Cuba 🇨🇺

Cuba is a country in North America with a population of 11,212,191. Its capital is Havana. The official currency is CUP, and the main languages are Spanish.

Quick facts

Capital: Havana
Continent: North America
Population: 11,212,191
Area: 109,884 km²
Density: 102 people per km²
Currency: CUP
Languages: Spanish
ISO code: CU

Where Cuba sits

Cuba 🇨🇺 is one of 23 countries in North America, with its capital at Havana. It covers 109,884 square kilometres — 104th in the world — and is home to about 11,212,191 people, 85th globally.

The countries it shares a continent with include United States, Mexico, Canada, Guatemala and Haiti. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.

How Cuba compares

Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Cuba sits closest to Dominican Republic and Jordan. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Bulgaria and Guatemala.

At 102 people per square kilometre it is somewhat above the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by population than by area, so it is more crowded than its size alone suggests.

Spanish is an official language in 20 countries here, among them Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Colombia, and 15 others. The CUP is used by Cuba and no one else.

To see Cuba next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.

How to remember Cuba

Havana is on the north coast facing Florida, and its old town is famous for colourful buildings and classic cars. Cuba and Puerto Rico have almost the same flag with the colours swapped: Cuba's stripes are blue and its triangle red.

The flag of Cuba: blue, white and red, with a white star

🇨🇺 The flag is five horizontal stripes, three blue and two white, with a red triangle at the hoist holding a white five-pointed star. The three blue stripes stood for the island's three old regions, the white for purity, the red triangle for liberty, equality and fraternity, and the lone star for independence.

Region and neighbours

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, about 150 km south of Florida, where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic meet. As an island country it has no land neighbours.

Three facts about Cuba

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean.
The bee hummingbird, the smallest bird in the world, is found only in Cuba.
Old Havana and its fortifications are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sources: Wikipedia: Cuba, Wikipedia: Flag of Cuba, Wikipedia: Havana, CIA World Factbook.

Quiz yourself on Cuba

North American capitals quiz — match Cuba to Havana
North American flags quiz — spot the Cuba flag among its neighbours
Island nations quiz — Cuba is an island country

Quizzes that include Cuba

Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Cuba those are:

North America map quiz — place it on a blank map
North America flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
North America capitals quiz — match it to Havana
Cuba capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Cuba
Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day

Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.

Nearby countries

Antigua and Barbuda 🇦🇬 — capital Saint John's
Bahamas 🇧🇸 — capital Nassau
Barbados 🇧🇧 — capital Bridgetown
Belize 🇧🇿 — capital Belmopan
Canada 🇨🇦 — capital Ottawa
Costa Rica 🇨🇷 — capital San José
Dominica 🇩🇲 — capital Roseau
Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 — capital Santo Domingo
El Salvador 🇸🇻 — capital San Salvador
Grenada 🇬🇩 — capital Saint George's
Guatemala 🇬🇹 — capital Guatemala City
Haiti 🇭🇹 — capital Port-au-Prince

Frequently asked questions

What are the colours of the Cuba flag?

The flag of Cuba is five horizontal stripes, three blue and two white, with a red triangle at the hoist holding a white five-pointed star. The three blue stripes stood for the island's three old regions, the white for purity, the red triangle for liberty, equality and fraternity, and the lone star for independence.

Which countries border Cuba?

None. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, about 150 km south of Florida, where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic meet, so it has no land borders with other countries.