Country · Americas
Cuba
Republic of Cuba
Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. About 11.3 million people live there, in an area of 109 884 square kilometres. Its capital city is Havana.
Picture credit: Виктор Пинчук (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Abderrahman Ait Ali (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Martin Cígler (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Christopher Michel (CC BY 2.0) · Anton Zelenov (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Cuba?
Cuba lies in the Caribbean, on the continent of Americas.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 2 393 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 3 735 km long.
It has no land neighbours — every border it has is with the sea.
How big is Cuba?
Cuba covers 109 884 square kilometres.
That is about 2.7 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 104th largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 103.2 people on every square kilometre.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Cuba?
About 11.3 million people live in Cuba.
That is the 80th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Spanish.
They pay with the Cuban convertible peso and Cuban peso.
On average, people born here can expect to live about 76 years.
The land of Cuba
The land of Cuba sits on average 108 metres above sea level, which makes it one of the flatter countries on Earth.
Its coast runs for about 3 735 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 187 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Cuba different?
Dishes the country is known for: Ropa vieja and Moros y cristianos.
Websites from here often end in .cu.
Cuba and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Cuba.
It takes up about 0.08 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Americas the country ranks 18th of 35 by size, and 13th by population.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 3 live wild in Cuba: Manatee, Lined seahorse and Great barracuda. The highest mountain in the country is Pico Turquino, at 1 974 metres. The longest river in the country is the Cauto River. The largest lake in the country is Laguna de Leche.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
How big is Cuba compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 85 times as big as Cuba: 9 372 610 km² against 109 884 km². See both on one map
- The United Kingdom is about 2.2 times as big as Cuba: 242 900 km² against 109 884 km². See both on one map
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Cuba?
The capital of Cuba is Havana. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Cuba?
About 11.3 million people live in Cuba, which makes it the 80th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
How big is Cuba?
Cuba covers 109 884 square kilometres, making it the 104th largest country in the world. That is about 2.7 times the size of Switzerland.
What is the highest mountain in Cuba?
The highest mountain in Cuba is Pico Turquino, 1 974 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Cuba?
The longest river in Cuba is the Cauto River, about 343 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Cuba?
The largest lake in Cuba is Laguna de Leche. It covers about 67 km².
Which continent is Cuba in?
Cuba is in Americas, in the part called the Caribbean.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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