Isle of Youth

Isla de la Juventud is the second-largest Cuban island and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies. The island was called the Isle of Pines until 1978. It has an area 2,200 km2 and is 50 km south of the island of Cuba, across the Gulf of Batabanó. The island lies almost directly south of Havana and Pinar del Río and is a Special Municipality, not part of any province and is therefore administered directly by the central government of Cuba. The island has only one municipality, also named Isla de la Juventud.

The largest of the 350 islands in the Canarreos Archipelago, the island has an estimated population of 83,544. The capital and largest city is Nueva Gerona in the north, and the second largest and oldest city is Santa Fe in the interior. Other communities include Columbia, La Demajagua, Mac Kinley, Cuchilla Alta, Punta del Este, Sierra de Caballos and Sierra de Casas.