p Man has never set eyes on a land more beautiful than Cuba, wrote Columbus who discovered her in 1492. He named a group of islands forming part of Cuba the Archipelago of the Queen’s Gardens in honour of the Spanish queen.

p Cuba occupies an archipelago of approximately 1,600 islands and islets whose total area is 115,000 sq. km. The Island of Cuba, the biggest of the group, has an area of 108,000 sq. km. (94 per cent of the total area of the republic).

p The Island of Cuba extends for 1,200 kilometres from west to east and ranges in width from 40 to 160 kilometres. The republic’s 3,500-kilometre-long shoreline is washed by the waters of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba occupies an extremely advantageous geographic position in the west of Central Atlantic, at the juncture of North and South America, in the centre of the busy sea routes which, passing through the Panama Canal, link the numerous countries of the Atlantic and Pacific basins.

p The victory of the popular revolution in Cuba ushered in a qualitatively new stage in the revolutionary movement of the Latin American peoples.

p Having thrown off the yoke of colonial oppression, the Cuban people became full masters of their land and its natural wealth.

p There are many mountains on the Island of Cuba: the Guaniguanico ranges in the west, Guamuaya in the centre and the Sierra Maestra with Mount Turquino, the highest peak in the country (1,600 metres), in the east.

p She has a tropical climate with moderate trade winds and sea breezes. In the rainy season (May-October) Cuba is often hit by devastating tropical cyclones (hurricanes). In fighting them the working people of socialist Cuba display exemplary courage and a high level of organisation. During the dry season (November-April) the population dams rivers to store up water for the plantations and towns.

p The island’s river valleys, plains and lowlands have fertile soils favourable for farming. Valuable crops such as citruses (oranges and lemons), bananas, mangoes and sugar cane are cultivated.

p Numerous types of useful minerals have been discovered in the country, including nickel ore whose deposits are estimated at 1,600 million tons and are among the biggest in the world. There are also considerable deposits of copper, iron and manganese, and lesser deposits of cobalt, tungsten, chromium and other minerals.

p The Cuban nation, the present population of the country numbering over eight million, was formed in the process of historical development out of the local islanders, Indians, Spaniards, who settled on the islands at the close of the 15th century, African Negroes brought here by slavers and immigrants from the neighbouring Latin American countries and some European states.

p Important social reforms have been carried out in the country. The exploiter classes have been abolished and millions of working people led by the working class have embarked on creative activity.

p Agriculture is developing on a new social and technical basis. In place of former capitalist latifundias there are now hundreds of people’s estates and specialised farms which have over 60 per cent of the country’s farm lands at their disposal. Former leaseholders, metayers, small and middle peasants who received land as a result of the agrarian reform 95 are uniting into credit-and-supply and sales co-operatives. Through the National Association of Small Landowners the state is assisting the farmers with farm machines and fertiliser and is introducing the latest scientific and technological achievements into production.

p Cuba’s principal crop is sugar cane whose plantations cover more than 50 per cent of the country’s cultivated area. Cane sugar is Cuba’s chief product. Before the revolution sugar cane accounted for approximately 80 per cent of the gross national product. The development of other branches of the economy in socialist Cuba tends to decrease the share of sugar in her total output, but without diminishing the absolute volume of its production. On the contrary, after the revolution new lands were developed and irrigation and drainage canals were dug in order to increase the sugar cane harvest.

p Other staple crops are tobacco and coffee. The world’s finest tobacco is cultivated in Pinar del Rio Province in the west of the country. Coffee trees are grown in the east, in Oriente Province. The area under kenaf, henequen and other valuable industrial crops is being enlarged.

p The area sown to rice, one of the principal items of domestic consumption, is being enlarged so as to make Cuba self-sufficient in food.

p Animal husbandry is practised throughout the country which has extensive natural pastures. Special emphasis is placed on cattle-breeding in order to raise the production of meat, butter and milk. The cattle population will be increased to 10-12 million head, and the productivity of meat and milk husbandry is mounting.

p Industry is developing at an ever greater rate and its branch structure is being improved. Thus far the sugar industry (over 150 sugar refineries) holds the leading place in the Cuban economy. Built before the revolution, they lag far behind modern standards. The Soviet Union is helping to reconstruct 114 of them. As a result there will be a rise in sugar output and higher productivity of labour. Engineering and chemical industries are beginning to play an important part in Cuba’s economy.

p The mining industry, whose output increased more than twofold in the first post-revolution decade, is developing rapidly.

p As industry advances measures are being taken to improve its geographic distribution. Santiago de Cuba, Camaguey and other towns are developing and other industrial centres are being created.

p The capital Havana is Cuba’s largest city. Greater Havana has a population of approximately two million. Pre- revolutionary Havana was called "Latin American Paris" and in effect was a playground for wealthy Americans. Modern Havana is the country’s industrial centre and major ocean port.

Cuba’s economic development is being conducted with an eye to turning it into a highly-industrialised socialist state. A three-year development plan is being worked out for this purpose which will be followed by a five-year plan for 1975-1980. Efforts to boost the economy are taking place in complex domestic and external conditions. Coping with them is a long process and one which calls for the mobilisation of the efforts of all the Cuban people and the further strengthening of their friendship with the peoples of socialist countries.