HAVANA, Nov. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao starts a state visit to Cuba on Monday. The following are some basic facts about the country.

    The Republic of Cuba is an archipelago of two main islands, Cuba and the Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth), and about 1,600 keys and islets.

    With an area of 110,860 square kilometers and Havana as its capital, Cuba lies in the Caribbean Sea, 145 km south of Florida, the United States. Other nearby countries are Bahamas, Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti.

    Its climate is tropical, with an annual rainy season from May to October. The average annual temperature is 25 Celsius degrees and hurricanes are frequent.

    The language spoken is Spanish. Most of Cuba's over 11.25 million inhabitants are Christians, of whom the great majority are Roman Catholics.

    Under its 1976 Constitution, the supreme organ of state and thesole legislative authority is the National Assembly of People's Power with 609 deputies elected for five years by direct vote.

    The National Assembly elects 31 of its members to form the Council of State, the Assembly's permanent organ and the highest representative body of the state.

    Its president is both head of state and head of government.

    Cuba's gross domestic product (GDP) was about 27.574 billion peso (about ??? billion US dollars) in 2002. Industry contributed 27.0 percent of the total GDP.

    Cuba is a member of the Latin American Economic System and of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Sugar Exporting Countries. Enditem