Travel to Cuba
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Last Minute Tips Before you Travel to Cuba
- Time ZoneGMT/UTC -5 (USA Eastern Standard Time)
- Electricity: 110/220V, 60 Hz (bring an adapter/transformer for your hair drier, laptop, cellullar phone etc.)
- Weights & measures: Metric
Must See - Properties on UNESCO World Heritage List
- Old Havana and its Fortifications
- Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios
- San Pedro de la Roca Castle, Santiago de Cuba
- Viñales Valley
- Desembarco del Granma National Park
- Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the Southeast of Cuba
- Alejandro de Humboldt National Park
Cuba
Location
Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, 150 km south of Key West, Florida
Capital
Havana
Population
11,087,330 (July 2011 est.)
Regions
Cuba consists of 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
Climate
tropical; moderated by trade winds; dry season (November to April); rainy season (May to October)
Ethnic groups
white 65.1%, mulatto and mestizo 24.8%, black 10.1% (2002 census)
Religions
nominally 85% Roman Catholic prior to CASTRO assuming power; Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, and Santeria are also represented
Languages
Spanish (official)
Government type
Communist state
Background
The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule eventually provoked an independence movement and occasional rebellions that were harshly suppressed. US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 assisted the Cubans in overthrowing Spanish rule. The Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence from the US in 1902 after which the island experienced a string of governments mostly dominated by the military and corrupt politicians. Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule held the subsequent regime together for nearly five decades. He stepped down as president in February 2008 in favor of his younger brother Raul CASTRO. Cuba's Communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country faced a severe economic downturn in 1990 following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba at times portrays the US embargo, in place since 1961, as the source if its difficulties. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, air flights, or via the southwest border - is a continuing problem. The US Coast Guard intercepted 982 individuals attempting to cross the Straits of Florida in fiscal year 2009.
Cuba Travel and Accommodation – Your Tips for Travelers
If you would like to share your experiences of traveling to Cuba or to any other country, please send us your article and we will gladly post it at this website.
My visit to Cuba by Teresa Szefler
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