San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (/ˌsæn ˈhwɑːn/, Spanish: [saŋ ˈxwan]; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States, with a population of 342,259. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico ("City of Puerto Rico", Spanish for rich port city).
San Juan
Municipio Autónomo de San Juan
1521[2]
77.0 sq mi (199 km2)
47.9 sq mi (124 km2)
29.1 sq mi (75 km2) 37.8%
763.60 sq mi (1,977.7 km2)
26 ft (8 m)
342,259
7,147.1/sq mi (2,759.5/km2)
1,844,410
2,415.4/sq mi (932.6/km2)
2,350,126
Sanjuaneros
Puerto Rico's capital is the second oldest European-established capital city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, founded in 1496,[5] and is the oldest European-established city under United States sovereignty. Several historical buildings are located in the historic district of Old San Juan; among the most notable are the city's former defensive walls, Fort San Felipe del Morro and Fort San Cristóbal, and La Fortaleza, the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas. These historic sites were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.[6]
Today, San Juan is Puerto Rico's most important seaport[7] and is the island's financial, cultural, and tourism center. The population of the metropolitan statistical area, including San Juan and the municipalities of Bayamón, Guaynabo, Cataño, Canóvanas, Caguas, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Carolina and Trujillo Alto, is about 2.443 million inhabitants; thus, about 76% of the population of Puerto Rico now lives and works in this area.[8] San Juan is also a principal city of the San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. The city has been the host of events within the sports community, including the 1979 Pan American Games; 1966 Central American and Caribbean Games; events of the 2006, 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classics; the Caribbean Series and the Special Olympics and MLB San Juan Series in 2010.
Spanish painting of 1635 commemorating Captain Juan de Amézqueta's victory and Hendricksz's defeat at Puerto Rico de San Juan; by Eugenio Caxés, Museo del Prado.[44]
![Spanish painting of 1635 commemorating Captain Juan de Amézqueta's victory and Hendricksz's defeat at Puerto Rico de San Juan; by Eugenio Caxés, Museo del Prado.[44]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/La_recuperaci%C3%B3n_de_la_isla_de_Puerto_Rico_por_el_gobernador_de_la_isla%2C_Juan_de_Haro._Por_Eugenio_Caj%C3%A9s..jpg/339px-La_recuperaci%C3%B3n_de_la_isla_de_Puerto_Rico_por_el_gobernador_de_la_isla%2C_Juan_de_Haro._Por_Eugenio_Caj%C3%A9s..jpg)
![San Juan and Morro Castle in 1671 by Jacob van Meurs. Royal Library of the Netherlands.[45]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/AMH-6724-KB_View_of_Puerto_Rico.jpg/344px-AMH-6724-KB_View_of_Puerto_Rico.jpg)
View of the Marina at San Juan, in 1899. Photo by Margherita Arlina Hamm, an active defender of U.S. imperialism.
[Spanish] Colonial buildings of Old San Juan in a photo of 1949.
![[Spanish] Colonial buildings of Old San Juan in a photo of 1949.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/La_marina_from_wharf%2C_San_Juan%2C_P.R.jpg/362px-La_marina_from_wharf%2C_San_Juan%2C_P.R.jpg)
The municipality of San Juan has a population of 342,259 as of the 2020 US Census, making it the largest in Puerto Rico,[111] and the 57th largest in the United States and its territories.[112] From 1899 to 1950 the municipality of San Juan excluded the township of Río Piedras. For this reason, population data and land area for the period make reference only to the Antiguo San Juan and Santurce barrios, or subdivisions, of San Juan. The old municipality of Río Piedras constituted the third most populated city of Puerto Rico at the time of its annexation in 1951. Its strategic location south of the capital served as a junction for all the principal ways of transportation of the island and as a geographical entry to San Juan, which are factors that prompted Río Piedras's dramatic urban development in the 20th century.[113]
According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of San Juan was as follows:
Among the Hispanic and Latino population, Puerto Ricans are the largest group; they make up 87.5% of San Juan's Hispanic population. People of Dominican descent make up 7.6% of the Hispanic population, while those of Cuban descent form 1.7% of the Hispanic populace. Other Hispanic and Latino groups collectively form 3.2% of San Juan's Hispanic population.
There are 4,822 whites and 1,187 blacks of non-Hispanic origin living in San Juan. Non-Hispanic whites and blacks form 1.2% and 0.3% of San Juan's population respectively. There are also approximately 673 Asians of non-Hispanic origin in San Juan; they make up less than 0.1% of the population. However, Asians of Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin together number at 6,342.[114]
The vast majority of Asians in San Juan are of Chinese descent; of the 6,342 Asians, 4,928 are Chinese. Chinese comprise 1.4% of the population. The only other sizable Asian group in San Juan are Indian Americans; there are 698 people of Indian descent in the city, forming 0.2% of the population. There are very small numbers of people of Filipino, Japanese, and Vietnamese ancestry; none of these groups number more than 100 members.[114]
According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, 87.5% of San Juan's population was native and 12.5% were foreign-born. Of the native population, 86.9% were born in Puerto Rico or the U.S. proper, of which 75.6% were born in Puerto Rico and 8.9% were born in the U.S. The other 0.7% were born in a different U.S. territory or born abroad to American parents. The remaining 11.9% of the population were born outside the United States and U.S. territories.
In recent years, an increasing number of Americans not of Hispanic ancestry (both of African American and of White American descent) have moved to San Juan. In addition, a large number of Stateside Puerto Ricans have settled in the city upon their return to Puerto Rico. There is also a growing West Indian population, both of Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin.
San Juan today is home to the largest Jewish community in Puerto Rico, and one of the largest Jewish communities in the Caribbean,[115] with more than 2,000 people attending two local synagogues in Santurce (the Conservative Shaare Zedeck Synagogue and the Reform Temple Beth Shalom)[116] and an additional synagogue (the Chabad Jewish Center of Puerto Rico) in Isla Verde in neighboring Carolina.[117]
In terms of ancestry, 23,875 people claimed American ancestry, which is equivalent to 5.8% of San Juan's population. Other sizable ancestry groups included those of Italian descent, French descent, and West Indian descent. People of Italian descent numbered at 1,694, forming 0.4% of the population; people of French descent numbered at 1,064, forming 0.2% of the population. Finally, those of West Indian descent numbered at 1,393, forming 0.3% of San Juan's population. Approximately 1,026 people claimed Sub-Saharan African ancestry; 719 claimed Irish ancestry; 646 claimed German ancestry; 431 claimed Arab ancestry, and 346 claimed English ancestry. There are many other ancestry groups in San Juan, but they are very scant.[118]
As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 12,93% of the population. [119]
San Juan has an elaborate system of triage, hospital, and preventive care health services. The municipal government sponsors regular health fairs in different areas of the city focusing on health care for the elderly and the disabled. There are 20 hospitals in San Juan, half of them operated by the government. The largest hospital in San Juan and most important of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean is the Rio Piedras Medical Center, or Centro Medico de Rio Piedras in Spanish. This hospital, founded in 1956, is operated by the Medical Services Administration of the Department of Health of Puerto Rico. It is made up of eight other hospitals.
The city of San Juan operates 10 hospitals. Of these, nine are Diagnostic and Treatment Centers located in communities throughout San Juan. The main hospital is located at Centro Medico. These 10 hospitals are:
Also, there are 10 private hospitals in San Juan. These are: