Cuban Culture Essay

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I. Introduction
Cuba is the largest single island of the West Indies archipelago and one of the more influential states of the Caribbean region. After discovery by Christopher Columbus on October 27, 1492, the Spanish conquistador Diego Velazquez de Cuellar established a permanent settlement with 300 Spaniards in the town of Baracoa on the northeastern coast of Cuba in 1511. Spain relies heavily on Cuba as their main source of pure sugar. This earned Cuba the nickname Pearl of the Antilles for its vast beautiful region during the 18th century. The country has an unusual geographical and cultural unity that has given the Cuban people a strong sense of identity and a pride in their heritage. II. Culture The Cuban people have an extremely diverse culture and …show more content…

Geography
Cuba is located at the connection of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, also known as the Tropic of Cancer. The nearest neighbouring countries are Haiti located 48 miles away to the east and Jamaica located 87 miles to the South. Cuba encompasses a group of about 1,600 islands, islets, and cays with a combined area three-fourths as large as the U.S. state of Florida. The islands form an important segment of the Antilles island chain that continues east and then south in a great arc enclosing the Caribbean Sea.
Cuba is by far the largest in the chain of island, and constitutes one of the four islands of the Greater Antilles. The long and narrow island runs from northwest to southeast and is—777 miles long and, 119 miles across its widest point and 19 miles at the narrowest. Cuba’s geography consists of one-fourth mountainous terrain. The Sierra Maestra is the most rugged landscape. It stretches roughly 150 miles along the southeastern coast and ranges the island’s highest elevations—6,476 feet. The Cordillera located far west stretches from southwest to northeast for 110 miles, with huge shaped vegetation-clad hillocks called mogotes interrupt central-western

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