--- title: Cuba — English Wikipedia · full text with trees · page 6 description: Wikipedia's «Cuba», whole, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics, CC BY-SA 4.0. It begins: Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country in the Caribbean. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Cuba/page/6/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [wikipedia](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/) / [en](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/) / Cuba # Cuba · page 6 From Wikipedia, [«Cuba»](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba), revision of the 2026-09-01 dump, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). The trees and pragmatics of these pages, Mova's parse of that text, are CC BY-SA 4.0 too. [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Cuba/) … [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Cuba/page/5/) **6** [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Cuba/page/7/) Cuba's population descends primarily from three groups: [Spanish settlers and immigrants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_people)—drawn largely from [Andalusia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andalusia), [Galicia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galicia_%28Spain%29), [Asturias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asturias), and the [Canary Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands)[\[351\]](../../page/7/#ref-351 "note 351")—[sub-Saharan Africans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa) transported to the island through the [transatlantic slave trade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_slave_trade),[\[352\]](../../page/7/#ref-352 "note 352") and the pre-Columbian indigenous peoples, chiefly the [Taíno](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taíno) and [Ciboney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciboney).[\[353\]](../../page/7/#ref-353 "note 353")[\[354\]](../../page/7/#ref-354 "note 354")[484](../../484/ "tree and pragmatics") Afro-Cubans are descended primarily from the [Yoruba people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_people), Bantu people from the [Congo basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_basin), [Kalabari tribe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalabari_tribe) and Arará from the [Dahomey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahomey), as well as several thousand North African refugees, most notably the [Sahrawi Arabs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahrawi_people) of [Western Sahara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Sahara).[\[355\]](../../page/7/#ref-355 "note 355")[485](../../485/ "tree and pragmatics") While [Afro-Cubans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Cubans) and [Cubans of Spanish descent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Cubans) have endured as distinct ethnocultural units, no equivalent indigenous-descended group survived the catastrophic demographic collapse of the sixteenth century;[\[356\]](../../page/7/#ref-356 "note 356") [Taíno](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taíno) ancestry nonetheless persists in the Cuban population at the genetic level, as evidenced by mitochondrial DNA studies.[\[353\]](../../page/7/#ref-353 "note 353")[\[357\]](../../page/7/#ref-357 "note 357")[\[358\]](../../page/7/#ref-358 "note 358")[486](../../486/ "tree and pragmatics") Cuba's population is therefore multiethnic, and intermarriage between these groups has been widespread across many centuries, producing a significant population of mixed ancestry—not as a product of recent admixture but of long-accumulated intergenerational intermarriage.[\[359\]](../../page/7/#ref-359 "note 359")[\[360\]](../../page/7/#ref-360 "note 360")[487](../../487/ "tree and pragmatics") Consequently, there is significant discrepancy between different estimates of the country's racial composition.[488](../../488/ "tree and pragmatics") A 2014 study based on [ancestry-informative markers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestry-informative_marker) found that [autosomal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autosome) genetic ancestry in Cuba is 72% European, 20% African, and 8% Indigenous.[\[361\]](../../page/7/#ref-361 "note 361")[489](../../489/ "tree and pragmatics") The 2002 Cuban census, in which respondents self-identified, found that 65.05% of the population was white, while the 2012 census recorded approximately 27% of Cubans as mestizo o mulato and just under 10% as negro (Black).[\[362\]](../../page/7/#ref-362 "note 362")[490](../../490/ "tree and pragmatics") The [2012 Cuban census](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Cuba_census) recorded, on the same basis, that 64.1% of the population was white (blanco), 26.6% mestizo o mulato (mixed race), and 9.3% Black (negro).