Geography of Cuba

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Map of Cuba

Cuba from space.

Cuba is an island nation stationed in the Caribbean Sea, with the geographic coordinates 21°3N, 80°00W. Cuba has a total land area of 110,860 km²–slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It has 3735 km of coastline and 29 km of land borders–all with the United States territory at Guantánamo Bay, where the U.S. Navy's Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located.

Cuba is west of the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Gulf of Mexico, south of the Straits of Florida, northwest of the Windward Passage, and northeast of the Yucatan Channel. The main island (Cuba proper) makes up most of the land area (105,006 km² or 40,543 square miles).^[1] The island is 1199 km (745 miles) long and 200 km (124 mile) across its widest points and 35 km (22 miles) across its narrowest points.^[2] The largest island outside the main island is the Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth) in the southwest, with an area of 3056 km² (1180 square miles).^[3]

Cuba is 140 km from the Bahamas, 145 km from Florida, 210 km from Mexico, and 146 km from Jamaica.

Cuba is the largest country by land area in the Caribbean. Its main island is the sixteenth-largest island in the world by land area. Another chief islands is the Cayo Largo. Cuban archipelagos include the Jardines de la Reina, the Sabana, the Colorados, the Camaguey, and the Canarreos.

Terrain is mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast. The lowest point is the Caribbean Sea at 0 m (sea level) and the highest point is Pico Turquino at 2005 m. Cuba's climate is tropical and moderated by trade winds. The dry season lasts from November to April and the rainy season from May to October. Cuba makes maritime claims that include a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles (22 km) and an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km).

Natural resources include cobalt, nickel, iron ore, copper, manganese, salt, timber, silica, and petroleum. At one time the whole island was covered with forest and there are still many ceder, rosewood, mahogany and other valuable trees. Large areas were cleared in order to grow more sugar cane and so few trees were left that timber had to be imported.