Guanahacabibes Peninsula is the westernmost point on the island of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. It is located in

Pinar del Río Province The Pinar del Río Province is one of the 15 provinces of Cuba. It is at the western end of the island of Cuba. The capital and largest city is Pinar del Río (191,081 pop. in 2022). Geography The Pinar del Río province is Cuba's westernmost p ...

, in the municipality of Sandino, and is sparsely populated. The waters surrounding the

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

are important spiny lobster and red snapper fishing grounds. It also boasts the category of ''

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

'', listed by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in 1987. Its western extremity, Cape San Antonio (), is the westernmost point of Cuba. It lies closer to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

than to the easternmost point of the country, Cape Maisí.

Overview

Its location in the open waters of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

makes it vulnerable to hurricanes. The area was severely affected by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and

Hurricane Wilma Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin and the second-most intense tropical cyclone in the Western Hemisphere, both based on barometric pressure, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Wilma's rapid intensifi ...

in 2005.

Conservation

The Guanahacabibes National Park on the peninsula is one of the country's largest natural reserves and is separated from the rest of the island by white-sand plains, where one of Cuba's largest lakeside areas lies. A relatively small area holds some 100 lakes and the largest and purest fields of silica sand, which is 99.8% pure. Nature tourism is a major attraction in the National Park. The area is inhabited by 172 species of birds belonging to 42 families, 11 of which are endemic and 84 are migratory. Experts also believe that four of the seven species of marine

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

s living on the planet have survived in the Guanahacabibes Peninsula. The coastline also contains preserved

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. ...

, with the northern coast being lined by the cays and isles of the western Colorados Archipelago. The area in the southwestern plain shows a considerable development of the karst structures that limits the existence of superficial waters but permits the ingression of the surrounding seawater.

Bottlenose dolphin The bottlenose dolphin is a toothed whale in the genus ''Tursiops''. They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus contains three species: the common bot ...

s can be found in the waters as well.Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes
(pdf). Retrieved on September 01, 2017 The peninsula was one of the last refuges of aboriginals fleeing from the

Spanish conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

and also holds some 140 archeological sites linked to the life of aborigines, who were known as Guanahatabeyes.

References

External links

* Espinosa J., Ortea J., Sánchez R. & Gutiérrez J. (2012)
''Moluscos marinos Reserva de la Biosfera de la Península de Guanahacabibes''
Instituto de Oceanología, Havana, 325 pp. . Biosphere reserves of Cuba National parks of Cuba Peninsulas of Cuba Sandino, Cuba Geography of Pinar del Río Province Protected areas established in 1987 Tourist attractions in Pinar del Río Province {{Cuba-geo-stub

Overview

Conservation

See also

References

External links