The culture of Cuba is a complex mixture of different, often contradicting, factors and influences. The Cuban people and their customs are based on European, African and Amerindian influences.
The Casino Español, Matanzas
Banrarra Afro-Cuban dance troupe
Capablanca playing chess with his father José María Capablanca in 1892
At a casa particular in Viñales, a pig is prepared for a feast.
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba, Isla de la Juventud, archipelagos, 4,195 islands and cays surrounding the main island. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola, and north of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital. Cuba is the third-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with about 11 million inhabitants.
Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, conquistador of Cuba
A painting of the British capture of Havana in 1762
Slaves in Cuba unloading ice from Maine, c. 1832
19th century view of Havana