Economy:

          When one talks about the economy of a state or country they are usually referring to the work force, fluctuation of prices, living costs. They do not usually think about how the economy affects the geography of the place in which they live. In Cuba the geography is very much apart of how they live.

            In a socialist state, such as Cuba, the people work for the good of the country not for personal gain or benefit. The problem with this is a taxi driver can and usually will make more then a doctor. Many of those with professions that require many years of college and time usually go to other countries to practice. Cuba has allowed other countries to come in with their own businesses, but they are restricted from hiring others and must do their own work and are heavily taxed. This stops others from becoming more privileged than others.  Farmers, miners, and factory workers make up a large part of the workforce. These jobs right here affect the geography of Cuba.

            In 1959 Castro took control of Cuba and created strong ties with Russia. So much so that Russia was trading with them in the form of missiles as well as goods. To try and stop this the United States started to place trade sanctions on Cuba in hopes of hurting the economy. By 1962, the United States had broken all their ties with Cuba. In 1991, Cuba suffered a terrible blow with the fall of the Soviet Union. Without its main trading partner, the economy was now even more depressed then before. In 1996, the United States tighten the embargos on Cuba even more which in turn crippled the economy to a severe state.

            To help the county, Castro had to up the production of the main export which was Sugarcane and the second was tobacco. To do this many parts of the forests were removed to plant more in fertile fields. In 2000, without the use of gas and oil, over half the mills had to be closed which caused a loss of jobs and less production.

            To compensate this issue Castro had to open up to tourism. This was a benefit in the way that tourism became the number one source of income into the economy but with 911 and a hurricane that followed that dropped to 1.1% in 2002.

            In 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed the country had no gasoline or fertilizers for the farmers to grow their crops. The economy was in so much of despair that people could not drive cars or fix broken equipment. The major highways are now traveled by horse and cart and cars from the 1950's and 60's are seen all over but not able to be driven. With no other means, Castro placed the life of his country on the scientists. It was proposed that they would produce "natural plants and microbes to nourish soil and kill pests" (Cramer, 2000). The scientists went to work and were actually monitored by scientist in the United States. In 1993, famine was facing the country and the scientist worked continuously to develop "specialized biofertilizers and biopesticides from earth worms, plant bacteria, ants and animal manure" (Cramer, 2000).  In 1997, Cuba overcame its shortage of food and were the first ever nationwide to make a conversion to an organic agriculture. Cuba's farmers are now able to grow food for their own country and do not need to rely on a gasoline shortage or inability to fix broken equipment.