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Geography of Cuba

Geographical situation

Cuba the 'Pearl of the Antilles' with 110,860 sq km, is the largest island of the Caribbean Sea. Cuba lies at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico. The Atlantic Ocean is to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. At its closest points, Cuba is 170 km southwest of Key West, Florida, 210 km northeast of Yucatán peninsula, Mexico, 77 km separates the eastest point of the island of Haiti and Santiago de Cuba is around 270 km northeast of Jamaica. Cuba is around 1250 km long -the 15th largest island in the world- and between 31 and 190 km wide. Besides the main island, there's also the Isla de la Juventud, Island of the Youth, and thousands of cays and islets.

Cuba has hundreds of natural beaches of fine white sand and crystalline waters. The most famous of these is Varadero; nevertheless, there are many others as good as this one. Among others, the beaches of the east of the capital city located just 20 KM from Havana, Guardalavaca in Holguín, Cayo Largo del Sur, and the beaches of the northern keys of Ciego de Ávila and Villa Clara.

Three mountain ranges, two long regions of savanna and numerous valleys known worldwide as Viñales, Yumurí and Los Ingenios go all through the island. Waterfalls and cascades in beautiful rivers as Hanabanilla will charm the lovers of the nature.

Climate

Cuba has a pleasant subtropical climate and there are not pronounced seasonal variations. The seasons can be divided into the rainy summer season from May to October and the drier winter season from November to April. The annual average temperature is 25.5 ºC (an average of 27.4 ºC in the warmest months -July and August- and 22.0 ºC in the coolest February). During the winter, specially from December to February, it can get cool some days but you will never feel uncomfortable with these temperatures. That's why Cuba represents a shelter for Canadians and Europeans during the severe winters of North America and Europe.

Time Zone

Cuba is five hours behind GMT, the same hour of the USA east. At noon in Havana it will be 6 pm in continental Western Europe, 5 pm in Britain, 11 am in Mexico City and 2 am in Melbourne, Australia.