Cuba: People & Society#

Population11,179,995 (July 2016 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Cuban(s)
adjective: Cuban
Ethnic groupswhite 64.1%, mestizo 26.6%, black 9.3% (2012 est.)
LanguagesSpanish (official)
Religionsnominally Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jewish, Santeria
note: prior to CASTRO assuming power
Age structure0-14 years: 16.7% (male 960,832/female 905,904)
15-24 years: 12.44% (male 721,390/female 669,960)
25-54 years: 44.95% (male 2,526,467/female 2,498,882)
55-64 years: 11.27% (male 610,190/female 649,656)
65 years and over: 14.64% (male 751,621/female 885,093) (2016 est.)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 43.4%
youth dependency ratio: 23.4%
elderly dependency ratio: 20%
potential support ratio: 5% (2015 est.)
Median agetotal: 41.1 years
male: 40 years
female: 42.2 years (2016 est.)
Population growth rate-0.3% (2016 est.)
Birth rate10.8 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)
Death rate8.6 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)
Net migration rate-5.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)
Population distributionlarge population clusters found throughout the country, the more significant ones being in the larger towns and cities, particularly the capital of Havana
Urbanizationurban population: 77.1% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 0.07% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
Major urban areas - populationHAVANA (capital) 2.137 million (2015)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
Maternal mortality rate39 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 4.5 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 78.7 years
male: 76.4 years
female: 81.1 years (2016 est.)
Total fertility rate1.71 children born/woman (2016 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate74.3% (2010/11)
Health expenditures11.1% of GDP (2014)
Physicians density6.72 physicians/1,000 population (2010)
Hospital bed density5.3 beds/1,000 population (2012)
Drinking water sourceimproved:
urban: 96.4% of population
rural: 89.8% of population
total: 94.9% of population
unimproved:
urban: 3.6% of population
rural: 10.2% of population
total: 5.1% of population (2015 est.)
Sanitation facility accessimproved:
urban: 94.4% of population
rural: 89.1% of population
total: 93.2% of population
unimproved:
urban: 5.6% of population
rural: 10.9% of population
total: 6.8% of population (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate0.31% (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS21,900 (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths200 (2015 est.)
Major infectious diseasesdegree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever

note: active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country (as of August 2016); it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex, via blood transfusion, or during pregnancy, in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus (2016)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate27.2% (2014)
Education expenditures12.8% of GDP (2010)
Literacydefinition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.8%
male: 99.9%
female: 99.8% (2015 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)total: 14 years
male: 14 years
female: 14 years (2014)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24total: 6.1%
male: 6.4%
female: 5.6% (2010 est.)
People - noteillicit emigration is a continuing problem; Cubans attempt to depart the island and enter the US using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, direct flights, or falsified visas; Cubans also use non-maritime routes to enter the US including direct flights to Miami and overland via the southwest border; the number of Cubans migrating to the US has surged since the beginning of improved US-Cuban relations in late December 2014