ABSTRACT
With two major islands and many small keys, the Cuban archipelago is situated in the tropical Caribbean Sea between Lat. 19°47'36" to 23°17'09"N, Long. 80°53'55" to 84°57'54"W. It has a land mass area of 114,524 km2 (National Geographic Society, 1981) and the two main islands are predominantly flat. Only 21 percent of Cuba’s land area is mountainous and this is concentrated in three areas in the eastern, central, and western provinces. The mountain’s heights vary between 200 and nearly 2,000 meters. The three mountainous regions, covered by dense forest, are the source of many of the watersheds and rivers of Cuba. They are economically important for the valuable timber and other useful plants, e.g. fruit trees and medicinal shrubs, found there. Coffee and some other minor crops, e.g. banana (small-scale production only) are planted in some areas of the mountains.
