BY LEONARDO RODRIGUEZ
Before the Castro Revolution turned Cuba into a Communist regime, Cuba was a nation of immigrants. In the fifty-two years the Castro brothers have ruled Cuba; it has become a nation of emigrants. This is the story of their exodus to all corners of the earth, strictly by the numbers-a detailed accounting of the information that describes the Cuban Diaspora.
Table I presents the gradual increase of the number of Cubans in the United States as reflected by the U.S. Census Bureau in its last five decennial censuses.
Table II describes the progressive “Cubanization” of Miami. Various local, academic, and federal sources outline the successive arrival of the exiles to their preferred geographical location in the U.S. Miami-Dade County in Florida.
Table I
Cuban Presence in the United States(1970-2010)
| U.S. Census Bureau | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population | 203,211,926 | 226,709,899 | 248,709,873 | 281,421,906 | 308,745,538 |
| Hispanic Population | 9,072,602 | 14,608,673 | 22,354,059 | 35,305,818 | 50,477,594 |
| Hispanic Population as % of Total Population | 4.5% | 6.4% | 8.9% | 12.5% | 16.3% |
| Cuban Population | 544,600 | 803,226 | 1,043,932 | 1,241,685 | 1,785,547 |
| Cuban Population as % of Total Population | 0.26% | 0.35% | 0.42% | 0.44% | 0.58% |
| Cuban Population as % of Hispanic Population | 6.0% | 5.5% | 4.7% | 3.5% | 3.5% |
Table II
Cuban Presence in Miami-Dade(1960-2010)
| U.S. Census Bureau | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade Population | 935,047 | 1,267,792 | 1,625,781 | 1,967,000 | 2,253,362 | 2,496,435 |
| Hispanic Population | 50,000 | 299,065 | 580,994 | 949,000 | 1,291,737 | 1,623,859 |
| Hispanic Population as % of Total Population | 5.3% | 23.6% | 35.7% | 48.2% | 57.3% | 65.0% |
| Cuban Population | 24,400 | 185,411 | 407,253 | 561,868 | 650,601 | 856,007 |
| Cuban Population as % of Total Population | 2.6% | 14..6% | 25.0% | 28.6% | 28.9% | 34.3% |
| Cuban Population as % of Hispanic Population | 48.8% | 62.0% | 70.0% | 59.2% | 50.4% | 52.7% |
The next three tables outline the three sites in New Jersey which originally became home to a relatively large number of Cubans during the last fifty years. They are Union City (Table III) and Hudson County (Table IV), where the number of Cubans has decreased over time, and Bergen County (Table V), where according to the 2010 U.S. Census the number of Cuban immigrants has increased.
Table III
Cuban Presence in Union City, New Jersey(1990-2010)
| U.S. Census Bureau | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union City Population | 56,573 | 67,088 | 66,455 |
| Hispanic Population | 42,884 | 55,226 | 56,291 |
| Hispanic Population as % of Total Population | 75.8% | 82.3% | 84.7% |
| Cuban Population | 14,709 | 10,296 | 7.510 |
| Cuban Population as % of Total Population | 26.0% | 15.3% | 11.3% |
| Cuban Population as % of Hispanic Population | 34.3% | 18.6% | 13.3% |
Table IV
Cuban Presence in Hudson County, New Jersey(1990-2010)
| U.S. Census Bureau | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson County Population | 553,099 | 608,975 | 634,266 |
| Hispanic Population | 183,465 | 242,123 | 267,853 |
| Hispanic Population as % of Total Population | 33.17% | 39.8% | 42.2% |
| Cuban Population | 44,115 | 33,901 | 28,652 |
| Cuban Population as % of Total Population | 7.98% | 5.56% | 4.5% |
| Cuban Population as % of Hispanic Population | 24.0% | 14.0% | 10.7% |
Table V
Cuban Presence in Bergen County, New Jersey(1990-2010)
| U.S. Census Bureau | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bergen County Population | 825,380 | 884,118 | 905,116 |
| Hispanic Population | 49,776 | 91,377 | 145,281 |
| Hispanic Population as % of Total Population | 6.0% | 10.3% | 16.1% |
| Cuban Population | 6,984 | 9,381 | 12,708 |
| Cuban Population as % of Total Population | 0.85% | 1.06% | 1.4% |
| Cuban Population as % of Hispanic Population | 14.0% | 10.27% | 8.7% |
Table VI presents the official U.S. Census Bureau’s figures of Cubans living in Puerto Rico. These numbers represent a decrease from the estimated 30,410 Cubans living in the island in 1971.
Table VI
Cuban Presence in Puerto Rico(2000-2010)
| U.S. Census Bureau | 2000 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|
| Total Population | 3,808,610 | 3,725,789 |
| Cuban Population | 19,973 | 17,860 |
| Cuban Population as % of Total Population | 0.5% | 0.5% |
The Cuban immigration to Spain has been documented by that country’s decennial census, published by el Instituto Nacional de Estadística as well as recent newspaper accounts. Table VII discloses the fluctuations in number of the Cuban population in Spain since 1981 to the present.
Table VII
Cuban Presence in Spain(1981-2006)
| Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain) | 1981 | 2001 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population | 37,683,363 | 40,847,371 | ----- |
| Cuban Population | 21,372 | 25,797 | 44,739 |
As the reader can surmise, Cubans which had never emigrated in quantity before 1959 continue to do so fifty-two years later.