San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

") is the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...

and most populous

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, an

unincorporated territory Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sove ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. 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 Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico ("City of Puerto Rico", Spanish for ''rich port city''). Puerto Rico's capital is the third oldest European-established capital city in the Americas, after

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

, in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, founded in 1496, and

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

, in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, founded in 1521, and is the oldest European-established city under United States sovereignty. Several historical buildings are located in San Juan; among the most notable are the city's former defensive forts,

Fort San Felipe del Morro Castillo San Felipe del Morro, also known as El Morro, is a citadel built between 16th and 18th centuries in San Juan, Puerto Rico.ww ...

and Fort San Cristóbal, and

La Fortaleza La Fortaleza (lit., "The Fortress" ) is the official residence of the governor of Puerto Rico. It was built between 1533 and 1540 to defend the harbor of San Juan. The structure is also known as Palacio de Santa Catalina (Saint Catherine's Palac ...

, the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas. Today, San Juan is Puerto Rico's most important seaport and is the island's financial, cultural, and tourism center. The population of the

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

, including San Juan and the municipalities of Bayamón,

Guaynabo Guaynabo (, ) is a city, suburb of San Juan and municipality in the northern part of Puerto Rico, located in the northern coast of the island, north of Aguas Buenas, south of Cataño, east of Bayamón, and west of San Juan. Guaynabo is spr ...

, Cataño, Canóvanas,

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founde ...

, Toa Alta,

Toa Baja Toa Baja (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northern coast, north of Toa Alta and Bayamón; east of Dorado; and west of Cataño. Toa Baja is spread over five barrios, including Toa Baja Pueblo (the downtown area and ...

, Carolina and

Trujillo Alto Trujillo Alto (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Northern Coastal Plain, on the boundary between the karst zone and Sierra de Luquillo, north of Caguas, and Gurabo; southeast of San Juan, and west of Carolina. Truji ...

, is about 2.443 million inhabitants; thus, about 76% of the population of Puerto Rico now lives and works in this area. 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 The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...

; events of the 2006, 2009 and 2013

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Lea ...

s; the

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...

and the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in ...

and

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

San Juan Series in 2010.

History

Pre-Columbian era

The

Taíno The Taíno were a historic indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the pri ...

people were the indigenous inhabitants of the area before the arrival of the Europeans to the island of

in 1493. Remains of a small indigenous fishing village have been found in

Puerta de Tierra Puerta de Tierra is a ''subbarrio'' (subdistrict) occupying the eastern portion of the Islet of San Juan and the ''barrio'' of San Juan Antiguo in the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The name Puerta de Tierra (Spanish for ''land gate'') ...

where the Puerto Rico National Guard Museum stands today, however most archaeological sites in the region have been destroyed and lost throughout the colonial history. The area of San Juan used to be the boundary between the tribal regions (yucayeques) of ''Guaynabo'' and ''Haimanio'', led by the chiefs (

caciques A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Spa ...

) Mabo and Yuisa (also known as Loaíza), respectively, at the time of the arrival of the

Spanish conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

Founding

In 1508, Juan Ponce de León founded the original settlement which he called Caparra. It was named after the province of Cáceres in Spain, the birthplace of

Nicolás de Ovando Frey Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres (1460 – 29 May 1511 or 1518) was a Spanish soldier from a noble family and a Knight of the Order of Alcántara, a military order of Spain. He was Governor of the Indies ( Hispaniola) from 1502 until 1509, se ...

, then the Governor of Spain's Caribbean territories. Today, it is part of the Pueblo Viejo district of

, directly to the west of the modern municipality of San Juan. A year later, the settlement was moved to a site then called Puerto Rico, Spanish for "rich port" or "good port", after its similar geographical features to the town of

Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria is a holiday resort situated on the south-west coast of the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. Temperatures in the winter remain around 20-25 °C while there is an average of less than three days per month of pre ...

in the Canary Islands. The local Catholic diocese, the second oldest in the Americas and the oldest in the United States, was founded in the newly built settlement on August 8 of 1511. In 1521, the newer settlement was given its formal name: ''Ciudad de Puerto Rico de San Juan Bautista''. Many of the oldest European-founded institutions in the Western Hemisphere, such as the Santo Tomás de Aquino Convent and the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción Hospital, were established during this time in San Juan. The ambiguous use of ''San Juan Bautista'' and ''Puerto Rico'' for both the city and the island in time led to a reversal in practical use by most inhabitants: by 1746 the name for the city (Puerto Rico) had become that of the entire island, leading to the city being identified as ''Puerto Rico de Puerto Rico'' on maps of the era.

Spanish Colonial era

Staat van Amerika, map of San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1766

San Juan, as a settlement of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

, was used by merchant and military ships traveling from Spain as the first stopover in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. Because of its prominence in the Caribbean, a network of fortifications was built to protect the transports of gold and silver from the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

to Europe. Because of the rich cargoes, San Juan became a target of the foreign powers of the time. San Juan underwent attacks from the English led by

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ( ...

in 1595 (in what is known as the

Battle of Puerto Rico The Battle of San Juan (1595) was a Spanish victory during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604), Anglo–Spanish War. This war broke out in 1585 and was fought not only in the European theatre but in Spain's American colonies. After emerging from ...

) and by George Clifford,

Earl of Cumberland The title of Earl of Cumberland was created in the Peerage of England in 1525 for the 11th Baron de Clifford.''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press'', 2004. It became extinct in 1643. The dukedom of Cumberland was cr ...

, in 1598. Artillery from San Juan's fort, El Morro, repelled Drake; however, Clifford managed to land troops and lay siege to the city. After a few months of English occupation, Clifford was forced to abandon the siege when his troops began to suffer from exhaustion and sickness. In 1625 the city was sacked by Dutch forces led by Captain Balduino Enrico (also known as Boudewijn Hendricksz/Bowdoin Henrick), but El Morro withstood the assault and was not taken. The Dutch were counterattacked by Captain

Juan de Amézqueta Juan de Amézqueta (born c. 1595), was a captain in the Puerto Rican Militia who defended Puerto Rico from an invasion by the Dutch in 1625. He fought and wounded Captain Balduino Enrico (Boudewijn Hendricksz) who was ordered by the Dutch Governm ...

and 50 members of the civilian militia on land and by the cannons of the Spanish troops in El Morro castle. The land battle left 60 Dutch soldiers dead and Enrico with a sword wound to his neck which he received from the hands of Amézqueta. The Dutch ships at sea were boarded by Puerto Ricans who defeated those aboard. After a long battle, the Spanish soldiers and volunteers of the city's militia were able to defend the city from the attack and save the island from an invasion. On October 21, Enrico set

and the city ablaze. Captains Amézqueta and Andrés Botello decided to put a stop to the destruction and led 200 men in an attack against the enemy's front and rear guard. They drove Enrico and his men from their trenches and into the ocean in their haste to reach their ships.The History of Puerto Rico From the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation / Middeldyk, R.A. Van Identifier: etext12272 The History of Puerto Rico From the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation
The British attack in 1797, during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

, led by

Sir Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ir ...

(who had just conquered

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

). His army laid siege to the city but was forced to withdraw in defeat as the Puerto Rican defenses proved more resilient than those of Trinidad. Various events and circumstances, including liberalized commerce with Spain, the opening of the island to immigrants as a direct result of the

Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 The Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 ( Spanish: ''Real Cédula de Gracias'') is a legal order approved by the Spanish Crown in the early half of the 19th century to encourage Spaniards and, later, Europeans of non-Spanish origin, to settle in and po ...

, and the colonial revolutions, led to an expansion of San Juan and other Puerto Rican settlements in the late 18th and early 19th century.

Spanish-American War

On May 8, 1898, United States Navy ships, among them , , , , and , commanded by Rear Admiral

William T. Sampson William Thomas Sampson (February 9, 1840 – May 6, 1902) was a United States Navy rear admiral known for his victory in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish–American War. Biography He was born in Palmyra, New York, and entered ...

arrived at San Juan Bay. captured the Spanish freighter ''Rita'' in San Juan Bay, thus being the first hostile encounter between the warring sides in Puerto Rico. On May 9, ''Yale'' fought a brief battle with an

auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in ...

of Spain, name unknown, resulting in a Spanish victory. Around this time, Captain

Ángel Rivero Méndez Ángel Rivero Méndez (1862 – February 23, 1930) was a Puerto Rican soldier, writer, journalist and a businessman. Rivero Méndez was a Captain in the Spanish Army during the Spanish–American War and is credited with ordering the first shot ...

was assigned the command of the Spanish forces in the fortress of San Cristóbal in San Juan. On May 10, ''Yale'' returned to San Juan Bay, Rivero-Méndez ordered his men to open fire upon ''Yale'' using an Ordoñez 15-centimeter cannon, thus becoming the first attack against the Americans in Puerto Rico during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

. For his actions, Captain Rivero-Méndez was awarded the "Cruz de la Orden de Mérito Militar" (The Cross of the Order of the Military Merit) first class. The residents of San Juan were furious with Rivero and blamed him for the destruction caused to their city by the American bombardments. Nothing came of those accusations and Capt. Rivero-Méndez was ordered to turn over the keys of all the military installations in San Juan to Captain Henry A. Reed of the U.S. Army after the

Treaty of Paris of 1898 The Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, commonly known as the Treaty of Paris of 1898 ( fil, Kasunduan sa Paris ng 1898; es, Tratado de París de 1898), was a treaty signed by Spain and the United Stat ...

was signed. On July 25, General

Nelson A. Miles Nelson Appleton Miles (August 8, 1839 – May 15, 1925) was an American military general who served in the American Civil War, the American Indian Wars, and the Spanish–American War. From 1895 to 1903, Miles served as the last Commanding Gen ...

landed at Guánica (in southwestern Puerto Rico) with 3,300 soldiers in what was known as the Puerto Rican Campaign. The American troops found some resistance and engaged the Spanish and Puerto Rican troops in battle, the most notable of these the battles of

Yauco Yauco () is a town and municipality in southern Puerto Rico. Although the downtown is inland, the municipality stretches to a southern coast facing the Caribbean Sea. Yauco is located south of Maricao, Lares and Adjuntas; east of Sabana G ...

and Asomante. All military actions in Puerto Rico were suspended August 13, 1898, after President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

and French Ambassador

Jules Cambon Jules-Martin Cambon (5 April 1845 – 19 September 1935) was a French diplomat and brother to Paul Cambon. As the ambassador to Germany (1907–1914) he worked hard to secure a friendly détente. He was frustrated by French leaders such as Raym ...

