Caribbean · CUB
Cuba
The story · 11 chapters
How it was drawn
The largest Caribbean island, a Spanish colony for almost four centuries, then a republic shaped by the United States, and a communist state since 1959.
Play the story Take the first lessonThrough the ages
Rivals in history
The kingdoms, empires and states Cuba fought or stood against, from the first to today.
- Crown of Castile1511 to 1515
Diego Velázquez's conquest met resistance led by the Taino chief Hatuey, who had fled Spanish rule on Hispaniola. Hatuey was captured and burned at the stake, and the Taino population collapsed under forced labour and disease.
French corsairs attacked Cuba during Spain's wars with France. In 1555 Jacques de Sores captured and burned Havana, which pushed Spain to build the great fortresses that still guard the harbour.
- Kingdom of England1655 to 1670
After England seized Jamaica in 1655, English raiders struck Cuba: Christopher Myngs sacked Santiago de Cuba in 1662, and Henry Morgan attacked Puerto Principe, today Camaguey, in 1668.
- Kingdom of Great Britain1741 to 1763
A British force landed at Guantánamo Bay in 1741 but abandoned its march on Santiago. In 1762 Britain captured Havana after a two month siege, then traded it back to Spain for Florida in 1763.
- Kingdom of Spain1868 to 1898
Cubans fought Spain in the Ten Years' War from 1868 to 1878 and again from 1895, when Jose Marti was killed in one of the first battles. Spain's general Valeriano Weyler herded rural civilians into camps where many died.
- United States1898 to 1934
The United States defeated Spain in 1898, occupied Cuba until 1902 and forced the Platt Amendment into its constitution, allowing intervention. American troops returned from 1906 to 1909, and the amendment was dropped in 1934.
After the revolution seized American property, the United States imposed an embargo, backed the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and faced Cuba in the missile crisis of 1962. Relations were restored in 2015, but the embargo and the Guantánamo base remain.
- South Africa1975 to 1988
In Angola, Cuban troops fought South African forces supporting the rebel movement UNITA, most heavily around Cuito Cuanavale in 1987 and 1988. Accords signed in December 1988 brought Namibian independence and the withdrawal of both armies.
Today
Cuba now
The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the arrival of Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492, as the country was developed as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule eventually provoked an independence movement, and occasional rebellions were harshly suppressed.
- Capital
- Havana
- Government
- communist state
- Head of government
- Manuel Marrero Cruz
- Head of state
- Miguel Díaz-Canel
- Languages
- Spanish
- Area
- 109,884 km²
Through time
Then and now
- Population11.0 million2023 · 5.9 million in 1950
- Life expectancy78.1 years2023 · 59.0 years in 1950
- GDP per person$7,6482022 · $2,638 in 1950
- Living in cities77%2025 · 56% in 1950
- Literacy98%2019 · 78% in 1950
- Political regimeClosed autocracy2025 · Electoral autocracy in 1950
- Military alliancesNone of these2024 · Rio Pact in 1950
- Military spending2.9% of GDP2018
- War deathsNone2025
Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.
Relations
Close partners and tensions
Close partners
- Viet Nam
- Brazil
- Venezuela, RB
- Russian Federation
- China
Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.