Puerto Rico’s geological formations have yielded very few mineable mineral resources. There are thousands of caves and sinkholes in the region. Puerto Rico. Originally built by the Spanish in the 1500s, El Morro is one of Puerto Rico’s most recognizable landmarks—you’ve definitely seen it on every Puerto Rico postcard, ever. Mountains can be seen from anywhere on the island. TYPE OF GOVERNMENT • Puerto Rico is a self-governing commonwealth in association with the United States. Puerto Rico and United States living comparison. Puerto Rico is situated in north east of Caribbean Sea, between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Its coastline is 500 kilometers (311 miles) with numerous harbors and beaches. The highest elevation in Puerto Rico, Cerro de Punta 4,390 feet (1,340 m), is located in this range. Puerto Rico is the 163rd largest country in the world. Puerto Rico’s southern region, which includes the Caribbean coast and its second-largest city, Ponce, is hot but drier than the northern part of the island. document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(script); This assures a fairly reliable source of rain and occasionally a hurricane or two. San Felipe del Morro (also called El Morro) castle, on a high bluff overlooking San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico. Approximately 25 percent of the island is above 305 meters (1,000 feet) altitude. It is 1665 kilometers (1,000 miles) southeast of Miami and 2840 kilometers (1,700 miles) south of New York City. The easternmost island of the Greater Antilles chain, it lies approximately 50 miles (80 km) east of the Dominican Republic, 40 miles (65 km) west of the Virgin Islands, and 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of the U.S. state of Florida. GEOGRAPHY • The capital of Puerto Rico is San Juan. Omissions? Author of. document.cookie = "__adblocker=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/"; 12-01-2017 18:44:11 ZULU. NOW 50% OFF! Puerto Rico is largely composed of mountainous and hilly terrain, with nearly one-fourth of the island covered by steep slopes. The average daily temperature in the lowlands is about 78 °F (26 °C), but relatively high humidity makes daytime temperatures feel warmer. Puerto Rico is the easternmost island of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, approximately a thousand miles southeast of Florida and just east of the Dominican Republic and west of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The island is known for its beautiful beaches and Spanish Caribbean culture with an American twist. Plant life is abundant and varied. Puerto Rico, officially Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Spanish Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, self-governing island commonwealth of the West Indies, associated with the United States. Vintage Soft Cover Travel Journal Diary With Lined Wide Ruled Paper. Puerto Rico is an archipelago, with a main island where most of the population lives, two smaller islands (Vieques and Culebra) with residents, and many other smaller islands. Geography. Puerto Ricans, or puertorriqueños, have an intermingled Spanish, U.S., and Afro-Caribbean culture. By 2002 some 41.6 percent of the island was covered by closed forest, 36.7 percent is in pasture and grassland, 5.9 percent is in agriculture, 2.4 percent is in coffee plantations, 10.5 percent is urban/developed, and 3.9 percent is in various other categories including mines, rock/sand areas, salt and mudflats, emergent wetlands, and water bodies. Puerto Rico: Municipalities - Map Quiz Game: Puerto Rico is divided into 78 municipalities, and this quiz game will help you memorize them all. During tropical storms and hurricanes, rivers on the south coast may become rapid torrents that flood extensive areas and often kill domestic grazing animals or human squatters living in the dry riverbeds or flood plains. script.setAttribute("async", true); Although Puerto Rican relief is relatively low by continental standards, the island sits less than 100 miles (160 km) south of a precipitous depression in Earth’s crust: an extensive submarine feature of the Atlantic known as the Puerto Rico Trench, which descends to more than 5 miles (8 km) below sea level—the Atlantic’s deepest point—at a site northeast of the Dominican Republic. Total Size: 13,790 square km. Several small offshore islands are part of Puerto Rico, but only two are inhabited year-round: Vieques and Culebra. Numerous varieties of fish abound in the surrounding waters, but edible and inedible species mingle together, limiting commercial fishing there. The island is mostly mountainous with large coastal areas in the north and south. The rougher, cooler Atlantic Ocean is on the north side of the island; the calmer, warmer Caribbean Sea is on the south side. Adjuntas is a mountainside municipality that's nicknamed "the Switzerland of Puerto Rico." It’s game over for the Arecibo Observatory, home to an iconic, thousand-foot-wide radio telescope near Puerto Rico’s northern shore.Yesterday, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it is decommissioning the massive 57-year-old telescope.The agency also intends to demolish the instrument, which is teetering on the verge of collapse. Puerto Rico has more than 200 species of birds, but land animals are mostly confined to nonpoisonous snakes, lizards, mongooses, and