Geography of Puerto Rico

The geography of Puerto Rico describes an archipelago located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands. The main island of Puerto Rico is the smallest and most eastern of the Greater Antilles. With an area of 3,515 square miles (9,104 km²), it is the third largest island in the United States and the 82nd largest island in the world. Various smaller islands and cays, including Vieques, Culebra, Mona, Desecheo, and Caja de Muertos comprise the remainder of the archipelago with only Culebra and Vieques being inhabited year-round. Mona is uninhabited through large parts of the year except for employees of the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources.

Puerto Rico Diving

The crystal blue waters of the Caribbean make it an ideal diving location, and Puerto Rico is no exception. Puerto Rico diving has long been one of the main tourist draws to the island, and once you get here, it’s no mystery why. No matter which coast you are on, there are plenty of places to go diving in Puerto Rico.

A continental shelf surrounds Puerto Rico on three sides, creating miles of coral reefs, sea walls and darkened caves, perfect for exploring. Scuba diving in San Juan is like a national pastime. While it might not be the top dive spot on the island, it’s by far the most popular. Since most Puerto Rican vacation revolve around the capital city, there is more dive shops here than anywhere else on the island. Brightly colored schools of fish and excellent visibility are what make scuba diving in San Juan so popular. And behind the Normandie Hotel, you’ll find the top dive outfitter in Puerto Rico – Caribe Aquatic Adventures. Like most companies involved with scuba diving in San Juan, there are options as to where you can dive, and what certification you need. But San Juan companies will usually cover most of the northeastern corner of the island.

Diving in Puerto Rico is certainly not limited to San Juan, though. The top spots are spread across the island, but most are on the east and southern sides. The most coveted dive spots are not actually on the mainland, but are Vieques and Culebra islands. The small chain of islands that run between Culebra Island and Puerto Rico are also well known for their excellent diving locations. Further southeast on the mainland, you’ll find Humacao, often considered the best of what Puerto Rico diving has to offer. A more undisturbed location means more creatures swimming below the surface, and Humacao is not the first place most visitors think of when heading to Puerto Rico. During the lean tourist months, it would be surprising if you found another dive boat even in the area. Other good spots in the area are around Playa Zoni on Culebra and the entire northern coast of Vieques. Less crowded (if not deserted) than the more popular sites of San Juan or Rincon, finding Vieques is like finding gold for the seasoned diver. Few places will compare.

The western coast is home to many of the other top locations for Puerto Rico diving. Here you’ll find winning spots like Mona Island, with perfectly crafted reefs at 80 feet below. The surfer’s paradise of Rincon is also a great spot for diving in Puerto Rico, and is probably the most popular spot outside of San Juan. Luckily a number of dive operators offer packages to spots all over the island, so it’s hard to go wrong, no matter which site you pick.

Cabo Rojo

Cabo Rojo (KAH-bo, ro-ho) is a city in the south-west of Puerto Rico, on the Western Costal Valley. It is located to the south of Mayagüez and to the west of Lajas, whilst a little to the west of the town lies the Mona Passage. The town is spread over 18 wards and Cabo Rojo Pueblo is the downtown area and the administrative center of the city. It is both a principal city of the San Germán–Cabo Rojo Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Mayagüez–San Germán–Cabo Rojo Combined Statistical Area.

Politics

Puerto Rico remains under the authority of the United States, but has a large degree of autonomy. Residents of Puerto Rico, even though they are U.S. citizens, do not vote in elections for Congress and the presidential elections, although prawyborach take part in the presidential election. Do not pay the federal taxes on income generated on the island. Possessing a U.S. passport and the right to freely settle in the territory of the United States and those who will benefit from this law will automatically acquire the right to vote in presidential elections, state and local levels.

The political future of the island is still open, because the current situation is still to some extent, provisional. Some residents of the island are demanding full independence, while others will want full integration with the United States and transform the island into another American state.

Arrival

Since Puerto Rico under the administration of the American Federal Government, each traveler one (on entry still valid for 6 months) passport and a green card or a visa. See visa page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United States for more information.

Political status

Puerto Rico is an “unincorporated territory” of the United States which according to the United States Supreme Court is “a territory appurtenant and belonging to the United States, but not a part of the United States.” Puerto Rico is subject to the Congress’ plenary powers under the “territorial clause” of Article IV, sec. 3, of the U.S. Constitution. United States federal law is applicable to Puerto Rico, even though Puerto Rico is not a state of the American Union and has no voting representative in the United States Congress.

Due to the establishment of the Federal Relations Act of 1950 all federal laws that are “not locally inapplicable” are automatically the law of the land in Puerto Rico.

