Cuba

Historians believe the name Cuba comes from the Taíno language; however, its derivation is unknown. Cuba may be translated either as 'where fertile land is abundant' (cubao), or 'great place' (coabana).

Another hypothesis on the name's origin is that the island was named after the town of Cuba, Portugal, supported by those who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese.

=== Pre-Columbian era ===

Humans first settled Cuba around 6,000 years ago, descending from migrations from northern South America or Central America. The arrival of humans on Cuba is associated with extinctions of the island's native fauna, particularly its endemic sloths. The Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taíno people arrived in the Caribbean in a separate migration from South America around 1,700 years ago. Recent archaeogenetic evidence indicates that this expansion largely replaced the earlier pre-ceramic populations of the island with almost no genetic admixture between the groups. Unlike the previous settlers of Cuba, the Taíno extensively produced pottery and engaged in intensive agriculture. The Taíno practice of tobacco smoking was introduced to Europe by the Spanish and spread globally through the Columbian exchange. The earliest evidence of the Taíno people on Cuba dates to the 9th century. Descendants of the first settlers of Cuba persisted on the western part of the island until Columbian contact, where they were recorded as the Guanahatabey people, who lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

Christopher Columbus first arrived in Cuba on 27 October 1492 during his famous first voyage and landed the following day. Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named it Isla Juana ("John's Island") after John, Prince of Asturias.

In 1511 the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa. Other settlements followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1514 (southern coast of the island) and then in 1519 (current place), which later became the capital (1607). The Taíno were forced to work under the encomienda system, which resembled the feudal system in medieval Europe. Within a century, the Taíno faced high incidence of mortality from multiple factors—primarily Eurasian infectious diseases to which they had no acquired immunity, aggravated by the harsh conditions of the repressive colonial subjugation. In 1529, a measles outbreak killed two-thirds of those few indigenous individuals who had previously survived smallpox.

On 18 May 1539, conquistador Hernando de Soto departed from Havana with some 600 followers on an extensive expedition through the Southeastern United States in search of gold, treasure, fame, and power. On 1 September 1548, Gonzalo Perez de Angulo was appointed governor of Cuba. He arrived in Santiago de Cuba on 4 November 1549 and declared the liberty of the indigenous population. He became Cuba's first permanent governor, residing in Havana, and he built the first church made of masonry in Cuba.

By 1570, most residents of Cuba had a mixture of Spanish, African, and Taíno heritages. Cuba developed slowly and, unlike the plantation islands of the Caribbean, had a diversified agriculture. Most importantly, the colony developed as an urbanized society that primarily supported the Spanish colonial empire. By the mid-18th century, there were 50,000 slaves on the island. Estimates suggest that between 1790 and 1820, some 325,000 Africans were imported to Cuba as slaves, which was four times the amount that had arrived between 1760 and 1790.

In 1812, the Aponte slave rebellion took place, but it was ultimately suppressed. The population in 1817 was 630,980 (of which 291,021 were white, 115,691 were free people of color (mixed-race), and 224,268 black slaves). The population in 1841 was 1,007,624, of whom 425,521 were black slaves, 418,291 were white.

By the 19th century, the practice of coartacion had developed (or "buying oneself out of slavery", a "uniquely Cuban development"). With a shortage of white labor, blacks dominated urban industries to such an extent that when whites in large numbers came to Cuba in the middle of the 19th century, they were unable to displace black workers. A system of diversified agriculture, with small farms and fewer slaves, served to supply the cities with produce and other goods.

In the 1820s, when the rest of Spain's empire in Latin America rebelled and formed independent states, Cuba remained loyal to Spain. Its economy was based on serving the empire. By 1860, Cuba had 213,167 free people of color (39% of its non-white population of 550,000).

Full independence from Spain was the goal of a rebellion in 1868 led by planter Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. De Céspedes, a sugar planter, freed his slaves to fight with him for an independent Cuba. On 27 December 1868, he issued a decree condemning slavery in theory—but accepting it in practice—and declaring free any slaves whose masters presented them for military service. The 1868 rebellion resulted in a prolonged conflict known as the Ten Years' War. The Cuban rebels were joined by former Dominican colonial officers, volunteers from Canada, Colombia, France, Mexico, the United States, and Chinese indentured servants, but lacked support from wealthy planters and the majority of slaves. In the early stages of the Ten Years' War, Dominicans commanded four of the six insurgent regions in eastern Cuba. Racial, social, and regional bias significantly contributed to the defeat of the Cuban Liberation Army.

The United States declined to recognize the new Cuban government, although many European and Latin American nations did. In 1878, the Pact of Zanjón ended the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba. In 1879–80, Cuban patriot Calixto García attempted to start another war known as the Little War but failed to receive enough support. Slavery in Cuba was abolished in 1875, with the process completed by 1886. Exiled dissident José Martí founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York City in 1892. The party aimed to achieve Cuban independence from Spain. In 1895, he traveled to San Fernando de Monte Cristi and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to join the efforts of Máximo Gómez. He recorded his political views in the Manifesto of Montecristi. Fighting against the Spanish army began in Cuba on 24 February 1895, and Martí arrived in April. He was killed in the Battle of Dos Rios on 19 May 1895. His death immortalized him as Cuba's national hero.

Around 200,000 Spanish troops outnumbered the much smaller rebel army, which relied mostly on guerrilla and sabotage tactics. The Spaniards began a campaign of suppression. General Valeriano Weyler, the military governor of Cuba, herded the rural population into what he called reconcentrados, described by international observers as "fortified towns". These are often considered the prototype for 20th-century concentration camps. Between 200,000 and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease in the Spanish concentration camps, numbers verified by the Red Cross and United States Senator Redfield Proctor, a former Secretary of War. American and European protests against Spanish conduct on the island followed. The U.S. battleship USS Maine was sent to protect American interests, but soon after its arrival, it exploded in the Havana Harbor and sank quickly, killing nearly three-quarters of the crew. The cause and responsibility for the ship's sinking remained unclear after a board of inquiry. Popular opinion in the U.S., fueled by active yellow press, concluded that the Spanish were to blame and demanded action. Spain and the United States declared war on each other in late April 1898.

==== First years (1902–1925) ====

After the Spanish–American War, Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris (1898), by which Spain relinquished sovereignty over Cuba and ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States for the sum of US $20 million The U.S. excluded the Cuban revolutionaries from the peace conference. On 1 January 1899, Captain-General Adolfo Jiménez Castellanos surrendered Havana to General John R. Brooke, ending 400 years of Spanish rule. The destruction of Cuban farms and plantations facilitated the transfer of property to American ownership. Americans invested $50 million, mainly in sugar and tobacco plantations and mining, gaining control over much of Cuba's economy.

With the end of U.S. military government jurisdiction, Cuba gained formal independence on 20 May 1902 as the Republic of Cuba. Under Cuba's constitution, the United States retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations. Under the Platt Amendment, the U.S. leased the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base from Cuba.

Following disputed elections in 1906, the first president, Tomás Estrada Palma, faced an armed revolt by independence war veterans who defeated the meager government forces. The U.S. intervened by occupying Cuba and named Charles Edward Magoon as governor for three years. Cuban historians have characterized Magoon's governorship as introducing political and social corruption. In 1908, self-government was restored when José Miguel Gómez was elected president, but the U.S. continued intervening in Cuban affairs. In 1912, the Partido Independiente de Color attempted to establish a separate black republic in Oriente Province, but was suppressed by General Monteagudo with considerable bloodshed.

In 1924, Gerardo Machado was elected president. During his administration, tourism increased markedly, and American-owned hotels and restaurants were built to accommodate the influx of tourists. The tourist boom led to increases in gambling and prostitution in Cuba. The Wall Street crash of 1929 led to a collapse in the price of sugar, political unrest, and repression. Protesting students, known as the Generation of 1930, turned to violence in opposition to the increasingly unpopular Machado. A general strike (in which the Communist Party sided with Machado), uprisings among sugar workers, and an army revolt forced Machado into exile in August 1933. He was replaced by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada, son of the revolutionary hero Carlos Manuel de Céspedes.

In September 1933 the Sergeants' Revolt, led by Sergeant Fulgencio Batista, overthrew Céspedes. A five-member executive committee (the Pentarchy of 1933) was chosen to head a provisional government. Ramón Grau San Martín was appointed as provisional president. Grau resigned in 1934, leaving the way clear for Batista, who dominated Cuban politics for the next 25 years, at first through a series of puppet presidents. The period from 1933 to 1937 was a time of "virtually unremitting social and political warfare". On balance, during the period 1933–1940, Cuba suffered from fragile political structures, with three presidents in two years (1935–1936) and in the militaristic and repressive policies of Batista as head of the army.

The 1940 Constitution of Cuba engineered radically progressive ideas, including the right to labor and right to health care. Batista was elected president in the same year, holding the post until 1944. He is, as of 2004, the only non-white Cuban to win the nation's highest political office. His government carried out major social reforms. Several members of the Communist Party held office under his administration. Cuban armed forces were not greatly involved in combat during World War II—though Batista did suggest a joint U.S.-Latin American assault on Francoist Spain to overthrow its authoritarian regime. Cuba lost six merchant ships during the war, and the Cuban Navy was credited with sinking the German submarine U-176.

Batista adhered to the 1940 constitution's strictures preventing his re-election. Grau was re-elected president in 1944. Grau further corroded the base of the already teetering legitimacy of the political system, particularly by undermining the Congress and Supreme Court. Carlos Prío Socarrás, a protégé of Grau, became president in 1948. The two terms of the Partido Auténtico brought an influx of investment, which fueled an economic boom, raised living standards for all segments of society, and created a middle class in most urban areas.

After finishing his term in 1944, Batista lived in Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing inevitable electoral defeat, he led a military coup that preempted the election. Back in power and receiving financial, military, and logistical support from the United States government, Batista suspended the 1940 constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike. He then aligned with landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans. Batista outlawed the Cuban Communist Party in 1952. After the coup, Cuba had Latin America's highest per capita consumption rates of meat, vegetables, cereals, automobiles, telephones and radios, though about one-third of the population was considered poor and enjoyed relatively little of this consumption. However, in his "History Will Absolve Me" speech, Fidel Castro mentioned that national issues relating to land, industrialization, housing, unemployment, education, and health were contemporary problems.

In 1958 Cuba was a well-advanced country compared to other Latin American regions, but it was affected by perhaps Latin America's largest labor union privileges, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. They were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants", leading to disparities. Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems. Unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs. The middle class became increasingly dissatisfied with unemployment and political persecution. The labor unions, manipulated by the previous government since 1948 through union "yellowness", supported Batista.

In the 1950s, various organizations, including some advocating armed uprising, competed for public support in bringing about political change. In 1956, Castro and about 80 supporters landed from the yacht Granma in an attempt to start a rebellion against the Batista government. In 1958, Castro's 26th of July Movement emerged as the leading revolutionary group. The U.S. supported Castro by imposing a 1958 arms embargo against Batista's government. Batista evaded the American embargo and acquired weapons from the Dominican Republic.

By late 1958, the rebels had broken out of the Sierra Maestra and launched a general popular insurrection. After Castro's fighters captured Santa Clara, Batista fled to the Dominican Republic on 1 January 1959 with his family, going into exile in Portugal. Castro's forces entered the capital on 8 January. The liberal Manuel Urrutia Lleó became the provisional president. Before the revolution, U.S. and other foreign investors dominated the Cuban economy, controlling 75% of arable land, 90% of essential services, and 40% of sugar production. One of the goals of Castro's revolution was to achieve economic independence, but Cuba instead became heavily dependent on Soviet subsidies, with additional economic aid provided by Eastern European countries through COMECON.

