Cuba

C

Plants and Animals

Cuba has a wide variety of tropical vegetation, with some 6,000 species of plant, around half of which are native to the island. Forests cover about one quarter of the island, but original forest is confined to some of the highest peaks in the Sierra Maestra and in the mangrove swamps of the Zapata Peninsula. There are more than 200 species of palm. The royal palm (Resistonea regia) is Cuba’s national tree, and is represented on the republic’s coat-of-arms. The rare cork palm (Microcycas calocoma) is a survivor from the Cretaceous period. Other trees include mahogany, ebony, lignum vitae, ceiba (Kapok), fig, logwood, rosewood, oak, cedar, and pines. There are also many flowering trees and fruit trees, notably the butterfly jasmine, which is the national flower. Cuba’s fauna is equally rich. The country claims to have the world’s smallest of a number of animals: the Cuban pygmy frog, one of about 30 small frogs; the solenodon, a shrew-like insectivore; the butterfly or moth bat; and the bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) or zunzuncito. The largest land mammal is the hutia, a rat-like rodent that grows to about 60 cm (24 in) in length. The forest-dwelling Cuban trogon, or tocororo, is considered to be the national bird because its plumage has the same colours as the Cuban flag—red, white, and blue. There are many hundreds of species of birds, some of which are endangered, such as the carpintero real woodpecker, the ivory-billed woodpecker, the pygmy owl, the Cuban green parrot, and the ferminia. In the Zapata Peninsula alone there are 170 species of native birds, which are joined by many hundreds more species of migrating waterbirds and others. Reptiles are Cuba’s most abundant land fauna, and include frogs, iguanas, crocodiles, lizards, salamanders, and 15 species of non-poisonous snakes, including the boa constrictor. About 10,000 species of insect have been recorded, including many butterflies. Some of Cuba’s varied wildlife is threatened by over-hunting. There are six national parks, including the Zapata Peninsula.

D

Environmental Concerns

Although Cuba was once almost entirely forested, by the late 1950s only 14 per cent of the country remained under forest cover. As a result of reforestation efforts, this figure has risen to 16.8 per cent (1995). Deforestation and agriculture contribute to soil erosion, another environmental challenge in Cuba. Agriculture is vital to Cuba's economy: food makes up over 89 per cent (1980) of the country's total exports and more than 40 per cent (1997) of the country's area is devoted to arable land and permanent crops. Cuba's integrated pest management programme, an alternative to pesticide use, has made environmental gains while maintaining agricultural output and reducing costs.

Cuba has the greatest biodiversity in the Caribbean, much of it endemic, and the country's vast mangrove swamps and wetlands support a wide variety of marine life. Parks and other reserves protect 17.4 per cent (1997) of Cuba's land. Coastal pollution and excessive hunting present severe threats to wildlife populations, however. Cuba is party to international agreements concerning biodiversity, climate change, endangered species, hazardous wastes, marine dumping, and ship pollution.

III

Population

The great majority of Cubans are descended from the Spaniards who conquered and settled the island from the 16th century, and the Africans they brought in as slaves to work the plantations—51 per cent are classified as of mixed origin, 37 per cent as white, and 11 per cent as black. The remaining 1 per cent of the population comprises various ethnic minorities, most notably Chinese. There are no Native Americans left on Cuba. The country’s culture reflects this heritage, especially with regard to music, cuisine, and aspects of religion.

A

Population Characteristics

The Republic of Cuba has a population of 11,423,952 (2008 estimate), with a population density of 103 people per sq km (267 people per sq mi). Almost all of the population lives on the island of Cuba itself. Juventud Island is the least populated of the republic’s 15 administrative divisions, with about 73,000 people, who live mainly in the north of the island. Most of the small islets and cays are uninhabited. Since 1959 more than 1 million Cubans have emigrated legally, predominantly to the United States. Many thousands more have left illegally, crossing the Straits of Florida to the US mainland in small boats and on makeshift rafts, most notably during August 1994 when some 30,000 are estimated to have left following the government’s decision to suspend travel restrictions. The move followed serious rioting in Havana that had been precipitated by a confrontation between police and would-be illegal emigrants. It was in retaliation to the US administration’s failure to live up to its 1984 agreement to issue 20,000 visas a year to Cubans, thus encouraging the growth of illegal emigration from Cuba. In the decade to July 1994 fewer than 12,000 visas had been issued in total. The US administration failed to stem the upsurge in emigrants despite threats of repatriation. In September 1994 it agreed to grant visas to the 6,000 Cubans on waiting lists and to implement fully the 20,000 annual visa quota, in return for the Cuban administration reimposing border restrictions. Most early emigrants were wealthy landowners and business people whose assets had been nationalized; more recently there has been an increase in migrants fleeing Cuba’s deteriorating economy. As a group Cuban-Americans comprise a powerful lobby in the United States, historically opposed to the administration of Fidel Castro and successfully pressing for the maintenance and, in 1996, expansion of the US trade embargo against Cuba. Despite more recent loosening of restrictions on Cuba, Cuban-Americans remain an important lobbying force.

B

Principal Cities

About 76 per cent of Cuba’s population live in urban areas, and 20 per cent live in the capital, Havana, which has a population of 2,168,255 (2007 estimate). Other important cities, with their population figures, are Santiago de Cuba, 494,430 (2007 estimate), Camagüey, 327,046 (2007 estimate), Holguín, 331,580 (2007 estimate), Guantánamo, 243,808 (2007 estimate), Santa Clara, 238,424 (2007 estimate), Bayamo, 225,126 (2007 estimate), Cienfuegos, 165,231 (2007 estimate), Pinar del Río, 191,388 (2007 estimate), Las Tunas, 191,169 (2007 estimate), and Matanzas, 146,078 (2007 estimate).