📰 Cuba · page 6

Cuba's population descends primarily from three groups: Spanish settlers and immigrants—drawn largely from Andalusia, Galicia, Asturias, and the Canary Islands[351]—sub-Saharan Africans transported to the island through the transatlantic slave trade,[352] and the pre-Columbian indigenous peoples, chiefly the Taíno and Ciboney.[353][354]484

Afro-Cubans are descended primarily from the Yoruba people, Bantu people from the Congo basin, Kalabari tribe and Arará from the Dahomey, as well as several thousand North African refugees, most notably the Sahrawi Arabs of Western Sahara.[355]485

While Afro-Cubans and Cubans of Spanish descent have endured as distinct ethnocultural units, no equivalent indigenous-descended group survived the catastrophic demographic collapse of the sixteenth century;[356] Taíno ancestry nonetheless persists in the Cuban population at the genetic level, as evidenced by mitochondrial DNA studies.[353][357][358]486

Cuba's population is therefore multiethnic, and intermarriage between these groups has been widespread across many centuries, producing a significant population of mixed ancestry—not as a product of recent admixture but of long-accumulated intergenerational intermarriage.[359][360]487 Consequently, there is significant discrepancy between different estimates of the country's racial composition.488 A 2014 study based on ancestry-informative markers found that autosomal genetic ancestry in Cuba is 72% European, 20% African, and 8% Indigenous.[361]489

The 2002 Cuban census, in which respondents self-identified, found that 65.05% of the population was white, while the 2012 census recorded approximately 27% of Cubans as mestizo o mulato and just under 10% as negro (Black).[362]490 The 2012 Cuban census recorded, on the same basis, that 64.1% of the population was white (blanco), 26.6% mestizo o mulato (mixed race), and 9.3% Black (negro).[363]491 As with the 2002 census, these figures reflect self-perception rather than genetic ancestry or externally assigned classification, and have been widely contested by independent researchers who argue that they significantly under-report the Black and mixed-race population.[364]492

These figures also diverge markedly from estimates produced by applying the one-drop rule, the hypodescent convention historically specific to the United States, under which any traceable African ancestry classifies a person as Black.493 The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, using that framework, concluded that 62% of Cubans are Black.[365]494 However, the one-drop rule does not reflect Cuban or broader Latin American racial classification.495 In Cuba, as across most of Latin America, people of mixed African and European ancestry—commonly designated mulato—have historically constituted and understood themselves as a distinct category, neither defined in opposition to Blackness nor in denial of it, but in acknowledgement of a mixed heritage that carries its own social and cultural meaning.496 The Cuban census formally recognises this through its separate mestizo o mulato classification.[366][367]497 Applying a binary Black/white framework derived from U.S. legal and social history to Cuban racial self-identification therefore imposes a classificatory logic that Cuban society does not use and that systematically erases the identities of a substantial portion of the population.[368][369]498 In light of these methodological divergences, the Minority Rights Group International has cautioned that "an objective assessment of the situation of Afro-Cubans remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution," and that estimates of the percentage of people of African descent in the Cuban population vary enormously, ranging from 33.9% to 62%.[370]499

Asians make up about 1% of the population and are largely of Chinese ancestry, followed by Japanese and Filipino.[371][372]500 Many are descendants of farm laborers brought to the island by Spanish and American contractors during the 19th and early 20th century.[373]501 The current recorded number of Cubans with Chinese ancestry is 114,240.[374]502

Migration

Immigration

Main article: French immigration to Cuba, Spanish immigration to Cuba

Immigration and emigration have played a prominent part in Cuba's demographic profile.503 Between the 18th and early 20th century, large waves of Canarian, Catalan, Andalusian, Galician, and other Spanish people immigrated to Cuba.504 Between 1899 and 1930 alone, nearly one million Spaniards entered Cuba, although many eventually returned to Spain.[375]505 Other prominent immigrant groups included French,[376] Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Greek, British, and Irish, as well as small number of descendants of U.S. citizens who arrived in Cuba in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.506 As of 2015, the foreign-born population in Cuba was 13,336 inhabitants per the World Bank data.[377]507

