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Cuba: Hispanic Reading Room Country Guide

This guide provides curated Library of Congress resources for researching Cuba, including digitized primary source materials in a wide variety of formats, books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching.

Introduction

The Library of Congress holds thousands of collection materials about and from Cuba. Curated by the Hispanic Division, this guide is part of a series of Country Guides that provide quick references for countries and regions from the Luso-Hispanic world. The Hispanic Division is the Library’s portal to the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain and Portugal; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S. This guide offers links to diverse resources on Cuba from across the Library including digitized primary sources, selected books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching. For specific questions or assistance using the Library’s resources, use the Ask a Librarian service to contact a reference librarian.

Cuba: Quick Facts

Cuba in 1851. Library of Congress Geography and Maps Division.

Official Name: República de Cuba (Republic of Cuba)

Capital: La Habana (Havana)

Date of Independence: May 20, 1902

Head of State/Government: President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez

Population: 11 million (2020 estimate)

Language: Spanish (90%), Haitian Creole, Lucumi, Galician, Corsican

States: Cuba is divided into 15 provinces and a special municipality that is not included in any province: Artemisa, Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Cienfuegos, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Isla de la Juventud, La Habana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Mayabeque, Pinar del Rio, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara