Cuba

Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba, Isla de la Juventud, archipelagos, 4,195 islands and cays surrounding the main island. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola, and north of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital. Cuba is the third-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with about 11 million inhabitants. It is the largest country in the Caribbean by area.

Some of the key events about Cuba

1511
The first Spanish settlement on Cuba was destroyed by indigenous resistance
1762
Havana was captured by British forces during the Seven Years' War
1868
The Ten Years' War, Cuba's first war of independence against Spanish colonial rule, began
1868
The Ten Years' War began, marking the start of Cuba's struggle for independence from Spain
1895
The Cuban War of Independence erupted, leading to significant loss of life and economic disruption
1898
The USS Maine exploded in Havana harbor, precipitating the Spanish-American War
1901
The Platt Amendment severely limited Cuban sovereignty and gave the U.S. the right to intervene in Cuban affairs
1902
Cuba gained independence from the United States, becoming a sovereign nation
1940
A new constitution was adopted, establishing advanced social reforms and women's suffrage
1952
A military coup overthrew the elected government, leading to a dictatorship
1959
The Cuban Revolution succeeded in overthrowing the Batista regime
1961
A nationwide literacy campaign reduced illiteracy rates from 23% to 3.9% in one year
1961
The failed Bay of Pigs invasion attempted to overthrow the revolutionary government
1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war
1976
A new socialist constitution was adopted through a national referendum
1992
The constitution was amended to remove references to the Soviet Union and add direct elections for National Assembly members
1994
The "Special Period" of economic crisis began following the collapse of the Soviet Union, causing severe hardships for Cubans
2008
Cuba signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
2014
Cuba and the United States announced the beginning of a process of normalizing relations
2019
A new constitution was approved by referendum, recognizing private property and foreign investment

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