1. Republic of Cuba

2. Government Communist

3. President Raul Castro (Brother of Fidel Castro)

4. Total Area 42,803 sq mi

5. Population (2008 est.): 11,423,952

6. Capital and Largest City Havana

7. Monetary Unit Cuban Peso

8. Official Language Spanish

9. Ethnicity/Race Mulatto 51% White 37% Black 11% Chinese 1%

10. Religions Predominantly Roman Catholic Santeria

11. Literacy Rate 97%

12. Agriculture Products sugar tobacco citrus coffee rice potatoes beans livestock

13. Industries sugar petroleum tobacco construction nickel steel pharmaceuticals cement agricultural machinery

14. Natural Resources cobalt nickel iron ore copper manganesesalt timber silica petroleum arable land

15. Exports sugar nickel tobacco fish medical products citrus coffee

16. Imports petroleum food machinery and equipment chemicals

17. Physical Features of Cuba

18. Flat land or Rolling plains: 66% –fertile valleys and plains

19. Mountains: 34% –Central Escambray –Western Sierra de los Organos –Sierra Maestra

20. Coastal Areas Northern: is generally steep and rocky with some of the best harbors in the world. Southern: low and marshy

21. Rivers Over 200 rivers Longest River: Cauto River

22. Climate Temperate semitropical climate Two Seasons: Dry season from November to April Wet season from May to October

23. Cuban and U.S. Interaction

24. Fidel Castro Overthrows Cuban government in 1956 Takes over all USA holdings in Cuba

25. The U.S. broke relations with Cuba on Jan. 3, 1961 Castro formalized his alliance with the Soviet Union

26. Bay of Pigs In 1961, a U.S.- backed group of Cuban exiles invaded Cuba. Planned during the Eisenhower administration,

27. the invasion was given the go-ahead by President John Kennedy, although he refused to give U.S. air support. The landing at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961, was a complete disaster.

28. Cuban Missile Crisis A Soviet attempt to install medium-range missiles in Cuba— capable of striking targets in the United States with nuclear warheads—provoked a crisis in 1962.

29. Kennedy denounced the Soviets for “deliberate deception,”

30. President Kennedy promised a U.S. blockade of Cuba to stop the missile delivery.

31. Six days later, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev ordered the missile sites dismantled and returned to the USSR in return for a U.S. pledge not to attack Cuba.

32. Quantanamo Bay United States controls Quantanamo prison in Cuba. During the presidential election, President Obama promised to close the prison because of unfair treatment of prisoners.