NORTH AMERICA.

• Position: IN THE NEWS 2019 - Table - Geographic overview

CUBA

For six decades, Cuba was ruled by either Fidel Castro or his brother Raul. But Fidel died in 2016, and Raul gave up power two years later. In April 2018, Miguel Diaz-Canel became Cuba's new president. Cuba remains a repressive Communist regime, but there's some hope that the new president will begin to make Cuba more open and free. Diaz-Canel faces two major challenges: a struggling economy and an increasingly rocky relationship with the U.S., as President Trump has taken a more hardline approach to Cuba than President Obama, who had taken steps to normalize relations.

Caption: In what direction will Cuba's new president take the country?

MEXICO BORDER WALL

Relations between the U.S. and Mexico, its southern neighbor, remain tense. President Trump, who campaigned on promises to crack down on illegal immigration, continues to call for the construction of a wall along the entire border and to demand that Mexico pay for it--something Mexico refuses to do. Trump is also moving to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants, many of whom are from Mexico.

Caption: The wall separating Sunland Park, New Mexico, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

MIGRANTS

Ongoing violence in the Central American countries of Nicaragua and El Salvador continues to cause huge numbers of people to flee north to the U.S. The Trump administration's efforts to fight illegal immigration have resulted in many migrants being separated from their children at the U.S. border, and those already here have faced a growing threat of deportation. The U.S. is also making it harder to claim asylum. Advocates for the migrants have criticized the policies as too harsh and counter to American values.

Caption: Tijuana, Mexico: Migrants seeking asylum approach U.S. border officials, April 2018.

North America (includes Central America and the Caribbean) AREA (SQ MI) URBAN POP. % CAPITAL COUNTRY POPULATION POP. RISE %/YEAR Antigua and 171 25 St. John's Barbuda 103,000 0.9 Bahamas 5,382 83 Nassau 397,000 0.7 Barbados 166 31 Bridgetown 285,000 0.1 Belize 8,867 45 Belmopan 398,000 1.8 Canada 3,855,103 81 Ottawa 37,195,000 0.3 Costa Rica 19,730 73 San Jose 5,003,000 0.9 Cuba 42,426 77 Havana 11,116,000 0.2 Dominica 290 71 Roseau 73,000 0.4 Dominican 18,653 80 Santo Domingo Republic 10,834,000 - 1.4 El Salvador 8,124 70 San Salvador 6,472,000 1.3 Grenada 133 36 St. George's 114,000 0.7 Guatemala 42,042 51 Guatemala City 17,245,000 1.9 Haiti 10,695 55 Port-au-Prince 10,788,000 1.7 Honduras...