Cuba Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research

Updated 1440 GMT (2240 HKT) April 26, 2021

<strong>Can Americans travel to Cuba? </strong>Yes, but it's not easy. There are 12 categories of allowable US travel to Cuba, including "Support for the Cuban People" trips. Shown here is Havana's Capitol building, which was built in the 1920s and was modeled after the US Capitol.
Photos: US travel to Cuba
Can Americans travel to Cuba? Yes, but it's not easy. There are 12 categories of allowable US travel to Cuba, including "Support for the Cuban People" trips. Shown here is Havana's Capitol building, which was built in the 1920s and was modeled after the US Capitol.
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<strong>Dancing in Havana. </strong>Members of a Friendly Planet tour visit La Casa del Son to watch these dance instructors demonstrating their their salsa, cha-cha and mambo moves and dance with them.
Photos: US travel to Cuba
Dancing in Havana. Members of a Friendly Planet tour visit La Casa del Son to watch these dance instructors demonstrating their their salsa, cha-cha and mambo moves and dance with them.
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<strong>La Habana Vieja.</strong> Tour groups get to walk the streets of Old Havana, spotting the Cathedral of Havana and the plaza that bears its name.
Photos: US travel to Cuba
La Habana Vieja. Tour groups get to walk the streets of Old Havana, spotting the Cathedral of Havana and the plaza that bears its name.
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<strong>An island view.</strong> This Havana park has an incredible view of the castle and lighthouse of El Morro.
Photos: US travel to Cuba
An island view. This Havana park has an incredible view of the castle and lighthouse of El Morro.
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<strong>The Viñales Valley.</strong> Known as the garden of Cuba, the Viñales Valley <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/840/" target="_blank">was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site</a> in 1999 for its natural beauty and use of traditional agricultural methods.
Photos: US travel to Cuba
The Viñales Valley. Known as the garden of Cuba, the Viñales Valley was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 for its natural beauty and use of traditional agricultural methods.
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<strong>Tobacco growing region.</strong> Farmers still grow tobacco, which they must sell mostly to the government at a set price.
Photos: US travel to Cuba
Tobacco growing region. Farmers still grow tobacco, which they must sell mostly to the government at a set price.
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<strong>Back to oxen. </strong>Faced with US sanctions, Cuban farmers have switched from using diesel to oxen and plows to tend their crops.
Photos: US travel to Cuba
Back to oxen. Faced with US sanctions, Cuban farmers have switched from using diesel to oxen and plows to tend their crops.
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(CNN)Here's some background information about Cuba, a communist country located in the Caribbean Sea, approximately 90 miles south of Florida.

About Cuba

(from the CIA World Factbook)
    Area: 110,860 sq km (slightly smaller than Pennsylvania)
      Population: 11,032,343 (July 2021 est.)
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      Median age: 42.1 years
      Capital: Havana
      Ethnic Groups: White 64.1%, mixed 26.6%, Black 9.3% (2012 est.)
      Unemployment: 2.6% (2017 est.)
      Cuba

      Other Facts

      Before the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Cuba was receiving subsidies worth $4 billion-$6 billion a year.
      The United States pays Cuba approximately $4,085 a year to lease the 45 square miles that the Guantánamo Bay Naval Station occupies. Cuba has not accepted the payment since 1959.

      Timeline

      1492 - Explorer Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Cuba and claims it for Spain. Spain controls the island until 1898, making it a hub for the slave trade and the export of sugar and coffee.
      1898 - The United States assists Cubans in winning independence from Spain during the Spanish-American War. The Treaty of Paris gives the United States temporary control of Cuba.
      1902 - Cuba gains independence from the United States.
      1903 - The new Republic of Cuba leases 45 square miles of land in Guantánamo Bay to the United States for construction of a naval station. Building on the naval station begins that same year.
      1952 - Former President Fulgencio Batista stages a coup with the support of the army, and assumes power.
      July 26, 1953 - Fidel Castro and approximately 150 others attack the Moncada military barracks in Santiago de Cuba in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Batista regime.
      October 16, 1953 - Castro is sentenced to 15 years in prison.
      May 15, 1955 - Castro and his brother, Raul, are released as part of a general amnesty for political prisoners.
      December 2, 1956 - Eighty-two exiles land in Cuba, on a yacht named Granma. Most are killed immediately. The survivors, including the Castros, flee to the Sierra Maestra Mountains. During 1957-1958, they wage a guerrilla campaign from this base, which includes skirmishes with government troops and burning sugar crops.
      January 1, 1959 - Batista is overthrown by Castro's forces.
      1960 - Cuba nationalizes approximately $1 billion of US-owned property on the island. In response, the United States places a trade embargo on Cuba.
      January 1961 - The United States and Cuba end diplomatic relations.