Geography of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico
Native name:
Boriquén (Taino)
Nickname: Isla del Encanto (Spanish)
(Island of Enchantment)
Puerto Rico
Vieques
Culebra
Mona and Monito
Icacos and Palominos
Caja de Muertos
Desecheo
Political Map of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is located in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is located in Lesser Antilles
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is located in Caribbean
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is located in North America
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is located in Earth
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Geography
LocationCaribbean Sea
Coordinates18°15′N 66°30′W / 18.250°N 66.500°W / 18.250; -66.500
ArchipelagoGreater Antilles
Major islandsSpanish Virgin Islands of Vieques and Culebra
Mona
Desecheo
Caja de Muertos
Area8,868 km2 (3,424 sq mi)
(Land area of main island)[note 1]
Area rank3rd (United States)
4th (Caribbean)
29th (Americas)
81st (World)
174th (Countries)
Length178 km (110.6 mi)[note 2]
Width65 km (40.4 mi)
Coastline501 km (311.3 mi)
Highest elevation1,338 m (4390 ft)
Highest pointCerro de Punta
Administration
United States
TerritoryPuerto Rico
Largest settlementSan Juan (pop. 342,259)
Demographics
Population3,205,691 (2023)
Pop. density361.4/km2 (936/sq mi)
Symbols of Puerto Rico
AmphibianCoquí[note 5][11][12][13][14][15]
BirdIguaca[note 4][9][10]
FlowerMaga[note 6][16]
MammalManatee[note 3][8]
TreeCeiba[note 7][17][18]

Puerto Rico[note 8] (Spanish for 'rich port'; abbreviated PR),[20] officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,[note 9] is an archipelagic island U.S. territory comprised of the eponymous main island of Puerto Rico and 142 smaller islands, cays, and islets, including Vieques, Culebra, Mona, Desecheo, Caja de Muertos, Palominos, and Icacos, located between the Greater and Lesser Antilles in the northeastern Caribbean Sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. The main island of Puerto Rico is 113 km (61 nmi) east of Hispaniola, 60 km (32 nmi) west of the Saint Thomas, 705 km (380 nmi) north of Venezuela, and 120 km (65 nmi) south of the Puerto Rico Trench, the deepest point in the Atlantic.[note 10][21] The main island is 178 km (110 mi; 96 nmi) long and 65 km (40 mi; 35 nmi) wide.[note 2][22] With a land area of 8,868 sq km (3,424 sq mi),[note 1][1] it is the 4th largest island in the Caribbean, 81st largest island in the world, and 174th largest country or dependency.

Geologically separated from the Greater Antilles island of Hispaniola by the Mona Passage and Canyon, and from the Lesser Antilles island arc by the Anegada Passage, the main island of Puerto Rico, the Spanish Virgin Islands of Vieques and Culebra, the British Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands except for the southernmost island of Saint Croix all lie on the same continental shelf platform between the Puerto Rico Trench in the North Atlantic Ocean and the northeastern Caribbean Sea.[23][24][25][26][27]

Around 60% mountainous, the main island of Puerto Rico has one principal mountain range covering the central region of the island from west to east, the Cordillera Central. It is divided into three subranges: the eponymous main subrange of Cordillera Central in the center, the Sierra de Cayey in the southeast, and the Sierra de Luquillo in the northeast.[22] The highest elevation point in Puerto Rico, Cerro de Punta (4,390 feet or 1,338 meters),[28] is located in the Cordillera Central, while El Yunque, one of the most popular peaks in Puerto Rico, located in the Sierra de Luquillo and part of El Yunque National Forest, has a maximum elevation of 3,540 feet (1,080 m).

