All eyes on Cuba

Cuba, the largest Island in the Caribbean, is known for its classic cars, vibrant culture, crumbling Art Deco buildings, and sugar cane farmlands.

The restoration of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the United States has headlined the news for the past week with both countries agreeing to establish open economic and travel ties, marking the most significant shift in U.S. policy toward the communist island in decades. 

Today, we feature a gallery of Associated Press photographs that spans from 1943 to present day Cuba.

Cuba Havana Stadium

Baseball fans at Havana' s stadium for a game on July 26, 1964 in Cuba. (AP Photo)

Fidel Castro Crowd

Fidel Castro stands in a small personnel carrier and waves to the crowd as he arrives in Santa Clara, Cuba Jan. 7, 1959 for a, personal appearance. The Rebel leader and his troops are enroute to Havana where already the provisional government has assumed power. (AP Photo)

Chile Cuba US

Cuban citizens living in Chile, hold a Cuban flag while celebrating the restoration of diplomatic relations between the island nation and the United States, in the courtyard of the Cuban Embassy in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday Dec. 17, 2014. After a half-century of Cold War acrimony, the United States and Cuba abruptly moved on Wednesday to restore diplomatic relations between the two nations. U.S. President Barack Obama spoke as Cuban President Raul Castro was addressing his nation in Havana, where church bells rang and school teachers paused lessons to mark the news. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo)

Cuba Daily Life

An American classic car drives through a street in Old Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, June 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

APTOPIX CUBA DAILY LIFE

A man rides in his bicycle along an empty highway outside Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Aug. 29 2006. (AP Photo/ Javier Galeano)

Havana Cuba 1971

Children smile for a photographer in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 1971. (AP Photo/Beverley Reed)

Cuba Daily Life

A Cuban woman enters a state market in downtown Havana, Monday, Dec. 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Dado Galdieri)

APTOPIX Cuba Daily Life

A Cuban woman hanging laundry on her balcony is seen reflected in a glass window decorated with a poster of Cuba's leader Fidel Castro in Old Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007. (AP Photo/Dado Galdieri)

Cuba Daily Life

Farmer Elviro Arillano, 80, rests at the Malecon avenue in Havana, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)

APTOPIX Cuba Daily Life

Jose Luis, 7, in his school uniform, falls asleep in a barber's chair, while waiting for his father's work shift to end, in Old Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Cuba Bodegas

This is the interior of a typical Cuban bodega, which is a combination grocery store and bar, shown April 9, 1960. Imported drinks are rapidly disappearing from the bodegas, which are on nearly every street in the city. Patrons complain that Castro's liquor taxes are ruining their drinking of even native rum. (AP Photo)

Cuba US

An old photo of Che Guevara hangs on a wall next to several boxing gloves and books in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The United States and Cuba have agreed to establish diplomatic relations and open economic and travel ties, marking the most significant shift in U.S. policy toward the communist island in decades, American officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

APTOPIX Cuba US

A woman waits in a classic American car that's used as a shared taxi by commuters in Havana, Cuba, early Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. After a half-century of Cold War acrimony, the United States and Cuba abruptly moved on Wednesday to restore diplomatic relations _ a historic shift that could revitalize the flow of money and people across the narrow waters that separate the two nations. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Cuba US

Javier Yanez stands on his balcony where he hung a U.S. and Cuban flag in Old Havana Cuba, Friday, Dec. 19, 2014. After the surprise announcement on Wednesday of the restoration of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the U.S., many Cubans expressed hope that it will mean greater access to jobs and the comforts taken for granted elsewhere, and lift their struggling economy. However others feared a cultural onslaught, or that crime and drugs, both rare in Cuba, will become common along with visitors from the United States. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

APTOPIX Cuba Daily Life

A fisherman casts his line along the Malecon at sunrise in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Cuba Daily Life

Youths sharing a pair of boxing gloves practice punches as they walk home after working out at a gym in Old Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012. On Sunday, Cubans will cast ballots to choose among candidates for municipal assemblies that administer local governments and relay complaints on issues such as potholes and housing, social and sports programs. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

CUBA CELEBRATION

Children are seen through the Cuban flag while they walk to the Havana?s Malecon to toss flowers into the ocean in commemoration of the anniversary of the death of the Cuban revolutionary Commander Camilo Cienfuegos, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2004 in Havana, Cuba. Cienfuegos, who disappeared in the ocean in 1959, was a one of the commanding leaders during Castro?s revolution. (AP Photo/Cristobal Herrera)

El Malecon Havana Cuba 1971

This is a general view of El Malecon in Havana, Cuba, seen Nov. 1971. (AP Photo/Beverley Reed)

CUBA HAVANA SUGAR CANE FIELD

Field workers use machetes to cut sugar cane in a field in Havana, Cuba, Jan. 7, 1943. (AP Photo)

NIGHT CLUB

The chorus line at the Tropicana nightclub in Havana on February 6, 1956. (AP Photo)

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