season.
Plants and Animals
Thousands of types of flowering plants
grow in Cuba. Forests of tropical trees
cover about one fifth of the land. Royal
palms are common in rural areas. Animals
include small mammals, iguanas,
frogs, and scorpions. Sharks, mollusks,
and manatees live in Cuba’s waters.
People
About one third of Cuba’s people are
white, many with a Spanish background.
A smaller number of people are
the descendants of African slaves. More
than half of all Cubans have mixed
white and black roots. Spanish is the
main language. Although the government
looks down on religion, many
Cubans practice Roman Catholicism or
Santeria (a religion of African origin).
About three fourths of the people live in
cities.
Economy
Trade, services, and manufacturing are
the most important economic activities.
Much of the industry in Cuba is related
to the country’s agricultural and natural
resources. Tobacco and food products
are the major manufactured items.
Sugar, made from sugarcane grown on
large plantations, is Cuba’s main export.
Mines provide nickel, and the waters
provide fish. Factories also make chemicals,
transportation equipment, and
nonelectrical machinery.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Cuba 227
History
Columbus claimed Cuba for Spain in
1492. After the Spanish began settling
there in 1511, warfare and disease soon
killed the native Taino and Ciboney
peoples. The Spanish brought in African
slaves to work on sugarcane plantations.
Following the Spanish-AmericanWar of
1898, Spain granted Cuba independence.
The Republic of Cuba was established
in 1902. It suffered from
government instability, corruption, and
widespread poverty.
In 1959 Fidel Castro overthrew the government
and took power. He made
Cuba a Communist country. Other
Communist countries, particularly the
Soviet Union, gave Cuba their support,
and some Cubans hoped that Castro
would put an end to the country’s problems.
Many Cubans who did not like
Communism, however, left the country.
In 1961 a force of 1,500 people who
opposed Castro invaded the Bay of Pigs,
southeast of Havana. They tried to capture
Cuba but failed.
Cuba’s relationship with the United
States suffered because the United States
opposed Communism. The United
States refused to trade with Cuba. It also
threatened Cuba in 1962, when it discovered
that the Soviet Union had
placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The
event became known as the Cuban Missile
Crisis. It ended when the Soviets
withdrew the missiles.
In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed and
Cuba lost an important source of support.
But Castro remained in power
until 2008, when his brother Raul
became president. Raul made some
changes, but the United States still limited
trade with Cuba.
..More to explore
Caribbean Sea • Castro, Fidel
• Columbus, Christopher
• Communism • Havana • Spanish-
AmericanWar
A market in front of the Cathedral of San
Cristobal in Havana, Cuba, is a busy place.
A band performs in Havana, Cuba.
Facts About
CUBA
Population
(2008 estimate)
11,236,000
Area
42,804 sq mi
(110,861 sq km)
Capital
Havana
Form of
government
Socialist republic
Major cities
Havana, Santiago
de Cuba,
Camaguey,
Holguin, Santa
Clara,
Guantanamo
228 Cuba BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Cuckoo
The birds called cuckoos are named for
the sounds they make. Because of their
shy personality, these birds are more
often heard than seen.
More than 125 different types of cuckoos
are found throughout the world.
Examples include the common cuckoo,
the yellow-billed cuckoo, and the birds
called roadrunners, coucals, and anis.
Most cuckoos live in forests, where they
hide in thick vegetation. Other types live
in open areas. Most cuckoos eat insects,
especially caterpillars.
Cuckoos range in length from about 61/2
to 36 inches (17 to 91 centimeters).
Most of them are drab gray or brown. A
few types have some brightly colored or
glossy feathers. The cuckoo has a long
tail and medium to long legs. Its outer
toes point backward. Its bill is usually
short and curves down a bit.
Some kinds of cuckoos, including the
common cuckoo, do not raise their own
young. Instead, they lay eggs in the nests
of other kinds of birds that have similarlooking
eggs. In this way the cuckoos
trick the other birds into keeping the
cuckoo eggs warm and caring for the
young cuckoos. However, many cuckoos,
including the roadrunners, care for
their own eggs and young.
#More to explore
Bird • Roadrunner
Cucumber
The cucumber is a vegetable plant that
people often make into pickles. It is
related to melons, squashes, and pumpkins.
The scientific name of the cucumber
is Cucumis sativus.
People grow cucumbers all over the
world. In colder places cucumbers grow
in greenhouses. In milder places they
grow in fields or in home gardens.
An adult reed warbler feeds a
large cuckoo chick.
Cucumbers grow on vines. In the United
States they are grown in home gardens as
well as on large farms.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Cucumber 229
Cucumbers grow on long, creeping vines
with fuzzy leaves. The parts that people
eat are long, firm, and green. They
develop from yellow flowers. The flesh
inside a cucumber is pale green to
almost white. In the center are small,