, acting on behalf of the Spanish government, signed an

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

. Spain ceded the island to the United States later the same year by signing the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

20th-century

Camp Las Casas Camp Las Casas was a United States military installation established in Santurce, Puerto Rico in 1904. The camp was the main training base of the "Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry," On January 15, 1899, the military government changed the name of ...

, located in the district of Santurce, served as the main training camp for the Puerto Rican soldiers prior to World War I and World War II; the majority of the men trained in this facility were assigned to the "Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry" which was renamed the

65th Infantry Regiment The 65th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed "The Borinqueneers" during the Korean War for the original Taíno Indian name for Puerto Rico (Borinquen), is a Puerto Rican regiment of the United States Army. The regiment's motto is ''Honor et Fidelita ...

of the United States Army by the Reorganization Act of June 4, 1920. The 65th Infantry was deactivated in 1956 and became the only unit ever to be transferred from an active Army component to the

Puerto Rico National Guard The Puerto Rico National Guard (PRNG) – es, Guardia Nacional de Puerto Rico– is the national guard of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and s ...

. Lieutenant

Teófilo Marxuach Lieutenant Colonel Teófilo Marxuach, (July 28, 1877 – November 8, 1939), was the person who ordered the first shots fired in World War I on behalf of the United States on an armed German supply ship trying to force its way out of the San Juan ...

(retired as a Lieutenant Colonel), a native of

Arroyo, Puerto Rico Arroyo () is a town and municipality located along the southern coast of Puerto Rico and bordered by the Caribbean Sea, east of the municipality of Guayama and northwest of the municipality of Patillas. Arroyo is spread over 5 barrios and Ar ...

, fired the first shot in what is considered to be the first shot of World War I fired by the regular armed forces of the United States against any ship flying the colors of the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

."US Naval Institute Proceedings"; "A Breach of Neutrality"; by: Lt. Isaiah Olch, US Navy; Vol. 62; July - December 1936 Marxuach, who was a member of the "Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry" and Officer of the Day, on March 25, 1915, opened fire on the ''Odenwald'', an armed German supply vessel, when it was trying to force its way out of San Juan's bay. The shots ordered by Lt. Marxuach were the first fired by the United States in World War I. In 1919,

Félix Rigau Carrera Félix Rigau Carrera (August 30, 1894 – October 13, 1954), known as (The Eagle from Sabana Grande), was the first Puerto Rican pilot and the first Puerto Rican pilot to fly on air mail carrying duties in Puerto Rico. Early years Rigau Carrer ...

, "El Aguila de Sabana Grande" (The Eagle from Sabana Grande), the first Puerto Rican pilot, became the first native Puerto Rican to fly an aircraft in the island when he flew his

Curtiss JN-4 The Curtiss JN "Jenny" was a series of biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for th ...

from Las Casas. At the time, the area was used by the military as an air base and it was also Puerto Rico's first commercial airport, and Rigau Carrera was allowed to perform his historic flight from the airfield."El Mundo"; "Fallece El Aguila - Fue Primer Boricua Manejo Avion en la Isla" (Spanish); by: Malen Rojas Daporte; October 20, 1954; Number 13,448 Camp Las Casas was eventually closed down, and in 1950 a public housing project by the name of Residencial Fray Bartolome de Las Casas was constructed on its former location. On January 2, 1947, the people of San Juan elected

Felisa Rincón de Gautier Felisa Rincón de Gautier (born Felisa Rincón Marrero)This name uses Spanish marriage naming customs; the first is the maiden family name '' "Rincón"'' and the second or matrimonial family name is ''"Gautier"''. (also known as Doña Fela) (Janua ...

(also known as Doña Fela) (1897–1994) as their mayor. Thus, she became the first woman to be elected as the mayor of a capital city in any of the Americas. During the Cold War era, she ordered the establishment of the island's first Civil Defense system under the directorship of Colonel

Gilberto José Marxuach Colonel Gilberto José Marxuach a.k.a. "The Father of the San Juan Civil Defense" (November 19, 1910 – April 18, 1957), was a former officer in the United States Army who in 1951 founded and became the first director of the Civil Defense in ...

(Teófilo's son). Rincón de Gautier served as mayor until January 2, 1969. On October 30, 1950, San Juan was the scene of the San Juan Uprising, one of many uprisings which occurred in various towns and cities in Puerto Rico, by the

Puerto Rican Nationalist Party The Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico ( es, Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico, PNPR) is a Puerto Rican political party founded on September 17, 1922, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its primary goal is to work for Puerto Rico's independence. The P ...

against the governments of Puerto Rico and the United States. Among the uprising's main objective was to attack La Fortaleza and the United States Federal Court House Building in

Old San Juan Old San Juan ( es, Viejo San Juan) is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the islet of San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Catedral, Marina, Mercado, San Cristóbal, and San Francisco sub-barrios (s ...

. The "La Fortaleza battle", which ensued between the nationalists and the police lasted 15 minutes and ended when four of the five attackers were killed.''El ataque Nacionalista a La Fortaleza''; by Pedro Aponte Vázquez; Page 2; Publisher: Publicaciones RENÉ;

21st-century

San Juan has experienced periods of both stagnation and development in the recent years.

Gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

has been noticeable in areas of the city such as Loíza Street in Santurce and Santa Rita in Río Piedras. In recent years the city has been the location of multiple strikes and protests, such as the 2001 protests against the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in the island municipality of

Vieques Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, ...

, the 2010 and 2011 University of Puerto Rico strikes, and the 2019 protests against Governor Ricardo Rosselló which resulted in his resignation. On September 20, 2017,

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...

made a direct impact in Puerto Rico, causing widespread damage and a collapse of the infrastructure in San Juan and the rest of Puerto Rico. The damage caused in 2017 was extensive, affecting the electricity, potable water supplies, transportation, and communication, but significant progress had been made in the capital by April 2019, and particularly by October 2019. This was significant for tourism, which had rebounded by October of that year and was close to the pre-Maria era. San Juan today remains an important cultural, financial and industrial center not only of Puerto Rico but of the Caribbean region. As the biggest industrial center of Puerto Rico, it is the home of industries such as tobacco processors, breweries, refining facilities for petroleum and sugar, and distillers of rum as well as manufacturers of metal products, cement, pharmaceuticals, and clothing. The

Puerto Rico Convention Center The Dr. Pedro Rosselló González Puerto Rico Convention Center (PRCC) (or ''Centro de Convenciones de Puerto Rico Dr. Pedro Rosselló González'' in Spanish), or simply Puerto Rico Convention Center, is a convention center located in Isla Gr ...

, opened in 2005, is the largest of its kind in the Caribbean and one of the most advanced in the Americas. File:La recuperación de la isla de Puerto Rico por el gobernador de la isla, Juan de Haro. Por Eugenio Cajés..jpg, A 17th-century Spanish painting commemorating Captain

's victory and

Enrico Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname, Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from ''Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. It is also a given name in Ladino. Equivalents in other languages are Henry ( English), Henri ( French), ...

's defeat at Puerto Rico de San Juan; by

Eugenio Caxés Eugenio Caxés (1574/75 – 15 December 1634) was a Spanish painter of the Baroque period. Biography He was born into a Florentine family in Madrid, and wrote his name in a variety of ways (Cajés, Cazés, Caxesi, and Caxete). His fathe ...

, Museo del Prado. File:El Morro Castle, San Juan, Puerto Rico.jpg, Castle San Felipe del Morro, built in the 16th century. File:Félix Rigau Carrera.jpg, Rigau Carrera poses in his plane, 1919. File:Teofilo Marxuach.jpg, Lieutenant Teofilo Marxuach File:Calle de Rafael Cordero in San Juan, Puerto Rico LOC 2179157820.jpg, Rafael Cordero Street in

Jack Delano Jack Delano (born Jacob Ovcharov; August 1, 1914 – August 12, 1997) was a Ukrainian immigrant who became an accomplished photographer for the Works Progress Administration, United Fund, and most notably, the Farm Security Administration (FSA). ...

, 1941. File:La Fortaleza attack-1950.jpg, The bodies of two nationalists lie on the ground after their attack on

(1950)

Geography

San Juan is located along the north-eastern coast of Puerto Rico in the Northern Plains region. It lies south of the Atlantic Ocean; north of

and

; east of

; and west of Carolina. The city occupies an area of , of which, (37.83%) is water. San Juan's main water bodies are

San Juan Bay San Juan Bay ( es, Bahía de San Juan) is the bay and main inlet adjacent to Old San Juan in northeastern Puerto Rico. It is about in length, the largest body of water in an estuary of about of channels, inlets and eight interconnected lagoons ...

and two natural lagoons, the Condado and San José. At almost 1,030 feet (314 m) above sea level, the highest point in the municipality of San Juan is located on an unnamed hill on the ''Morcelo'' sector of Caimito, close to the municipal border with

. The municipality of San Juan is surrounded by the San Juan metropolitan area, particularly the highly urbanized municipalities of

and Carolina. These municipalities, together with Bayamón and Cataño, form what is locally referred to as the ''Área Metro'', the core of the wider San Juan metropolitan area. In total 41 municipalities are included in the entire metropolitan area extends throughout the island's northern coast and central eastern regions.www.whitehouse.gov
Office of Management and Budget I The White House - Puerto Rico Metropolitan Statistical Area - Code 41980 - ''Revised Delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas as of 2013 Census Bureau''. Retrieved 2015-11-09.

Climate

San Juan has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

( Am). It has an average temperature of . Temperatures of or higher are seen on an average 79 days annually, more commonly occurring during the wetter months of the northern summer, especially if the winds come from the south. In the winter, temperatures can drop to around . The average winter low is . The coolest temperature officially recorded was on March 3, 1957, and the hottest was on October 9, 1981. The record cold daily maximum is on February 4, 1935. The record warm daily minimum is on August 11, 1995, the most recent of four occasions. With a mean minimum of 67 °F (19 C), San Juan is in USDA plant hardiness zone 13B the highest category. Rainfall is well-distributed throughout the year. The months of January, February, and March are the driest. As March averages just of rain, the city falls under the tropical monsoon category. Rainfall averages , falling on an average 198.5 days per year. Despite this dampness, the city averages 2,970 hours of sunshine per year, or just over of the possible total. Annual rainfall has historically ranged from in 1991 to in 2010. Sahara Dust over Puerto Rico

As with other parts of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, San Juan is often blanketed by waves of

Saharan dust Saharan dust is an aeolian mineral dust from the Sahara desert, the largest hot desert in the world. The desert spans just over 9 million square kilometers, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, from the Mediterranean sea to the Niger River v ...

coming from the Sahara across the Atlantic Ocean in

Northern Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

. Although beneficial to the tropical environment, these dust storms have recently become hazardous to human health causing haze and overheating in urban areas of the island. Due to San Juan's relatively flat geography, the dust often settles in these flat coastal regions of Puerto Rico as its flow is blocked by the higher altitude Cordillera Central to the south, causing intense episodes of haze to settle for long periods of time, especially during periods of more scarce rainfall. Recent advancements include early warning systems to prepare the population for these intense episodes by both local authorities and the

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

Hurricane Maria

made landfall in southeastern Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. Gusts up of to 113 mph (182 km/h) were reported in the capital city shortly before landfall in the municipality of

Yabucoa Yabucoa () is a town and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern region, north of Maunabo; south of San Lorenzo, Las Piedras and Humacao; and east of Patillas. Yabucoa is spread over 9 barrios and Yabucoa Pueblo (the downtown area ...

. The municipality of San Juan experienced widespread flooding in most coastal areas, and roofs were blown off from numerous structures. The neighborhood of La Perla was largely destroyed. In the wider metropolitan area, flooding from Lake La Plata produced flash floods that trapped residents of

, and in Cataño the Juana Matos neighborhood was estimated to be 80% destroyed. At least eight people died from the flooding, while many were unaccounted for.

Beaches

San Juan is home to numerous

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

, all of which are open to the public. All beaches of San Juan face the Atlantic Ocean. The Islet of San Juan hosts Los Cables Beach and La Perla Beach next to the

district of La Perla, the Capitolio Beach located immediately north of the Puerto Rico Capitol, Puerta de Tierra Beach along the ''Paseo de Puerta de Tierra'', and El Escambrón Beach at the northeastern edge of the islet. The latter is the most popular beach in the islet due to its shore being protected from the strong Atlantic Ocean waves by reefs that serve as natural

breakwaters A breakwater is a permanent structure constructed at a coastal area to protect against tides, currents, waves, and storm surges. Part of a coastal management system, breakwaters are installed to minimize erosion, and to protect anchorages, h ...

. From east to west, the beaches in Santurce include Ocean Park Beach (also known as Último Trolley Beach), Condado Beach and Playita del Condado. Ocean Park Beach and El Condado Beach are the largest in the city and they host a large number of hotels and businesses that cater to tourists and beachgoers.

Beach erosion

As with other beaches across Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, the beaches of San Juan are currently under the threat of

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwa ...

, particularly that of Ocean Park. The threat has become more evident recently and there are currently no state reports dedicated to the documentation or mitigation planning, according to oceanographer and geologist Maritza Barreto.

Parks

The municipality of San Juan contains numerous parks, including public parks, historic and heritage parks, nature reserves, protected natural areas, and recreational parks. These parks are managed by a number of entities such as the Municipality, the

Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (PRDNER) is the executive department of the government of Puerto Rico tasked with protecting, conserving, developing, and managing the natural and environmental resources in Pue ...

, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

, the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

and

conservation easement In the United States, a conservation easement (also called conservation covenant, conservation restriction or conservation servitude) is a power invested in a qualified private land conservation organization (often called a "land trust") or gover ...

San Juan Ecological Corridor

University of Puerto Rico Botanical Gardens 01

The San Juan Ecological Corridor is a conservation project by the

Government of Puerto Rico The government of Puerto Rico is a republican form of government with separation of powers, subject to the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United States.riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

ecosystems along the

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

; the Doña Inés Mendoza Urban Forest, a small urban forest located next to the Luis Muñoz Marín Foundation in Sabana Llana Sur; Los Capuchinos Forest, a forest which covers a small karst area also in Sabana Llana Sur; the New Millennium State Forest, one of the 20 state forests of Puerto Rico; the San Juan Waterworks, consisting of the Old Piedras River Aqueduct and adjacent historic district; and the University of Puerto Rico Botanical Garden, also known as the

San Juan Botanical Garden The San Juan Botanical Garden, officially known as the Botanical Garden of the University of Puerto Rico, is located in the Caribbean city of San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico. This lush “urban garden” of native and exotic flora serves a ...

Historic parks

The San Juan National Historic Site is home to El Morro Esplanade, a large open area located between El Morro and Ballajá in

. The esplanade is located in the promontory which gives ''El Morro'' its name and it offers views of the

and the rest of San Juan. It is very popular for activities such as picnics, stargazing and kite flying. The district of the

Capitol of Puerto Rico The Capitol of Puerto Rico ( es, Capitolio de Puerto Rico) is located on the Islet of San Juan just outside the walls of Old San Juan. The building is home to the bicameral Legislative Assembly, composed of the House of Representatives and ...

is home to the Iglesias Pantín and Rafael Hernández Marín parks, and a line of monuments located along Constitución Avenue which includes the ''Walkway of the Presidents'', the

Puerto Rico Police The Puerto Rico Police Department ( es, Policía de Puerto Rico), officially the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, is a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the entire Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a division of the Puerto Rico Department ...

Memorial Monument and

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

Memorial Monument. The ''Loma de los Vientos'', or ''Loma del Viento'' (Spanish for "hill of winds"), is a small open green area located northwest of the Capitol, next to Castle San Cristóbal, and it often hosts events such as the

Epiphany Epiphany may refer to: * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...

celebrations.

Luis Muñoz Rivera Park The Luis Muñoz Rivera Park (or Parque Luis Muñoz Rivera in Spanish) is a 27.2 acre (110,000 m2) recreational public space located in Puerta de Tierra in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The park was named in honor of Puerto Rican statesman Luis Muñoz ...

is a 27.2 acre recreational and historic park located in

, between Luis Muñoz Rivera, Ponce de León and Constitución avenues. It is the largest public square in Puerto Rico, and it is home to several historic sites such as the Polvorín San Gerónimo de Boquerón, which used to supply gunpowder to the nearby

Fortín de San Gerónimo Fortín de San Gerónimo de Boquerón is a small fort located at the mouth of the Condado Lagoon, across from the historic sector of Miramar in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was built during the 18th century to replace a smaller battery (called E ...

. The park used to host a small zoo, and currently hosts gazebos, gardens, restaurants and access to the beach. The park has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

since November 14, 2007. The Polvorin de Miraflores is a historic district and park located next to the

in Isla Grande, Santurce. The ammunition storage house dates to the mid-18th century and it is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Another historic district currently under revitalization is the San Juan Waterworks historic district which contains the Old Piedras River Aqueduct. There are plans to revitalize the old aqueduct structures and its surroundings to create a historic park open to visitors and researchers. El Morro Old San Juan Panorama

Municipal parks

Some of the recreational parks of the municipality include Bahía Urbana, a waterfront park located in Old San Juan and Puerta de Tierra by the San Juan Bay; the Paseo de Puerta de Tierra, a recreational walkway along the Atlantic Ocean cliffs of Puerta de Tierra that connects the Puerto Rico Capitol with El Escambrón Beach and Luis Muñoz Rivera Park. Ventana al Mar, Laguna del Condado Jaime Benítez Park, Parque del Indio are some of the parks located in

El Condado Condado is an oceanfront, tree-lined, pedestrian-oriented upper middle to upper class community in Santurce. It is one of the forty subbarrios of Santurce in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Setting Condado is an upscale neighborhood located on the bea ...

district of Santurce. Dr. José Celso Barbosa Park is located in Ocean Park, also in Santurce. Parque Central, also known as the San Juan Municipal Central Park, is a large park and recreational complex located in southern Santurce near the mouth of the

Puerto Nuevo River The Río Puerto Nuevo is a river of Puerto Rico. Flood control project In mid 2018, the United States Army Corps of Engineers announced it would be undertaking a major flood control project of the river, with a budget of $1552.4 million. See ...

and the

Martín Peña Channel The Martín Peña Channel (Spanish: ''Caño de Martín Peña'') is a body of water in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The similarly named Martín Peña is a neighbourhood, with informal housing, adjacent to the channel. The channel runs from San Juan B ...

. The Enrique Martí Coll Linear Park connects the Central Park to

Hato Rey Hato Rey is a former barrio located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three barrios, of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico: Urban landscape Its name means "king's cattle farm" (' ...

through the Caño Martín Peña Nature Reserve. Luis Muñoz Marín Park, La Merced Park, Dr. José N. Gándara Park, Santiago Iglesias Pantín Park are some of the parks located in Hato Rey. Luis Muñoz Marín Park is one of the largest in the municipality. It is located in the Gobernador Piñero district between Hato Rey and Puerto Nuevo. The park has gazebos that can be rented for events, green areas for strolls, biking and picnics, an artificial lake with paddleboats for rent ($6), and a number of playgrounds for children. Its main attraction is the

cableway Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles called cable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by driv ...

that crosses the park and offers scenic views of the Piedras River and the city while providing transportation to the

Roberto Clemente Coliseum Roberto Clemente Coliseum ( Spanish: ''Coliseo Roberto Clemente'') is a sports and concert arena located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was, for many years, Puerto Rico's largest indoor event facility, and remains one of the largest. General info ...

and the

Hiram Bithorn Stadium Hiram Bithorn Stadium (Spanish: Estadio Hiram Bithorn) is a baseball park in San Juan, Puerto Rico, built in 1962 and designed by Puerto Rican architect Pedro Miranda. It is operated by the municipal government of the city of San Juan. Its name ho ...