[\[363\]](../../page/7/#ref-363 "note 363")[491](../../491/ "tree and pragmatics") As with the 2002 census, these figures reflect self-perception rather than genetic ancestry or externally assigned classification, and have been widely contested by independent researchers who argue that they significantly under-report the Black and mixed-race population.[\[364\]](../../page/7/#ref-364 "note 364")[492](../../492/ "tree and pragmatics") These figures also diverge markedly from estimates produced by applying the [one-drop rule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-drop_rule), the [hypodescent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypodescent) convention historically specific to the United States, under which any traceable African ancestry classifies a person as Black.[493](../../493/ "tree and pragmatics") The [Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Cuban_and_Cuban-American_Studies) at the [University of Miami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Miami), using that framework, concluded that 62% of Cubans are Black.[\[365\]](../../page/7/#ref-365 "note 365")[494](../../494/ "tree and pragmatics") However, the one-drop rule does not reflect Cuban or broader Latin American racial classification.[495](../../495/ "tree and pragmatics") In Cuba, as across most of Latin America, people of mixed African and European ancestry—commonly designated mulato—have historically constituted and understood themselves as a distinct category, neither defined in opposition to Blackness nor in denial of it, but in acknowledgement of a mixed heritage that carries its own social and cultural meaning.[496](../../496/ "tree and pragmatics") The Cuban census formally recognises this through its separate mestizo o mulato classification.[\[366\]](../../page/7/#ref-366 "note 366")[\[367\]](../../page/7/#ref-367 "note 367")[497](../../497/ "tree and pragmatics") Applying a binary Black/white framework derived from U.S. legal and social history to Cuban racial self-identification therefore imposes a classificatory logic that Cuban society does not use and that systematically erases the identities of a substantial portion of the population.[\[368\]](../../page/7/#ref-368 "note 368")[\[369\]](../../page/7/#ref-369 "note 369")[498](../../498/ "tree and pragmatics") In light of these methodological divergences, the [Minority Rights Group International](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_Rights_Group_International) has cautioned that "an objective assessment of the situation of [Afro-Cubans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Cubans) remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution," and that estimates of the percentage of people of African descent in the Cuban population vary enormously, ranging from 33.9% to 62%.[\[370\]](../../page/7/#ref-370 "note 370")[499](../../499/ "tree and pragmatics") [Asians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_people) make up about 1% of the population and are largely of [Chinese ancestry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Cubans), followed by [Japanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Cubans) and [Filipino](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_Cubans).[\[371\]](../../page/7/#ref-371 "note 371")[\[372\]](../../page/7/#ref-372 "note 372")[500](../../500/ "tree and pragmatics") Many are descendants of farm laborers brought to the island by Spanish and American contractors during the 19th and early 20th century.[\[373\]](../../page/7/#ref-373 "note 373")[501](../../501/ "tree and pragmatics") The current recorded number of Cubans with Chinese ancestry is 114,240.[\[374\]](../../page/7/#ref-374 "note 374")[502](../../502/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Migration #### Immigration Main article: [French immigration to Cuba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_immigration_to_Cuba), [Spanish immigration to Cuba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_immigration_to_Cuba) Immigration and emigration have played a prominent part in Cuba's demographic profile.[503](../../503/ "tree and pragmatics") Between the 18th and early 20th century, large waves of [Canarian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canarian), [Catalan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalans), [Andalusian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andalusians), [Galician](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galician_people), and other Spanish people immigrated to Cuba.[504](../../504/ "tree and pragmatics") Between 1899 and 1930 alone, nearly one million Spaniards entered Cuba, although many eventually returned to Spain.