Which sea does Cuba border to the south?

Cuba, country of the West Indies, the largest single island of the archipelago, and one of the more-influential states of the Caribbean region.

Cuba is situated just south of the Tropic of Cancer at the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean (north and east), the Gulf of Mexico (west), and the Caribbean Sea (south).

The domain of the Arawakan-speaking Taino, who had displaced even earlier inhabitants, Cuba was claimed by Christopher Columbus for Spain in 1492. It became the Spanish empire’s most-important source of raw sugar in the 18th century. Though Spain had to fight several difficult and costly campaigns against independence movements, it retained rule of Cuba until 1898, when it was defeated by the United States and Cuban forces in the Spanish-American War. Cuba soon gained formal independence, though it remained overshadowed by the nearby United States.

On New Year’s Day, 1959, revolutionary forces led by Fidel Castro overthrew the government of dictator Fulgencio Batista. Two years later Castro proclaimed the Marxist-Leninist nature of the revolution. Cuba became economically isolated from its northern neighbour as it developed close links to the Soviet Union.