Weekend Economists Split for Havana February 6-8, 2015 [View all]

[Demeter]

Last edited Fri Feb 6, 2015, 09:42 PM - Edit history (1)

When the going gets tough, the tough get out of town and head for warmer, friendlier climes.

This is the best explanation I have of why Obama is courting the Cubans. Having made a complete hash of Afghanistan, Iraq, most of the Middle East, South and Central America, Mexico and the Eurozone/Ukraine....he decided to try something simpler, closer to home. Canada rebuffed him, something about a pipeline, so lucky, lucky Cuba rose to the top of the To Do List. The largest island in the Caribbean, Cuba has been the apple of the American eye since forever.


LARGER MAP BELOW LINK
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/caribb/lgcolor/cucolor.htm

Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. Cuba has an official area ( land area ) of 109,884 km2 (42,426 sq mi). Its area is 110,860 km2 (42,800 sq mi) including coastal and territorial waters. The main island (Cuba) has 5,746 km (3,570 mi) of coastline and 29 km (18 mi) of land borders — all figures including the United States territory at Guantánamo Bay, where the U.S. Navy's Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located.

Cuba lies west of the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Gulf of Mexico, south of the Straits of Florida, northwest of the Windward Passage, and northeast of the Yucatan Channel. The main island (Cuba) makes up most of the land area 104,556 km2 (40,369 sq mi).

The island is 1,250 km (780 mi) long and 191 km (119 mi) across its widest points and 31 km (19 mi) across its narrowest points. The largest island outside the main island is the Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth) in the southwest, with an area of 2,200 km2 (850 sq mi).

Cuba is located 77 km (48 mi) west of Haiti across the Windward Passage, 21 km (13 mi) south of the Bahamas, 145 km (90 mi) south of Florida, 210 km (130 mi) east of Mexico, and 140 km (87 mi) north of Jamaica.

Cuba is the largest country by land area in the Caribbean. Its main island is the seventeenth-largest island in the world by land area. The island rises between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is bordered on the north by the Straits of Florida, on the northeast by Nicholas Channel and the Old Bahamas Channel. The southern part is bounded by the Windward Passage and the Cayman Trench, while the southwest lies in the Caribbean Sea. To the west, it reaches to the Yucatan Channel, and the northwest is open to the Gulf of Mexico.

More than 4,000 islands and cays are found in the surrounding sea and bays. The southern coast includes such archipelagos as Jardines de la Reina and the Canarreos. The northeastern shore is lined by the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago, which includes Jardines del Rey and is composed of approximately 2,517 cays and islands.[ The Colorados Archipelago is developed on the north-western coast.


Cuba’s Varadero Beach

WEE will take the complete tour...and touch on a few other subjects, too!