Physical Regions of Cuba
Human Characteristics of Cuba
Landscapes of Cuba
Physical Landscapes Human Landscapes
Biodiversity and Cultural Diversity in Cuba
Cuba is known for being one of the most multicultural countries in the world. The Cuban culture has been widely affected by other international cultures around the world, such as: European, African, and North American cultures (“Culture of Cuba”, n.d.). Cuba is not only culturally diverse, but it is also known as having a good amount of biodiversity as well. In the last 50 years or so, Cuba as a country has gone through many changes, and its people have been severely impacted. Through these changes, the culture of Cuba has not died out, and its people and land are extremely resilient.
In terms of biodiversity, Cuba is known to be a prodigious island (Calzadilla, 2013). The island of Cuba contains a large variety of plant and animal life, about 40 % is native to the island. Out of all of the islands in the world, Cuba is ranked 4th for biodiversity, and it is 1st in the Caribbean (Calzadilla, 2013). Cuba’s animal life consists of the species groups: mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. There are many different kinds of environments that can be found in Cuba: “forests (rainforests, evergreen, coniferous, semi-deciduous, and deciduous) and desert- like areas” (“CultureQuest, n.d.).
Cuba’s cultural diversity has remained prominent throughout its historical changes. The country is filled with a rich heritage of music, art, and literature (“Culture of Cuba”, n.d.). Of the 11.2 million people living in Cuba, 51% are identified as mulatto, 37% are identified as white, 11% are identified as black, and 1% is identified as Chinese (World Population Statistics, 2014). Slavery during the Spanish colonization was one contribution to Cuba being a multicultural country.
Due to the past colonization by the Spanish in Cuba, this brought over new plants and animals, and also caused some unique species to become extinct (“PBS Nature”, 2011). After Cuba’s Revolution in 1959, the country began to focus more on agriculture than heavy industry, which ended up saving its wildlife a great deal (2013). Once the collapse of the Soviet Union took place in, 1991 Cuba began an economic depression. This depression caused the country to take action into learning how to be more self-sustaining without relying on importing and exporting to and from other countries (2013). Cuba’s government has taken action to fight deforestation (most pressing environmental problem) and preservation of wildlife through government formed agencies (“Cuba-Environment”, 2015).
References
Culture of Cuba. (n.d.). Retrieved fromhttp://www.mapsofworld.com/cuba/culture-of-cuba.html
Calzadilla, E. (2013, May 24). Cuba and its Biodiversity. Retrieved from http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93596
Biodiversity in Cuba. (n.d.). Retrieved From http://www.culturequest.us/Cuba/index.htm
Cuba: The Accidental Eden A Brief Environmental History. (2011, April 7). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/cuba-the-accidental-eden-a-brief-environmental-history/5830/
Cuba- Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Cuba-ENVIRONMENT.html