_#_Organized labor: Workers Central Union of Cuba (CTC), only labor federation approved by government; 2,910,000 members; the CTC is an umbrella organization composed of 17 member unions
_*Government #_Long-form name: Republic of Cuba
_#_Type: Communist state
_#_Capital: Havana
_#_Administrative divisions: 14 provinces (provincias, singular—provincia) and 1 special municipality* (municipio especial); Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Cienfuegos, Ciudad de La Habana, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Isla de la Juventud*, La Habana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara
_#_Independence: 20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US from 1898 to 1902)
_#_Constitution: 24 February 1976
_#_Legal system: based on Spanish and American law, with large elements of Communist legal theory; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
_#_National holiday: Revolution Day, 1 January (1959)
_#_Executive branch: president of the Council of State, first vice president of the Council of State, Council of State, president of the Council of Ministers, first vice president of the Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly of the People's Power (Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular)
_#_Judicial branch: People's Supreme Court
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government—President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Fidel CASTRO Ruz (became Prime Minister in February 1959 and President since 2 December 1976); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (since 2 December 1976)
_#_Political parties and leaders: only party—Cuban Communist Party (PCC), Fidel CASTRO Ruz, first secretary
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 16
_#_Elections:
National Assembly of the People's Power—last held NA December 1986 (next to be held December 1991); results—PCC is the only party; seats—(510 total) PCC 510 (indirectly elected)
_#_Communists: about 600,000 full and candidate members
_#_Member of: CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, IFAD, IIB, ILO, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), LORCS, NAM, OAS (excluded from formal participation since 1962), OPANAL (observer), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: none; protecting power in the US is Switzerland—Cuban Interests Section; Counselor Jose Antonio ARBESU Fraga; 2630 and 2639 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 797–8518 or 8519, 8520, 8609, 8610;
US—protecting power in Cuba is Switzerland—US Interests Section;
Principal Officer Alan H. FLANIGAN; Calzada entre L y M, Vedado Seccion,
Havana (mailing address is USINT, c/o International Purchasing Group,
2052 NW 93rd Avenue, Miami, FL 33172); telephone 329–700
_#_Flag: five equal horizontal bands of blue (top and bottom) alternating with white; a red equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bears a white five-pointed star in the center
_*Economy #_Overview: The economy, centrally planned and largely state owned, is highly dependent on the agricultural sector and foreign trade. Sugar provides about 75% of export revenues and over half is exported to the USSR. The economy has stagnated since 1985 under policies that have deemphasized material incentives in the workplace, abolished farmers' informal produce markets, and raised prices of government-supplied goods and services. In 1990 the economy probably fell 3%, largely as a result of declining trade with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Recently the government has been trying to increase trade with Latin America and China. Cuba has had difficulty servicing its foreign debt since 1982. The government currently is encouraging foreign investment in tourist facilities. Other investment priorities include sugar, basic foods, and nickel. The annual $4 billion Soviet subsidy, a main prop to Cuba's threadbare economy, is likely to show a substantial decline over the next few years in view of the USSR's mounting economic problems. Instead of highly subsidized trade, Cuba will be shifting to trade at market prices in convertible currencies. In early 1991, the shortages of fuels, spare parts, and industrial products in general had become so severe as to amount to a deindustrialization process in the eyes of some observers.
_#_GNP: $20.9 billion, per capita $2,000; real growth rate - 3% (1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
_#_Unemployment: 6% overall, 10% for women (1989)
_#_Budget: revenues $12.46 billion; expenditures $14.45 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)
_#_Exports: $5.4 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities—sugar, nickel, shellfish, citrus, tobacco, coffee;
partners—USSR 67%, GDR 6%, China 4% (1988)
_#_Imports: $8.1 billion (c.i.f., 1989);
commodities—capital goods, industrial raw materials, food, petroleum;
partners—USSR 71%, other Communist countries 15% (1988)
_#_External debt: $6.8 billion (convertible currency, July 1989)
_#_Industrial production: 3% (1988); accounts for 45% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 3,890,000 kW capacity; 16,267 million kWh produced, 1,530 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: sugar milling, petroleum refining, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, paper and wood products, metals (particularly nickel), cement, fertilizers, consumer goods, agricultural machinery
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 11% of GNP (including fishing and forestry); key commercial crops—sugarcane, tobacco, and citrus fruits; other products—coffee, rice, potatoes, meat, beans; world's largest sugar exporter; not self-sufficient in food (excluding sugar)
_#_Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970–88), $695 million; Communist countries (1970–89), $18.5 billion
_#_Currency: Cuban peso (plural—pesos); 1 Cuban peso (Cu$) = 100 centavos
_#_Exchange rates: Cuban pesos (Cu$) per US$1—1.0000 (linked to the US dollar)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*Communications #_Railroads: 14,925 km total; Cuban National Railways operates 5,295 km of 1.435-meter gauge track; 199 km electrified; 9,630 km of sugar plantation lines of 0.914–1.435-meter gauge
_#_Highways: 26,477 km total; 14,477 km paved, 12,000 km gravel and earth surfaced (1989 est.)
_#_Inland waterways: 240 km
_#_Ports: Cienfuegos, Havana, Mariel, Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba; 7 secondary, 35 minor
_#_Merchant marine: 87 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 638,462 GRT/925,380 DWT; includes 54 cargo, 9 refrigerated cargo, 2 cargo/training, 12 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 3 liquefied gas, 6 bulk; note—Cuba beneficially owns an additional 37 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 512,346 DWT under the registry of Panama, Cyprus, and Malta
_#_Civil air: 59 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 205 total, 176 usable; 75 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440–3,659 m; 25 with runways 1,220–2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: stations—150 AM, 5 FM, 58 TV; 1,530,000 TVs; 2,140,000 radios; 229,000 telephones; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
_*Defense