Vol. XVII, No. 10 WASHINGTON 



October, 1906 



/TTl 



D> 



THE 



"ATEONAIL 

 ©«AJPHIC 



a 



CUBA-THE PEARL OF THE ANTILLES 



THE island of Cuba is especially 

 favored by nature in point of 

 both geographical position and 

 -material resources. It lies at the gate- 

 way of the Gulf of Mexico, midway be- 

 tween the United States on the north and 

 Mexico and South America on the south, 

 and is the largest and by far the richest 

 in natural resources of all the scores of 

 islands and islets on the north, east, and 

 south, and forming collectively what is 

 generally termed the West Indies. 



Cuba is entirely within the Torrid Zone, 

 "but not so far south as to make its climate 

 ■characteristically torrid. The tempera- 

 ture does not differ materially from that 

 of our own Gulf states, though the rain- 

 fall is greater. Its insularity insures a 

 ■moist, equable atmosphere, as in the case 

 of Great Britain, and the sea breezes of 

 the afternoons and evenings tend to make 

 the nights cool and comfortable, even in 

 the warmest months. The outlying Ba- 

 haman chain of islands and banks shelters 

 it in a great measure from the cold Atlan- 

 tic gales of winter, and about its only cli- 

 matic disadvantage consists in its ex- 

 posure to the occasional Caribbean hurri- 

 •canes. 



The island is long and narrow and its 

 longitudinal trend is nearly easterly and 

 westerly. It is 730 miles long and its 

 width varies from about 25 miles to about 

 100 miles. Its area comprises about 

 44,000 square miles. In respect to these 

 features and dimensions, as well as in 

 some other respects, there is a striking 

 similarity between Cuba and Java, in the 

 East Indies. In area it is about as large 

 as Pennsylvania or Louisiana. The coast 

 lines are exceedingly jagged and irreg- 

 ular, and the coasts themselves are gener- 

 ally either rocky or marshy and in many 

 places menaced by outlying reefs and 

 sand banks, notwithstanding which there 

 are a number of safe and commodious 

 harbors, notably those of Habana, Ma- 

 tanzas, Cardenas, Nuevitas, Cienfuegos, 

 Manzanillo, Santiago de Cuba, and Guan- 

 tanamo. The harbor of Habana, as is 

 well known, is one of the largest and 

 finest in the world. The Cienfuegos har- 

 bor is also a very fine one. 



Measuring from the points of nearest 

 approach to its neighbors, Cuba is about 

 100 miles from Key West, Florida; 54 

 miles from Haiti, 85 miles from Jamaica, 

 and about 130 miles from Yucatan, on the 



*This article is derived from the following authorities, all of which are particularly recom 

 tnended to those desiring further information on the subject : 



" Commercial Cuba in 1905." by O. P. Austin, published by Bureau of Statistics, Department 

 of Commerce and Labor ; " Handbook of Cuba," by Senor Gonzalo de Quesada, Minister of Cuba 

 to the United States, published by the Bureau of American Republics, 1905 ; " Census of Cuba, 

 1899," by Gen. J. P. Sanger, Henry Gannett, and W. F. W lcox, published by the War Depart- 

 ment ; "Commercial Cuba," by Edwin V. Morgan, U. S. Minister to Habana, Consular Reports 

 No. 2629, August 1, 1906; "Trade Conditions in Cuba," by Charles M. Pepper, published by the 

 Department of Commerce and Labor, T906. 



