Cross and United States Senator Redfield Proctor, a former Secretary of War. American and European protests against Spanish conduct on the island followed. The U.S. battleship USS Maine was sent to protect American interests, but soon after its arrival, it exploded in the Havana Harbor and sank quickly, killing nearly three-quarters of the crew. The cause and responsibility for the ship's sinking remained unclear after a board of inquiry. Popular opinion in the U.S., fueled by active yellow press, concluded that the Spanish were to blame and demanded action. Spain and the United States declared war on each other in late April 1898.
Republic (1902–1959)
First years (1902–1925)
After the Spanish–American War, Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris (1898), by which Spain relinquished sovereignty over Cuba and ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States for the sum of US $20 million The U.S. excluded the Cuban revolutionaries from the peace conference. On 1 January 1899, Captain-General Adolfo Jiménez Castellanos surrendered Havana to General John R. Brooke, ending 400 years of Spanish rule. The destruction of Cuban farms and plantations facilitated the transfer of property to American ownership. Americans invested $50 million, mainly in sugar and tobacco plantations and mining, gaining control over much of Cuba's economy.
With the end of U.S. military government jurisdiction, Cuba gained formal independence on 20 May 1902 as the Republic of Cuba. Under Cuba's constitution, the United States retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations. Under the Platt Amendment, the U.S. leased the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base from Cuba.
Following disputed elections in 1906, the first president, Tomás Estrada Palma, faced an armed revolt by independence war veterans who defeated the meager government forces. The U.S. intervened by occupying Cuba and named Charles Edward Magoon as governor for three years. Cuban historians have characterized Magoon's governorship as introducing political and social corruption. In 1908, self-government was restored when José Miguel Gómez was elected president, but the U.S. continued intervening in Cuban affairs. In 1912, the Partido Independiente de Color attempted to establish a separate black republic in Oriente Province, but was suppressed by General Monteagudo with considerable bloodshed.
In 1924, Gerardo Machado was elected president. During his administration, tourism increased markedly, and American-owned hotels and restaurants were built to accommodate the influx of tourists. The tourist boom led to increases in gambling and prostitution in Cuba. The Wall Street crash of 1929 led to a collapse in the price of sugar, political unrest, and repression. Protesting students, known as the Generation of 1930, turned to violence in opposition to the increasingly unpopular Machado. A general strike (in which the Communist Party sided with Machado), uprisings among sugar workers, and an army revolt forced Machado into exile in August 1933. He was replaced by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada, son of the revolutionary hero Carlos Manuel de Céspedes.
Revolution of 1933–1940
In September 1933 the Sergeants' Revolt, led by Sergeant Fulgencio Batista, overthrew Céspedes. A five-member executive committee (the Pentarchy of 1933) was chosen to head a provisional government. Ramón Grau San Martín was appointed as provisional president. Grau resigned in 1934, leaving the way clear for Batista, who dominated Cuban politics for the next 25 years, at first through a series of puppet presidents. The period from 1933 to 1937 was a time of "virtually unremitting social and political warfare". On balance, during the period 1933–1940, Cuba suffered from fragile political structures, with three presidents in two years (1935–1936) and in the militaristic and repressive policies of Batista as head of the army.
Constitution of 1940
The 1940 Constitution of Cuba engineered radically progressive ideas, including the right to labor and right to health care. Batista was elected president in the same year, holding the post until 1944. He is, as of 2004, the only non-white Cuban to win the nation's highest political office. His government carried out major social reforms. Several members of the Communist Party held office under his administration. Cuban armed forces were not greatly involved in combat during World War II—though Batista did suggest a joint U.S.-Latin American assault on Francoist Spain to overthrow its authoritarian regime. Cuba lost six merchant ships during the war, and the Cuban Navy was credited with sinking the German submarine U-176.