Cuba

The Republic of Cuba consists of the island of Cuba (the largest of the Greater Antilles), the Isle of Youth and various adjacent small islands. The name of the island is derived from the Taino word "cubanacán", meaning a central place. It is located in the northern Caribbean at the confluence of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. To the north is found the United States, to the northeast the Bahamas, to the east the Turks and Caicos Islands, to the west Mexico, to the south the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, and to the southeast Haiti.

Demographics

According to the CIA's World Factbook, Cuba is 51% mulatto (mixed white and black), 37% white, 11% black, and 1% Chinese. Cuba has historically been more heavily European than other Caribbean islands, and in 1950 was said to have a 75% white majority. It should be mentioned that between 1900 and 1930 close to a million white Spaniards arrived in the Island from Spain. It highlights the shock that Castro's rise to power had on the white upper and middle class, a large portion of whom moved to Florida in the 1960s and 1970s. Also, economic shock caused their birthrate to fall precipitously, even as the poorer black and mulatto populations soared. This is not hard to understand when one considers that the white population was 4 million during the second half of the twentieth century (with low birthrates and heavy emigration), while blacks and mulattos increased from 1.5 million to over 6 million, very similar to the growth in the predominately black and mulatto Dominican Republic.

Related Topics:
Mulatto - White - Black - Chinese - Florida - Dominican Republic

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The Chinese population in Cuba derives mostly from Chinese sent 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.

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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 are internal passport requirements that try to control the migration of often darker pigmented "palestinos" to Havana.

Related Topics:
Racial tension - Santiago de Cuba - Jamaica - Music of Cuba

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Cuba has the lowest birthrate of any Latin American or Caribbean country, perhaps influenced by its socialist government's policy of free health care and abortion, which was similar to the situation in Eastern Europe. The current fertility rate of about 1.6 children per woman is the lowest of any country in the western hemisphere save Canada. The official http://www.lanuevacuba.com/archivo/medicos.htm,http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/asce/cuba8/30smith.pdf infant mortality rate in Cuba is down to 5.8 per thousand births. (State of the World's Children 2005)

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