Emigration

Main article: Cuban exile, Cuban immigration to the United States

Post-revolution Cuba has been characterized by significant levels of emigration, which has led to a large and influential diaspora community.508 During the three decades after January 1959, more than one million Cubans of all social classes—constituting 10% of the total population—emigrated to the United States, a proportion that matches the extent of emigration to the U.S. from the Caribbean as a whole during that period.[378][379][380][381][382]509 Prior to 13 January 2013, Cuban citizens could not travel abroad, leave or return to Cuba without first obtaining official permission along with applying for a government-issued passport and travel visa, which was often denied.[383]510 Those who left the country typically did so by sea, in small boats and fragile rafts.511

On 9 September 1994, the U.S. and Cuban governments agreed that the U.S. would grant at least 20,000 visas annually in exchange for Cuba's pledge to prevent further unlawful departures on boats.[384]512

In the 2020s Cuba is undergoing its most severe socioeconomic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union, leading to a record number of Cubans fleeing the island.[385]513 The number of Cubans trying to enter the United States, primarily through the Mexican border, surged from 39,000 in 2021 to over 224,000 in 2022.514 In 2022, more than 2% of the population (almost 250,000 Cubans out of 11 million) migrated to the United States, and thousands more went to other countries, a number "larger than the 1980 Mariel boatlift and the 1994 Cuban rafter crisis combined", which were Cuba's previous largest migration events.[301]515 Many resorted to selling their homes at very low prices to afford one-way flights to Nicaragua corpus, hoping to travel through Mexico to reach the U.S.[385] Internal migration has led to overpopulation in Havana, resulting in people living in makeshift shelters or overcrowded buildings, some of which are on the brink of collapse.516 Regular power outages harken back to the early 1990s, a time when Soviet subsidies ended, plunging the island into economic hardship.[385]517 Emigration has continued into the 2020s, with the national population dipping below 10 million for the first time since 1980 in 2025.518 This signifies a 13% loss of population since 2012, when the Cuban population peaked at 11.2 million.[386]519

Cuba's "Special Period" saw the country relying heavily on foreign tourism and the earnings of nationals working abroad.520 The 2020 pandemic, however, severely affected this revenue stream, decreasing the number of tourists by 75% in 2020.521 Monetary reforms in 2021 introduced shocks of inflation, further exacerbating the country's food scarcity and boosting the black market's prominence.[385]522 Despite the increasing hardships, the Cuban spirit remains resilient.523 Access to the internet since 2018 and widespread use of social media have fueled calls for political and economic liberalization.524 The power of the internet was evident during the Cuban protests of 2021, which were promptly suppressed by the police, with many prominent artists and bloggers detained.[385]525

As of 2013 the top emigration destinations were the United States, Spain, Italy, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.[387]526

Languages

Main article: Cuban Spanish

The official language is Spanish, and the vast majority of Cubans speak Cuban Spanish, a form of Caribbean Spanish.527 Lucumí, a dialect of the West African language Yoruba, is also used as a liturgical language by practitioners of Santería,[388] and so only as a second language.[389]528 Haitian Creole is the second-most spoken language and is spoken by Haitian immigrants and their descendants.[390]529 Other languages spoken by immigrants include Galician and Corsican.[391]530 Russian will be the first foreign language taught in schools, as of the 2026-2027 school year.[392]531

Religion

Main article: Religion in Cuba

Cuba is officially a secular state.532 Religious freedom increased through the 1980s,[393] with the government amending the constitution in 1992 to drop the state's characterization as atheistic.[394]533 In 2010, the Pew Forum estimated that religious affiliation is 59.2% Christian, 23% unaffiliated, 17.4% folk religion (such as Santería), and the remaining 0.4% consisting of other religions.[395]534 In a 2015 survey sponsored by Univision, 44% of Cubans said they were not religious, and 9% did not give an answer while only 34% said they were Christian.[396]535

Roman Catholicism is the largest religion, with its origins in Spanish colonization.536 Despite less than half of the population identifying as Catholics in 2006, it nonetheless remains the dominant faith.[397]537 Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba in 1998 and 2011, respectively, and Pope Francis visited in 2015.[398][399]538 Prior to each papal visit, the government pardoned prisoners as a humanitarian gesture.[400][401]539

