COUNTRIES IN A NUTSHELL: CUBA. It contains: interesting facts and information about Cuba and the most famous Cuban people: Fidel Castro, Gloria Estefan, Raul Castro and many others.

2. The official name of Cuba
is the Republic of Cuba.

3. Cuba is the largest of all islands in the Caribbean. The country
also includes more than 4000 other much smaller islands.

4. From the air, the island of Cuba resembles a crocodile and so Cuba is
often referred to in Spanish as "El Cocodrilo“ or "El Caimá".

5. The capital and largest city of Cuba is Havana or
"La Habana" in Spanish.

6. Cuba has a population of 11 million people (11,061,886)
as of July 2013.

7. Original indigenous inhabitants of Cuba were the Guanajatabey
people followed by the Ciboney and Taíno tribes. In 1492, Christopher
Columbus arrived on the island and claimed it as a Spanish territory.

8. Cuba remained a Spanish colony until the Spanish-American War of
1898 when the country became part of the United States. This was
only brief though, the country was given independence in 1902.

9. The USA had a strong influence over the island until 1959,
when communist revolutionaries, led by Fidel Castro, took over.
The country is one of the world's four communist states today.

10. Cuba is renown for its music, bands play everywhere in the
capital Havana. The main musical form is called son, which
is a combination of upbeat rhythms with classical guitar.

11. Sugar from sugar cane is the main crop in Cuba, followed by
tobacco which is used in the making of hand-crafted cigars
that are famous for being the finest cigars in the world.

12. Nickel is Cuba's most important mineral resource at 21% of
total exports in 2011 nearly 4% of the world's production.

13. In a traditional Cuban meal the food is not served in courses,
instead all the food is served at the same time.

14. Baseball is the most popular sport in Cuba by far. The country
is also dominant in boxing and has produced a number of
Olympic boxing champions. Other sports of interest include
basketball, volleyball, cricket, football and athletics.

15. The game of dominoes is extremely popular in Cuba.

16. As of 2013 Cuba has 9 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage
list, 7 of these cultural sites and 2 of them natural.

19. GOODBYE CUBA!
ADIOS CUBA!