White Cubans

Settlement

In 1511, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar set out with three ships and an army of 300 men from Hispaniola to form the first Spanish settlement in Cuba, with orders from Spain to conquer the island. The settlement was at Baracoa, but the new settlers were to be greeted with stiff resistance from the local Taíno population. In 1514, a settlement was founded in what was to become Havana.^[6]

Cuba's white population was varied with compared to elsewhere in the Caribbean including landless labourers, peasants, artisans, shopkeepers, construction workers, import and export merchants, butchers, salters, tailors, professionals in the army and navy, chemists, lawyers, doctors and priests.^[7]

During the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early part of the twentieth century, large waves of Canarians, Catalans, Andalusians, Castilians, and Galicians immigrated to Cuba.

Many European Jews have also immigrated there, with some of them being Sephardic.^[8] In 1899 the Spanish-born represented 74.9% of the total foreign-born population.^[9]

1900 - present

The first decades of the twentieth century immigration policies supported the migration of entire families. Between 1902 and 1907, nearly 128,000 Spaniards entered Cuba, and officially in 1906, Cuba created its immigration law that funded white migrants.^[10]

Spanish arrivals by region

The table shows the regions of Spanish arrivals to Cuba just in the year 1900. The three largest groups were Galicians, Austrians and Canary Islanders which constituted 68% of all Spanish immigrants.^[11]

% of foreign-born in 1907.^[12]

1. Spain (81.0%)
2. China (4.90%)
3. United States (4.20%)
4. Africa (3.50%)
5. Rest of the Americas (3.00%)
6. England (0.50%)
7. Rest (2.90%)

More information Arrivals by region (1900), Region ...

Arrivals by region (1900)
Region[13]	Population	%
Galician	19,088	28.56
Asturian	15,853	23.72
Canary Islander	10,509	15.72
Old Castile	5,126	7.6
Catalan	3,563	5.33
Andalusian	3,185	4.76
León	2,255	3.57
Basque	1,760	2.63
New Castile	1,225	1.83
Valencian	1,047	1.56
Balearic	869	1.32
Aragonese	780	1.16
Navarrese	754	1.12
Murcia	419	0.62
Extremaduran	384	0.50
Total	66,817	100

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However, many European immigrants did not stay in Cuba and came solely for the sugar harvest, returning to their homes during the off seasons. Although some 780,000 Spaniards migrated between 1902–1931, 250,000 stayed. By the 1920s, increasing European migration through national policy had effectively failed.^[14] In 1907 the Spanish-born population represented 81% of the total foreign-born, increasing the share to 72.4% in 1919.^[15] In 1931, 274,303 were born in Europe, of these 257,596 were Spaniards composing 59% of all those born abroad and 6.5% of the total Cuban population. This gradually decreased by the mid 1950s. Spanish arrivals formed 63.9% of all foreign born in 1943 and half the population 74,561 (49.9%) in 1953.^[16][17]

The 1953 census reported that 72.8% of Cubans identified as white of European descent, mainly of Spanish origin, 12.4% were Black African, 14.5% of both Black and White ancestry (mulattos), and 0.3% of the population was of Chinese and or East Asian descent (officially called "amarilla" or "yellow" in the census).^[18]

More information Population born in Spain, Year ...

Population born in Spain[20][21]
Year	Population	% of pop.
1899	129,240	8.21
1907	185,393	9.05
1919	245,644	8.5
1931	257,596	6.5
1943	157,527	3.3
1953	74,561
1970	74,026	0.86
1981	TBD	0.04
2002	TBD
2012	TBD

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Many of these and their descendants left after Castro's communist regime took power. Historically, between 1861-1887 Chinese descendants in Cuba were classified as White.^[22]

According to the National Statistics Institute data in January 2025, 1,185 Spanish born citizens were resident in Cuba.^[23] In 2025, there were 176,570 Cubans with Spanish nationality, largely claimed through Spanish ancestral origin. This represented 5.8% of the total worldwide 3,045,966 Spanish nationals outside Spain.^[24][25]

