The Republic of Cuba, principal archipelago of the Greater
Antilles, is 1250 km long (between the course San Antonio
and the course Maisí). It is located in the Caribbean
Sea.
By counting the island of Youth and the few 1600 small islands
and cayos which forms part of the archipelago, Cuba has a
surface of 110 992 km².
The Bahamas float to approximately 140 km, Haiti is to 77
km in the east, Jamaica to 140 km in the south, and Key West,
in Florida, to 148 km in north.
The cuban landscape is a long succession of fertile plains
intersected with some assembly lines. The principal one and
the Maestra Sierra, which skirts the southern coast of the
island. It is dominated by Pico Turquino, the highest top
of Cuba (1972 m of altitude). In the province of Sancti Spíritus,
the majestic mountains of Escambray go down gently in the
plain on the northern side, and fall abruptly into the Caribbean
with dimensions southern.
In the west of Cuba, the Guaniguanico cordillera is characterized
by a single topography: mogotes, of large monticules which
emerge that and there of the valley of Viñales. At
one hour of road of Havana, towards the west, the soft slopes
of the Sierra of los Organos and those of Rosario are traversed
by many paths, brooks and cascades.
These mountains shelter many provincial and national natural
reserves and reserves which abound in caves, rivers, lakes
and forests, and which is used as habitat with fauna and the
flora tropical. The tree king de Cuba is the palm tree, which
symbolizes the force.
300 species of birds live in Cuba all the year and of many
migrating take refuge there the winter. Among the endemic
species one can quote conure, the todier or the trogon of
Cuba.
Side fauna, there is the made iridescent hummingbird, of the
size of a bumblebee, which circles of hibiscus in mariposa,
the flower symbol of the island. The best place to observe
the birds is the peninsula of Zapata in the province of Matanzas.
One can see a breeding of crocodiles also there.
The cuban, long coast, 5746 km is bordered of almost 300
beaches to swim, make diving and to fish. Cuba has even a
desert, in the province of Guantánamo, where push many
species of cactées.
