located_next_to_body_of_water santa cruz del norte
Jamaica is an island country situated in the ___MASK50___ , consisting of the third - largest island of the Greater Antilles . The island , in area , lies about south of Cuba , and west of Hispaniola ( the island containing the nation - states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic ). Jamaica is the fourth - largest island country in the Caribbean , by area . The Straits of Florida , Florida Straits , or ___MASK91___ is a strait located south - southeast of the North American mainland , generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean , and between the Florida Keys ( U . S .) and Cuba . It is 150 km ( 93 mi ) wide at the narrowest point between Key West and the Cuban shore , and has been sounded to a depth of 6 , 000 feet . The strait carries the Florida Current , the beginning of the Gulf Stream , from the Gulf of Mexico . Isla de la Juventud is the second - largest Cuban island and the seventh - largest island in the West Indies ( after Cuba itself , Hispaniola , Jamaica , Puerto Rico , Trinidad , and Andros Island ). The island was called the Isle of Pines ( Isla de Pinos ) until 1978 . It has an area and is south of the island of Cuba , across the ___MASK41___ . 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 . Florida ( Spanish for " land of flowers ") is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States . It is bordered to the west by the ___MASK18___ , to the north by Alabama and Georgia , to the east by the Atlantic Ocean , and to the south by the Straits of Florida and Cuba . Florida is the 22nd most extensive , the 3rd most populous , and the 8th most densely populated of the U . S . states . Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States . The Miami metropolitan area is Florida ' s most populous urban area . The city of Tallahassee is the state capital . The ___MASK87___ is the second largest of the world ' s oceans with a total area of about . It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth ' s surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area . It separates the " Old World " from the " New World ". Mexico (, modern Nahuatl ), officially the United Mexican States , is a federal republic in the southern half of North America . It is bordered to the north by the United States ; to the south and west by the ___MASK46___ ; to the southeast by Guatemala , Belize , and the Caribbean Sea ; and to the east by the ___MASK18___ . Covering almost two million square kilometers ( over 760 , 000 sq mi ), Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent nation in the world . With an estimated population of over 120 million , it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish - speaking country in the world while being the second most populous country in Latin America . Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city . Other metropolises include Guadalajara , Monterrey , Puebla , Toluca , Tijuana and León . An archipelago , sometimes called an island group or island chain , is a chain , cluster or collection of islands . The word " archipelago " is derived from the Greek "  -  arkhi -" (" chief ") and "   pélagos " (" sea ") through the Italian " arcipelago ". In Italian , possibly following a tradition of antiquity , the Archipelago ( from medieval Greek "*  " and Latin " archipelagus ") was the proper name for the ___MASK35___ and , later , usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands ( since the sea is remarkable for its large number of islands ). It is now used to refer to any island group or , sometimes , to a sea containing a small number of scattered islands . The Caribbean ( or ) is a region that consists of the ___MASK50___ , its islands ( some surrounded by the ___MASK50___ and some bordering both the ___MASK50___ and the North ___MASK87___ ) and the surrounding coasts . The region is southeast of the ___MASK18___ and the North American mainland , east of Central America , and north of South America . Cuba , officially the Republic of Cuba , is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos . Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the ___MASK50___ , the ___MASK18___ , and the Atlantic Ocean meet . It is south of both the U . S . state of Florida and the Bahamas , west of Haiti , and north of Jamaica . Havana is the largest city and capital ; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey . Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean , with an area of , and the second - most populous after Hispaniola , with over 11 million inhabitants . The Bahamas , known officially as the Commonwealth of the Bahamas , is an archipelagic state within the Lucayan Archipelago . It consists of more than 700 islands , cays , and islets in the ___MASK87___ and is located north of Cuba and Hispaniola ( Haiti and the Dominican Republic ); northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands ; southeast of the US state of Florida and east of the Florida Keys . The state capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence . The designation of " The Bahamas " can refer to either the country or the larger island chain that it shares with the Turks and Caicos Islands . As stated in the mandate / manifesto of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force , the Bahamas territory encompasses of ocean space . Havana ( Spanish : " La Habana ") is the capital city , largest city , province , major port , and leading commercial centre of Cuba . The city proper has a population of 2 . 1 million inhabitants , and it spans a total of  making it the largest city by area , the most populous city , and the third largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region . The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay , which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three ___MASK82___ harbours : Marimelena , Guanabacoa and Atarés . The sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north , entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay . Santa Cruz del Norte is a town and municipality in the Mayabeque Province of Cuba . Before 2011 it was part of La Habana Province . It is located on the north shore , between the cities of Havana and Matanzas , at the mouth of the Santa Cruz River . The ___MASK50___ is a sea of the ___MASK87___ in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere . It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and south west , to the north by the Greater Antilles starting with Cuba , to the east by the Lesser Antilles , and to the south by the north coast of South America . Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a sovereign state located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the ___MASK50___ . It occupies the western three - eighths of the island , which it shares with the Dominican Republic . Haiti is in size and has an estimated 10 . 6 million people , making it the most populous country in the Caribbean Community ( CARICOM ) and the second - most populous country in the Caribbean as a whole . The ___MASK18___ is an ocean basin largely 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 southwest and south by Mexico , and on the southeast by Cuba . The U . S . states of Alabama , Florida , Louisiana , Mississippi and Texas border the Gulf on the north , which are often referred to as the " Third Coast " in comparison with the U . S . Atlantic and Pacific coasts , or sometimes the " south coast ", in juxtaposition to the Great Lakes region being the " north coast ." One of the gulf ' s seven main areas is the ___MASK18___ basin .