Nature reserves

The municipality of San Juan is home to various important ecosystems and preserved natural areas. Some of the ecosystems of the San Juan Bay National Estuary, which is the only tropical estuary in the National Estuary Program network, are protected by numerous nature reserves and protected areas such as the Caño Martín Peña Nature Reserve. Other areas protected under the San Juan Bay National Estuary include El Condado Lagoon, the San José Lagoon and El Boquerón where the San Antonio Creek and the Condado Lagoon connect with the Atlantic Ocean. Two of the 20

state forests A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory. Background The precise application of the terms va ...

of Puerto Rico are located in the municipality of San Juan: the New Millennium Urban Forest, which is also part of the San Juan Ecological Corridor, and the San Patricio Urban Forest, a secondary forest located next to a

mogote A mogote () is a generally-isolated steep-sided residual hill in the tropics composed of either limestone, marble, or dolomite. Mogotes are surrounded by nearly flat alluvial plains. The hills typically have a rounded, tower-like form. Overvi ...

. The Hermanas Sendra and San Juan Park Protected Natural Areas are located inland within the municipality of San Juan in the barrios of Caimito and Cupey.

Cityscape

Architecture

The architecture of San Juan is very diverse, due to its size and all the cultural influences received during its existence. The oldest part of the city, known as

, mostly features the influence of

Spanish architecture Spanish architecture refers to architecture in any area of what is now Spain, and by Spanish architects worldwide. The term includes buildings which were constructed within the current borders of Spain prior to its existence as a nation, when ...

. This part of the city is comprised by a network of "setted" roads usually surrounded by colonial, two-storied houses built on

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

. Some colonial structures have been restored and serve either as government offices or museums. Some examples are the

Ballajá Barracks The Ballajá Barracks (''Cuartel de Ballajá'' in Spanish) is a historic building and former military barracks located in the Ballajá section of Old San Juan, in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is located close to El Morro and its esplana ...

, which now serve as museum and headquarters of several cultural organizations;

, which has served as the residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico since the 16th Century; and the Ancient Welfare Asylum, which now houses the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, among others. Old San Juan also features several public squares, like the

Plaza de Armas The ''Plaza de Armas'' (literally Weapons Square, but better translated as Parade Square or parade ground) is the name for Latin American main squares. In the central region of Mexico this space is known as El Zócalo and in Central America as ...

, located in front of San Juan City Hall; and cathedrals, like the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista. Old San Juan is also notable for being partly enclosed by massive walls and fortifications built by the

Spanish government gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , da ...

. The architecture is more varied in other districts of the city, and the different

, American and Puerto Rican construction styles that reflect the historic architecture trends are most evident in the districts of

, Santurce,

and downtown Río Piedras, with

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, Baroque,

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

, and Mid-Century Modern being the most popular styles. Many of the buildings that best exemplify these architectural trends in San Juan are also inscribed in the

United States National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

(NRHP), such as the Nuestra Señora de Lourdes Chapel ( Gothic Revival, 1907), the

Antiguo Casino de Puerto Rico The Antiguo Casino de Puerto Rico, located at Avenida Ponce de León 1 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a Beaux Arts architecture style building dating from 1917. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. and History The ...

( Beaux-Arts, 1917), and the

Normandie Hotel The Normandie Hotel is a historic building located in the Isleta de San Juan, in San Juan, Puerto Rico which opened on October 10, 1942 as a hotel. Its design was inspired by the French transatlantic passenger ship SS ''Normandie'' in addition ...

(

, 1942), and the Puerto Rico Supreme Court Building (

Modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

, 1955). and The University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus is also home to a rich variety of buildings that showcase the history of Puerto Rican architecture throughout the past 120 years, with buildings designed by notable architects such as

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

's student Henry Klumb,

Edward H. Bennett Edward Herbert Bennett (1874–1954) was an architect and city planner best known for his co-authorship of the 1909 Plan of Chicago. Biography Bennett was born in Bristol, England in 1874, and later moved to San Francisco with his family.Cohen, 2 ...

, William E. Parsons, and

Rafael Carmoega Rafael Carmoega Morales (1894–1968) was a Puerto Rican architect from Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.clock tower and the university quadrangle, both of which were inscribed in the NRHP in 1984.

Barrios

San Juan and Rio Piedras municipalities (cropped)

As with the other Puerto Rican municipalities, San Juan is administratively divided into '' barrios.'' What is now known as

occupied the western end of a rocky islet, the

Isleta de San Juan The Isleta de San Juan (Spanish for ''Islet of San Juan'') is a island in the San Juan Bay in the Atlantic coast of northern Puerto Rico. Home of Old San Juan, it is the site of the oldest permanent European settlement in Puerto Rico (1521), and ...

, at the mouth of San Juan Bay. During the 20th century, the main population centers surged well beyond the walls of the old city and onto Puerto Rico's main island and merged with the existing settlements east and south of Old San Juan. Together with

, Old San Juan comprises the barrio of

San Juan Antiguo San Juan Antiguo (not to be confused with the historic district of Old San Juan which is located within this district), is a barrio located in the municipality of San Juan in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. San Juan Antiguo has 7 subbarrios. ...

. With the annexation of

in 1951, the municipality of San Juan grew to four times its previous size. As a result, the municipality also went from 2 to 18 barrios (barrios), 16 of which fall within the former municipality of

. Eight of the 18 barrios are further subdivided into subbarrios, including the two barrios (

and Santurce) that belonged to the original municipality of San Juan. The 18 barrios are: # Caimito # Cupey # El Cinco # Gobernador Piñero #

Hato Rey Central Hato Rey Central is one of the 18 barrios of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico. With a population density of 16,155.3 per square mile. It has a land area of 1.03 sq mi and a 2010 Census population of 16,640. Hato Rey Central was a ba ...

Hato Rey Norte Hato Rey Norte is one of the 18 barrios of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Hato Rey Norte was part of the former municipality of Rio Piedras, before it was merged with the municipality of San Juan in 1951. It is bounded by Hato Rey ...

# Hato Rey Sur # Monacillo # Monacillo Urbano # Oriente #

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

Quebrada Arenas Quebrada Arenas is a Barrios of Puerto Rico, barrio in the municipality of Maunabo, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 1,667. History Cueva del Indio (Las Piedras), Cueva del Indio, a prehistoric rock art site which is now a public park, is ...

# Sabana Llana Norte # Sabana Llana Sur #

(not to be confused with

, a historic district with some overlapping areas) # Santurce # Tortugo # Universidad

San Juan Antiguo

During the Spanish colonial times most of the urban population resided in what is today known as

. This sector is located on the western half of a small island called the

, which is connected to the mainland by two bridges and a causeway. The small island, which comprises an area of , also hosts the working-class neighborhood of

and most of Puerto Rico's

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...

buildings, including the Commonwealth's Capitol. This is also the largest and most populated ''subbarrio'' of San Juan Antiguo. The main central part of the old city is characterized by narrow streets made of blue cobblestone and picturesque colonial buildings, some of which date back to the 16th and 17th century. Sections of the old city are surrounded by massive walls and several defensive structures and notable forts. These include the 16th-century

Fort San Felipe del Morro Castillo San Felipe del Morro, also known as El Morro, is a citadel built between 16th and 18th centuries in San Juan, Puerto Rico.ww ...

and the 17th-century Fort San Cristóbal, both part of San Juan National Historic Site, and the 16th-century El Palacio de Santa Catalina, also known as

, which serves as the governor's mansion. Other buildings of interest predating the 20th century are the ''Ayuntamiento or Alcaldía'' ( San Juan City Hall), the ''Diputación Provincial'' and the ''Real Intendencia'' buildings, which house the

Puerto Rico Department of State The Department of State of Puerto Rico was created in July 1952 and is responsible of promoting the cultural, political, and economical relations between Puerto Rico, other jurisdictions of the United States and foreign countries. History The ...

, the Casa Rosa, the

San José Church San José Church ( es, Iglesia de San José), located in Old San Juan within the historic colonial zone of the capital of Puerto Rico, is one of the first significant works of architecture on the island. The church is one of the earliest surviving ...

(1523) and the adjacent

Hotel El Convento Hotel El Convento is a small hotel in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what was a Carmelite convent, adjoining the San Juan Cathedral square. The cathedral is the second-oldest cathedral in the Western Hemisphere. Hotel El Convento is the oldest me ...

, the former house of the Ponce de León family known as Casa Blanca, the Teatro Tapia, the former Spanish barracks (now Museum of Ballajá), ''La Princesa'' (former municipal jail, now headquartering the Puerto Rico Tourism Company), and the

Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery __NOTOC__ The Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery is a colonial-era cemetery located in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the final resting place of many of Puerto Rico's most prominent natives and residents. Construction began in 1863 under ...