Economy

In the early 1900s the greatest contributor to Puerto Rico’s economy was agriculture and its main crop was sugar. In the late 1940s a series of projects codenamed Operation Bootstrap encouraged a significant shift to manufacture via tax exemptions. Manufacturing quickly replaced agriculture as the main industry of the island. Puerto Rico is classified as a high income country by the World Bank.^[50][51]

Economic conditions have improved dramatically since the Great Depression due to external investment in capital-intensive industries such as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and technology. Once the beneficiary of special tax treatment from the U.S. government, today local industries must compete with those in more economically depressed parts of the world where wages are not subject to U.S. minimum wage legislation. In recent years, some U.S. and foreign owned factories have moved to lower wage countries in Latin America and Asia. Puerto Rico is subject to U.S. trade laws and restrictions.

Also, starting around 1950, there was heavy migration from Puerto Rico to the Continental United States, particularly New York City, in search of better economic conditions. Puerto Rican migration to New York displayed an average yearly migration of 1,800 for the years 1930-1940, 31,000 for 1946-1950, 45,000 for 1951-1960, and a peak of 75,000 in 1953.^[52] As of 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that more people of Puerto Rican birth or ancestry live in the U.S. than in Puerto Rico.

On May 1, 2006, the Puerto Rican government faced significant shortages in cash flows, which forced the closure of the local Department of Education and 42 other government agencies. All 1,536 public schools closed, and 95,762 people were furloughed in the first-ever partial shutdown of the government in the island’s history. On May 10, 2006, the budget crisis was resolved with a new tax reform agreement so that all government employees could return to work. On November 15, 2006 a 5.5% sales tax was implemented. Municipalities are required by law to apply a municipal sales tax of 1.5% bringing the total sales tax to 7%.^[55]

Tourism is an important component of Puerto Rican economy supplying an approximate $1.8 billion. In 1999, an estimated 5 million tourists visited the island, most from the U.S. Nearly a third of these are cruise ship passengers. A steady increase in hotel registrations since 1998 and the construction of new hotels and new tourism projects, such as the Puerto Rico Convention Center, indicate the current strength of the tourism industry.

Puerto Ricans had a per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $19,600 for 2007,By comparison, the poorest state of the Union, Mississippi, had a per capita GSP (nominal) of $24,062 in 2006. The United Nation’s Human Development Index ranking is not regularly available for Puerto Rico, though the UN Development Program assigned it a .942 score in 1998, which would place it among the top 15 countries in the HDI rankings.

When to Go

The peak tourist season is between December and April, but this has more to do with the climate in North America than anything else. During these months the island is swamped by visitors, prices are highest and accommodation can be hard to find. Obviously it’s much less crowded during the official hurricane season (May through November). Although hurricanes are rare, they’re able to do more than merely put a dampener on your holiday. Definitely keep an eye on weather reports if you’re in Puerto Rico at this time, especially in August, September and October. If you intend to travel inland bring a sweater for the evenings regardless of when you visit – it’s much cooler in them thar hills.

San Juan

San Juan (from the Spanish San Juan Bautista, “Saint John the Baptist“) is the capital and largest municipality in Puerto Rico. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 433,733, making it the 42nd-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico (“Puerto Rico City”). In addition to being the oldest city in Puerto Rico it is the oldest European-founded U.S. city, older than even St. Augustine, Florida. Puerto Rico’s capital is the second oldest European-established city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, now in the Dominican Republic.^[3] Several historical buildings are located in San Juan; among the most notable are the city’s former defensive forts, Fort San Felipe del Morro and Fort San Cristobál, and La Fortaleza, the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas.

Today, San Juan serves as one of Puerto Rico’s most important seaports,^[4] and is the island’s manufacturing, financial, cultural, and tourism center. The population of the metropolitan area, including San Juan and the municipalities of Bayamón, Guaynabo, Cataño, Canóvanas, Caguas, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Carolina and Trujillo Alto, is about 2 million inhabitants; thus, about half the population of Puerto Rico now lives and works in this area.^[5] The city has been the host of numerous important events within the sports community, including the 1979 Pan American Games, 1966 Central American and Caribbean Games, 2006 World Baseball Classic and the Caribbean Series.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: “Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico” [literally, English: "Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"]), is a semi-autonomous territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands. The territory is composed of an archipelago that includes the main island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller islands and keys, the largest of which are Vieques, Culebra, and Mona. The main island of Puerto Rico is the smallest by land area but third largest by population among the four Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico).

Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen, from Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name.^[4][5] The terms boricua and borincano derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively, and are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage. The island is also popularly known as “La Isla del Encanto“, which translated means “The Island of Enchantment.”