Cuba General Information

Cuban General Information

Cuba, the largest and most populated Caribbean island, belongs to the Greater Antilles. Its name stems from the language of the first settlers of the island, who called it Cubagua. In honor of the heiress of the Spanish Crown, the island was baptized Juana upon the arrival of Columbus, however its title returned to a similar name, closer to its aboriginal roots: Cuba.

Cuba's northern and western shores emerge from the Gulf of Mexico, the deep and restless waters of the Atlantic bathe its eastern side, while to the south lies the warm Caribbean Sea. The Yucatan peninsula of Mexico is found 210 Km to the west of Cuba, while 180 Km north lays Florida (Florida Straight). If you head 77 Km east across the Windward Passage you hit the coast of Haiti, and some 140 Km to the south would put you in Jamaica.

Cuba covers a surface area of 110 922 Km², out of which 17 Km² is occupied by the American Naval Base in Guantánamo. Around 1 600 islets and cays surround the main island, the Isle of Youth represents the largest of these with 2 200 Km². The main island is 1,250 Km long from east to west; the shortest distance between the northern and southern coast is just 31 Km and 191 Km at its widest stretch.

Spanish is the official language of the Republic of Cuba, and is inhabited by a population of 11,180,009. The country's capital is the City of Havana (Ciudad de La Habana), home to over 2 million Cubans and also the head of the province of the same name. The island is divided into 14 provinces, in turn subdivided into 169 municipalities with the Isle of Youth acting as a special territory.