Militant anti-Castro groups, funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Rafael Trujillo, carried out armed attacks and set up guerrilla bases in Cuba's mountainous regions, leading to the unsuccessful Escambray rebellion (1959–65), which lasted longer and involved more soldiers than the Cuban Revolution.

==== Consolidation and nationalization (1959–1970) ====

The US government initially reacted favorably to the Cuban Revolution, seeing it as part of a movement to bring democracy to Latin America. Castro's legalization of the Communist Party and the hundreds of executions of Batista agents, policemen, and soldiers that followed caused a deterioration in the relationship between the two countries. The promulgation of the Agrarian Reform Law, expropriating thousands of acres of farmland (including from large U.S. landholders), further worsened relations. In response, between 1960 and 1964 the U.S. imposed a range of sanctions, eventually including a total ban on trade between the countries and a freeze on all Cuban-owned assets in the U.S. In February 1960, Castro signed a commercial agreement with Soviet Vice-Premier Anastas Mikoyan.

In March 1960, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his approval to a CIA plan to arm and train a group of Cuban refugees to overthrow the Castro government. The CIA provided B-26 light bombers and ships to the rebels for the invasion. On 15 April 1961 at dawn, Brigade 2506 flew from Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and carried out preemptive airstrikes on Cuban military airfields at San Antonio de Los Baños, Ciudad Libertad, Pinar del Río, and Santiago de Cuba, destroying five aircraft and damaging an indeterminable number. The invasion (known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion) took place on 17 April, during the term of President John F. Kennedy. About 1,400 Cuban exiles disembarked at the Bay of Pigs. Cuban troops and local militias defeated the invasion by 19 April, killing over 100 invaders and taking the remainder prisoner. Five B-26s were shot down by the Cuban air force, and one was downed by anti-aircraft fire. In 1961, the U.S. and Cuba laid minefields along opposite sides of the Guantánamo Bay perimeter. In January 1962, Cuba was suspended from the Organization of American States (OAS), which imposed sanctions of similar nature to the U.S. sanctions. The failed amphibious assault on Cuba contributed to the Soviet decision to deploy R-12 missiles there, and the ensuing Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 almost sparked World War III. A settlement was reached without Cuba's participation, under which Soviet missiles were withdrawn from Cuba in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade the island. In 1962, American generals proposed Operation Northwoods which would entail committing terrorist attacks in American cities and against refugees and falsely blaming the attacks on the Cuban government, manufacturing a reason for the United States to invade Cuba. This plan was rejected by Kennedy. By 1963, Cuba was moving towards a full-fledged communist state system modeled on the USSR.

Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo founded the anti-Castro group Alpha 66 in the early 1960s, which used small craft to attack Cuban and Soviet merchant ships, killing or wounding crew members. In 1964, Menoyo set up a guerrilla training camp in the Dominican Republic, and after entering Cuba in 1965, he was captured; however, Alpha 66 continued its raids under new leadership. By the mid-1960s, Soviet aid had strengthened the Cuban air force and navy, making raids costly without significant U.S. support.

During the 1960s, Cuba provided support to revolutions throughout Africa and Latin America. Between 1961 and 1964, Cuba sent more than US$1 million as well as arms and military equipment to insurgent groups in Venezuela. In 1963, Cuba sent 686 troops together with 22 tanks, an anti-tank battery, mortars, anti-aircraft artillery, and field guns to Oran to support Algeria in the Sand War against Morocco. The Moroccan government backed down before the planned Cuban counterattack on 29 October and agreed to a ceasefire and suspension of hostilities. The Cuban forces remained in Algeria for over a year, providing training to the Algerian army. Che Guevara, authorized by Castro, engaged in guerrilla activities in Africa and was killed in 1967 while attempting to start a revolution in Bolivia. Cuba supplied arms to the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola; gave aid to the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde; and provided military training to the Mozambique Liberation Front. Cuban troops prevented the 1966 Republic of the Congo coup attempt; the coup collapsed when the Congolese army refused to engage in combat against the Cubans. Cuban advisors began operating with guerrillas in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence, and in November 1969 Portuguese troops captured Cuban Captain Pedro Rodriguez Peralta.

