Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba is a socialist country in North America comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Guided by Marxist–Leninist ideology, Cuba is led by the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), the vanguard of the Cuban working class.
The Republic of Cuba is one of only five socialist states in the world today (alongside Vietnam, Laos, People's Korea and China). It began as a Soviet-style planned economy, but after the overthrow of the Soviet Union and subsequent loss of influence of the socialist bloc, Cuba became more vulnerable to the United States embargo and dependent of foreign trade and capital. Since then, it has been promoting extensive market reforms.