The government's relaxation of restrictions on house churches in the 1990s led to an explosion of Pentecostalism, with some groups claiming as many as 100,000 members.540 However, Evangelical Protestant denominations, organized into the umbrella Cuban Council of Churches, remain much more vibrant and powerful.[402]541 Several well-known Cuban religious figures have operated outside the island, including the humanitarian and author Jorge Armando Pérez.542

The religious landscape of is strongly defined by syncretisms of various kinds.543 Christianity is often practiced in tandem with Santería, a mixture of Catholicism and mostly African faiths, which include a number of cults.544 La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (the Virgin of Cobre) is the Catholic patroness of Cuba, and a symbol of Cuban culture.545 In Santería, she has been syncretized with the goddess Oshun.546 A breakdown of the followers of Afro-Cuban religions showed that most practitioners of Palo Mayombe were black and dark brown-skinned, most practitioners of Vodú were medium brown and light brown-skinned, and most practitioners of Santería were light brown and white-skinned.[403]547

Cuba hosts small communities of Jews (500 in 2012), Muslims (6,000 in 2011), and members of the Baháʼí Faith.[404]548

Education

Main article: Education in Cuba

The University of Havana was founded in 1728, and there are several other well-established colleges and universities.549 In 1957, just before Castro came to power, the literacy rate was as low as fourth in Latin America at 76% according to the United Nations, yet higher than in Spain.[116]550 Castro created an entirely state-operated system and banned private institutions.551 School attendance is compulsory from ages six to the end of basic secondary education (normally at age 15), and all students, regardless of age or gender, wear school uniforms with the color denoting grade level.552 Primary education lasts for six years, secondary education is divided into basic and pre-university education.[405]553 Cuba's literacy rate of 99.8 percent[308][406] is eight points higher than the Caribbean average[27] and the tenth-highest globally, largely due to the provision of free education at every level.[407]554 The high school graduation rate is 94 percent.[408]555

Higher education is provided by universities, higher institutes, higher pedagogical institutes, and higher polytechnic institutes.556 The Ministry of Higher Education operates a distance education program that provides regular afternoon and evening courses in rural areas for agricultural workers.557 Education has a strong political and ideological emphasis, and students progressing to higher education are expected to have a commitment to the goals of Cuba.[405]558 Cuba has provided free education to foreign nationals from disadvantaged backgrounds at the Latin American School of Medicine.[409][410]559

Health

Main article: Healthcare in Cuba

After the revolution, Cuba established a free public health system.[30]560 Cuba's life expectancy at birth is 80.1 years (77.8 for males and 82.6 for females), ranked 58th in the world and 5th in the Americas.[411]561 Infant mortality declined from 32 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 1957, to 10 in 1990–95,[412] 6.1 in 2000–2005 and 5.13 in 2009.[406][308]562 Historically, Cuba has ranked high in numbers of medical personnel and has made significant contributions to world health since the 19th century.[116]563

Cuba has universal health care, and despite persistent shortages of medical supplies, there is no shortage of medical personnel.[413]564 Primary care is available throughout the island, and infant and maternal mortality rates compare favorably with those in developed nations.[413]565 That an impoverished nation like Cuba has health outcomes rivaling the developed world is referred to by researchers as the Cuban Health Paradox.[414]566 Cuba ranks 29th on the 2024 Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, the highest ranking of a developing country.[415]567 The healthcare system, renowned for its medical services, has emphasized the export of health professionals through international missions, aiding global health efforts.[416]568 However, while these missions generate significant revenue and serve as a tool for political influence, domestically, Cuba faces challenges including medication shortages and disparities between medical services for locals and foreigners.[416]569 Despite the income from these missions, only a small fraction of the national budget has been allocated to public health, underscoring contrasting priorities within the nation's healthcare strategy.[416]570

Disease and infant mortality increased in the 1960s immediately after the revolution, when half of Cuba's 6,000 doctors left the country.[417]571 Recovery occurred by the 1980s,[103] and the country's health care has been widely praised.[418]572 The Communist government stated that universal health care was a priority of state planning and progress was made in rural areas.[419]573 After the revolution, the government increased rural hospitals from one to 62.[30]574 Like the rest of the Cuban economy, medical care suffered from severe material shortages following the end of Soviet subsidies in 1991, and a tightening of the U.S. embargo in 1992.[420]575 Challenges include low salaries for doctors,[31] poor facilities, poor provision of equipment, and the frequent absence of essential drugs.[32]576