[\[375\]](../../page/7/#ref-375 "note 375")[505](../../505/ "tree and pragmatics") Other prominent immigrant groups included French,[\[376\]](../../page/7/#ref-376 "note 376") [Portuguese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_people), Italian, Russian, [Dutch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_people), [Greek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeks), British, and Irish, as well as small number of descendants of U.S. citizens who arrived in Cuba in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[506](../../506/ "tree and pragmatics") As of 2015, the foreign-born population in Cuba was 13,336 inhabitants per the [World Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank) data.[\[377\]](../../page/7/#ref-377 "note 377")[507](../../507/ "tree and pragmatics") #### Emigration Main article: [Cuban exile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_exile), [Cuban immigration to the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_immigration_to_the_United_States) Post-revolution Cuba has been characterized by significant levels of emigration, which has led to a [large and influential diaspora community](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_exile).[508](../../508/ "tree and pragmatics") During the three decades after January 1959, more than one million Cubans of all social classes—constituting 10% of the total population—[emigrated to the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_migration_to_Miami), a proportion that matches the extent of emigration to the U.S. from the Caribbean as a whole during that period.[\[378\]](../../page/7/#ref-378 "note 378")[\[379\]](../../page/7/#ref-379 "note 379")[\[380\]](../../page/7/#ref-380 "note 380")[\[381\]](../../page/7/#ref-381 "note 381")[\[382\]](../../page/7/#ref-382 "note 382")[509](../../509/ "tree and pragmatics") Prior to 13 January 2013, Cuban citizens could not travel abroad, leave or return to Cuba without first obtaining official permission along with applying for a government-issued passport and travel visa, which was often denied.[\[383\]](../../page/7/#ref-383 "note 383")[510](../../510/ "tree and pragmatics") Those who left the country typically did so by sea, in small boats and fragile rafts.[511](../../511/ "tree and pragmatics") On 9 September 1994, the U.S. and Cuban governments agreed that the U.S. would grant at least 20,000 visas annually in exchange for Cuba's pledge to prevent further unlawful departures on boats.[\[384\]](../../page/7/#ref-384 "note 384")[512](../../512/ "tree and pragmatics") In the 2020s Cuba is undergoing its most severe socioeconomic crisis since the [fall of the Soviet Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union), leading to a record number of Cubans fleeing the island.[\[385\]](../../page/7/#ref-385 "note 385")[513](../../513/ "tree and pragmatics") The number of Cubans trying to enter the United States, primarily through the [Mexican border](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_of_Mexico), surged from 39,000 in 2021 to over 224,000 in 2022.[514](../../514/ "tree and pragmatics") In 2022, more than 2% of the population (almost 250,000 Cubans out of 11 million) migrated to the United States, and thousands more went to other countries, a number "larger than the 1980 [Mariel boatlift](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariel_boatlift) and the [1994 Cuban rafter crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Cuban_rafter_crisis) combined", which were Cuba's previous largest migration events.[\[301\]](../../page/7/#ref-301 "note 301")[515](../../515/ "tree and pragmatics") Many resorted to selling their homes at very low prices to afford one-way flights to [Nicaragua](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua) [corpus](../../../Nicaragua/ "in our corpus"), hoping to travel through Mexico to reach the U.S.[\[385\]](../../page/7/#ref-385 "note 385") Internal migration has led to overpopulation in Havana, resulting in people living in makeshift shelters or overcrowded buildings, some of which are on the brink of collapse.[516](../../516/ "tree and pragmatics") Regular power outages harken back to the early 1990s, a time when Soviet subsidies ended, plunging the island into economic hardship.[\[385\]](../../page/7/#ref-385 "note 385")[517](../../517/ "tree and pragmatics") Emigration has continued into the 2020s, with the national population dipping below 10 million for the first time since 1980 in 2025.[518](../../518/ "tree and pragmatics") This signifies a 13% loss of population since 2012, when the Cuban population peaked at 11.2 million.[\[386\]](../../page/7/#ref-386 "note 386")[519](../../519/ "tree and pragmatics") Cuba's "Special Period" saw the country relying heavily on foreign tourism and the earnings of nationals working abroad.[520](../../520/ "tree and pragmatics") The 2020 pandemic, however, severely affected this revenue stream, decreasing the number of tourists by 75% in 2020.