Native name: Borinquen (Taino) Nickname: La Isla del Encanto (The Island of Enchantment) | |
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![]() Satellite image of Puerto Rico | |
![]() Map of Puerto Rico | |
Geography | |
Location | Caribbean Sea |
Coordinates | 18°15′N 66°30′W / 18.250°N 66.500°W |
Archipelago | Greater Antilles |
Major islands | Spanish Virgin Islands (Vieques and Culebra) Mona Caja de Muertos Desecheo |
Area | 3,513 sq mi (9,100 km2) [note 1][1] |
Area rank | 4th (Caribbean Islands) 81st (World Islands) 175th (World) |
Length | 178 km (110.6 mi) |
Width | 65 km (40.4 mi) |
Coastline | 501 km (311.3 mi) |
Highest elevation | 1,338 m (4390 ft) |
Highest point | Cerro de Punta |
Administration | |
United States | |
Territory | Puerto Rico |
Largest settlement | San Juan (pop. 342,259) |
Demographics | |
Population | 3,205,691 (2023) |
Pop. density | 361.4/km2 (936/sq mi) |
Ethnic groups | White 80.5%, Mulatto 10.9%, Black 8.0%, Amerindian 0.4%, Asian 0.2% |
The geography of Puerto Rico consists of an archipelago compromised of one main island, five smaller islands, and numerous islets and cays 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 Atlantic Ocean. As the easternmost and smallest of the Greater Antilles, the eponymous main island of the archipelago, is about 178 kilometers long (110 statute miles; 96 nautical miles) and 65 kilometers wide (40 statute miles; 35 nautical miles).[note 2] With a land and internal coastal water area of 9,100 square kilometres (3,513 sq mi),[1][2] it is the 4th largest island in the Caribbean and 81st largest island in the world. The smaller islands of Vieques, Culebra, Mona, Caja de Muertos, and Desecheo, and 137 islets and cays comprise the rest of the archipelago, with only Vieques and Culebra being inhabited.
Larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware 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 famous 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 largest 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 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]
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