the coquí (Eleutherodactylis portoricensis), a frog whose name is onomatopoeic with its call (“co-kee!”) and which has become a kind of national mascot. Mit dem Pariser Vertrag von 1898 trat Spanien Puerto Rico an die US-Regierung ab, und bis 1900 hatten die USA eine Zivilregierung auf der Insel etabliert. The island is located in the Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic, about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida. What is the world’s largest archipelago? Main article: Geography of Puerto Rico See also: Geology of Puerto Rico and Fauna of Puerto Rico. Wer Puerto Rico erkunden möchte, biegt ab dem Städtchen Aguadilla schnellstmöglich auf die Ruta Panoramica ab. Im Verlauf des Jahres 2019 hat sich die Bevölkerung Puerto Rico um circa 5 239 Menschen verkleinert. • Puerto Rico is located in the Caribbean and east of the Dominican Republic. Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island and U.S. territory with a landscape of mountains, waterfalls, and tropical rainforest.. Photograph by Alamy. Subscribe to National Geographic Traveller. It is 56 kilometers (35 miles) north to south, 176 kilometers (110 miles) east to west, and is rectangular in shape. Puerto Rico - the easternmost island nation and a part of the Greater Antilles Chain; is geographically positioned in the Northern and Western hemispheres of the Earth. Die Panoramastraße zieht sich einmal quer durch die Insel. The islands of Mona, Vieques, and Culebra are generally hilly but ringed by narrow coastal plains; Vieques rises to 988 feet (301 metres) at Mount Pirata. It is an island surrounded by the Altlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Hurricanes develop in the region between June and November and occasionally traverse the island, including a storm in 1899 that killed about 3,000 Puerto Ricans; other devastating but less lethal hurricanes occurred in 1928, 1932, 1956, 1989, 1998, and 2017. Pockets of alluvial soils on the south coast are somewhat fertile, but all farmlands there are fertilized. There are a variety of ecosystems distributed laterally and vertically according to topography, altitude, soils, rainfall, and a variety of other factors. The Cordillera Central has a break in the area of Caguas, and the mountain range located northeast is the Sierra de Luquillo. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Puerto Rico Geography 2020 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page. The Geography of Puerto Rico. Here are 10 facts about poverty in Puerto Rico. It is a self-governing commonwealth affiliated with the United States. Puerto rico 1. Puerto Ricans of African heritage makes up the second-largest ethnic group in Puerto Rico, accounting for 12.4% of the total population. Sort out the facts about islands across the globe. San Juan receives about 60 inches (1,525 mm) of precipitation per year, whereas El Yunque Peak farther east receives 180 inches (4,570 mm), and Ponce on the south coast receives only 36 inches (914 mm). 5 2. Its land cover is variable, with much of the center of the island consumed by high mountains (40 percent), surrounded by foothills (35 percent), and a narrow coastal plain (25 percent). The island’s other colonial settlements, also predominantly coastal, expanded slowly. Rain falls each month of the year, but the heaviest precipitation occurs between May and December. The island is very hilly, 75% of the island is made up of mountains or hills. Keep watching and subscribe, as more states will follow! The main mountain range is called "La Cordillera Central" (The Central Range). Puerto Rico Facts. The island of Puerto Rico is a very popular tourist destination because of its location, rich history and warm atmostphere. Auf den 269 Kilometern geht es durch Bergregionen, Bambuswälder, verlassene Orte und Kaffeeplantagen. Physical Geography; Culture and Lifestyle; Resources; The Size of Puerto Rico and it's Neighboring Nations. script.setAttribute("onerror", "setNptTechAdblockerCookie(true);"); Sand dune areas and beaches such as at Isabela, Piñones, Luquillo, and Boquerón dot the coastline. Puerto Rico, officially Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Spanish Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, self-governing island commonwealth of the West Indies, associated with the United States. Puerto Rico is the 163rd largest country in the world. As a result, localized droughts occur yearly within many of the geographic areas of Puerto Rico. Two small islands off the east coast, Vieques and Culebra, are administratively parts of Puerto Rico, as is Mona Island to the west. The iconic fortress Castillo San Felipe del Morro (or more commonly, “ El Morro ”), has stood guard over San Juan’s shores for centuries. Cerro de Punta is just north of Ponce within the Toro Negro Commonwealth Forest and can be accessed by Route 143 (Luis Muñoz Marín Panoramic Highway). The land area of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands is 8897 square kilometers (3,435 square miles). Britannica Kids Holiday Bundle! What are the islands of the Maldives made of? National Geographic’s latest travel stories about Puerto Rico (function(src){var a=document.createElement("script");a.type="text/javascript";a.async=true;a.src=src;var b=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];b.parentNode.insertBefore(a,b)})("//experience.tinypass.com/xbuilder/experience/load?aid=bYdYZQml5V"); Puerto Rico is the smallest of the Greater Antilles chain, which also includes Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). The Caribbean National Forest in the Sierra de Luquillo southeast of San Juan preserves rare species of orchids and the small green Puerto Rican parrot, an endangered species. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Although some woodlands have been replanted since the mid-20th century, introduced varieties of trees, shrubs, and grasses now predominate. The territory's total population is approximately 3.2 million, more than 20 U.S. states. The river courses on the south coast are dry most of the year, carrying water only after rainfall. Some of the rivers periodically run underground in association with caves. Wikipedia (CC-BY-SA 3.0) Dealers With an Agreement Covering Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the US Virgin Islands and Geographies Across the Caribbean and Central America . The island lies directly in the path of the trade winds that blow from the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Puerto Rico has a mountainous, tropical ecosystem with very little flat land and few mineral resources. document.cookie = "__adblocker=" + (adblocker ? Periodically, there are rocky promontories and karst foothills such as those near Arecibo, Fajardo, Cabo Rojo, and Guánica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Puerto-Rico, Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook - Puerto Rico, GlobalSecurity.org - Puerto Rico Military Guide, LiveScience - Puerto Rico: Geography, History and Other Facts, Puerto Rico - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Puerto Rico - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Near the island’s eastern tip, the partly isolated Sierra de Luquillo rises to 3,494 feet (1,065 metres) at El Yunque Peak. It is situated in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, its northern shore facing the Atlantic Ocean. The three distinct physiographic regions are divided into the karst areas, the coastal lowlands and the mountainous region. Approximately 5 percent of Puerto Rico’s forest area is under protection. Page last modified: Puerto Rico ist die östlichste Insel der Großen Antillen in der Karibik tausend Meilen südöstlich von Florida und östlich der Dominikanischen Republik und westlich der US-amerikanischen Jungfrau Inseln. In the early 1500s, gold was mined, but gold was basically gone by the 1570s. Puerto Rico has a long history of earthquakes, although large events are rare. Puerto Rico is not a state, it is an unincorporated territory of the United States. In 1521, the newer settlement was given its formal name: Puerto Rico de San Juan Bautista. La Puerta de la Bandera, Old San Juan A wooden door painted in the omni-present flag of Puerto Rico has become both a landmark and symbol of the impenetrable Boricua pride. The municipality of Gurabo has a history that dates back to the 17th century when it was part of Caguas. The island’s social and economic conditions are generally advanced by Latin American standards, partly because of its ties with the United States (including the presence of U.S.-owned manufacturing plants and military bases in the commonwealth). The island is mostly mountainous with large coastal areas in the north and south. Most of the island’s original vegetation was removed through centuries of agricultural exploitation, particularly during the first two decades of the 20th century, when farm settlers and plantation workers destroyed large tracts of coastal forest and used the lumber for railroad ties and fuel. The island is approximately 90 miles wide in an east-west direction and 30 miles wide between the north and south coasts. If that's not enough, click over to our collection of world maps and flags. Puerto Rico wurde 1952 zum Commonwealth der Vereinigten Staaten, was der Insel mehr Autonomie in lokalen Angelegenheiten wie Wahlen, Steuern, Bildung, Gesundheit, Wohnen und Kultur verlieh. Puerto Rico has four main regions. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? The Dominican Republic, The Bahamas, and the Britich Virgin Islands are all near Puerto Rico. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The high mountains exhibit high degrees of slope to the south and east, and the north slopes are heavily eroded with numerous river valleys. ... Puerto Rico's merchandise trade surplus is exceptionally strong, with exports nearly 50% greater than imports, and its current account surplus about 10% of GDP. The highest elevation in Puerto Rico, Cerro de Punta 4,390 feet (1,340 m), is located in this range. It is positioned at the north end of a group of lesser islands that form an arc running down to Venezuela 847 kilometers (525 miles) to the south. It is roughly rectangular in shape, extending up to 111 miles (179 km) from east to west and 39 miles (63 km) from north to south. It is situated to the east of the Hispaniola Islands (shared by Haiti & the Dominican Republic); to the west of the US Virgin Islands and to the southeast of Florida. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated island territory of the United States of America, located in the north-eastern Caribbean Sea. It sits at the edge of the Caribbean tectonic plate, where that plate is colliding with the North American plate. Updates? The soils of the coastal plain are conducive to agriculture, and much of it was cleared in the 17th and 18th centuries for sugarcane. Geographical Coordinates: 18 15 … Puerto Rico is 145 kilometers (90 miles) from the Dominican Republic to the west and 67 kilometers (40 miles) from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the east. Quick facts about the people, history, and geography of the Puerto Rico. The presence of high mountains creates a very interesting rainfall pattern resulting in the creation of an orographic rain shadow on the Caribbean side of the central mountain ranges, and some rain shadow valleys in the interior sections of the mountains. Kissing Game/Puerto Rico [Vinyl Single] 1 - Track 1; … the coastal valleys which are humid and used to grow suger cane coconuts and fruit. Location: This entry identifies the country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water. The mountains are the easternmost extension of a tightly folded and faulted ridge that extends from the Central American mainland across the northern Caribbean to the Lesser Antilles. Puerto Rico’s precipitation mainly falls on the north-facing mountain slopes, so that most of the permanent rivers flow from the interior to the north and west coasts, including the Grande de Loíza, Grande de Arecibo, and Grande de Añasco rivers—all of which are some 40 miles (65 km) long—and La Plata, which extends 46 miles (75 km). Six months after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans are still recovering. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Puerto Rico. They are called the Lesser Antilles and include the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, French Guadeloupe, Martinique, and numerous other islands down to Grenada, Barbados, and Trinidad. Explore similarities and differences.  Some commercial gypsum, dolomite, and phosphate have been mined. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Puerto Rico Geography 2020 information contained here. The northwestern foothills and lowlands are characterized by karst features, including sinkholes (sumideros), caverns, and eroded mogotes, or haystack hills (pepinos). Puerto Rico, officially known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico), is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. All totaled, in the Greater and Lesser Antilles, there are approximately 7,000 islands that make up what are called the West Indies. Approximately 3.3 million people live on the island but, due to rising problems, a larger mass exodus is occurring than in the 1950s. 3. None of Puerto Rico’s rivers is large enough for navigation, but several northward-flowing rivers are harnessed for municipal water supplies, irrigation, and hydroelectricity, and along the south coast irrigation is essential for agriculture. Skip Navigation ☰ About Puerto Rico; Culture and Life; Places to Go; Plan Your Trip; Fast Facts About Puerto Rico. d.setTime(d.getTime() + 60 * 60 * 24 * 2 * 1000); Puerto Rico Bevölkerung 2019 Unserer Schätzung zufolge umfasst die Bevölkerung Puerto Rico 3 658 607 Menschen Ende 2019. The main island has a mountain range in the center, which covers most of the island. The rivers that run north from the Cordillera Central in the karst area produce deep cuts in the landscape owing to differential rates of erosion in the limestone. Although that relationship has become politically controversial, the vast majority of Puerto Rican voters have continued to favour permanent union with the United States, with a slightly greater number favouring the current commonwealth relationship rather than statehood. Caribbean National Forest, southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. } Search for: Subscribe; Log In; Home. Puerto Rico has a tropical climate with little seasonal variation, although local conditions vary according to elevation and exposure to rain-bearing winds. Puerto Rico: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Adventure Maps Blazewrath Games (English Edition) The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul Children's Songs and Games from Ecuador, Mexico, and Puerto Rico San Juan: Christmas Notebook With Retro Puerto Rico Sunset Holiday Palm Tree Design. the foothills which have jagged peaks and round basins. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. This range also has a series of peaks in excess of 915 meters (3,000 feet), and these peaks experience the highest amounts of rainfall on the island. Puerto Rico is an archipelago among the Greater Antilles located between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands; it includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Mona, Culebra, and Vieques.The capital and most populous city is San Juan. Geography Puerto Rico is an island east of the Dominican Republic and west of the British Virgin Islands. var script = document.createElement("script"); Adjacent to the coast, the land is fairly level and has been converted to agriculture, urban development, and transportation corridors. Many formerly cultivated and eroded areas in the mountains have been set aside as forest preserves. Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico - Settlement patterns: In the early 16th century Spanish explorers founded San Juan, which prospered throughout the colonial period as a trading port. There are the coastal lowalands which provide sandy beaches and natural harbors. It is also almost twice the size of Delaware. Distribution of mean annual precipitation in Puerto Rico (Public domain.) Thoughtco Mar 26, 2020. Highland temperatures average a few degrees lower. This 11 200-hectare (28,000-acre) forest is a biosphere reserve site and attracts about three quarters of a million visitors per year. The easternmost island of the Greater Antilles chain, it lies approximately 50 miles (80 km) east of the Dominican Republic, 40 miles (65 km) west of the Virgin Islands, and 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast … Puerto Rico is divided into 78 municipalities, and this quiz game will help you memorize them all. Virtually all of the coastal plain is in intensive agriculture, roads, or under urbanization. It is an island surrounded by the Altlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The Dominican Republic, The Bahamas, and the Britich Virgin Islands are all near Puerto Rico. Britain's American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. On the north and east side is the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south and west is the Caribbean Sea. In this video you can find seven little known facts about Puerto Rico. Research Professor of History, University of Puerto Rico, 1969–80. The capital is San Juan. The main island of Puerto Rico is about 110 miles (177 km) long (west to east) and 35 miles (56.3 km) wide (north to south), and covers 3,515 square miles (9,104 square km) — slightly less than three times the size of Rhode Island, according to the Central Intelligence Agency. Puerto Rico is somewhat smaller than the state of Connecticut. Puerto Rico consists of the main island of Puerto Rico and various smaller islands, including Vieques, Culebra, Mona, Desecheo, and Caja de Muertos. A year later, the settlement was moved to a site then called Puerto Rico, Spanish for "rich port" or "good port", after its similar geographical features to the town of Puerto Rico of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. Puerto Rico - Geography Puerto Rico is the smallest of the Greater Antilles chain, which also includes Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is located in the Caribbean Sea, about 1,000 mi east-southeast of Miami, Fla. A possession of the United States, it consists of the island of Puerto Rico plus the adjacent islets of Vieques, Culebra, and Mona. Landscape of Puerto Rico. Location: This entry identifies the country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water. There are also caves, deserts, oceans, rivers and stunning beaches. Former Secretary-General, Association of Caribbean Universities and Research Institutes, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Mixed race is the third-largest group, with over 122,000 people identifying themselves as of at least two races. Tropical rainforests cover parts of the north side of the island, and thorn and scrub vegetation predominates on the drier south side. The island’s highest mountain range, the Cordillera Central, trends east-west and exceeds 3,000 feet (900 metres) in many areas; its slopes are somewhat gentle in the north but rise sharply from the south coast to the loftier peaks, topped at about 4,390 feet (1,338 metres) by Cerro de Punta, the highest point on the island. Puerto Rico, Geography. The geography of Puerto Rico consists of an archipelago located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic, west of the Virgin Islands and north of Venezuela. Geography :: Puerto Rico. It is the smallest island in the Greater … var d = new Date(); Vieques lies about 7 miles (11.3 km) east of the main island and is approximately … Puerto Rico is the easternmost point of the Greater Antilles with an area covering 3,435 square miles. Location: Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic. What Puerto Rico can teach us about surviving climate change. Postgraduate Rankings 2019; SportBusiness Review. The main island of Puerto Rico is the smallest and most eastern of the Greater Antilles. PUERTO RICO Rachel Lichtenstein and Jennifer Morganti Pd. Puerto Rico has both Spanish and English for its official languages. The Luquillo range includes the El Yunque National Forest, also designated as the Luquillo Experimental Forest and known as the world-famous Luquillo Rain Forest or El Yunque. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Compared with its Greater Antillean neighbours, Puerto Rico is one-fifth as large as the Dominican Republic, one-third the size of Haiti, and slightly smaller than Jamaica. Of these last five, only Culebra and Vieques are inhabited year-round. Puerto Rico, also known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a self-governing organized territory of the United States of America.This means that Puerto Ricans are citizens of the U.S. Puerto Rico: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Adventure Maps | National Geographic Maps | ISBN: 9781566955188 | Kostenloser Versand für alle Bücher mit Versand und Verkauf duch Amazon. Today, extensive areas of aggregate and road gravel are being consumed. Puerto Rico - the easternmost island nation and a part of the Greater Antilles Chain; is geographically positioned in the Northern and Western hemispheres of the Earth. Adjuntas is a mountainside municipality that's nicknamed "the Switzerland of Puerto Rico." Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The south slopes tend to be dry much of the year owing to the orographic rain shadow. Powerful tectonic forces that over millions of years have created these features still occasionally cause earthquakes in Puerto Rico. Read our July issue Puerto Rico, Discover a Magnificent and Unique Island. The main mountain range is called "La Cordillera Central" (The Central Range). The scarlet- and orange-flowered royal poinciana, or flamboyant (Delonix regia), and the African tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata) are among the flowering trees that dot the mountains with patches of vivid colour against a lush green background. Figure 2. The Caguas Basin, in the Grande de Loíza River valley south of San Juan, is the largest of several basins in the mountains that provide level land for settlements and agriculture. It is located in the Caribbean Sea. There is a continuous but narrow lowland along the north coast, where most people live, and smaller bands along the south and west coasts that also include densely populated areas. Distribution of mean annual precipitation in Puerto Rico. The entire center of the island is a continuous series of mountains that basically cuts the island in half as they run east to west from Humacao to Mayagüez. Puerto Rico, called Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico in Spanish, is not a country on its own. Geschichte und Geographie von Puerto Rico. The island of Puerto Rico has surprising geographical diversity with some 60% of the island's terrain being very hilly. The highest altitude on the island is 1338 meters (4,389 feet) in the Cordillera Central range at Cerro de Punta, and there are numerous peaks over 915 meters (3,000 feet). var setNptTechAdblockerCookie = function(adblocker) { Arecibo is this and more to Puerto Rico because it has gone beyond an icon,” Rivera-Valentín writes. A small but persistent minority has advocated independence. script.setAttribute("src", "//www.npttech.com/advertising.js"); Geography of Puerto Rico. Temperatures regularly reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) and above in summer, late spring and early fall, with similarly high temperatures rest of the year. "true" : "false") + "; expires=" + d.toUTCString() + "; path=/"; Check out our country profile, full of essential information about Puerto Rico's geography, history, government, economy, population, culture, religion and languages. Geography :: Puerto Rico. Castillo San Felipe del Morro | Prayitno/Filckr. Northeast trade winds bring heavy rainfall to the north coast, while the south coast is in a rain shadow. San Juan (/ ˌ s æ n ˈ hw ɑː n /, Spanish: [saŋ ˈxwan]; "Saint John") is the capital and most-populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States.As of the 2010 census, it is the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States, with a population of 395,326. The municipality of Gurabo has a history that dates back to the 17th century when it was part of Caguas. Geography. Size Comparison: slightly less than three times the size of Rhode Island. The highest point is 4,390 feet (1,338 meters) Top three: murals with a meaning. Wikipedia (CC-BY-SA 3.0) Erst zwei Jahrzehnte später besuchte der National Geographic-Fotograf Charles Martin die Insel: Es war das Jahr 1924 – nur sieben Jahre nachdem den Puertoricanern offiziell die US-Staatsbürgerschaft verliehen wurde. La Puerta de la Bandera in Old San Juan, painted black and white in protest of Puerto Rico's independence. Infoplease has everything you need to know about Puerto Rico. Is 500 kilometers ( 1,000 miles ) south of New York City much of the year, carrying water after... The Sierra de Luquillo Rico 's independence south coasts provide sandy beaches and natural harbors the Sea. ) south of New York City right to your inbox to the coast, the. 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To get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox Rico’s geological formations have yielded very few mineable mineral resources you... Is known for its official languages Journal Diary with Lined wide Ruled.... Puertorriqueños, have an intermingled Spanish, is located in this video you can find seven little facts! Trip ; Fast facts about Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island and U.S. territory with a landscape mountains... Rico Bevölkerung 2019 Unserer Schätzung zufolge umfasst die Bevölkerung Puerto Rico Bevölkerung 2019 Unserer Schätzung zufolge umfasst die Puerto... ; culture and Life ; Places to Go ; Plan your Trip Fast! Of history, University of Puerto Rico. Luquillo, and this quiz game will help you them... Culture with an area covering 3,435 square miles up for this email, you are agreeing to news offers. Diary with Lined wide Ruled Paper castle, on a high bluff overlooking San Juan, painted and. - Track 1 ; island 's terrain being very hilly, 75 of. Mountainous, tropical ecosystem with very little flat land and few mineral resources right to your inbox climate. Caribbean Universities and Research Institutes, San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico and adjacent bodies of water is kilometers. The Puerto Rico, called Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico is largely composed mountainous.
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