, located just outside the city walls. The Cathedral of San Juan Bautista (construction began in the 1520s) is also located in Old San Juan and contains the tomb of the Spanish explorer and settlement founder Juan Ponce de León. Old San Juan, also known as the "old city", is the main cultural tourist attraction in Puerto Rico; its bayside is lined by dock slips for large

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

Santurce

Santurce is the largest and most populated barrio in the municipality of San Juan, and one of the most densely populated areas of the island (13,257.4 persons per square mile). Santurce, originally named ''San Mateo de Cangrejos'' (Saint Matthew of the Crabs), was a settlement for freed African slaves during the early days of the city. After Pablo Ubarri Capetillo, a Spanish railroad developer and ''Count of San José de Santurce'' under the Spanish colonial period, sought permission to link San Juan with Río Piedras proper via steam tramway in 1878, the time it took to travel between both points were shortened and thereby stimulated the colonization and growth of the district. At the beginning of the twentieth century an electric trolley was installed, the township was split into three parts, and its main settlement, merged with the city, was renamed using the Spanish spelling of

Santurtzi Santurtzi ( es, Santurce; eu, Santurtzi ) is a port town in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, Spain. It is located in the Bilbao Abra bay, near the mouth of the Nervión river, on its left bank, 14 km dow ...

(''

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

'' in Basque), Ubarri's birthplace in Vizcaya, Spain. The "Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico" ( Puerto Rico Museum of Art) and other important cultural venues are located in Santurce. This barrio is further divided into subbarrios such as the tourist-oriented neighborhood of Condado, which occupies land that used to be owned by Ubarri Capetillo. Beaches such as nearby Ocean Park, popular with swimmers,

surfers Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable ...

and

kitesurfers Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

, are found all along the district's Atlantic coastline which is also the locus of numerous hotels. Miramar is mainly a residential area rising south of the Condado Lagoon. It comprises the former '' barrio'' of Miraflores, as well as drained marshland and landfill over which was built San Juan's first airport, the Isla Grande airport, which was renamed Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport in honor of Major Fernando Luis Ribas-Dominicci (USAF). Miramar now hosts the

as well as some of San Juan Harbor's cruise ship piers. In 2005 Miramar was designated an historical district of Puerto Rico.

Río Piedras

South of Santurce is

, part of the former municipality of Río Piedras. Hato Rey was grazing ground for cattle owned by the royal government (hence its name, the ''King's Herd'' in Spanish) as early as the 16th century, and is now considered the financial center of the island. A section of this district is often referred to as ''

Milla de Oro La Milla de Oro (English language, English for ''the golden mile'') is both the popular name given to the main central business district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan and a nickname given to the section of Avenida Juan Ponce de León, Juan Po ...

'' (actually long) due in part to the many banks and businesses located there. In the southern part of the city is the socially diversified community of

. Founded in the mid-1850s, Río Piedras was a separate town which hosted sugar cane plantations and the estates of some of San Juan's wealthiest inhabitants (as well as their working-class staff). The Spanish colonial governors also had their summer home there on land which eventually gave way to the main campus of the

. In 1951 the municipalities of San Juan and Río Piedras were merged to redefine San Juan's current city limits. Today Río Piedras comprises the largest area of the municipality of San Juan. and is home to the "Plaza del Mercado" (Río Piedras

Marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

), the main campus and the Medical Sciences campus of the

and the

Demographics

The municipality of San Juan has a population of 342,259 as of the 2020 US Census, making it the largest in Puerto Rico, and the 57th largest in the United States and its territories. 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. According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of San Juan was as follows: *

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

: 68.0% (

Non-Hispanic Whites Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Ame ...

: 1.2%) * Black or African American: 18.3% (Non-Hispanic Blacks: 0.3%) * American Indian: 0.8% *

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

: 0.4% *

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawa ...

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

: 0.0% * Some other race: 8.2% *

Two or more races 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

: 4.0% *

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...

(of any race): 98.2% 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 Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

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. The vast majority of Asians in San Juan are of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

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 Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

; 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 Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, and

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

ancestry; none of these groups number more than 100 members. 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 African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

and of

White American White Americans are Americans who identify as and are perceived to be white people. This group constitutes the majority of the people in the United States. As of the 2020 Census, 61.6%, or 204,277,273 people, were white alone. This represented ...

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 A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

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, with more than 2,000 people attending two local synagogues in Santurce (the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Shaare Zedeck Synagogue and the

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

Temple Beth Shalom) and an additional synagogue (the

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic grou ...

Jewish Center of Puerto Rico) in Isla Verde in neighboring Carolina. 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 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent, French descent, and

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 Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

ancestry; 646 claimed

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

ancestry; 431 claimed

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

ancestry, and 346 claimed

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

ancestry. There are many other ancestry groups in San Juan, but they are very scant.

Economy

San Juan experienced significant economic growth following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. During this period the city underwent an

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, although as of 1984 it had never generated its own economic region.Microsoft Encarta Biblioteca (2006), Microsoft Corporation The city's economy relies mostly on companies dedicated to the manufacture of several products, including:

chemical substance A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., w ...

s (bleach and house cleaning products); pharmaceuticals; rum and other beverages;

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

s; electric tools;

electronic devices The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

; plastics,

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

s, and food-based products. Tourism is also a key industry, based on San Juan's proximity to Puerto Rico's main airport, the

Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín) is a joint civil-military international airport located in suburban Carolina, Puerto Rico, southeast of San Juan. It is named for Luis Muñoz ...

. The tourism focus of the city is located in the district of Condado Beach where there are luxurious hotels. Historical locations such as El Morro, Old San Juan and El Cuartel de Ballaja are promoted in tourism campaigns. The district of Hato Rey contains a corporate sector known as

(Golden Mile) which serves as the headquarters of local and international banks. San Juan's Hato Rey district is often referred to as the "Wall Street of the Caribbean", due to the influence of the area on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean's economy. San Juan is also home to the

Popular, Inc. Popular, Inc., doing business as Banco Popular in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and as Popular Bank in the mainland United States, is a financial services conglomerate that has operated in Puerto Rico for over 125 years and in the mainland ...

, parent company of

Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Popular, Inc., doing business as Banco Popular in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and as Popular Bank in the mainland United States, is a financial services conglomerate that has operated in Puerto Rico for over 125 years and in the mainland ...

, Popular Bank,

E-Loan E-Loan, Inc. is a financial services company that offers its users access to partners that may be able to assist them in obtaining loans. E-Loan was a pioneer in the online lending industry in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As of 1999, it was th ...

, and a

Fortune 1000 The Fortune 1000 are the 1,000 largest American companies ranked by revenues, as compiled by the American business magazine ''Fortune''. It only includes companies which are incorporated or authorized to do business in the United States, and for ...

company as of 2022. Other companies based in San Juan include ATH Network, First BanCorp,

Liberty Puerto Rico Liberty Communications of Puerto Rico LLC (d/b/a Liberty) is a telecommunications company that provides broadband Internet access, VoIP, television and wireless services covering the entire island of Puerto Rico (wireless in Puerto Rico and US Vi ...

, The Cervantes Group, and Triple-S Management Corporation.

Seaborne Airlines Seaborne Virgin Island Inc, operating as Seaborne Airlines, is a FAR Part 121 airline headquartered in Carolina, Puerto Rico, near the territory's capital of San Juan. It operates a seaplane shuttle service between St. Croix and St. Thomas. ...

is headquartered on the ninth floor of the World Plaza Building in Hato Rey.

Tourism

Street art, statues in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

Technological advances after World War II in the development of the airliner, coupled with the island's climate and natural setting, have transformed San Juan into the springboard for tourism around the island, and has made the rest of the Caribbean known throughout the world during the last fifty years. Today the capital features hotels, museums, historical buildings, restaurants, parks, beaches and shopping centers. Old San Juan is often emphasized in tourism campaigns, promoting the historic nature of its colonial buildings and narrow streets covered by cobblestones, a blue stone cast from furnace slag; they were brought over as ballast on Spanish ships. This includes the city's ancient defensive wall and forts, most notably El Morro and the Castillo San Cristóbal. On January 23, 1984, both of these edifices together with

and

El Cañuelo EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

(in nearby

) were included as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

, catalogued as being part of humanity's cultural patrimony as part of the

-administered San Juan National Historic Site. The restaurants and art galleries in the zone are visited by tourists and locals alike. Bacardi building in Cataño, Puerto Rico

Outside of Old San Juan, the Puerto Rico Convention Center District (PRCC) includes the

, which hosts a number of local and international events throughout the year such as the

Puerto Rico Comic Con Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, O ...

, the biggest of its kind in the Caribbean. The PRCC District also hosts a number of hotels, nightclubs, shops, cinemas, bars and restaurants, the Coca-Cola Music Hall, and the Toro Verde Eco Adventure Park. Other notable tourist attractions in San Juan include the Condado and Ocean Park Beaches, El Escambrón and the

La Placita de Santurce La Placita is a historic district and neighborhood of Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, located in the former area of Santurce's old market square (Spanish: ''Plaza del mercado de Santurce'') in Campo Alegre. La Placita today is a popular dining ...

, the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center, the

Luis Muñoz Marín José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth." In 1948 he ...

and

Plaza Las Américas Plaza Las Américas is a shopping mall in Hato Rey, San Juan, Puerto Rico, located at the intersection of Routes 18 and 22. "''Plaza''", as it is known to many Puerto Ricans, was the first indoor shopping mall built in Puerto Rico. It is the ...

and

The Mall of San Juan The Mall of San Juan is a upscale shopping mall located across from the San José Lagoon at the south end of the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge, near the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It opened its doors on March 2 ...

, the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, the

Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art The Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art, often abbreviated to MAC, is a contemporary art museum in Santurce, Puerto Rico. History The museum was founded by artists and sponsors of the civil society and was officially instituted on October ...

, the San Juan Wildlife Museum, and the University of Puerto Rico Botanical Garden, among others. The University of Puerto Rico's main campus in Río Piedras is also of interest with its historic quadrangle and clock tower, its number of theaters and venues which host events such as the

Casals Festival The Casals Festival is a classical music event celebrated every year in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in honor of classical musician Pablo Casals. Background The festival was founded in 1956 by Pablo Casals. It was promoted by Teodoro Moscoso and Davi ...

s, and a museum. San Juan is also used by tourists as a base to explore other attractions within and outside the San Juan metropolitan area, such as the

Bacardi Bacardi Limited (; ) is one of the largest privately held, family-owned spirits companies in the world. Originally known for its Bacardi brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 an ...

