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The demographic characteristics of
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
are known through census which have been conducted and analyzed by different bureaus since 1774. The National Office of Statistics of Cuba (ONE) since
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...
. The most recent census was conducted in September 2012. The population of Cuba at the 2012 census was 11.2 million. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...
is 100.7 inhabitants per square kilometer, and the overall
life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
in Cuba is 78.0 years. The population has always increased from one census to the next, with the exception of the 2012 census, when the count decreased by 10,000. Since 1740, Cuba's
birth rate The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
has surpassed its
death rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of d ...
; the natural growth rate of the country is positive. Cuba is in the fourth stage of
demographic transition In demography, demographic transition is a phenomenon and theory which refers to the historical shift from high birth rates and high death rates in societies with minimal technology, education (especially of women) and economic development, to l ...
. In terms of age structure, the population is dominated (71.1%) by the 15- to 64-year-old segment. The median age of the population is 41.8, making it the oldest in the Americas, and the gender ratio of the total population is 0.99 males per female.


Population

According to the 2002 census, Cuba's population was 11,177,743, whereas the 2012 census numbered the population at 11,167,325. The drop between the 2002 and 2012 censuses was the first drop in Cuba's population since Cuba's war of independence. This drop was due to low fertility and emigration, as during this time (fiscal years 2003 to 2012), 332,028 Cubans received legal permanent residence in the United States. Consequently, Cuba is also the oldest country in the Americas in terms of median age, due to a high amount of emigration by younger Cubans to the U.S. In the last few years before the end of the wet feet, dry feet policy on January 12, 2017, the number of Cubans moving to the United States significantly outnumbered the natural increase during those years.


Population by region (2015)


Vital statistics


Structure of the population (2012)

Structure of the population (01.07.2013) (Estimates):


Racial groups


Ancestral origins

According to the previous censuses, the Chinese were counted as white. The ancestry of Cubans comes from many sources: * Spanish During the 18th, 19th and early part of the 20th century, large waves of Spanish immigrants from
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...
,
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...
,
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...
,
Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...
, and Asturias emigrated to Cuba. Between 1820 and 1898, a total of 508,455 people left Spain, and more than 750,000 Spanish immigrants left for Cuba between 1899 and 1930, with many returning to Spain.La inmigración entre 1902 y 1930
There are 139,851 Spanish citizens living in Cuba on January 1, 2018. *
Canary Islanders Canary Islanders, or Canarians ( es, canarios), are a Romance people and ethnic group. They reside on the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain near the coast of northwest Africa, and descend from a mixture of European settlers and a ...
* Catalans * Andalusians * Galicians *
Asturians Asturians ( ast, asturianos) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. Culture and society Heritage Asturians are directly descended from the Astures, who we ...
The Slave trade brought Africans to Cuba during its early history: Between 1842 and 1873, 221,000 African slaves entered Cuba. *
Africans African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...
People of the Americas: *
Haitians Haitians (French: , ht, Ayisyen) are the citizens of Haiti and the descendants in the diaspora through direct parentage. An ethnonational group, Haitians generally comprise the modern descendants of self-liberated Africans in the Caribbean terr ...
* Jamaicans Other European people that have contributed include: *
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
*
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
* Portuguese *
Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...
*
Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...
People from Asia: * Chinese *
Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply r ...
* Filipino * Lebanese * Syrian * Egyptian * Palestinian Between 1842 and 1873, 124,800 Chinese arrived.


Genetics

An autosomal study from 2014 has found out the genetic average ancestry in Cuba to be 72% European, 20% African and 8% Native American with different proportions depending on the self-reported ancestry (White, Mulatto or Mestizo, and Black): A 1995 study done on the population of Pinar del Rio, found that 50% of the Mt-DNA lineages (female lineages) could be traced back to Europeans, 46% to Africans and 4% to Native Americans. This figure is consistent with both the historical background of the region, and the current demographics of it. According to another study in 2008, the Native American contribution to present-day Cubans accounted for 33% of the maternal lineages, whereas Africa and Eurasia contributed 45% and 22% of the lineages, respectively. Haplogroup A2 is the main Native American haplogroup in Cuba (21.9% of the total sample), accounting for 67% of the Native American mtDNA gene pool. Regarding Y-chromosome haplogroups (male lineages), 78.8% of the sequences found in Cubans are of West Eurasian origin, 19.7% of African origin and 1.5% of East Asian origin. Among the West Eurasian fraction, the vast majority of individuals belong to West European
haplogroup R1b Haplogroup R1b (R-M343), previously known as Hg1 and Eu18, is a human Y-chromosome haplogroup. It is the most frequently occurring paternal lineage in Western Europe, as well as some parts of Russia (e.g. the Bashkirs) and pockets of Central ...
. The African lineages found in Cubans have a Western (haplogroups E1, E2, E1b1a) and Northern ( E1b1b-M81) African origin. The "
Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–19 ...
" haplogroup E1b1b1b (E-M81), is found at a frequency of 6.1%. According to Fregel et al. (2009), the fact that autochthonous male North African E-M81 and female U6 lineages from the Canaries have been detected in Cuba and Iberoamerica, demonstrates that Canary Islanders with indigenous ancestors actively participated in the American colonization.


Y-DNA


mtDNA


Other demographics statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022. *One birth every 5 minutes *One death every 5 minutes *One net migrant every 45 minutes *Net loss of one person every 48 minutes Demographic statistics according to the
CIA World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...
, unless otherwise indicated.


Population

:11,008,112 (2022 est.) :11,209,628 (2018)


Ethnic groups

:White 64.1%, Mulatto or mixed 26.6%, Black 9.3% (2012 est.) :note: data represent racial self-identification from Cuba's 2012 national census


Age structure

:''0-14 years:'' 16.34% (male 929,927/female 877,035) :''15-24 years:'' 11.81% (male 678,253/female 627,384) :''25-54 years:'' 41.95% (male 2,335,680/female 2,303,793) :''55-64 years:'' 14.11% (male 760,165/female 799,734) :''65 years and over:'' 15.8% (male 794,743/female 952,348) (2020 est.) :''0-14 years:'' 16.44% (male 940,787 /female 886,996) :''15-24 years:'' 12.1% (male 698,220 /female 646,684) :''25-54 years:'' 43.69% (male 2,443,190 /female 2,414,119) :''55-64 years:'' 12.54% (male 677,304 /female 716,704) :''65 years and over:'' 15.22% (male 773,636 /female 918,756) (2018 est.)


Median age

:total: 42.1 years. Country comparison to the world: 37th :male: 40.2 years :female: 43.8 years (2020 est.) :total: 41.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 36th :male: 40.2 years :female: 43.1 years (2018 est.)


Birth rate

:10.11 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 188th :10.6 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 185th


Death rate

:9.29 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 51st :8.9 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 63rd


Total fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were t ...

:1.71 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 163rd :1.71 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 170th


Net migration rate

:-2.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 180th :-4.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 188th


Population growth rate

:-0.21% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 211st :-0.27% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 215th


Contraceptive prevalence rate

:69% (2019)


Religions

:Christian 58.9%, folk religion 17.6%, Buddhist <1%, Hindu <1%, Jewish <1%, Muslim <1%, other <1%, none 23.2% (2020 est.) :note: folk religions include religions of African origin, spiritualism, and others intermingled with Catholicism or Protestantism; data is estimative because no authoritative source on religious affiliation exists for Cuba


Dependency ratio

:total dependency ratio: 43.3 (2015 est.) :youth dependency ratio: 23.3 (2015 est.) :elderly dependency ratio: 19.9 (2015 est.) :
potential support ratio The potential support ratio (PSR) is the number of people age 15–64 per one older person aged 65 or older. This ratio describes the burden placed on the working population ( unemployment and children are not considered in this measure) by the n ...
: 5 (2015 est.)


Urbanization

:urban population: 77.4% of total population (2022) :rate of urbanization: 0.19% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)


Life expectancy at birth

total population: 79.64 years. Country comparison to the world: 59th male: 77.29 years female: 82.14 years (2022 est.) :total population: 78.9 years. Country comparison to the world: 56th :male: 76.6 years :female: 81.4 years (2018 est.)


Major infectious diseases

:degree of risk: intermediate (2020) :food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A :vectorborne diseases: dengue fever


Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.) :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: 15 years (2020)


Unemployment, youth ages 15–24

:total: 6.1%. Country comparison to the world: 150th :male: 6.4% :female: 5.6% (2010 est.)


Languages

:Spanish (official)


Language

Spanish is the official language of Cuba. Of all the regional variations of Spanish, Cuban Spanish is most similar to, and originates largely from, the dialect spoken in the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...
. This is a consequence of Canarian migration, which in the 19th and early 20th century was heavy and continuous. There were also migrations of Galicians and
Asturians Asturians ( ast, asturianos) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. Culture and society Heritage Asturians are directly descended from the Astures, who we ...
as well, but they did not impact Cuban Spanish to the same degree. Much of the typical
Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a pers ...
replacements for standard Spanish vocabulary stems from Canarian
lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word (), neuter of () meaning 'of or fo ...
. For example, ' (bus) differs from standard Spanish ' the former originated in the Canaries and is an
onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...
stemming from the sound of a
Klaxon A horn is a sound-making device that can be equipped to motor vehicles, buses, bicycles, trains, trams (otherwise known as streetcars in North America), and other types of vehicles. The sound made usually resembles a "honk" (older vehicles) o ...
horn (wah-wah!). An example of Canarian usage for a Spanish word is the verb ("to fight"). In standard Spanish the
verb A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descr ...
would be ', while ''fajar'' exists as a non-reflexive verb related to the hemming of a skirt. The second most spoken language of Cuba is
Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...
, used mainly by Haitian immigrants and its descendants going back since the late 18th century, of whom fled the
Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt began on ...
. Other languages of Cuba are Cuban Sign Language, and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
is commonly studied as a foreign language. There are also reports of Lucumi, " Lengua Conga" ( Kongo-based liturgical language of the Palo religion) and Bozal Spanish (an "African" socio-dialect of Spanish; now used only in folk religion).Wirtz, Kristina. 2014. ''Performing Afro-Cuba: Image, Voice, Spectacle in the Making of Race and History''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Historically, the Ciboney and Classic dialects of Taino and the unattested Guanahatabey were spoken.


Religion

Cuba has a multitude of faiths reflecting the island's diverse cultural elements. Catholicism, which was brought to the island by Spanish colonialists at the beginning of the 16th century, is the most prevalent professed faith. After the revolution, Cuba became an officially atheistic state and restricted religious practice. Since the Fourth Cuban Communist Party Congress in 1991, restrictions have been eased and, according to the National Catholic Observer, direct challenges by state institutions to the right to religion have all but disappeared,Catholic church in Cuba strives to reestablish the faith
National Catholic Observer
though the church still faces restrictions of written and electronic communication, and can only accept donations from state-approved funding sources. The Roman Catholic Church is made up of the Cuban Catholic Bishops' Conference (COCC), led by
Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino (18 October 1936 – 26 July 2019) was a Cuban prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Havana from 1981 to 2016. He was appointed to the College of Cardinals in 1994, the second Cuban to hold tha ...
, Cardinal Archbishop of Havana. It has eleven dioceses, 56 orders of nuns and 24 orders of priests. In January 1998,
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
paid a historic visit to the island, invited by the Cuban government and Catholic Church. Afro-Cuban religions, a blend of native African religions and Roman Catholicism, are widely practiced in Cuba. This diversity derives from West and Central Africans who were transported to Cuba, and in effect reinvented their African religions. They did so by combining them with elements of the Catholic belief system, with a result very similar to
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. One of these Afro-Cuban religions is Santeria.
Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, introduced from the United States in the 18th century, has seen a steady increase in popularity. 300,000 Cubans belong to the island's 54 Protestant denominations.
Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement
has grown rapidly in recent years, and the
Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...
alone claims a membership of over 167 000 people. The Episcopal Church of Cuba claims 10,000 adherents. Cuba has small communities of
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s,
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
s and members of the
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...
.


Demographic statistics from the CIA World Factbook

Illicit migration 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 US/Mexican border, and islands adjacent to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.


See also

*
Cuban American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or ...
* Afro-Cuban *
Haitian Cuban Haitian Cubans ( es, Haitiano-Cubano; french: Haïtien Cubain; ht, Ayisyen Kiben) are Cuban citizens of full or partial Haitian ancestry. Origins Haitian culture and French and Haitian Creole languages, first entered Cuba with the arrival of ...
* Isleños * Chinese Cuban * Jewish Cuban * Women in Cuba * Provinces of Cuba


References

: :* :* :*The Peninsular (May 2007)
Population, birth rate falling in Cuba: Official


External links



{{DEFAULTSORT:Demographics Of Cuba Society of Cuba