How Much Do You Know about Cuba?

Cuba is a Caribbean nation. Ethnically and culturally, it is considered to be part of Latin America.

It's Haiti which shares an island with the Dominican Republic. That island, also in the Caribbean Sea, is the island of Hispaniola.

Belmopan is the capital of Belize. It has a population of about 17,000 -- less than many U.S. towns!

In some countries, the political capital is not the best-known city or the cultural capital. Not so of Cuba, where political, cultural and economic life are all chiefly centered around Havana.

The other three are Caribbean islands. Sardinia is off the coast of Italy.

Fidel Castro died in 2016. Raul Castro is his brother, who was involved in the Cuban Communist party since the revolutionary days.

Like other tropical nations, Cuba produces a lot of coffee, sugar, and tobacco. Apples require a more temperate climate.

This shouldn't surprise you if you know that Spanish is Cuba's official language. Cuba gained a nominal freedom after the Spanish-American war, in which it became a U.S. protectorate.

His full name was Fulgencio Batista. He was U.S.-supported, but his autocratic style of governing led to a revolution.

Batista served -- or ruled -- from 1952 to 1959, when the revolutionaries finally succeeded in ousting him. He was replaced by longtime president Fidel Castro.

Che Guevara was a ​complicated figure. He was born in Argentina and had Irish blood, and was a physician and a writer as well as a revolutionary. He was killed in Bolivia by CIA-backed forces.

Granma was first the province, then the yacht, then the Communist newspaper. It's in that last capacity that it is probably best known.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a standoff with the United States over the placement of Soviet ballistic missiles on Cuban soil. Cuba wanted to deter another U.S. invasion, while the Soviets were reacting to the placement of U.S. ballistic missiles in Turkey and Italy.

JFK negotiated with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev to a peaceful solution. Kennedy had been elected in 1960​ and was assassinated the following year, In Dallas, Texas.

For many years, it was the sign of the true "man of the world" that he could get you some "Cubans." Now, with trade laws loosening up, this isn't such a big deal. In addition, the cigars of other countries really don't lag behind in quality as much as people think.

Though Cuba officially declared itself atheist after the Revolution, a majority of the people (about 65 percent today) clung to their Catholic faith. Cuba dropped the "officially atheist" designation in 1992.

This has to be one of the stranger chapters in world politics. The U.S. began leasing land in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay long before the Revolution, and the naval base never closed down, even after the two countries became enemies.

The Guantanamo base was often in the news in the 2000s. Critics objected to the detention of Iraqi and Afghan prisoners who weren't demonstrably involved in terrorism, as well as the "enhanced" interrogation techniques to which prisoners were subjected.

Hemingway lived in Cuba during the pre-Revolution years. He set what was perhaps his best book, "The Old Man and the Sea," there.

Plantains (or platanos, which means banana in Spanish) are shaped like bananas, but their texture is different and they cannot be eaten raw. If you're curious, you can find them in most supermarkets.

This might not seem like a lot, but consider that the island's population was about 7 million when Fidel Castro took power. That puts the number in perspective.

This one is true. A congressional committee found evidence of at least eight attempts to kill the troublesome foreign leader, including talks with mafia figures about the possibility of an old-fashioned "hit."

The Mariel boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans to the United States. Cuba announced that anyone who wanted to leave could legally do so, precipitating the mass exodus, when emigration had previously been slow but steady.

Mariel is a coastal town and harbor in Cuba. Its proximity to Havana made it the common departure point during the mass emigration.

Cuba's population is low for its land area. This is partly due to the steady exodus of people after the Revolution and a low birth rate.

The Cuban flag is red, white and blue, just like the Union Jack, the U.S. flag, the French flag, and quite a few others. They're popular colors!

To be more specific, the largest group was the Ciboney Taino, who lived in the central part of the island. "Taino" is a larger designation for people who were indigenous to several Caribbean islands, including Hispaniola and the Antilles.

We include the nearby city of Hialeah in Miami; it's within the larger Miami-Dade County metro area. Telemundo, the Spanish-language network, is based there.

The West African influence is still seen in the practice of Santeria in Cuba. Santeria blends tenets of Christianity with West African beliefs.

Let's unpack what's wrong here! Communist Cubans are drinking Coca-Cola, the flagship drink of capitalism.

Cuba has about 7 percent of the world's nickel. Cobalt is found in combined form with nickel, and is used in alloys and batteries.

Technically, they aren't "sent," but come to vacation or for educational reasons. In 2016, more than 1 million Canadians visited Cuba, far more than Germany or the U.S., who came in at about a quarter million each.

For a beloved dish, it doesn't have a very respectful name! Ropa vieja is made of stewed, shredded flank steak with tomatoes and spices.

"Moros y cristianos" means "moors and christians," because the beans are usually black and the rice is white. Did we mention Cuba has some colorful names for its favorite foods?

The Cuban sandwich is becoming almost as much an American food as a Cuban one, given its popularity in Florida. But lettuce is an Americanization that many purists consider unacceptable. A good "mixto" is meat, cheese, butter and bread, with a pickle as the only vegetable.