The Republic of Cuba (IPAEng: ˈkjuːbə, or República de Cuba IPAes: reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa) is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos.

Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is the most populous insular nation in the Caribbean. Its people, culture, and customs draw from diverse sources, including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples; the period of Spanish colonialism; the introduction of African slaves; and its proximity to the United States.

Etymology

The name "Cuba" comes from the Taíno language and though the exact meaning is unclear, it may be translated either as "where fertile land is abundant" (cubao), or as "great place" (coabana). Additionally, there is the claim that native inhabitants called the island "Cubagua" in the Columbus era starting in 1542.

Geography

main: Geography of Cuba

Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean at the confluence of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba is south of the eastern United States and The Bahamas, west of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Haiti, east of Mexico and north of the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.

Cuba is an archipelago of islands located in the Caribbean Sea, with the geographic coordinates 21°3N, 80°00W. Cuba is the principal island, which is surrounded by four main groups of islands. These are the Colorados, the Sabana-Camagüey, the Jardines de la Reina and the Canarreos. The main island of Cuba constitutes most of the nation's land area or and is, at long, the seventeenth-largest island in the world by land area. The second largest island in Cuba is the Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth) in the southwest, with an area of . Cuba has a total land area of .

Climate

The local climate is tropical, though moderated by northeasterly trade winds that blow year-round. In general (with local variations), there is a drier season from November to April, and a rainier season from May to October. The average temperature is in January and in July.

The warm temperatures of the Caribbean Sea and the fact that the island of Cuba sits across the access to the Gulf of Mexico combine to make Cuba prone to frequent hurricanes. These are most common in September and October.

Natural resources

The most important Cuban mineral economic resource is nickel. Cuba has the second largest nickel reserves in the world after Russia.http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/1997/9509097.pdf The Mineral Resources of Cuba 1997 Sherritt International, a Canadian energy company, operates a large nickel mining facility in Moa. Another leading mineral resource is cobalt, a byproduct of nickel mining operations. Cuba is the fifth largest producer of refined cobalt in the world.