Cathedral of Rum and

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of brid ...

in Cataño, the "Pork Highway" of Guavate in

Cayey Cayey (), officially Cayey de Muesas, is a mountain town and municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Sierra de Cayey within the Central Mountain range, north of Salinas and Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east of Aibonito and Sal ...

, the bioluminiscent bay in

Fajardo Fajardo (, ) is a town and municipality -Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. Fajardo is the hub of much of the recreational boating in Puerto Rico and a popular launching port to Culebra, Vieques, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. It is ...

, the beaches and street food of Piñones in Loíza, and

El Yunque National Forest El Yunque National Forest ( es, Bosque Nacional El Yunque), formerly known as the Caribbean National Forest (or ''Bosque Nacional del Caribe''), is a forest located in northeastern Puerto Rico. It is the only tropical rainforest in the United Sta ...

recreational areas in the municipalities of

Luquillo Luquillo () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northeast coast, northwest of Fajardo; and east of Rio Grande. Luquillo is spread over 5 barrios and Luquillo Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the ci ...

and

Río Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio ...

Post Hurricane Maria

An April 2019 report indicated that, by that time, repairs after Hurricane Maria were moving rapidly. Only a few hotels were still closed in San Juan and that life for tourists in and around the capital had, for the most part, returned to normal. By October 2019, nearly all of the popular amenities for tourists, in the major destinations such as San Juan, Ponce and Arecibo, were in operation on the island and tourism was rebounding. This was important for the economy, since tourism provides up 10% of Puerto Rico's GDP, according to Discover Puerto Rico. In late November 2019, reports indicated that 90 calls to San Juan by Royal Caribbean ships would be cancelled during 2020 and 2021. This step would mean 360,000 fewer visitors, with a loss to the island's economy of $44 million. As well, 30 ship departures from San Juan were being canceled.

Arts and culture

San Juan is the birthplace of artists and musicians who have significantly influenced Puerto Rican culture. During the 20th century, the musical aspect of the city was influenced by performers including Afro-Caribbean dancer and choreographer Sylvia del Villard and

José Enrique Pedreira José Enrique Pedreira (February 2, 1904 – January 6, 1959) was a Puerto Rican composer noted for danzas. Early years Pedreira was one of four siblings born to José María Pedreira and Rosa Kehrham in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His family, who ...

who became a composer of Puerto Rican ''Danzas''. International musicians such as opera singer

Justino Díaz Justino Díaz (born January 29, 1940) is a Puerto Rican operatic bass-baritone. In 1963, Díaz won an annual contest held at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, becoming the first Puerto Rican to obtain such an honor and as a consequence, made ...

and

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

winners

Ramón Ayala Ramón Covarrubias Garza (born December 8, 1945), known by his stage name Ramón Ayala, is a Mexican singer, composer and songwriter of Norteño music. Discography Studio albums (Ramón Ayala Y Sus Bravos Del Norte) * ''La Pura Maña'' (1971 ...

(Daddy Yankee) and

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...

were born in the city. Other notable residents include writers

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include ''Empire of Dreams'' (1988), ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) ''and United States of Banana'' (2011). Braschi writes cross-genr ...

and Tomas Blanco, award-winning actors

Raul Julia Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he took an interest in acting while still in school and pursued the career upon completion of his studies. After ...

and

Benicio del Toro Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor and producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen ...

, and comedian

José Miguel Agrelot Giuseppe Michael Agrelot Vilá (April 21, 1927 – January 28, 2004), also known as José Miguel Agrelot or Don Cholito, was a Puerto Rican comedian, radio and television host. Biography Agrelot was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He was the ...

. Rafael Cordero (1790–1868), was influential in the development of Puerto Rican education and has been once renowned as "The Father of Public Education in Puerto Rico".

Performing arts

The Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center (Spanish: ''Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré'') hosts some of the most important musical and artistic events in Puerto Rico. It is home to the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra (PRSO) and hosts the

, the most important classical music festival in the Caribbean. The venue also hosts theater and musical performances such as

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, which it hosted in 2019. The Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico is a public music conservatory that hosts Puerto Rican and international students has a longstanding relationship with the classical music movement in the island. The

Ateneo Puertorriqueño The Ateneo Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican Athenaeum), is a cultural institution in Puerto Rico. Founded on April 30, 1876, it has been called Puerto Rico's oldest cultural institution, however, it is actually its third oldest overall and second c ...

and the theater of the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras also host important music events.

Museums

Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico en Santurce, San Juan

The city is also the home of contemporary and classic art museums. The Puerto Rico Museum of Art hosts the largest collection of contemporary art in Puerto Rico, housing over 1,100 permanent art pieces and displaying temporary exhibitions containing artwork from various locations through Latin America. The

, located in Santurce, specializes in contemporary artwork from Latin America and the Caribbean. The paintings displayed in the permanent exhibition are either acquired by the museum's administrative personnel or donated by artists and collectors. They are judged by a panel of painters, art critics, and scholars before being displayed. Other museums such as the Pablo Casals Museum, the San Juan Book Museum, the Museum of the Americas, and the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

display historic items and artwork alongside contemporary art. Miscellaneous museums such as the Children's Museum, the San Juan Wildlife Museum, and the

Distillery (also known as the "Rum Cathedral") in nearby Cataño appeal to different audiences through interactive exhibitions. The Casa Dra. Concha Melendez Ramirez in Santurce is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

and museum and research center that showcases the life and work of one of the most important figures in the literary culture of Puerto Rico.

is also home to important art museums, such as the Puerto Rico National Gallery, and numerous private art galleries.

Government

Structure

As one of Puerto Rico's 78

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, San Juan's government consists of two branches, the executive and the legislative. Those citizens eligible to vote directly elect the

Mayor of San Juan This is a list of mayors of San Juan, Puerto Rico. List of mayors of San Juan Under the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (6) (5) See also * San Juan City Hall * San Juan government * Timeline of San Juan, Puerto Rico References {{Years ...

and the municipal assembly for four-year terms. The municipal government is housed in City Hall or ''Casa Alcaldia'', which is located at 153 San Francisco Street, facing the

at the center of

. City Hall was constructed based on

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

's City Hall starting in 1604 and finally completed in 1789. The executive branch is headed by a popularly elected mayor. The office is held by Miguel Romero Lugo who won in the 2020 general election. Miguel Romero Lugo took over from

Carmen Yulín Cruz Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto (born February 25, 1963) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as mayor of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico from 2013 to 2020. From 2009 through 2013, Cruz served in the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. Ea ...

, who was elected at the 2012 general election. Before her, Jorge A. Santini held the position for 12 years. In addition to running the city's day-to-day operations and supervising associated departments, the mayor is responsible for appointing a secretary-auditor and a treasurer. San Juan's Municipal Legislature is made up of 17 municipal legislators, elected at-large, which represent the city's population.

Coat of arms and flag

Historic Coat of Arms of San Juan (Puerto Rico)-Spanish Rule

The has an official flag and coat of arms. On March 8, 1948, the city government of San Juan officially adopted as the city's first flag an orange field, in the center of which is the coat of arms of the city. The orange color was based and taken from Father Diego de Torres Vargas' text and it reads: "''Escudo de armas dado a Puerto Rico por los Reyes Católicos en el año de 1511, siendo Procurador un vecino llamado Pedro Moreno. Son : un cordero blanco con su banderilla colorada, sobre un libro, y todo sobre una isla verde, que es la de Puerto Rico, y por los lados una F y una I, que quiere decir Fernando e Isabel, los Reyes Católicos que se las dieron, y hoy se conservan en el estandarte real, que es de damasco anaranjado, con que se ganó la ciudad''". ("Coat of arms given to Puerto Rico by the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...

in the year 1511 being Procurator a ''vecino'' (citizen) named Pedro Moreno. They are a white lamb with a red flag, on top of a book, and everything above a green island, which is Puerto Rico...which is of orange damask, with which the city was won"). It appears that the color was changed from orange to white at some point.

Territorial and federal government

San Juan is the territorial capital of the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporate ...

, and it is home to the

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

and

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

branches of the Puerto Rican government. San Juan is also the seat of the

Puerto Rico Senatorial district I Puerto Rico Senatorial District I, also known as the Senatorial District of San Juan, is one of the eight senatorial districts of Puerto Rico. It is currently represented by Nitza Morán (from the New Progressive Party). District profile The S ...

, which is represented by two Senators. The

United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (in case citations, D.P.R.; es, Tribunal del Distrito de Puerto Rico) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The court is ...

is located in

. There are two additional federal offices in the San Juan metropolitan area: the Jose V. Toledo U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in Old San Juan and the GSA Federal Center in Guaynabo. The

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI), along with other federal organisms, has also had regional offices at the Federico Degetau Federal Building also in Hato Rey.

Safety

Law enforcement in San Juan is the joint responsibility of the Department of Police and Public Safety, also known as the

San Juan Police Department The San Juan Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, PR, with jurisdiction only in the city limits of San Juan. It is also the largest municipal police force in the co ...

and the

Puerto Rico Police Department The Puerto Rico Police Department ( es, Policía de Puerto Rico), officially the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, is a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the entire Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a division of the Puerto Rico Department ...

. The Municipal Police, originally known as the "San Juan Municipal Guard", was created in 1521 and had active military and law enforcement functions until 1980, when Act #77 created municipal law enforcement agencies in Puerto Rico. It employs over 1,000 sworn officers plus civilian staff.

Crime

In 2010 there were 201 homicides in San Juan, a rate of around 50 per 100,000 residents. In 2019 they were 172 homicides a rate of 53 per 100,000 residents. In the 2019 bulletin ranking of the 50 most violent cities in the world San Juan ranked as the 16th most violent in the world with a rate of 54.01 murders per 100,000 inhabitans, and the 3rd most violent in the United States and its territories after

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Media

Newspapers

Most of Puerto Rico's major newspapers are published in San Juan:

El Nuevo Día ''El Nuevo Día'' (English: ''The New Day'') is the newspaper with the largest circulation in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1909 in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and today it is a subsidiary of GFR Media. Its headquarters are in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. ...

