Official name: Republic of Cuba

Short name: Cuba

Date of membership of SELA: 14 January 1976

Capital: Havana

Location: Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean.

Area: 10.860 Km2

Boundaries:
North: United States and the Bahamas
South: Cayman Islands
East: México
West: Isla La Española

Climate: wet and tropical

 Economic indicators

Languages: Spanish (official)

Government: Cuba is a Socialist state of workers, independent and sovereign, organized with all and for the good of all, as a unitary and Democratic Republic, for the enjoyment of political liberty, social justice, individual and collective well-being and human solidarity (Art. 1 of the Constitution).

Administrative division: 14 provinces: Ciego de Avila; Cienfuegos; Ciudad de La Habana; Granma; Guantánamo; Holguin; Isla de la Juventud; La Habana; Las Tunas; Matanzas; Pinar del Rio; Sancti Spiritus; Santiago de Cuba; Villa Clara; and 1 special municipality: Camaguey.

Independence: May 20th, 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US. from 1898 to 1902).

Constitution: February 24th, 1976; amended July 1992 and June 2002.

Suffrage: All citizens with legal capacity to do so, have the right to intervene in the State’s orientation, either directly or through the representatives they elected to integrate the organs of people’s power, and to participate, for this purpose, as provided in the law, in periodic elections and referendums, through free, equal and secret vote. Each elector is entitled to vote (Art. 110 of the Constitution). Voting age: 16.

Executive branch: The Council of Ministers is the highest executive and administrative body and constitutes the Government of the Republic. It is one of the superior organizational structures of the people’s power and has a collegiate nature. It is made up by the Head of State and Government, who is its President, the first Vice-President, who is also first Vice President of the Council of State, Vice-Presidents, Ministers, the Secretary and those authorities that upon a proposal from the President are appointed to take positions as members of the Council by the people’s National Assembly or by the Council of State.

The acting President of the Council of State and, at the same time, the First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (CCP) is Miguel Diaz Canel-Bermúdez. The First Vicepresident of the Council of State and Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the CCP is Salvador Valdés Mesa.

Legislative branch: Unicameral National Assembly of People’s Power (609 seats, elected directly from slates approved by special candidacy commissions; members serve a five-year term).

Judicial branch: People’s Supreme Court (president, vice president, and other judges are elected by the National Assembly).

Economic indicators:

Source: Cuba: National Socio-Demographic Profile. CEPALSTAT. Data Bases and Statistical Publications. ECLAC. On line. Inquiry:  September 09, 2017

Socio-demographic indicators

Source: Cuba: National Socio-Demographic Profile. CEPALSTAT. Data Bases and Statistical Publications.. ECLAC. On line. Inquiry: SEptember 09, 2017. NA= No data available.

Networked Readiness * 

Networked Readiness Index (NRI)** 
Rank (1-142): ND
Score (1-7): ND

* The propensity for countries to exploit the opportunities offered by information and communications technology.

**The NRI seeks to better comprehend the impact of ICT on the competitiveness of nations. It is a composite of three components: the environment for ICT offered by a given country or community (Market, political and regulatory, infrastructure environment), the readiness of the community’s key stakeholders (individuals, businesses, and governments) to use ICT, and finally the usage of ICT amongst these stakeholders.

Other indicators:

Competitiveness*

Global Competitive Index (GCI)** 

Rank (1-144): ND 
Score (1-7): ND

*Defined as a “Set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country.”

**The GCI is a tool that measures the microeconomic and macroeconomic foundations of national competitiveness. (The Global Competitiveness Report 2012–2013, p. 3-4).

Innovation

Global Innovation Index (GII)** 

Rank (1-144): ND 
Score (1-7): ND

*Defined as the implementation of a product (a good or a service) that is either new or significantly improved, a new process, a new marketing method, or a new way of organizing business practices, the workplace or external relations.

**The GII explores the conditions in which innovation flourishes and documents which countries are most successful in fostering those conditions. The GII also looks at some of the ways old models of innovation are evolving, how new models are emerging, why they matter, and the impacts they can have. (Global Innovation Index (GII) 2012 p. 9).

Sources: 

Constitución de la República de Cuba. [Disponible en: http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/cuba.htm] [Consulta: 2013, marzo 12] 

CEPALSTAT: Bases de datos y Publicaciones Estadísticas. Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL). http://estadisticas.cepal.org/cepalstat/WEB_CEPALSTAT/Portada.asp [Consulta: 2013, enero 29]

Estado de la población mundial 2012. Fondo de Población de las Naciones Unidas (UNFPA) [Disponible: http://www.unfpa.or.cr/estado-de-la-poblacion-mundial-2012] [Consulta: 2013, febrero 13]

Global Competitiveness Index. The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 [Disponible: http://www3.weforum.org/293A1490-A249-4F2B-98BB-7AF1AE440A06/FinalDownload/DownloadId-1551E6B285F5F0C76C026BC14573255A/293A1490-A249-4F2B-98BB-7AF1AE440A06/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2012-13.pdf] [Consulta: 2013, febrero 20]

Global Innovation Index 2012. World Intelectual Property Organization (WIPO). [Disponible: http://www.globalinnovationindex.org/gii/main/fullreport/index.html] [Consulta: 2013, febrero 20]

Insight Report. The Global Information Technology Report 2012: Living in a Hyperconnected World. World Economic Forum; INSEAD. Sumitra Dutra, INSEAD; [Disponible: http://www3.weforum.org/3BA108C5-A7D9-4722-B8E0-328AFBCB3A0D/FinalDownload/DownloadId-B37D65D660C0885432F3FEC4F5579A98/3BA108C5-A7D9-4722-B8E0-328AFBCB3A0D/docs/Global_IT_Report_2012.pdf] [Consulta: 2013, febrero 21]

Insight Report. The Global Competitiveness Report 2012–2013. Schwab, Klaus. World Economic Forum. Ginebra. [Disponible: http://www3.weforum.org/293A1490-A249-4F2B-98BB-7AF1AE440A06/FinalDownload/DownloadId-B8AF327695A6BBB365779BE46CCC5AA7/293A1490-A249-4F2B-98BB-7AF1AE440A06/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2012-13.pdf] [Consulta: 2013, febrero 21]

Measuring the Information Society. International Communications Union (ITU). Indicators database. [Disponible: http://www.itu.int/es/publications/Pages/publications.aspx?lang=es&media=electronic&parent=D-IND-WTID.OL-2012] [Consulta: 2013, febrero 21] 16th Edition, Geneva, 2012.

Networked Readiness Index. The Global Information Technology Report: Living in a Hyperconnected World [Disponible: http://www3.weforum.org/293A1490-A249-4F2B-98BB-7AF1AE440A06/FinalDownload/DownloadId-8C21441DD869965B53E3BEED837C755E/293A1490-A249-4F2B-98BB-7AF1AE440A06/docs/Global_IT_Report_2012.pdf] [Consulta: 2013, febrero 21]

Portal oficial del Gobierno de Cuba. [Disponible: http://www.cubagob.cu/ ] [Consulta: 2013 marzo 12]

World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database. International Telecommunications Union (ITU). [Disponible: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/icteye/Indicators/Indicators.aspx#] [Consulta: 2013, febrero 18]