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government 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) national holiday: independence day. 10 december (1898); note - 10 december 1898 is the date of independence from spain. 20 may 1902 is the date of independence from us administration; rebellion day. 26 july (1953) constitution: 24 february 1976; amended july 1992 and june 2002 legal system: based on spanish and american law. with large elements of communist legal theory; has not accepted compulsory icj jurisdiction suffrage: 16 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: president of the council of state and president of the council of ministers fidel castro ruz (prime minister from february 1959 until 24 february 1976 when office was abolished; 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); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: president of the council of state and president of the council of ministers fidel castro ruz (prime minister from february 1959 until 24 february 1976 when office was abolished; 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); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: council of ministers proposed by the president of the council of state and appointed by the national assembly or the 31-member council of state. elected by the assembly to act on its behalf when it is not in session elections: president and vice presidents elected by the national assembly for a term of five years; election last held 6 march 2003 (next to be held in 2008) election results: fidel castro ruz reelected president; percent of legislative vote - 100%; raul castro ruz elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - 100% legislative branch: unicameral national assembly of people's power or asemblea nacional del poder popular (609 seats. elected directly from slates approved by special candidacy commissions; members serve five-year terms) elections: last held 19 january 2003 (next to be held in na 2008) election results: percent of vote - pcc 97.6%; seats - pcc 609 judicial branch: people's supreme court or tribunal supremo popular (president. vice president. and other judges are elected by the national assembly) political parties and leaders: only party - cuban communist party or pcc [fidel castro ruz. first secretary] political pressure groups and leaders: na international organization participation: acp. fao. g-77. iaea. icao. icc. icrm. ifad. ifrcs. iho. ilo. imo. interpol. ioc. iom (observer). iso. itu. laes. laia. nam. oas (excluded from formal participation since 1962). opanal. opcw. pca. un. unctad. unesco. unido. upu. wcl. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: none; note - cuba has an interests section in the swiss embassy. headed by principal officer dagoberto rodriguez barrera; address: cuban interests section. swiss embassy. 2630 16th street nw. washington. dc 20009; telephone: [1] (202) 797-8518 diplomatic representation from the us: none; note - the us has an interests section in the swiss embassy. headed by principal officer michael e. parmly; address: usint. swiss embassy. calzada between l and m streets. vedado. havana; telephone: [53] (7) 833-3551 through 3559 (operator assistance required); fax: [53] (7) 833-3700; protecting power in cuba is switzerland flag description: five equal horizontal bands of blue (top. center. 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 government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. it has rolled back limited reforms undertaken in the 1990s to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food. consumer goods. and services. the average cuban's standard of living remains at a lower level than before the downturn of the 1990s. which was caused by the loss of soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. the government in 2005 strengthened its controls over dollars coming into the economy from tourism. remittances. and trade. external financing has helped growth in the mining. oil. construction. and tourism sectors. gdp (purchasing power parity): $37.05 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): na gdp - real growth rate: 5.2% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3.300 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 5.5% industry: 26.1% services: 68.4% (2005 est.) labor force: 4.6 million note: state sector 78%. non-state sector 22% (2005 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 21.2%. industry 14.4%. services 64.4% (2004) unemployment rate: 1.9% (2005 est.) population below poverty line: na household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: na highest 10%: na inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.2% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 9.8% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $22.11 billion expenditures: $23.65 billion. including capital expenditures of na (2005 est.) agriculture - products: sugar. tobacco. citrus. coffee. rice. potatoes. beans; livestock industries: sugar. petroleum. tobacco. construction. nickel. steel. cement. agricultural machinery. pharmaceuticals industrial production growth rate: 3.5% (2005 est.) electricity - production: 15.65 billion kwh (2004) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 93.9% hydro: 0.6% nuclear: 0% other: 5.4% (2001) electricity - consumption: 14.62 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 0 kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 0 kwh (2003) oil - production: 72.000 bbl/day (2005 est.) oil - consumption: 205.000 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: na (2001) oil - proved reserves: 532 million bbl (1 january 2002) natural gas - production: 704 million cu m (2004) natural gas - consumption: 704 million cu m (2004) natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004) natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2004) natural gas - proved reserves: 42.62 billion cu m (1 january 2002) current account balance: $-748 million (2005 est.) exports: $2.388 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: netherlands 22.7%. canada 20.6%. china 7.7%. russia 7.5%. spain 6.4%. venezuela 4.4% (2004) imports: $6.916 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: spain 14.7%. venezuela 13.5%. us 11%. china 8.9%. canada 6.4%. italy 6.2%. mexico 4.9% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $2.518 billion (2005 est.) debt - external: $13.1 billion (convertible currency); another $15-20 billion owed to russia (2005 est.) economic aid - recipient: $68.2 million (1997 est.) currency (code): cuban peso (cup) and convertible peso (cuc) currency code: cup (nonconvertible cuban peso) and cuc (convertible cuban peso) exchange rates: convertible pesos per us dollar - 0.93 note: cuba has three currencies in circulation: the cuban peso (cup). the convertible peso (cuc). and the us dollar (usd). although the dollar is being withdrawn from circulation; in april 2005 the official exchange rate changed from $1 per cuc to $1.08 per cuc (0.93 cuc per $1). both for individuals and enterprises; individuals can buy 24 cuban pesos (cup) for each cuc sold. or sell 25 cuban pesos for each cuc bought; enterprises. however. must exchange cup and cuc at a 1:1 ratio. fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 574.400 (2002) telephones - mobile cellular: 17.900 (2002) telephone system: general assessment: greater investment beginning in 1994 and the establishment of a new ministry of information technology and communications in 2000 has resulted in improvements in the system; wireless service is expensive and remains restricted to foreigners and regime elites. many cubans procure wireless service illegally with the help of foreigners domestic: national fiber-optic system under development; 85% of switches digitized by end of 2004; telephone line density remains low. at 10 per 100 inhabitants; domestic cellular service expanding international: country code - 53; fiber-optic cable laid to but not linked to us network; satellite earth station - 1 intersputnik (atlantic ocean region) radio broadcast stations: am 169. fm 55. shortwave 1 (1998) radios: 3.9 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 58 (1997) televisions: 2.64 million (1997) internet country code: .cu internet hosts: 1.529 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 5 (2001) internet users: 120.000 note: private citizens are prohibited from buying computers or accessing the internet without special authorization; foreigners may access the internet in large hotels. but are subject to firewalls; some cubans buy illegal passwords on the black market. or take advantage of public outlets to access limited email and the government-controlled "intranet" (2004) airports: 170 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 78 over 3.047 m: 7 2.438 to 3.047 m: 9 1.524 to 2.437 m: 18 914 to 1.523 m: 7 under 914 m: 37 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 92 1.524 to 2.437 m: 1 914 to 1.523 m: 29 under 914 m: 62 (2005 est.) pipelines: gas 49 km; oil 230 km (2004) railways: total: 4.226 km standard gauge: 4.226 km 1.435-m gauge (140 km electrified) note: an additional 7.742 km of track is used by sugar plantations; about 65% of this track is standard gauge; the rest is narrow gauge (2004) roadways: total: 60.858 km paved: 29.820 km (including 638 km of expressway) unpaved: 31.038 km (1999) waterways: 240 km (2004) merchant marine: total: 15 ships (1.000 grt or over) 54.818 grt/81.850 dwt by type: bulk carrier 2. cargo 4. chemical tanker 1. passenger 2. petroleum tanker 4. refrigerated cargo 2 foreign-owned: 1 (spain 1) registered in other countries: 20 (2005) ports and terminals: cienfuegos. havana. matanzas military branches: revolutionary armed forces (far): revolutionary army (er). revolutionary navy (mgr). air and air defense force (daafar). territorial militia troops (mtt). youth labor army (ejt) military service age and obligation: 17 years of age; both sexes are eligible for military service (2004) manpower available for military service: males age 17-49: 2.967.865 females age 17-49: 2.913.559 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 17-49: 2.441.927 females age 17-49: 2.396.741 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 91.901 females: 87.500 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $572.3 million (2003) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 1.8% (2003) military - note: moscow. for decades the key military supporter and supplier of cuba. cut off almost all military aid by 1993 disputes - international: us naval base at guantanamo bay is leased to us and only mutual agreement or us abandonment of the area can terminate the lease illicit drugs: territorial waters and air space serve as transshipment zone primarily for marijuana bound for north america; established the death penalty for certain drug-related crimes in 1999
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