, Primera Hora,

El Vocero ''El Vocero de Puerto Rico'' is a Puerto Rican free newspaper that is published in San Juan. Published since 1974, ''El Vocero'' was at first the third of the four largest Puerto Rico newspapers, trailing '' El Mundo'' and '' El Nuevo Día'' and ...

and the English-language

San Juan Star ''The San Juan Star'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper was originally published by Star Media Network, a subdivision of San Juan Star, Inc. History The newspaper was f ...

. Other newspapers published in San Juan are Metro Puerto Rico, Indice and Caribbean Business News.

Radio

San Juan is also home to several of Puerto Rico's major radio stations: WKAQ 580 AM and 105 FM, WPRM Salsoul 99.1 FM, WODA La Nueva 94 FM, Fidelity 95.7 FM, WSKN Radio Isla 1320 AM, WORO Radio Oro 92.5 FM, Salsa Hits Radio, WAPA Radio, WOYE Magic 97.3, WRTU Radio Universidad FM, WIPR 940 AM, Mix 107.7 FM, WTOK Hot 102, AZ Rock, Radio Antillas, etc.

Television

Some of the television states based in San Juan are

WKAQ-TV WKAQ-TV (channel 2) is a television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, airing programming from the Telemundo and NBC networks. It is owned and operated by the Telemundo Station Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal. WKAQ-TV's studios are located o ...

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...

/ NBC Puerto Rico, WORA Univision Puerto Rico,

WAPA-TV WAPA-TV (channel 4) is a Spanish-language independent television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is owned by Hemisphere Media Group, which is 84% owned by InterMedia Partners. WAPA-TV's studios are located on Avenida Luis Vigoreaux in G ...

WIPR-TV WIPR-TV (channel 6) is a non-commercial educational public television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, owned by the '' Corporación de Puerto Rico para la Difusión Pública'' (English: Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation). While WIPR- ...

, WTCV Mega TV, WJPX

América TeVé WJAN-CD (channel 41) is a low-power, class A Spanish-language independent station licensed to Miami, Florida, United States. Owned by América CV Station Group, Inc., it is sister station to WFUN-LD (channel 48). The two stations share studi ...

, etc.

Movies and filming

San Juan has been the setting of numerous movies and the city has also been used as a stand-in or substitute for other cities and countries where filming is more expensive, more dangerous or more restrictive. Some of the most popular movies filmed in San Juan are:

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

Bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

(1971),

Captain Ron ''Captain Ron'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Thom Eberhardt, produced by David Permut, and written by John Dwyer for Touchstone Pictures. It stars Kurt Russell as the title character, a sailor with a quirky personality and a checker ...

(1992),

Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. Assassin may also refer to: Origin of term * Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins Animals and insects * Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviida ...

(1995), Amistad (1997),

Bad Boys II ''Bad Boys II'' is a 2003 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. The sequel to the 1995 film '' Bad Boys'' and the second film in the ''Bad Bo ...

(2003) standing-in as

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004) also as

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

The Men Who Stare at Goats ''The Men Who Stare at Goats'' (2004) is a non-fiction work by Jon Ronson concerning the U.S. Army's exploration of New Age concepts and the potential military applications of the paranormal. The title refers to attempts to kill goats by staring ...

(2009) standing-in as

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, The Losers (2010),

Fast Five ''Fast Five'' (also known as ''Fast & Furious 5'' or ''Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist'') is a 2011 American action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast & Furious'' (2009) and the fifth i ...

(2011) stading-in as

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) standing-in as Cádiz, Spain, The Rum Diary (2011),

22 Jump Street ''22 Jump Street'' is a 2014 American satirical buddy cop action comedy film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, written by Jonah Hill, Michael Bacall, Oren Uziel and Rodney Rothman and produced by and starring Hill and Channing Tatum ...

(2014) standing-in as a Mexican resort, Captain America: Civil War (2016) standing-in as

Lagos, Nigeria Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

Force of Nature Forces of nature are literally natural phenomena. Figuratively, the term is also used to describe a thing or person that exhibits qualities which appear to be beyond outside control. Force or Forces of Nature may also refer to: Science *Fundamen ...

(2020), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).

Education

Colleges and universities

Torre Universidad de-Puerto Rico Rio Piedras

San Juan is home to many of Puerto Rico's institutions of higher learning. The University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras Campus is located in San Juan, along with the University of Puerto Rico's Medical Sciences Campus. Other colleges located in San Juan are the University of the Sacred Heart, the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, the Ana G. Méndez University System's Metropolitan University, the Metropolitan Campus of the

Inter American University of Puerto Rico The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has c ...

, the

Carlos Albizu University Albizu University is a private university with its main campus in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a branch campus in Miami, Florida, and an additional instructional location in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. It focuses on psychology, health, education, and huma ...

, the Evangelic Seminary of Puerto Rico and the Center for Advanced Studies on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. There are smaller colleges located in the city, including the ICPR Junior College, the ''Instituto de Banca y Comercio'' and the International Junior College, located in Santurce. There are also several technical schools based in San Juan, including the Technological College of San Juan, the ''Liceo de Artes y Ciencias'', Ramirez College of Business and Technology, and the Puerto Rico Technical Junior College. The

Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music The Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music ( es, Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico) is a public conservatory in San Juan, Puerto Rico.Conservatorio de Musica de Puerto RicoSOBRE EL CONSERVATORIO DE MÚSICA DE PUERTO RICO: Información General d ...

and the School of Fine Arts in Old San Juan specialize in education that promotes the fine arts and music.

Public and private schools

As of the 2022-23 school year, there are 83 public schools serving 24,494 students in San Juan, all of which are operated by the

Puerto Rico Department of Education The Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDOE; ) is one of the statewide public education system in the United States, with (Hawaii being the other). The PRDOE is the state education agency in charge of managing public schools in Puerto Rico as ...

. Most of the specialized schools operated by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are located in San Juan. These schools emphasize topics such as Science and Math, Radio and Television, Arts, Trade, Music, and Sports, but also include other subjects such as Spanish, English, and Social Studies in their curriculum. In addition to dozens of state-run elementary, intermediate, and high schools, the government of the city of San Juan operates two bilingual schools, including one sports-magnet school, the first municipal-run schools in Puerto Rico. Several private schools are located in San Juan, including Robinson and St. John's schools in the Condado, Perpetuo Socorro in Miramar, St. John's Episcopal, Santa Mónica and

Academia San Jorge Academia San Jorge ("Saint George Academy") is a private, Roman Catholic school in San Juan, Puerto Rico founded in 1925 by Rev. Msgr. José M. Rivera as a parochial school with 53 students from grades K–3. Shortly after, the school started const ...

in Santurce, Commonwealth High School, La Merced and Espíritu Santo in

, Escuela Josefita Monserrate de Selles, San Antonio,

Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola is a private, Catholic, Jesuit, all-male college-preparatory school run by the U.S. Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1952.

, San José in

and Cupeyville, St. Mary's, Boneville and Cupey Maria Montesory School in Cupey.

Transportation

Airports

Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico

The San Juan Metropolitan Area is served by two airports: The

(SJU), San Juan's primary commercial airport, is located eight miles () from

in the neighboring municipality of Carolina. The airport accommodates more than 30 domestic and international airlines and is the busiest airport in the Caribbean. It is often referred to as ''The Gateway to the Caribbean'' because it serves as the main connection to the island and the rest of the Caribbean for the United States and vice versa. The area's secondary airport is the

Fernando Ribas Dominicci Airport Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport , also commonly known as Isla Grande Airport, is an airport in Isla Grande, a district in the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is owned by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority and is adjacent to the Pu ...

(SIG), located directly across the San Antonio Channel (''Caño San Antonio'') from Old San Juan in the Isla Grande district. Dominicci Airport is used mainly by general aviation aircraft, charter flights and some domestic commercial flights. It used to be the city's and also the island of Puerto Rico's main international gateway until the opening of Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport. It is now also widely used by the Isla Grande Flight School and Caribbean Flight Center, the only flight school on the island.

Highways and roads

Cars, houses, street light, man on bicycle and El Morro in Old San Juan

Some of the major highways and roads of San Juan include: *

Puerto Rico Highway 52 Puerto Rico Highway 52 (PR-52), a major toll road in Puerto Rico, is also known as ''Autopista Luis A. Ferré''. It was formerly called ''Expreso Las Américas''. It runs from PR-1 in southwest Río Piedras and heads south until it intersects wit ...

(PR-52), also known as Luis A. Ferré Highway, runs from Santurce to Ponce through

. *

Puerto Rico Highway 1 Puerto Rico Highway 1 (PR-1) is a highway in Puerto Rico that connects the city of Ponce to San Juan. Leaving Ponce, the road heads east and follows a somewhat parallel route along the southern coast of the island heading towards Salinas. At ...

(PR-1), also known as Carretera Central, Antigua Carretera Militar and ''La Muda'' between

and Caguas, runs from Santurce to Ponce through

and the Cordillera Central. *

Puerto Rico Highway 2 Puerto Rico Highway 2 (PR-2) is a road in Puerto Rico that connects the cities of San Juan and Ponce. At 156 miles (230 km) long, it is Puerto Rico's longest singled-signed highway. The road runs counter-clockwise from San Juan to Ponce. ...

(PR-2), also known as Kennedy Expressway between San Juan and

, runs from Santurce to Ponce through Mayagüez. *

Puerto Rico Highway 3 Puerto Rico Highway 3 (PR-3) at nearly 100 miles long, is the second longest highway on Puerto Rico (after PR-2). It connects the San Juan neighborhood of Río Piedras to downtown Salinas indirectly around the eastern coast of the island. Highw ...

(PR-3), also known as 65 de Infantería Avenue between Río Piedras and Carolina, runs from

to Salinas through

Humacao Humacao () is a city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 12 barrios and Humacao Pueblo (the ...