Starting in 1968, a campaign titled the "revolutionary offensive" was initiated to nationalize some 58,000 remaining private small businesses. The campaign would spur industrialization in Cuba and focus the economy on sugar production, with a goal of 10 million tons by 1970. The economic focus on sugar production involved international volunteers and the mobilization of workers from all sectors of the economy. Economic mobilization coincided with greater militarization of political structures and society in general. The harvest goal was not reached. The economy fell into decline after large sectors were neglected after urban labor was mobilized to the countryside.

The standard of living in the 1970s was "extremely spartan," and discontent was rife. Castro admitted the failures of economic policies in a 1970 speech. In 1975, the OAS lifted its sanctions against Cuba with the approval of 16 member states, including the United States. The U.S., however, maintained its own sanctions. According to Amnesty International, official death sentences from 1959 to 1987 numbered 237, of which all but 21 were carried out. The vast majority of those executed directly following the 1959 Revolution were policemen, politicians, and informers of the Batista regime accused of crimes such as torture and murder, and their public trials and executions had widespread popular support among the Cuban population.

During the Cold War, Cuba received $33 billion in Soviet aid, and Cuban forces were deployed to all corners of Africa, either as military advisors or as combatants. Soviet pilots and technicians assumed defense duties in Cuba, freeing up personnel to be deployed in Africa. In 1979, the U.S. objected to the presence of Soviet combat troops on the island.

In November 1975, Cuba deployed more than 65,000 troops and 400 Soviet-made tanks in Angola in one of the fastest military mobilizations in history. South Africa developed nuclear weapons because of the threat to its security posed by the presence of large numbers of Cuban troops in Angola. In 1975–76 and again in 1988 at the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, the Cubans alongside their MPLA allies fought UNITA rebels and apartheid South African forces. On 13 November 1977, Somalia broke diplomatic relations with Cuba and expelled Cuban and Soviet military advisors. In December 1977, Cuba sent its combat troops from Angola, the People's Republic of the Congo, and the Caribbean to Ethiopia, assisted by mechanized Soviet battalions, to help defeat a Somali invasion of the Ogaden. On 24 January 1978, Ethiopian and Cuban troops counterattacked, inflicting 3,000 casualties on the Somali forces. In February, Cuban forces launched a major offensive with 10,000 to 12,000 troops and 30 pilots flying Soviet-supplied aircraft, forcing the Somali army back into its own territory by 9 March. Cuban forces remained in Ethiopia until September 1989.

Despite its small size and the long distance separating it from the Middle East, Cuba played an active role in the region during the Cold War. In 1972, a major military mission consisting of tank, air, and artillery specialists was dispatched to South Yemen. Cuban military advisors were sent to Iraq in the mid-1970s, but their mission was canceled after Iraq invaded Iran in 1980. The Cubans were also involved in the Syrian-Israeli conflict in 1973 and 1974 that followed the Yom Kippur War. Israeli sources reported the presence of a Cuban tank brigade in the Golan Heights, which was supported by two brigades. Tank forces engaged in battle on the Golan front. In June 1978, Soviet aircraft transported 1,000 Cuban troops from Ethiopia to South Yemen following a coup there; in March 1979, Soviet aircraft flew 1,500 Cuban troops to South Yemen during an open conflict between Aden and Sanaa.

