Page:1902 Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 27 - CHI-ELD.pdf/338

 302

cu BA.

CUBA is the largest and most populous of the West India islands. It lies directly south of Florida, the southeasternmost of the United States, being separated from it by the Strait of Florida, 100 miles in width. It is included between the meridians of 74° and 85° W. of Greenwich, and the parallels of 19° 40' and 23° 33' N. latitude. Its length from Cape Maisi on the east to Cape San Antonio on the west is 730 miles, while its breadth from north to south ranges from 25 miles in the neighbourhood of Havana to 100 miles in the eastern part of the island. Its area, including the Isle of Pines, which is under its jurisdiction, is 44,000 square miles. In its relief the island presents little appearance of unity of plan. West of Havana it is traversed, in a direction parallel to its length, by a mountain range, the Sierra de los Organos, whose summits rise to altitudes of 2000 to 2500 feet,

culminating in Pan de Guagaibon, with the latter altitude. To the north and south of the crest of this range the land slopes to the coast, the southern slopes, known as Yuelta de Abajo, being the most celebrated tobacco lands of the island. The middle portion of the island consists mainly of low rolling plains, with shallow stream-valleys, rising in a few places into plateaux, which have been deeply dissected by erosion. The eastern portion of the island is mountainous, consisting in great part of a plateau, 2000 to 3000 feet high, deeply cut by streams, while closely bordering the southern coast from Santiago westward to Cape Cruz is Sierra Maestra, rising to an average altitude of 5000 feet, and culminating in Pico Turquino, said to be 8320 feet high. The rivers of Cuba are short, and except for the estuaries at their mouths, are not navigable. The only exception is the Rio Canto, the largest river of the island, which drains a broad and fertile valley lying north of Sierra Maestra. This river has

a length of 150 miles, one-third of which is navigable for light-draught vessels. Much of the south coast of the island is bordered by swamps, which in the longitude of Matanzas expand to a great breadth, 75 by 30 miles, forming the Zapata Swamp. Much of the north coast, especially along the middle part of the island, is fringed by low mangrove-covered islets, which are in the main uninhabited. The harbours are numerous and excellent. Most of them are pouch-shaped, with narrow, often sinuous, entrances, expanding in the interior into broad lakes, completely sheltered. Of this type are the harbours of Havana, Santiago, Cienfuegos, Guantanamo, and many others. Climate.—The climate may be characterized as tropic and insular. At Havana, on the north coast, the mean annual temperature is 77° F., with a range of but 11° between the mean temperature of the warmest and the coldest months. Inland and upon the south coast the temperature is probably somewhat greater, the climate of the north coast being tempered by the north-east trades, the prevailing winds. The mean annual rainfall at Havana is

52 inches, while inland it is probably greater, and upon the south coast less. About two-thirds of this precipitation falls between May and October, in what is known as the rainy season. The mean relative humidity at Havana is 75 per cent. Minerals.—The mineral resources, so far as developed, are not of great importance. Iron ore of excellent quality is mined at several points between Santiago and Guantanamo, at the south base of Sierra Maestra. The ore, though abundant, is apparently float ore, mainly haematite, containing about 62 per cent, of iron. Most of the product has been shipped to the United States. A copper deposit in the neighbourhood of El Cobre, said to be of enormous value, was formerly extensively worked, but since 1868 mining upon it has ceased. Asphaltum has been found in several localities, and has for some time been used in the production of illuminating gas for the city of Santa Clara. Gold and silver were mined on a small scale in past times, but none is produced at present. There is, however, every probability that thorough prospecting will discover great mineral wealth.

I. Geography and Statistics.