Cuba is the largest country in the West Indies by area.
The island nation covers roughly 110,860 square kilometres, making it larger than the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean and forms the northern edge of the Caribbean Sea, near the Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida.
Cuba’s long, narrow main island stretches about 1,250 kilometres from west to east. Its geography includes mountain ranges, broad plains, karst landscapes and thousands of smaller islands and cays. Havana, on the northwest coast, is the national capital and largest city.
A common mix-up is using “West Indies” as if it meant only the Lesser Antilles. The West Indies traditionally includes the Greater Antilles—Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico—as well as the Lesser Antilles and the Bahamas. Cuba remains the area leader under that broader regional definition.