Counting to 100: A First Look at Cuba's National Centenarian Study

During the twentieth century, life expectancy rose significantly across the globe due to improvements in public health and overall living conditions.[1] By 1950, life expectancy in most of today's developed countries had increased by an average of 20 years. In 1900, Japan's life expectancy was 43 years; today that country boasts the highest in the world at 83. The United States entered the last century with a life expectancy of 47 years, today reaching 78,[2] the same as in Cuba, where life expectancy in the early 1900s was only 38 years.[3,4].