The main island has seven valleys: Caguas, Yabucoa, Lajas, Añasco, the Coloso and Culebrinas, Cibuco, and Guanajibo. It has two narrow coastal plains: one stretching alongside the northern coast, and the other alongside the southern coast. The capital, San Juan, and metropolitan area are located on the northern coastal plain in the northeast. It also has one prominent karst formation in its northwestern central region called the Northern Karst Belt, and two prominent batholiths, one in the southeastern municipality of San Lorenzo, and the other in the western municipality of Utuado. The island has 47 major rivers, of which the longest is Río de la Plata, and 26 reservoirs, lagoons, or lakes, among which is Laguna Grande (''big lagoon''), one of three bioluminescent bays in the archipelago of Puerto Rico located in the far northeastern municipality of Fajardo.[22]

The archipelago of Puerto Rico has numerous protected nature areas, including the nature reserves of La Cordillera in the Sonda de Vieques (Vieques Sound) and Media Luna (''half moon'') in Lajas, the wildlife refuge in Cabo Rojo and Desecheo, the estuarine research reserve of Bahía de Jobos in Salinas, and the national park of the El Yunque forest in Rio Grande.

Satellite image of Puerto Rico, 2008
  1. ^ a b "State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  2. ^ "Vieques Municipio, Puerto Rico". US Census Bureau. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  3. ^ "Mona Island". Earth Observatory. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  4. ^ "Culebra Municipio, Puerto Rico". US Census Bureau. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  5. ^ "Plan de Manejo Reserva Natural Isla Caja de Muertos" (PDF). Gobierno de Puerto Rico: Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  6. ^ "Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  7. ^ "Catches by Taxon in the waters of Puerto Rico (USA)". Sea Around Us. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  8. ^ "Ley Núm. 257 de 2011: Ley del "Día de la Conservación del Manatí Caribeño en Puerto Rico" y para Designarlo como el "Mamífero Oficial de Puerto Rico"" (PDF). Gobierno de Puerto Rico: Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  9. ^ "Cotorra Puertorriqueña" (PDF). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  10. ^ "Proyecto de la Cámara 518 (P. de la C. 518)". Public Policy. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  11. ^ "Coquí fossil from Puerto Rico takes title of oldest Caribbean frog". University of Florida: Florida Museum of Natural History. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  12. ^ "Here's Why The Coquí Frog is the Symbol of Puerto Rico". The Culture Trip. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  13. ^ "Natural History of Model Organisms: The big potential of the small frog Eleutherodactylus coqui". ResearchGate. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  14. ^ "La ranita más querida". Ocala. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  15. ^ "Coquí, un anfibio símbolo nacional". Panama América. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  16. ^ "Ley Núm. 87 del año 2019: Para adoptar la Flor de Maga como la flor símbolo del pueblo de Puerto Rico". Lex Juris. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  17. ^ "La ceiba del camino". Primera Hora. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  18. ^ "An Ancient Ceiba Tree Blooms Once Again After Puerto Rico's Devastating Storms". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  19. ^ Amaral, Patrícia & Ana Maria Carvalho (2014). Portuguese-Spanish Interfaces: Diachrony, synchrony, and contact. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 130. ISBN 978-90-272-5800-7.
  20. ^ "CIA World Factbook – Puerto Rico". Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  21. ^ "Nautical Charts: Puerto Rico" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  22. ^ a b c "Geografía de Puerto Rico". Sistemas de Información Geográfica (in Spanish). Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  23. ^ US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Exploring Puerto Rico's Seamounts, Trenches, and Troughs: Background: Mission Plan: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research". oceanexplorer.noaa.gov. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  24. ^ "Core Data From Offshore Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands | U.S. Geological Survey". www.usgs.gov. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  25. ^ "New species and new records of Cumacea (Crustacea: Peracarida: Cumacea) from mesophotic reefs of Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, Caribbean Sea". Research Gate. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  26. ^ "Por el camino verde: Long-term tropical socioecosystem dynamics and the Anthropocene as seen from Puerto Rico". Research Gate. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  27. ^ "U.S. Virgin Islands" (PDF). NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Research Plan. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  28. ^ "Elevations and Distances in the United States". U.S. Geological Survey. April 29, 2005. Retrieved October 23, 2017.


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