Cuba, in full, is an island nation in the Caribbean comprising the island of Cuba (the largest island in the Antilles), the Isle of Youth (known as the Isle of Pines until 1978), and 4,095 cays and islets. It is located in the western part of the Greater Antilles, at the confluence of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean; northeast of the Cayman Islands; northwest of Jamaica; east of Mexico (Yucatán); southeast of the Florida Peninsula; southwest of the Bahamas; and west of Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The largest island in the Caribbean by land area, surpassing Hispaniola (which is home to two countries: Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Cuba is, however, smaller in population, with nearly 11,253,000 inhabitants. Its capital is Havana, its official language is Spanish, and its currency is the Cuban peso.

The island was first inhabited by Native Americans, the Ciboney and the Taíno, before becoming a Spanish colony from 1492 to 1898, and then a U.S. territory until May 20, 1902. Since the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the country has defined itself as a unitary republic.

Cuba is a member of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA)