Cuba's Geography and Climate
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by: RoryColtrane | Total views: 80 | Word Count: 323
The Republic of Cuba is a socialist state in the Caribbean region, consisting mainly of the island of Cuba, the isla de la Juventud, and a few archipelagos. The main island has an area of 110, 860 km2 with 3,735 km of coastline, and just 29 km of land borders (due to the United States territory Guantanamo Bay). The island lies in the west of the North Atlantic Ocean, just east of the Gulf of Mexico, and to the south of the Straits of Florida.
The island is very large. It is the biggest out of all the Caribbean islands, and only seventeenth biggest in the world. On the island there are mostly flat plains with some hills and mountains to the southeast. The highest point is 2,005 m above sea level on Pico Turquino in the southeast. On the coastline there are white sandy beaches, but also mangroves and marches. There are large swamp areas too, such as Zapata Swamp - the largest on the island - which spreads 4,520 km2.
The amount of water found inland is not impressive. Laguna de Leche, at 67.2km2, is the largest natural body of water, while the biggest man made reservoir is the Zaza reservoir at 113.5 km2.
Tempered slightly by the trade winds, Cuba has a tropical climate. There are, broadly speaking, two seasons, one of which is dry, and the other wet. The dry season is from November until April, while the wet season is from May until October. In the latter the temperature still reaches to around 23 degrees centigrade, but in the dry season, it soars to 27 degrees.
Cuba has a rich supply of natural resources, of which there are cobalt, nickel, iron ore, copper and petroleum. There is good quality timber on the island too, such as mahogany and chechem, which used to take up most of the island. It is the element Nickel, however, which is the country's biggest economic asset.
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