[521](../../521/ "tree and pragmatics") Monetary reforms in 2021 introduced shocks of inflation, further exacerbating the country's food scarcity and boosting the black market's prominence.[\[385\]](../../page/7/#ref-385 "note 385")[522](../../522/ "tree and pragmatics") Despite the increasing hardships, the Cuban spirit remains resilient.[523](../../523/ "tree and pragmatics") Access to the internet since 2018 and widespread use of social media have fueled calls for political and economic liberalization.[524](../../524/ "tree and pragmatics") The power of the internet was evident during the Cuban protests of 2021, which were promptly suppressed by the police, with many prominent artists and bloggers detained.[\[385\]](../../page/7/#ref-385 "note 385")[525](../../525/ "tree and pragmatics") As of 2013 the top emigration destinations were the United States, Spain, Italy, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.[\[387\]](../../page/7/#ref-387 "note 387")[526](../../526/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Languages Main article: [Cuban Spanish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Spanish) The official language is Spanish, and the vast majority of Cubans speak [Cuban Spanish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Spanish), a form of [Caribbean Spanish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_Spanish).[527](../../527/ "tree and pragmatics") [Lucumí](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucumí_language), a dialect of the West African language [Yoruba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_language), is also used as a [liturgical language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liturgical_language) by practitioners of [Santería](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santería),[\[388\]](../../page/7/#ref-388 "note 388") and so only as a second language.[\[389\]](../../page/7/#ref-389 "note 389")[528](../../528/ "tree and pragmatics") [Haitian Creole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Creole) is the second-most spoken language and is spoken by [Haitian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitians) immigrants and their descendants.[\[390\]](../../page/7/#ref-390 "note 390")[529](../../529/ "tree and pragmatics") Other languages spoken by immigrants include [Galician](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galician_language) and [Corsican](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican_language).[\[391\]](../../page/7/#ref-391 "note 391")[530](../../530/ "tree and pragmatics") Russian will be the first foreign language taught in schools, as of the 2026-2027 school year.[\[392\]](../../page/7/#ref-392 "note 392")[531](../../531/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Religion Main article: [Religion in Cuba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Cuba) Cuba is officially a secular state.[532](../../532/ "tree and pragmatics") Religious freedom increased through the 1980s,[\[393\]](../../page/7/#ref-393 "note 393") with the government amending the constitution in 1992 to drop the state's characterization as atheistic.[\[394\]](../../page/7/#ref-394 "note 394")[533](../../533/ "tree and pragmatics") In 2010, the [Pew Forum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pew_Forum) estimated that religious affiliation is 59.2% Christian, 23% unaffiliated, 17.4% [folk religion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_religion) (such as [Santería](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santería)), and the remaining 0.4% consisting of other religions.[\[395\]](../../page/7/#ref-395 "note 395")[534](../../534/ "tree and pragmatics") In a 2015 survey sponsored by Univision, 44% of Cubans said they were not religious, and 9% did not give an answer while only 34% said they were Christian.[\[396\]](../../page/7/#ref-396 "note 396")[535](../../535/ "tree and pragmatics") [Roman Catholicism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism) is the largest religion, with its origins in Spanish colonization.[536](../../536/ "tree and pragmatics") Despite less than half of the population identifying as Catholics in 2006, it nonetheless remains the dominant faith.[\[397\]](../../page/7/#ref-397 "note 397")[537](../../537/ "tree and pragmatics") Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba in 1998 and 2011, respectively, and Pope Francis visited in 2015.[\[398\]](../../page/7/#ref-398 "note 398")[\[399\]](../../page/7/#ref-399 "note 399")[538](../../538/ "tree and pragmatics") Prior to each papal visit, the government pardoned prisoners as a humanitarian gesture.[\[400\]](../../page/7/#ref-400 "note 400")[\[401\]](../../page/7/#ref-401 "note 401")[539](../../539/ "tree and pragmatics") The government's relaxation of restrictions on [house churches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_church) in the 1990s led to an explosion of [Pentecostalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecostalism), with some groups claiming as many as 100,000 members.