Havana is noted for having many public statues including a bronze commemorative for the legendary ex-Beatle featured in John Lennon Park. Havana also has many historical museums, like its Museum of Napoleonic art that showcases Napoleon’s death mask–and even one of his teeth.
The Old Town museum inside an 18th century colonial townhouse pays tribute to Cuba’s famous rum, Havana Club.
Built in 1956 after just 28 months, Havana’s Edificio Focsa stood 39 floors and was the second-highest building made of concrete in the world at the time.
Havana is Cuba’s biggest and most populous city, major port and its principal commercial center.
From an international trade perspective, Cuba shipped an estimated US$1.6 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2019. The most valuable exported products from Cuba are tobacco cigars and some cigarettes (20.2% of its global total), sugar (18.2%), nickel (10.4%), rum (7.5%), zinc (6.8%), fish and crustaceans (5.8%), lead (3.9%), wood charcoal (3.4%), refined petroleum oils (2.9%) then natural honey (1.3%) according to the International Trade Centre.
Capital Facts for Havana, Cuba: Quick Reference
Population
Demonym for a Havana resident: Habanero (men), Habanera (women)
Population: 2,140,423 (Havana) at July 2, 2020
Density: 7,093 people per square mile (2,739 per square kilometer)
Population: 11,326,572 (Cuba) at July 2, 2020
Density: 276 people per square mile (106 per square kilometer)
Median age for all Cubans: 42.2 years old
Famous People
Below, you will find 10 of the most famous people born in Havana, Cuba.
- Gloria Estefan, singer (born Sep. 1, 1957)
- Andy Garcia, Academy Award-winning actor for Godfather III (born Apr. 12, 1956)
- Jose Canseco, professional baseball player (born Jul. 2, 1964)
- Emilio Estefan, music producer (born Mar. 4, 1953)
- Miguel Cerejido, artist (born Feb. 26, 1960)
- Brayan Pena, professional baseball player (born Jan. 7, 1982)
- Daisy Fuentes, actress & TV host (born Nov. 17, 1966)
- Camila Cabello, singer (born Mar. 3, 1997)
- Isabella Castillo, actress & singer (born Dec. 23, 1994)
- Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, novelist (born Jan. 27, 1950
Note: Data for our Famous People tab was sourced from Google searches mostly targeting published Wikipedia articles specific to each person’s name.
Financial
GDP: US$137 billion (Cuba) in 2017
GDP per person: $12,300
Note: The above country-level GDP metrics are on a Purchasing Power Parity basis and are in U.S. dollars. Credible city GDP statistics for Havana were unavailable.
Official currency used in Havana: Cuban peso, Cuban convertible peso
Geography
Capital landmarks: Central Park (Parque Central), Fort of Saint Charles (Fortress San Carlos de la Cabaña), Morro Castle (Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro), Museum of the Revolution (Museo de la Revolución) and Museum of Napoleonic art (Museo Napoliónico)
Research
Research Sources:
Brookings Institution, Global Metro Monitor Report (includes GDP data).
Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook, Central America & Caribbean: Cuba.
Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook, Field Listing: Major Urban Areas.
CityMetric, Where are largest cities in the world? 2015 edition.
Demographia, World Urban Area, 12th Annual Edition.
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases.
International Trade Centre, Trade Map.
Mercer, Western European Cities Top Quality Of Living Ranking ‒ Mercer .
Tourism Website, Havana Guide.
Wikimedia Commons, City Flags.
Note: Some city flags were unavailable. If so, attribution belongs to Wikimedia Commons for pertinent country flags.
Wikipedia, Cuba.
Wikipedia, Havana.
Wikipedia, Mercer Quality of Living Survey.
WorldOMeter, Cuba Population.
Since 1959, Cubans celebrate the nation’s Triumph of the Revolution on each January 1 (also called Liberation Day).
Havana’s metropolitan area covers 301.8 square miles (781.6 square kilometers). It serves as home to 2.1 million inhabitants at July 2020.
Cuba’s total population is 11.3 million. The largest Caribbean country by land area, the island measures 41,097 square miles (106,440 square kilometers).
Population density is much more intense within Havana, with an average 7,093 residents per square mile (2,739 per square kilometer).
Zooming out to Cuba’s overall land boundaries, the Caribbean island’s population density thins out to an average 276 people per square mile (106 per square kilometer).
