Cuba Languages

Cuban Spanish is the most popular language in Cuba. It is spoken by close to 11 million people. Cuban Spanish belongs to the Indo-European language family and the West Iberian language group. It’s known to be one of the most difficult forms of Spanish spoken in the world. The grammar and pronunciation of the Cuban Spanish is quite different from the Castalian Spanish used in mainland Spain. The language has a soft pronunciation of consonants especially at the end of words. Letters such as “s” and “r” are at times not pronounced at all or rather pronounced softly or weakly. Its use of diminutive ending –ica- and –ico- is also different from the Spanish standard of –ita- and –ito-.Furthermore, their “n” is pronounced as “eng.”

90% of the citizens of Cuba speak Spanish as their first language. Besides Spanish, about 400,000 people speak Creole. In fact, in provinces such as Havana, Matanzas, and Guantanamo, classes are conducted in Creole.

Some common Cuban Spanish greetings include “hola” which is a greeting similar to the English word “hello.” Other words used for greetings are “buenos dias” for good morning, “buenas tardes” for good afternoon, and “buenas noches” for good evening. For one to introduce themselves, they say “me Ilamo…” followed by their name.

The minority languages in Cuba include the Galican, Haitian Creole, Corsican, and Lucumí. Haitian Creole is the second most spoken language in Cuba. It is used by about 4% of the population. It is a pidgin dialect used by the Haitian Cuban people who are about 300,000 in number. Lucumí is a West African language. It’s a minor language in Cuba influenced by the West Yoruba language. It originated from Yoruba slaves who were brought to Cuba during the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the 18^th century. Galician, Corsican, Catalan, and English are all foreign languages.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

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Published on 2019-11-06


Capital	Havana
Languages	Spanish (official)
Ethnic Groups	White 64.1%, mulatto or mixed 26.6%, black 9.3%
Religion	nominally Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jewish, Santeria
Government	Communist state
Independance	20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US from 1898 to 1902); not acknowledged by the Cuban Government as a day of independence
Area	110,860.00 km²
Water Area	1,040.00 km²
Land Area	109,820.00 km²
Population	11,179,995.00 Large population clusters found throughout the country, the more significant ones being in the larger towns and cities, particularly the capital of Havana
Location	Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, 150 km south of Key West, Florida
Bordering Countries	US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay 28.5 km
GDP(PPP)	$133,000,000,000.00 (USD)
GDP (Per Capita)	$11,900.00 (USD)
Export Partners	Its major export partners are Canada, Venezuela, and China.
Export Commodities	Its main exports are petroleum, nickel, medical products, sugar, tobacco, and fish.
Import Partners	Its major import partners are China, Venezuela, and Spain.
Import Commodities	Its major imports include petroleum, food, machinery, and chemicals.
Climate	Tropical; moderated by trade winds; dry season (November to April); rainy season (May to October)
Terrain	Mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast
Learn More	Cuba

Cuba Languages

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