Havana, June 1 (RHC-teleSUR)-- Cuba, with a population of just over 11 million people, is home to 2,153 people who are over one hundred years old, with at least three of them between 113 and 115 years old, according to official data. 
 
The newspaper Juventude Rebelde reports that, geographically, the majority of Cuba's centenarians are located in the eastern provinces of the country, with the capital of Havana having a sizable amount as well. A little over half of those over one hundred years old are women -- for a total of 1,200. 

Dr. Alberto Fernandez, head of the Department of the Elderly, Social Welfare and Mental Health said that Cuba is among the countries with the highest aging rate among its population with more than 2.2 million people over 60 years of age, roughly 20 percent of the population. 

The reasons for Cuban longevity, he explained, are directly related to a decline in the fertility and mortality rate coupled with robust health care and social security systems that are free and accessible to all.  Cuba is “an example of a successful aging population,” he said. 

In March, local media reported Maria Emilia Quesada Blanca, 116, as being the longest-living woman on the island and the fourth oldest worldwide although she doesn't appear in international records.