[540](../../540/ "tree and pragmatics") However, [Evangelical Protestant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelical_Protestant) denominations, organized into the umbrella Cuban Council of Churches, remain much more vibrant and powerful.[\[402\]](../../page/7/#ref-402 "note 402")[541](../../541/ "tree and pragmatics") Several well-known Cuban religious figures have operated outside the island, including the humanitarian and author [Jorge Armando Pérez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Armando_Pérez).[542](../../542/ "tree and pragmatics") The religious landscape of is strongly defined by [syncretisms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncretisms) of various kinds.[543](../../543/ "tree and pragmatics") Christianity is often practiced in tandem with Santería, a mixture of Catholicism and mostly African faiths, which include a number of cults.[544](../../544/ "tree and pragmatics") La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (the Virgin of Cobre) is the Catholic patroness of Cuba, and a symbol of Cuban culture.[545](../../545/ "tree and pragmatics") In Santería, she has been syncretized with the goddess [Oshun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshun).[546](../../546/ "tree and pragmatics") A breakdown of the followers of Afro-Cuban religions showed that most practitioners of [Palo Mayombe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_Mayombe) were black and dark brown-skinned, most practitioners of [Vodú](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Vodú) were medium brown and light brown-skinned, and most practitioners of Santería were light brown and white-skinned.[\[403\]](../../page/7/#ref-403 "note 403")[547](../../547/ "tree and pragmatics") Cuba hosts small communities of [Jews](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Cuba) (500 in 2012), [Muslims](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Cuba) (6,000 in 2011), and members of the [Baháʼí Faith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baháʼí_Faith).[\[404\]](../../page/7/#ref-404 "note 404")[548](../../548/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Education Main article: [Education in Cuba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Cuba) The [University of Havana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Havana) was founded in 1728, and there are several other well-established [colleges and universities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Cuba).[549](../../549/ "tree and pragmatics") In 1957, just before Castro came to power, the [literacy rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_rate) was as low as fourth in Latin America at 76% according to the United Nations, yet higher than in Spain.[\[116\]](../../page/7/#ref-116 "note 116")[550](../../550/ "tree and pragmatics") Castro created an entirely state-operated system and banned private institutions.[551](../../551/ "tree and pragmatics") School attendance is compulsory from ages six to the end of basic secondary education (normally at age 15), and all students, regardless of age or gender, wear school uniforms with the color denoting grade level.[552](../../552/ "tree and pragmatics") Primary education lasts for six years, secondary education is divided into basic and pre-university education.[\[405\]](../../page/7/#ref-405 "note 405")[553](../../553/ "tree and pragmatics") Cuba's literacy rate of 99.8 percent[\[308\]](../../page/7/#ref-308 "note 308")[\[406\]](../../page/7/#ref-406 "note 406") is eight points higher than the Caribbean average[\[27\]](../../page/7/#ref-27 "note 27") and the [tenth-highest globally](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate), largely due to the provision of free education at every level.[\[407\]](../../page/7/#ref-407 "note 407")[554](../../554/ "tree and pragmatics") The high school graduation rate is 94 percent.[\[408\]](../../page/7/#ref-408 "note 408")[555](../../555/ "tree and pragmatics") Higher education is provided by universities, higher institutes, higher [pedagogical](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogical) institutes, and higher [polytechnic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_institutions_using_the_term_%22institute_of_technology%22_or_%22polytechnic%22) institutes.[556](../../556/ "tree and pragmatics") The Ministry of Higher Education operates a distance education program that provides regular afternoon and evening courses in rural areas for agricultural workers.[557](../../557/ "tree and pragmatics") Education has a strong political and ideological emphasis, and students progressing to higher education are expected to have a commitment to the goals of Cuba.[\[405\]](../../page/7/#ref-405 "note 405")[558](../../558/ "tree and pragmatics") Cuba has provided free education to foreign nationals from disadvantaged backgrounds at the [Latin American School of Medicine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_American_School_of_Medicine_%28Cuba%29).