Guantánamo Bay (Spanish: Bahía de Guantánamo) is a bay located in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba (19°54′N 75°9′W / 19.9°N 75.15°W / 19.9; -75.15). It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and is surrounded by steep hills creating an enclave cut off from its immediate hinterland. In Britain it was historically known as Cumberland Bay.
The United States assumed territorial control over Guantánamo Bay under the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty, which granted the United States a perpetual lease of the area. The current Cuban government considers the U.S. presence in Guantánamo to be illegal and the Cuban-American Treaty to have been procured by the threat of force in violation of international law.
The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, established in 1898, surrounds the southern portion of the bay. Since 2002 the base has hosted a detainment camp for people detained by Americans from Afghanistan and from around the world, but specifically not for captives taken in Iraq, who qualify for POW status.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay
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