The Internet Travel Guide "Getting to Know Cuba"

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People: The Population

10.8 million people live in Cuba and since 1953 the population has almost doubled. About a fifth of the Cubans live in the Capital, Havana. The percentage of people living in urban areas is relatively high, at more than 70%. Since Castro's seizure of power and the ensuing mass emigration to the United States, the growth rate of Cuba's population is low and has recently decreased to under 1%. Today's average life expectancy is 77 years compared to only 55 years in the period before the revolution.

Cuban women in traditional garb

Ethnic Groups

An overwhelming majority of the Cubans is of European, mostly of Spanish, origin. Compared to which, the black population is relatively small. Immigration to Cuba reached a peak in the 18th century when the independence caused a great sugar boom. Thus, the demand for slaves increased dramatically. About 1 million Africans from the coasts of Senegal and Guinea, especially from the Yoruba, Congo and Carabali tribes, were sold in the markets. When slave trade was banned around 1850, and the big landowners had lost their cheap workers, they contracted 125,000 Cantonese coolies. For the past two centuries, the population has mixed increasingly. In 2000, about 66% of the Cubans were white, 21.5% mulattos, 12% black and about 0.5% Chinese. These numbers, however, can hardly be relied on, as today no clear distinction can be made between the ethnic groups. In order to prevent racial discrimination, Fidel Castro stresses that all Cubans are of mixed ethnic origin. Racial discrimination was officially banned after the revolution.