The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency (ebook reader 8 inch .txt) 📕

telephone: [1] (202) 797-8518; FAX: [1] (202) 797-8521

Diplomatic representation from the US:

none; note - the US has an Interests Section in the Swiss Embassy, headed by Chief of Mission Jonathan D. FARRAR; 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) 833-1653; 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
Cuba

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. Since late 2000, Venezuela has been providing oil on preferential terms, and it currently supplies about 100,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Cuba has been paying for the oil, in part, with the services of Cuban personnel in Venezuela, including some 20,000 medical professionals. In 2007, high metals prices continued to boost Cuban earnings from nickel and cobalt production. Havana continued to invest in the country's energy sector to mitigate electrical blackouts that had plagued the country since 2004.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$125.5 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$45.58 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

6.5% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$11,000 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 5.2% industry: 25% services: 69.8% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

4.956 million note: state sector 78%, non-state sector 22% (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 20% industry: 19.4% services: 60.6% (2005)

Unemployment rate:

1.8% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:

NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Investment (gross fixed):

13.1% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $41.84 billion expenditures: $43.9 billion (2007 est.)

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Public debt:

36.8% of GDP (2007 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

3.1% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate:

NA

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

NA

Stock of money:

NA

Stock of quasi money:

NA

Stock of domestic credit:

NA

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:

2.5% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:

16.97 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

14.02 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 93.9% hydro: 0.6% nuclear: 0% other: 5.4% (2001)

Oil - production:

61,300 bbl/day (2008 est.)

Oil - consumption:

203,500 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

0 bbl/day (2006)

Oil - imports:

123,200 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:

124 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production:

1.058 billion cu m (2006)

Natural gas - consumption:

1.058 billion cu m (2006)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

70.79 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Current account balance:

$240 million (2007 est.)

Exports:

$3.734 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, coffee

Exports - partners:

China 27.5%, Canada 26.9%, Netherlands 11.1%, Spain 4.7% (2007)

Imports:

$10.08 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

petroleum, food, machinery and equipment, chemicals

Imports - partners:

Venezuela 29.6%, China 13.4%, Spain 10.4%, Canada 6%, US 5.1% (2007)

Economic aid - recipient:

$87.8 million (2005 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$4.247 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$16.79 billion (convertible currency); another $15-20 billion owed to Russia (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$11.24 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$4.138 billion (2006 est.)

Currency (code):

Cuban peso (CUP) and Convertible peso (CUC)

Currency code:

CUP (nonconvertible Cuban peso) and CUC (convertible Cuban peso)

Exchange rates:

Cuban pesos (CUP) per US dollar - 0.9259 (2007), 0.9231 (2006) note: Cuba has two currencies in circulation: the Cuban peso (CUP) and the convertible peso (CUC); 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.

Communications
Cuba

Telephones - main lines in use:

1.043 million (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

198,300 (2007)

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 must be paid in convertible pesos which effectively limits mobile cellular subscribership domestic: national fiber-optic system under development; 95% of switches digitized by end of 2006; fixed telephone line density remains low, at less than 10 per 100 inhabitants; domestic cellular service expanding but remains at only about 2 per 100 persons international: country code - 53; fiber-optic cable laid to but not linked to US network; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) (2007)

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:

3,664 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

5 (2001)

Internet users:

1.31 million 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" (2007)

Transportation
Cuba

Airports:

165 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 70 over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 18 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 31 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 95 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 23 under 914 m: 71 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 49 km; oil 230 km (2007)

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 (2006)

Roadways:

total: 60,858 km paved: 29,820 km (includes 638 km of expressway) unpaved: 31,038 km (2000)

Waterways:

240 km (2007)

Merchant marine:

total: 11 by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 3, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 3, refrigerated cargo 2 foreign-owned: 1 (Spain 1) registered in other countries: 13 (Bahamas 1, Cyprus 1, Netherlands Antilles 1, Panama 10) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Cienfuegos, Havana, Matanzas

Military
Cuba

Military branches:

Revolutionary Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, FAR):
Revolutionary Army (ER; includes Territorial Militia Troops, MTT),
Revolutionary Navy (Marina de Guerra Revolucionaria, MGR; includes
Marine Corps), Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force (DAAFAR),
Youth Labor Army (EJT) (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

17-28 years of age for compulsory military service; 2-year service obligation; both sexes subject to military service (2006)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 3,094,388 females age 16-49: 3,024,876 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 2,543,044 females age 16-49: 2,481,823 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 79,945 female: 76,014 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

3.8% of GDP (2006 est.)

Military - note:

the collapse of the Soviet Union deprived the Cuban Army of its major economic and logistic support, and had a significant impact on equipment numbers and serviceability; the army remains well trained and professional in nature; while the lack of replacement parts for its existing equipment and the current severe shortage of fuel have increasingly affected operational capabilities, Cuba remains able to offer considerable resistance to any regional power (2008)

Transnational Issues
Cuba

Disputes - international:

US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased to US and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the facility can terminate the lease

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Cuba is principally a source country for women and children trafficked within the country for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and possibly for forced labor; the country is a destination for sex tourism, including child sex tourism, which is a problem in many areas of the country; some Cuban nationals willingly migrate to the United States, but are subsequently exploited for forced labor by their smugglers; Cuba is also a transit point for the smuggling of migrants from China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Lebanon, and other nations to the United States and Canada tier rating: Tier 3 - Cuba does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; exact information about trafficking in Cuba is difficult to obtain because the government does not acknowledge or condemn human trafficking as a problem in Cuba; tangible efforts to prosecute offenders, protect victims, or prevent human trafficking activity do not appear to have been made during 2007; Cuba has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)

Illicit drugs:

territorial waters and air space serve as transshipment zone for US- and European-bound drugs; established the death penalty for certain drug-related crimes in 1999

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Cyprus

Introduction
Cyprus

Background:

A former British colony, Cyprus became independent in 1960 following years of resistance to British rule. Tensions between the Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority came to a head in December 1963, when violence broke out in the capital of Nicosia. Despite the deployment of UN peacekeepers in 1964, sporadic intercommunal violence continued forcing most Turkish Cypriots into enclaves throughout the island. In 1974, a Greek Government-sponsored attempt to seize control of Cyprus was met by military intervention from Turkey, which soon controlled more than a third of the island. In 1983, the Turkish-held area declared itself the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC), but it is recognized only by Turkey. The latest two-year round of UN-brokered talks - between the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities to reach an agreement to reunite the divided island - ended when the Greek Cypriots rejected the UN settlement plan in an April 2004 referendum. The entire island entered the EU on 1 May 2004, although the EU acquis - the body of common rights and obligations - applies only to the areas under direct government control, and is suspended in the areas administered by Turkish Cypriots. However, individual Turkish Cypriots able to document their eligibility for Republic of Cyprus citizenship legally enjoy the same rights accorded to other citizens of European Union states. The election of a new Cypriot president in 2008 served as the impetus for the UN to encourage both the Turkish and Cypriot Governments to reopen unification negotiations.

Geography
Cyprus

Location:

Middle East, island in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey

Geographic coordinates:

35 00 N, 33 00 E

Map references:

Middle East

Area:

total: 9,250 sq km (of which 3,355 sq km are in north Cyprus) land: 9,240 sq km water: 10 sq km

Area - comparative:

about 0.6 times the size of Connecticut

Land boundaries:

total: