25 Fun Facts About Cuba We Bet You Didn't Know Before

Cuba is an exceptionally beautiful country that lies west of the North Atlantic Ocean.

It has always fascinated tourists and history buffs worldwide with its famous worldwide interesting facts and historical facts about Cuba. The Republic of Cuba comprises the island of Cuba and Isla de la Juventud.

Through this article, we will check out some of the important facts about Cuba. Right from its amazing history, its official name, its official language, which is Spanish, and more about its capital, which is also its largest city, Havana, Cuba. 

Despite it having such a well-known reputation worldwide, Cuba is still relatively unknown in several parts of the world, especially the culture and lifestyle of this island nation. Read these 10-20 facts that we have curated especially for you and to see how amazing visiting Cuba is!

If you enjoyed reading these interesting facts, you must also look at our other fact articles on Florida facts and facts about Russia.

Where is Cuba located?

Cuba is the largest island country situated in the Northern Hemisphere.

It is a narrow island in North America and shares its borders with other countries like Latin America, the United States of America, and the Bahamas. Although Cuba belongs to the Latin American belt, the language mostly spoken here is Spanish and a native Cuban dialect. 

Strange Facts About Cuba

Cuba has come a long way now to be recognized as one of the quickest developing largest island nations in the Caribbean Sea. However, although it is developing at an exceptionally quick pace, the culture and lifestyle of many Cubans are still being explored.

Tourism is slowly starting to expand as more and more people are looking to explore and visit the country of Cuba. Cuba is, hands down, the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of over 42,426 sq mi (109,884 sq km).

If that's not all, it is also regarded as the most populous country in the Caribbean, with over 11.5 million people. However, not many places are visited as most people only tour around Havana, Old Havana, or Cayo largo.

Here are some Cuba travel tips- One of the strangest Cuba facts is that Wi-Fi hadn't been in existence until quite recently. You may, however, find a Wi-Fi connection in the bigger Cuban cities and designated hotspot areas.

If that is not all, mobile phone services are quite poor in this country, so if you plan on visiting, you should also be prepared to have a broken and weak cell phone service.

Cuba is famous for its cigars. They are extremely popular in the western hemisphere amongst the social classes in Cuba, and they are part of the Cuban culture.

They are made from a fantastic mix of tobacco leaves that are cured twice to create smoke that is smooth and flavorful. It is, however, the manufacturing and production that make these cigars so world-renowned.

Each Cuban cigar is hand-rolled to produce the high-quality preserved cigars that we know today. These cigars also contribute greatly to the economy, as Cuba is well known for its exportation.

The people of Cuba love baseball. It might also surprise many, but baseball is, in fact, a well-loved and popular sport among the Cuban people.

There are several other sports enjoyed in Cuba, like soccer, volleyball, and boxing. However, despite soccer being popular in Latin American countries, it is still not as popular as baseball in Cuba. In addition, world-renowned vintage cars can be found on the streets of Cuba.

One of the first things that you will notice in Cuba is the number of classic cars. Because the exportation of foreign cars to the Caribbean islands was restricted during the communist revolution, the number of old cars that you will see today is comparatively smaller, and some of them are absolute classics. 

The origins of some of the most famous cocktails find their roots in Cuba. Be it the well-known Cuba Libre, commonly known as rum and Cola, or the refreshing mojito.

Cuba is home to some of the best cocktail recipes and continues to provide the world with a great cocktail taste. Rum and Coke are the most common of them all. It dates back to the Spanish-American War times when Coca-Cola was first introduced to Cuba.

After Catholicism, Santeria is the second most popular religion in Cuba. Cuba has a diversity of ethnic groups, religions, and cultures.

During the colonial times, African slaves were shifted to the island in large numbers to work on the plantations. Therefore, to the present day, many Cuban cultures contain African influences like music and religion. Santeria is a religion that developed and slowly gained popularity amongst Cubans of West African heritage.

Aside from common animals, Cuba is also home to some rare animals. For instance, the main island, Cuba, holds the record of being home to several colonies of flamingos that are famous worldwide. The smallest bird, the rare bee hummingbird, is found only in Cuba. Here, you can also find the world's smallest frog, the Mount Iberia frog. 

Cubans take tradition very seriously. For example, every year on New Year's Eve, dolls are burned to symbolize the forgetting of bad times when they had to work at the sugar mills and pave the way to better times and a fresh start in the new year.

It is also a tradition to pass down recipes from generation to generation because the Cubans don't normally write down their recipes.

Facts About Cuba's Government

Cuba was discovered in the year 1492 by Christopher Columbus. Back then, it was controlled by Spain until the year 1898.

In April to September 1980, under the leadership of Fidel Castro, approximately 124,000 Cubans migrated to the United States of America. One of the interesting fun facts about the Cuban Government is that Christmas was banned for over thirty years.

During the governmental reign of Fidel Castro (who started the Cuban revolution), Cuba was declared an atheist state in 1959.

The following year, Castro abolished Christmas and declared it an official paid holiday. However, in the year 1997, Cuba was allowed to celebrate Christmas all over again after Pope John Paul II visited the island. The 30-year-long period when Christmas was banned in Cuba is locally referred to as Las Navidades Silenciadas or the Silent Christmases.

Political opposition is prohibited in Cuba, where a single legal party rules. The Communist Party of Cuba is the only legal party allowed to govern in Cuba.

Historical Facts About Cuba

South America heritage sites of Cuba are worth exploring. Cuba has a record of nine UNESCO World Heritage sites in total.

Here, you can explore the Vinales Valley, which is home to several tobacco farms and farmers- the birthplace of the famous Cuban tobacco for the Cuban cigars. These places still use the traditional methods of farming tobacco and tobacco plantation.

You could also take a tour of the old Havana cities, which date back to as early as the 1500s. Another good site to check out here is the Santiago de Cuba, or the San Pedro de la Roca Castle, a fortress that dates back to the year 1648.

Throughout history, Cuba has had several interactions with the USA. The United States of America would pay Cuba approximately $4,085 per year to keep the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station occupied. However, this payment has been closed since the year 1959.

Ever since the turn of the 18th century and Christopher Columbus' visit, sugarcane has played an important role in the history of the country, where African slaves were brought in to work at the sugar mills, thus paving the way for new culture and traditions in the years to come.

Several other crops, like rice, citrus fruits, potatoes, and bananas, too, have found their importance for the economy of the country.

In the year 1998, Pope John Paul II visited Cuba and thus strengthened and reestablished the Christmas holidays that were banned by the Fidel Casto government and communist party until the year 1997.

Did you know?

Another interesting fact about Cuba is that Cuba has two currencies. The Cuban Pesos (CUP) is for the locals, and the other currency, the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) is for tourists and has a 1:1 conversion rate with the United States Dollar.

During the Cold War, the two countries, North Korea and Cuba, developed a connection of goodwill based on their violent anti-American beliefs.

Since a proclamation in May 2010, you must have travel insurance in order to visit Cuba.

Popular American novelist Ernest Hemingway wrote parts of his famous novel 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' in the capital of Cuba, Havana, in 1939.

Miguel díaz Canel is a Cuban politician who has served as the country's president since 2019 and as the Communist Party's first secretary since 2021.

The life expectancy rate in Cuba is very high, as much as 78.8 years. In addition, the literacy rate in Cuba is 99.8%, which is also one of the highest literacy rates in the world.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for facts about Cuba then why not take a look at facts about Canada or interesting facts about Alaska.