rm: Cuba
local long form: Republica de Cuba
local short form: Cuba

Government type:

Communist state

Capital:

name: Havana
geographic coordinates: 23 07 N, 82 21 W
time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last
Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:

14 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 special
municipality* (municipio especial); Camaguey, Ciego de Avila,
Cienfuegos, Ciudad de La Habana, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Isla
de la Juventud*, La Habana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio,
Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara

Independence:

20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US
from 1898 to 1902); not acknowledged by the Cuban Government as a
day of independence

National holiday:

Triumph of the Revolution, 1 January (1959)

Constitution:

24 February 1976; amended July 1992 and June 2002

Legal system:

based on Spanish civil law and influenced by American legal
concepts, with large elements of Communist legal theory; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:

16 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President of the Council of State and President of
the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (president since 24
February 2008); First Vice President of the Council of State and
First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Jose Ramon
MACHADO Ventura (since 24 February 2008); note - the president is
both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President of the Council of State and President
of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (president since 24
February 2008); First Vice President of the Council of State and
First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Jose Ramon
MACHADO Ventura (since 24 February 2008)
cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the president of the
Council of State and appointed by the National Assembly or the
31-member Council of State, elected by the Assembly to act on its
behalf when it is not in session
elections: president and vice presidents elected by the National
Assembly for a term of five years; election last held 24 February
2008 (next to be held in 2013)
election results: Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz elected president; percent of
legislative vote - 100%; Gen. Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura elected
vice president;