By Charles Somers

GeographyCuba has a total land

area of 110,860 km2 (42,803.3 sq mi). It has 3,735 km (2,321 mi) of coastline and 29 km (18 mi) of land borders

Cuba is the largest country by land area in the Caribbean

GeographyIts main island is

the seventeenth-largest island in the world by land area

Terrain is mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast

PeopleWhite Cubans

(65.05%) comes primarily from Spaniards

Afro-Cubans compose 10.08% to 23.84%

East Asian/Oriental origins make up 1% of the population

People5,597,233 men and 5,580,510 womenThe United States

is home to the largest number of Cubans outside Cuba

Since 1959, over a million Cubans have left the island

CultureAs a former colony

of Spain, Spanish is spoken in Cuba

Baseball is the most commonly played game. Introduced by American dockworkers in Havana in the 19th century

CultureThe music of Cuba,

is mostly of European (Spanish) and African origin

present day are creolized fusions and mixtures of these two

Almost nothing remains of the original Indian traditions.

HistoryColumbus sighted in

1492 claimed for Spain

Ten Years War in 1878

In 1902, the United States handed over control to a Cuban government

Bay of pigs April 1961

HistoryIn 1965 Cuba

supported a rebellion of adherents of Lumumba

In the 1970s and 1980s Cuba stepped up its military presence abroad

In 2006 Fidel Castro took ill and moved out of the public light and into a hospital

sourcesGoogle imagesWikipediahttp://www.historyofcuba.com/cuba.htm