. *

Puerto Rico Highway 22 PR-22 (also part of unsigned Interstate PR2) is an long toll road in the north coast of Puerto Rico that connects the cities of San Juan and Hatillo. The road is also known as the ''José de Diego Expressway'' (Spanish: ''Expreso José de Dieg ...

(PR-22), also known as José de Diego Expressway, runs from Santurce to Hatillo. *

Puerto Rico Highway 8 Puerto Rico Highway 8 (PR-8) is a main highway that serves as a third route (the others being PR-3 and PR-26) from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Carolina, Puerto Rico. It is, still, a highly congested highway, noticeable when congestion jams are fo ...

(PR-8) runs from Sabana Llana Norte to barrio Oriente and the

. * Puerto Rico Highway 16 (PR-16) runs parallel to PR-1 from the

Port of San Juan The Port of San Juan ( es, Puerto de San Juan) is a seaport facility located in the metropolitan area of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The "Port of San Juan" is the general name used to call various passenger and cargo facilities located in lands aro ...

in Hato Rey to the Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport in Isla Grande. * Puerto Rico Highway 18 (PR-18), also known as Las Américas Expressway, runs from

to Monacillo Urbano. *

Puerto Rico Highway 20 Puerto Rico Highway 20 (PR-20) or Expreso Rafael Martínez Nadal is a short tollway located entirely in the municipality of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Route description It used to be divided highway with traffic signals, which even turned into a ru ...

(PR-20), also known as Rafael Martínez Nadal Expressway, runs from Guaynabo Pueblo through Monacillo Urbano and Gobernador Piñero to Caparra. *

Puerto Rico Highway 26 Puerto Rico Highway 26 (PR-26), called the ''Román Baldorioty de Castro Expressway'', is the main highway to the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport and is connected to PR-66. It was converted to a freeway to minimize the traffic in PR-3 ...

(PR-26), also known as Román Baldorioty de Castro Expressway, runs from Santurce to the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport and Carolina. * Puerto Rico Highway 28 (PR-28), also known as Francisco José de Goya Avenue, runs from the Port of San Juan to Bayamón. There are 193 bridges in San Juan.

Public transport

At 4,300 vehicles per paved mile, San Juan has by far the highest density of vehicles on the road of any city in the world. The city is served by five limited-access expressways and highways and numerous arterial avenues and boulevards but continues to suffer from severe traffic congestion. The Metropolitan Bus Authority (''Autoridad Metropolitana de Autobuses'' or ''AMA'' in Spanish) provides daily bus transportation to residents of San Juan, Guaynabo, Bayamón, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto, Cataño and Carolina through 30 fixed routes. Its fleet consists of 277 regular buses and 35 handicap-accessible buses. AMA's ridership is estimated at 112,000 on weekdays. SanJuan-Condado-IslaVerde

In an attempt to decrease vehicle dependency and road congestion, the city built a

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

system dubbed "

Tren Urbano The ''Tren Urbano'' (English: Urban Train) is a fully-automated rapid transit system that serves the municipalities of San Juan, Guaynabo, and Bayamón, in Puerto Rico. The Tren Urbano consists of 16 stations operating on of track along a ...

" ("Urban Train"). The line connects to 16 stations. The project, which opened in late 2004, cost $2.25 billion and was more than $1 billion over budget and four years late. The Tren Urbano has received less ridership than was originally projected and has not significantly reduced the city's automobile traffic, despite a reported 7.5% ridership increase in 2006 over 2005. There is a planned project to build an "interurban light rail system" connecting the cities of San Juan and Caguas. Increased investment in public transportation, however, has not changed the fact that San Juan is an automobile-reliant city and its fast growth has sparked

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

. As of mid-2010, the government has approved plans for a redesign of this Puerto Rican city, featuring a new mass transit system, new roads and intersections, and more beach-access points. No cars will be allowed inside the oldest part of city (Old San Juan). The plans hope to remedy previous poor urban planning in the oldest section of the city, the Isleta, while curbing reliance on motor vehicles. The plans for redevelopment also hope to make the city more appealing in order to attract new residents, as San Juan has suffered from a shrinking population over the past 60 years.

Port

The

is the fourth busiest seaport in the Western Hemisphere, ranked among the top 17 in the world in terms of container movement. It is also the largest home-based cruise port in the world with over a dozen cruise ships. It is the second busiest port in cruise volume after Miami. It is managed by the

Puerto Rico Ports Authority The Puerto Rico Ports Authority (PRPA) ( es, Autoridad de los Puertos; AP) is a government-owned corporation of Puerto Rico charged with developing, operating, and overseeing all seaports and airports in Puerto Rico. The Authority is ascribed to ...

AcuaExpreso ''AcuaExpreso'' ( es, AquaExpress) is a ferry service between Cataño and San Juan, Puerto Rico that consists of two routes: * Cataño ⇆ Old San Juan on the Cataño Ferry docking at the AcuaExpreso Cataño Terminal in Cataño on the route' ...

is a ferry service in the

, consisting of the

Cataño Ferry The Cataño Ferry ( es, Lancha de Cataño) is a single route ferry service between Cataño and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its route consists of Cataño ⇆ Old San Juan docking at the AcuaExpreso Cataño Terminal in Cataño on the route's southw ...

(''Lancha de Cataño'') service between downtown Cataño and

, and the ''AquaExpress'' which connects Old San Juan to

and the

Healthcare

San Juan has an elaborate system of

triage In medicine, triage () is a practice invoked when acute care cannot be provided for lack of resources. The process rations care towards those who are most in need of immediate care, and who benefit most from it. More generally it refers to prio ...

, 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. * San Juan Municipal Hospital: This hospital is operated by the San Juan municipal government. * Industrial Hospital: This is the hospital for Puerto Rico government employees, whether municipal or Commonwealth government employees. Normally, injured police officers and firefighters are cared for here. * San Juan Pediatric Hospital - Also operated by the San Juan municipal government. * Pediatric Hospital: Operated by the government of the Commonwealth, this is the main trauma hospital for pediatric cases. * Centro Médico: This is the main hospital for trauma cases for Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. * Centro Cardiovascular del Caribe (Caribbean Cardiovascular Center): This is the main hospital for open heart surgery in the Caribbean. It features a hotel for the patients' families. * Psychiatric Hospital: The main psychiatric hospital in Puerto Rico. Operated by the government of Puerto Rico. * Psychiatric Correctional Hospital: It is both a hospital and correctional facility. It is operated jointly by the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and the Medical Services Administration. 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: * La Perla *

* Llorens Torres * Puerto Nuevo * San José * Rio Piedras * Sabana Llana * Hoare * Santurce Parada 19 * General Hospital (Centro Medico) Also, there are 10 private hospitals in San Juan. These are: * Hospital Metropolitano * Hospital Auxilio Mutuo * Hospital Auxilio Mutuo Expreso * Hospital de Veteranos: The main Veterans hospital in the Caribbean. Operated by the U.S. Veteran Healthcare System. * Ashford Presbyterian Hospital * Hospital Pavia Hato Rey * Hospital Pavia Santurce * San Jorge Children's Hospital: The most well-known children's hospital in the San Juan Metropolitan Area. * Hospital San Gerardo: Located at the Cupey neighborhood, is a small hospital but is also specialized in psychiatry and elderly. * Hospital del Maestro (Teachers Hospital): Located in Hato Rey, this hospital is operated by the Puerto Rico Teachers Association.

Sports

Teams based in San Juan have been notably successful in athletic competition. The Santurce Crabbers won the

National Superior Basketball League The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. The Baloncesto Superior Nacio ...

championship in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003 during this period being recognized as a dynasty. The San Juan Senators and the Santurce Crabbers were the two major baseball teams in the city, winning the championship of the

Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, O ...

a total of 17 times. The Santurce Crabbers are located third among teams with more championships in the

, winning championships in the 1951, 1953, 1955, 1993 and 2000 editions of the tournament. The city has also been the host of events within the sports community; some examples include: * Host of the

1966 Central American and Caribbean Games The 10th (X) Central American and Caribbean Games were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Ri ...

. * Host of the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos de 1979''), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15 ...

. * Hosted the

Caribbean World Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...

nine times. *

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

played 22 home games at

between 2003 and 2004. The team also briefly considered moving permanently to San Juan before relocating to Washington, D.C. * Hosted the 2006, 2009 and

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike t ...

at the

. * Host of the

1974 FIBA World Championship The 1974 FIBA World Championship was the 7th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Puerto Rico from July 3 to 14, 1974. The tournament was won by the Soviet Union. Venues Comp ...

(basketball). * Host of the

FIBA Americas Championship The FIBA AmeriCup (previously known as the FIBA Americas Championship) is the Americas Basketball Championship that takes place every four years between national teams of the Western Hemisphere continents. Since FIBA organised the entire West ...

five times (1980, 1993, 1999, 2003, 2009). * Hosted the very first edition of World Wrestling Entertainment's pay per view New Year's Revolution was held at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in January 2005. * The Latin American Regional

in February 2010. * Host of Major League Baseball's 2010 "San Juan Series", three games of the Mets at Marlins held on June 28–30, 2010 at

. The $28 million San Juan Natatorium attracts island-wide and regional swim meets, as well as winter training by top-rated mainland U.S. colleges and universities, including the United States Military Academy at West Point and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. In July 2007, the San Juan Golf Academy and its driving range began operating atop the city's former sanitary landfill in Puerto Nuevo, and will eventually include the city's first and only 9-hole golf course.

Professional teams

International relations

Diplomatic missions

Twin towns – Sister cities

San Juan is Twin towns and sister cities, twinned with:

Notable people from San Juan

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

City of San Juan

National Park Service – San Juan

Historic Places in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary

National Weather Service – San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan Puerto Rico
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan, Puerto Rico, Municipalities of Puerto Rico Bermuda Triangle Capitals in North America Capitals in the Caribbean Capitals of political divisions in the United States Populated coastal places in Puerto Rico Populated places established in 1508 Port cities in Puerto Rico San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area 1508 establishments in the Spanish Empire 1508 establishments in North America