After the U.S. was defeated by communist forces in the Vietnam War, Castro began supporting Marxist insurgencies in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Colombia by supplying weapons, munitions, and training. Following the 1983 coup that resulted in the execution of Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and establishment of the military government led by Hudson Austin, U.S. forces invaded Grenada in 1983, overthrowing the pro-Castro government. In a few days of fighting, 6,000 American combat troops defeated 784 Cubans (636 construction workers with military training, 43 military advisors, and 18 diplomats).

Cuba gradually withdrew its troops from Angola in 1989–91. An important psychological and political aspect of the Cuban military involvement in Africa was the significant presence of black or mixed-race soldiers among the Cuban forces. According to one source, more than 300,000 Cuban military personnel and civilian experts were deployed in Africa. The source also states that out of the 50,000 Cubans sent to Angola, half contracted AIDS, and that 10,000 Cubans died as a consequence of their military actions in Africa. Cuban troops allegedly committed atrocities in Africa.

Soviet troops began to withdraw from Cuba in September 1991, and Castro's rule was severely tested in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse in December 1991 (known in Cuba as the Special Period). The country faced a severe economic downturn following the withdrawal of Soviet subsidies worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually, resulting in effects such as food and fuel shortages. The government did not accept American donations of food, medicines and cash until 1993. On 5 August 1994, state security dispersed protesters in a spontaneous protest in Havana. From the start of the crisis until 1995, Cuba saw its gross domestic product (GDP) shrink by 35%. It took another five years for its GDP to reach pre-crisis levels. In 1996, after Cuban fighter jets shot down two small aircraft piloted by a Florida-based anti-Castro group, the U.S. Congress passed the Helms–Burton Act, strengthening U.S. embargoes.

Cuba then found a new source of aid and support in the People's Republic of China. In addition, Castro, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Bolivian President Evo Morales became allies, and both countries began to support the Cuban economy. In 2003, the government arrested and imprisoned a large number of civil activists, a period known as the "Black Spring".

In February 2008, Castro resigned as President of the State Council due to illness. On 24 February, the National Assembly elected his brother Raúl Castro as president. In his inauguration speech, Raúl promised that some of the restrictions on freedom in Cuba would be removed. In March 2009, Raúl Castro removed some of his brother's appointees. In 2009 the OAS adopted a resolution to end the 47-year ban on Cuban membership of the group. The resolution stated, however, that full membership would be delayed until Cuba was "in conformity with the practices, purposes, and principles of the OAS". Fidel Castro wrote that Cuba would not rejoin the OAS, which he said was a "U.S. Trojan horse" and "complicit" in actions taken by the U.S. against Cuba and other Latin American nations.

In 2013 Cuba ended the requirement established in 1961 that any citizens who wished to travel abroad were required to obtain an expensive government permit and a letter of invitation. In 1961 the Cuban government had imposed broad restrictions on travel to prevent the mass emigration of people after the 1959 revolution; it approved exit visas only on rare occasions. In the first year of the program, over 180,000 left Cuba and returned. Talks with American officials, including President Barack Obama, resulted in the 2014 release of Alan Gross, 52 political prisoners, and an unnamed non-citizen agent of the United States in return for the release of three Cubans who had been convicted of espionage in the United States. The embargo between the United States and Cuba was relaxed to allow import, export, and certain limited commerce.

Raúl Castro stepped down from the presidency in 2018, and Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected president of the State Council by the National Assembly following parliamentary elections. Raúl Castro remained the First Secretary of the Communist Party and retained broad authority, including oversight over the president.

Cuba approved a new constitution in 2019. The optional vote attracted 84.4% of eligible voters; 90% of those who voted approved the constitution, and 9% opposed it. The constitution states that the Communist Party is the only legitimate political party, describes access to health and education as fundamental rights, imposes presidential term limits, enshrines the right to legal representation upon arrest, recognizes private property, and strengthens the rights of multinationals investing with the state. Any form of discrimination harmful to human dignity is banned under the constitution.In 2021 U.S. President Donald Trump added Cuba to the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, implementing a series of additional economic sanctions on the country. Díaz-Canel succeeded Castro as first secretary of the Communist Party. In July 2021, there were several large protests against the government. Cuban exiles also conducted protests overseas.

