Cuba – Holiday Isle Of The Tropics
Cuba – Holiday Isle Of The Tropics
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country in the Caribbean. The nation comprises the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud and several archipelagos. Havana is the capital and its largest city. The second-largest city is Santiago de Cuba.
To the north of the island lies the United States, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands are to the northeast, Mexico is to the west, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south and Haiti and the Dominican Republic are to the southeast.
The island was originally inhabited by numerous Mesoamerican Indian tribes prior to the landing of explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492, who claimed it for the Kingdom of Spain. It remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, after which it gained nominal independence as a de facto U.S. protectorate in 1902. The fragile republic endured increasingly radical politics and social strife, and despite efforts to strengthen its democratic system, the country came under the dictatorship of former president Fulgencio Batista in 1952. Growing unrest and instability led to Batista’s ousting in January 1959 by the July 26 movement, which afterwards established a government under the leadership of Fidel Castro. Since 1965 the country has been governed as a single-party state by the Communist Party.
Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, and with over 11 million inhabitants, is the second-most populous after Hispaniola, albeit with a much lower population density for the region. It is a multiethnic country whose people, culture and customs derive from diverse origins, including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples, the long period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves, a close relationship with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and proximity to the United States.
Tourism
Tourism was initially restricted to enclave resorts where tourists would be segregated from Cuban society, referred to as “enclave tourism” and “tourism apartheid”. Contacts between foreign visitors and ordinary Cubans were de facto illegal between 1992 and 1997. The rapid growth of tourism during the Special Period had widespread social and economic repercussions in Cuba, and led to speculation about the emergence of a two-tier economy.
Cuba has tripled its market share of Caribbean tourism in the last decade as a result of significant investment in tourism infrastructure, this growth rate is predicted to continue. 1.9 million tourists visited Cuba in 2003, predominantly from Canada and the European Union, generating revenue of US$2.1 billion. Cuba recorded 2,688,000 international tourists in 2011, the third-highest figure in the Caribbean (behind the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico)
