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• Quick Guide

Language: Spanish

Population: 11,120,000

Number of Provinces: 15

Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Mayabeque, City of Havana, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, Las Tunas, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín and Guantánamo.

In addition, the special municipality of the Isle of Youth.

Coat of Arms: (adopted 1906) A golden key symbolizes Cuba’s position at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico and between the two Americas, while the rising sun represents a new nation. Three blue strips in the bottom left represent the three regions of the colonial period. In the bottom right, the royal palm (Cuba’s national tree) stands as a symbol of the nobility and the steadfastness of Cuban people while the mountains and the clear blue sky represent a typical Cuban landscape. The bundle of eleven staves behind the shield support it, and symbolizes the unity of the Cuban people in their struggle for freedom. The staves are crowned by a Phrygian, or Liberty cap on which there is a lone white star, symbolizing independence. Bordering the shield, to the right, there is an oak branch, and to the left, a laurel branch, representing strength and victory.

National Flag: (first flown 1850; official flag since 1902)

The triangle is a reference to liberty, equality and fraternity, while the red colour of the triangle symbolizes the blood that would be required to win independence. In the middle of the triangle, the white star symbolizes absolute freedom.The three blue stripes represent the eastern, central and western colonial regions, interspersed by white stripes signifying the purity and virtue of the Cuban people.

National Flower: Butterfly lily (Hedychium Coronarium Koenig), a native-growing white-colored fragrant jasmine

National Bird: The Cuban Trogon (Priotelus temnurus), or tocororo, displays plumage with the same colors as the Cuban flag

National tree: The Royal Palm

National Anthem: Bayamo, composed in 1867-8 by Perucho Figueredo.

Legal age for voting: 16

UNESCO World Heritage Sites: 9

• Old Havana and its Fortifications
• Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios
• San Pedro de la Roca Castle, Santiago de Cuba
• Desembarco del Granma National Park
• Viñales Valley
• Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South-East of Cuba
• Alejandro de Humboldt National Park
• Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos
• Historic Centre of Camagüey

Time zone: Eastern Standard Time