The 2024–2026 Cuba blackouts were the most severe living crisis that the country has experienced since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Díaz-Canel blamed the blackout on the United States embargo against Cuba, which he said prevented much needed supplies and replacement parts from reaching Cuba.

In February 2026, following the United States intervention in Venezuela, which was a major oil supplier to Cuba, and expansion of US sanctions on trade with Cuba, Cuba experienced widespread energy shortages, resulting in rolling blackouts, hospital shortages and flight cancellations, culminating in the 2026 Cuban crisis. UN experts have condemned the executive order issued by the Trump administration, describing the imposition of a fuel blockade on Cuba as "a serious violation of international law and a grave threat to a democratic and equitable international order."

Cuba is an archipelago of 4,195 islands, cays and islets located in the northern Caribbean Sea at the convergence of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It lies between latitudes 19° and 24°N, and longitudes 74° and 85°W. Key West, Florida, is about 150 km (93 miles) across the Straits of Florida to the north and northwest, and The Bahamas (Cay Lobos) 22.5 km (14 mi) to the north. Mexico lies 210 km (130.5 mi) west across the Yucatán Channel (to the closest tip of Cabo Catoche). Haiti is 78 km (48.5 mi) east and Jamaica 148 km (92 mi) south.

Cuba is the principal island, surrounded by four smaller groups of islands: the Colorados Archipelago on the northwestern coast, the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago on the north-central Atlantic coast, the Jardines de la Reina on the south-central coast and the Canarreos Archipelago on the southwestern coast. The main island, named Cuba, is 1,250 km (780 mi) long, constituting most of the nation's land area (104,338 km2 or 40,285 sq mi) and is the largest island in the Caribbean and 17th-largest island in the world. The main island consists mostly of flat to rolling plains apart from the Sierra Maestra mountains in the southeast, whose highest point is Pico Turquino (1,974 m or 6,476 ft). The second-largest island is Isla de la Juventud in the Canarreos Archipelago, with an area of 2,204 km2 (851 sq mi). Cuba has an official area of 109,884 km2 (42,426 sq mi). Its area is 110,860 km2 (42,803 sq mi) according to the CIA.

With the entire island south of the Tropic of Cancer, the local climate is tropical, moderated by northeasterly trade winds that blow year-round. The temperature is also shaped by the Caribbean Current which brings in warm water from the Equator. This makes the climate of Cuba warmer than that of Hong Kong, which is at around the same latitude as Cuba but has a subtropical rather than a tropical climate. In general (with local variations), there is a drier season from November to April, and a rainier season from May to October. The average temperature is 21 °C (70 °F) in January and 27 °C (81 °F) in July. The warm temperatures of the Caribbean Sea and the fact that Cuba sits across the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico combine to make the country prone to frequent hurricanes. These are most common in September and October.

Climate change is causing an increase in temperature, rising sea levels and shifting precipitation patterns, with an overall decrease in rainfall predicted. These will severely impact industries key to the economy, including agriculture, forestry and tourism. As rainfall is Cuba's only water source, water security is an issue. Warmer temperatures may affect the health of the population, causing an increase in cardiovascular, respiratory and viral diseases. A temperature rise of 2 °C above preindustrial levels can increase the likelihood of extreme hurricane rainfall by three times in Cuba. Climate change mitigation and adaptation plans include renewable energy generation and nature-based solutions, such as restoring mangrove ecosystems.

Hurricane Irma hit the island on 8 September 2017, with winds of 260 km/h (160 mph), at the Camagüey Archipelago. The worst damage was in the keys north of the main island. Hospitals, warehouses and factories were damaged; much of the north coast was without electricity. Nearly one million people, including tourists, were evacuated. The Varadero resort area reported widespread damage. Ten people were killed during the storm, including seven in Havana, most during building collapses. Sections of the capital had been flooded.

