Cuban Elpidio Ramirez Londres, who celebrated his 109th birthday on Monday, says village life, hard work and love are key to a long life, Cuban media reported on Tuesday.

The man, who has lived in three centuries, attributes his longevity "to hard work [he worked for over 40 years at a sawmill], to the love he has always been surrounded with, and to drinking some alcohol once in a while," the Cuban News Agency said.

"I am in good shape and I am getting ready for my 110th birthday," the centenarian told the agency.

Ramirez, who lives in Cuba's easternmost city of Guantanamo with the youngest of his seven children, 62-year-old Silvia, also has 79 grandchildren, 141 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great-grandchildren.

"He does everything for himself and his mind is quite clear," Silvia said. 

The oldest documented person currently living is 114-year-old Japanese woman Kama Chinen. Two women from Uzbekistan - 119-year-old Gulsara Bekmuradova and 128-year-old Tuty Yusupova - could also be the world's oldest, but have so far failed to provide documents confirming their ages.

HAVANA, November 17 (RIA Novosti)