Population: 11,008,112 (largest island in the Caribbean)
Motto: Patria o Muerte (Homeland or Death)
Cuba is the only island in the Caribbean to have a railway. Launched in the 1830s, Cuba’s railway system is one of the world’s oldest – 2,600 miles of track, which is now being restored.
Tiny creatures love Cuba. It is the home to both the tiniest bird, the Bee Hummingbird and the tiniest frog in the Northern Hemisphere, the Mount Iberia frog, which is less than 1/2-inch! Don’t let size fool you – that tiny frog is also poisonous!
Five US presidents have tried to buy Cuba. Between 1808 and 1898, Presidents James Polk, William McKinley, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan Jr, and Ulysses S. Grant offered between $100 million and $300 million to Spain, but each were refused.
The official national anthem is “El Himno de Bayamo (The Hymn of Bayamo)”
To combat, run, Bayamesans!
For the homeland looks proudly upon you;
Do not fear a glorious death,
For to die for the homeland is to live.To live in chains is to live
Mired in shame and disgrace.
Hear the sound of the bugle:
To arms, brave ones, run!II
Fear not the vicious Iberians,
They are cowards like every tyrant.
They cannot oppose the spirited Cuban;
Their empire has forever fallen.
Free Cuba! Spain has already died,
Its power and pride, where did it go?
Hear the sound of the bugle:
To arms, brave ones, run!III
Listen to the national anthem.
Behold our triumphant troops,
Behold those who have fallen.
Because they were cowards, they flee defeated;
Because we were brave, we knew how to triumph.
Free Cuba! we can shout
From the cannon’s terrible boom.
Hear the sound of the bugle,
To arms, brave ones, run!