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Geography of Puerto Rico

The geography of Puerto Rico consists of an archipelago located between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, east of Hispaniola, west of the Virgin Islands, north of Venezuela, and south of the Puerto Rico Trench, the deepest point in the entire Atlantic. As the easternmost and smallest of the Greater Antilles, the main island of Puerto Rico is about 178 kilometers long (110 statute miles; 96 nautical miles) and 65 kilometers wide (40 statute miles; 35 nautical miles).[b] With a land and internal coastal water area of 9,100 square kilometres (3,500 sq mi),[2] it is the 4th largest island in the Caribbean and 81st largest island in the world. More than 143 smaller islands and cays, including Vieques, Culebra, Palomino, Mona, Desecheo, and Caja de Muertos, comprise the rest of the archipelago, with only Culebra and Vieques being inhabited.

See also: List of islands of Puerto Rico

Native name:
Borinquen (Taino)
Nickname: La Isla del Encanto
(The Island of Enchantment)

3,513 sq mi (9,100 km2)
[a][1]

4th (Caribbean Islands)
81st (World Islands)
175th (World)

178 km (110.6 mi)

65 km (40.4 mi)

501 km (311.3 mi)

1,338 m (4390 ft)

San Juan (pop. 342,259)

3,205,691 (2023)

361.4/km2 (936/sq mi)

White 80.5%, Mulatto 10.9%, Black 8.0%, Amerindian 0.4%, Asian 0.2%

Larger than the state of Rhode Island but smaller than Connecticut, the main island of Puerto Rico is the 3rd largest island in the United States. Around 60% mountainous, it has three mountain ranges: Sierra Cayey in the southeast, Sierra Luquillo in the northeast, and Cordillera Central in the central and western region.[2] The highest elevation point in Puerto Rico, Cerro de Punta (4,390 feet or 1,338 meters),[3] is located in Cordillera Central, while El Yunque, one of the most popular peaks in Puerto Rico, located in the Sierra Luquillo at the 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 coastal plains: one stretching alongside the northern coast, and the other alongside the southern coast. The capital, San Juan, and main metropolitan area are located on the northern costal 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 southeast and the other in the central western region. The island has 47 major rivers 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 town of Fajardo.[2]

David M. Bush, Richard M. T. Webb, José González Liboy, Duke University Press, 1995

Living with the Puerto Rico Shore

Atlas de la Historia de Puerto Rico, Dr. Arturo Santana, Rafael Torrech, Editorial Cordillera, 1988,  912779331, ISBN 978-0884951513

OCLC

The Geographic Regions of Puerto Rico, , 1950, OCLC number 1649057

Rafael Picó

Nueva Geografía de Puerto Rico: Física, Económica y Social, , 1975

Rafael Picó

Elementos de Geografía de Puerto Rico, Dr. José F. Cadilla, Ángel Cruz, Sara Diez-Trigo, 1988

González Vales, Luis E. (November 15, 2005). (PDF). Oficina de Servicios Legislativos (in Spanish).

"La geografía en la historiografía puertorriqueña"