It is one of four islands with Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico that make up the Greater Antilles archipelago. Located just south of the Tropic of Cancer in the Caribbean Sea, Cuba's western tip extends into the Gulf of Mexico between Florida and the Yucatan Peninsula. Fla. The long, narrow main island lies in an east-west direction. Cuba's population was nearly 10.5 million in 1988. Land and Climate Most of the island is a rolling limestone plain.
Mountainous areas cover only about one quarter of the island and are widely separated.
In the west the Sierra de los Organos are characterized by curious limestone hills shaped like organ pipes. There are more than 280 white-sand beaches. Hundreds of pouch-shaped bays and inlets provide many fine harbors, including Guantanamo Bay in the southeast, which was leased by the United States in 1903 for use as a naval base and is still under American control. There are more than 200 short, swift rivers. Seasonal flooding is common.