Cuba contains six terrestrial ecoregions: Cuban moist forests, Cuban dry forests, Cuban pine forests, Cuban wetlands, Cuban cactus scrub, and Greater Antilles mangroves. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.4/10, ranking it 102nd globally out of 172 countries.

Cuba signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992. A National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan was submitted in 2008. The report contains a detailed breakdown of the numbers of species recorded from Cuba, the main groups being: animals (17,801 species), bacteria (270), chromista (707), fungi, including lichen-forming species (5,844), plants (9,107) and protozoa (1,440).

The native bee hummingbird or zunzuncito is the world's smallest known bird, with a length of 55 mm (2+1⁄8 in). The Cuban trogon or tocororo is the national bird of Cuba and an endemic species. Other endemic species are the Cuban crocodile, Cuban hutia, Cuban solenodon, Cuban gar, Cuban boa, and Polymita picta. Hedychium coronarium, named mariposa in Cuba, is the national flower.

The Republic of Cuba is a unitary one-party socialist state that adheres to the ideology of Marxism–Leninism. The Constitution of 1976, which defines Cuba as a socialist republic, was amended in 1992 and 2002, and is "guided by the ideas of José Martí and the political and social ideas of Marx, Engels and Lenin". The constitution describes the Communist Party of Cuba as the "leading force of society and of the state". The political system reflects the Marxist–Leninist concept of democratic centralism.

The First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba is the most senior position in the one-party state. The First Secretary leads the Politburo and the Secretariat, making the office holder the most powerful person in government. Members of both councils are elected by the National Assembly of People's Power. The President of Cuba, who is elected by the Assembly, serves for five years and since the ratification of the 2019 Constitution, there is a limit of two consecutive five-year terms. The People's Supreme Court serves as the highest judicial branch of government. It is also the court of last resort for all appeals against the decisions of provincial courts.

Cuba's national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular), is the supreme state organ of power; 470 members serve five-year terms. The assembly meets twice a year; between sessions legislative power is held by the 31 member Council of Ministers. Candidates for the Assembly are approved by public referendum. All Cuban citizens over 16 who have not been convicted of a criminal offense can vote. Article 131 of the constitution states that voting shall be "through free, equal and secret vote". Article 136 states: "In order for deputies or delegates to be considered elected they must get more than half the number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts".

Elections in Cuba are not considered democratic. In elections for the National Assembly of People's Power there is only one candidate for each seat, which prevents electoral competition. No political party is permitted to nominate candidates or campaign on the island. Candidates are nominated by committees that are firmly controlled by the Communist Party. Voters can select individual candidates on their ballot, select every candidate, or leave every question blank, with no option to vote against candidates.

The Communist Party of Cuba holds Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba meetings once in around 5 years since 1975. In 2011, the party stated that there were 800,000 members. Party representatives generally constitute at least half of the Councils of state and the National Assembly. The remaining positions are filled by candidates nominally without party affiliation. Other political parties campaign and raise finances internationally, while activity by political opposition groups is minimal.

According to International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Cuba performs poorly on overall democratic measures. Cuba is considered an authoritarian regime according to The Economist's Democracy Index, Freedom in the World reports, and V-Dem Democracy Indices.

Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected president on 18 April 2018 after the resignation of Raúl Castro. On 19 April 2021, Díaz-Canel became First Secretary of the Communist Party. He is the first non-Castro to be in such top position since the Cuban Revolution of 1959.

The country is subdivided into 15 provinces and one special municipality (Isla de la Juventud). These were formerly part of six larger historical provinces: Pinar del Río, Habana, Matanzas, Las Villas, Camagüey and Oriente. The present subdivisions closely resemble those of the Spanish military provinces during the Cuban Wars of Independence, when the most troublesome areas were subdivided. The provinces are divided into municipalities.