Other European groups

Great Britain

The British (predominantly English and Irish) population in Cuba in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.^[28] The greatest number of British immigrants arriving between 1818 and 1819 in Havana and Matanzas were working class, due to promotion of European colonisation and settlement.^[29]

A considerable population of Irish and English immigrants settled in the North Eastern part of the island at the beginning of the 19th century, especially in the coastal cities and towns. In the 1840s the census showed that 1327 British nationals were in Cuba, this decade was the start of British immigration. This population increased to 16,005 in 1847 and 21, 244 in 1862.^[30] In 1899 there were 588 people born in England, 1,252 in 1907, rising to 19,628 in 1919, declining to 3,095 in 1931, 1,887 in 1943 and 14,421 in 1953.^[31]

Other studies

The Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies at the University of Miami says the present Cuban population is 38% White and 62% Black/Mulatto.^[34] The Minority Rights Group International says that "An objective assessment of the situation of Afro-Cubans remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution. Estimates of the percentage of people of African descent in the Cuban population vary enormously, ranging from 33.9 percent to 62 percent".^[35][36]

Census history

More information N., Year ...

White Cubans 1774 - 2012
N.	Year	Population	% pop.
1	1774	96,440	56.19
2	1792	133,553	48.75
3	1817	238,910	43.20
4	1827	311,051	44.15
5	1841	418,291	41.51
6	1861	793,484	58.08
7	1877	981,039	65.00
8	1887	1,102,889	68.54
9	1899	1,052,397	66.91
10	1907	1,428,176	69.70
11	1919	2,088,047	72.28
12	1931	2,856,956	72.10
13	1943	3,553,312	74.36
14	1953	4,243,956	72.81
16	1981	6,415,468	65.98
17	2002	7,271,926	65.06
18	2012	7,160,399	64.12

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Officially Cuba has had 18 population censuses, eight during the colonial period (1774-1887), six during the republic (1899-1953) and four during the revolution period. From 1861 to 1887 Asians or Chinese were counted as white, due to the low population.^[37] Note that the 15th census in 1970 did not include data on race or ethnicity.^[38]

Table shows those who identify as white in every census since 1774 to the present. Source: ONEI Cuba^[39][40][41]

Demographic vertical bar chart of between 1774 and 2012

  Population (1774-2012) Cuban census

Demographic vertical bar chart of between 1774 and 2012

  Population percentage (%) per census (1774-2012)

Historical figures

From 1879 to 1976 Cuba was divided into six provinces, which maintained with little changes the same boundaries and capital cities, although with modifications in official names. The following are the figures for the white Cuban population at the 1931 and 1953 census.^[42]

2012 census

Table shows the 2012 census figures for white Cubans in numbers and as a percentage of the total population and their distribution in each province.^[44]

Municipalities

The top 10 municipalities in 2012 with the highest proportion within the local population.^[46]

Age structure

Characteristics

The first big Cuban immigration wave occurred from 1959-1962, this exodus was referred to as the "Golden exile" because of the mainly upper and middle class character of the emigrants.^[49][50] The flight of many skilled workers after the revolution caused a “brain drain.” This loss of trained professionals sparked a renovation of the Cuban education system to accommodate the education of new professionals to replace those that had emigrated.^[51] From 1959 to the end of open travel in 1962 around 250,000 Cubans left the island.^[49]

During the 1960s, 97% of Cubans who arrived to the United States identified as white. During the 1970s, 80% of Cuban arrivals were white, 81% in the 1980s and 86% of those in the 1990s.^[52]

As a result, those who identify as white and those of pure Black African ancestry have decreased, the mixed population has increased, and the Chinese (or East Asian) population has, for all intents and purposes, disappeared.^{[53][contradictory]}

Many notable people of European descent left Cuba at various intervals, for example actor Desi Arnaz (descended from Cuban nobility), actress Gina Romand, actor Andy Garcia,^[54] television host Daisy Fuentes^[55] and journalist and talk show host Cristina Saralegui.^[56]

Immigrant communities in Cuba