[\[409\]](../../page/7/#ref-409 "note 409")[\[410\]](../../page/7/#ref-410 "note 410")[559](../../559/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Health Main article: [Healthcare in Cuba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Cuba) After the revolution, Cuba established a free public health system.[\[30\]](../../page/7/#ref-30 "note 30")[560](../../560/ "tree and pragmatics") Cuba's [life expectancy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy) at birth is 80.1 years (77.8 for males and 82.6 for females), ranked 58th in the world and 5th in the Americas.[\[411\]](../../page/7/#ref-411 "note 411")[561](../../561/ "tree and pragmatics") Infant mortality declined from 32 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 1957, to 10 in 1990–95,[\[412\]](../../page/7/#ref-412 "note 412") 6.1 in 2000–2005 and 5.13 in 2009.[\[406\]](../../page/7/#ref-406 "note 406")[\[308\]](../../page/7/#ref-308 "note 308")[562](../../562/ "tree and pragmatics") Historically, Cuba has ranked high in numbers of medical personnel and has made significant contributions to world health since the 19th century.[\[116\]](../../page/7/#ref-116 "note 116")[563](../../563/ "tree and pragmatics") Cuba has [universal health care](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_health_care), and despite persistent shortages of medical supplies, there is no shortage of medical personnel.[\[413\]](../../page/7/#ref-413 "note 413")[564](../../564/ "tree and pragmatics") Primary care is available throughout the island, and infant and maternal mortality rates compare favorably with those in developed nations.[\[413\]](../../page/7/#ref-413 "note 413")[565](../../565/ "tree and pragmatics") That an impoverished nation like Cuba has health outcomes rivaling the developed world is referred to by researchers as the Cuban Health Paradox.[\[414\]](../../page/7/#ref-414 "note 414")[566](../../566/ "tree and pragmatics") Cuba ranks 29th on the 2024 Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, the highest ranking of a developing country.[\[415\]](../../page/7/#ref-415 "note 415")[567](../../567/ "tree and pragmatics") The healthcare system, renowned for its medical services, has emphasized the export of health professionals through international missions, aiding global health efforts.[\[416\]](../../page/7/#ref-416 "note 416")[568](../../568/ "tree and pragmatics") However, while these missions generate significant revenue and serve as a tool for political influence, domestically, Cuba faces challenges including medication shortages and disparities between medical services for locals and foreigners.[\[416\]](../../page/7/#ref-416 "note 416")[569](../../569/ "tree and pragmatics") Despite the income from these missions, only a small fraction of the national budget has been allocated to public health, underscoring contrasting priorities within the nation's healthcare strategy.[\[416\]](../../page/7/#ref-416 "note 416")[570](../../570/ "tree and pragmatics") Disease and infant mortality increased in the 1960s immediately after the revolution, when half of Cuba's 6,000 doctors left the country.[\[417\]](../../page/7/#ref-417 "note 417")[571](../../571/ "tree and pragmatics") Recovery occurred by the 1980s,[\[103\]](../../page/7/#ref-103 "note 103") and the country's health care has been widely praised.[\[418\]](../../page/7/#ref-418 "note 418")[572](../../572/ "tree and pragmatics") The Communist government stated that universal health care was a priority of state planning and progress was made in rural areas.[\[419\]](../../page/7/#ref-419 "note 419")[573](../../573/ "tree and pragmatics") After the revolution, the government increased rural hospitals from one to 62.[\[30\]](../../page/7/#ref-30 "note 30")[574](../../574/ "tree and pragmatics") Like the rest of the Cuban economy, medical care suffered from severe material shortages following the end of Soviet subsidies in 1991, and a tightening of the U.S. embargo in 1992.[\[420\]](../../page/7/#ref-420 "note 420")[575](../../575/ "tree and pragmatics") Challenges include low salaries for doctors,[\[31\]](../../page/7/#ref-31 "note 31") poor facilities, poor provision of equipment, and the frequent absence of essential drugs.[\[32\]](../../page/7/#ref-32 "note 32")[576](../../576/ "tree and pragmatics") [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Cuba/) … [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Cuba/page/5/) **6** [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Cuba/page/7/) - ← previous: [page 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Cuba/page/5/) - next →: [page 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Cuba/page/7/) - ↑ back to [English Wikipedia](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/)