Cabo Rojo (), ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

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

situated on the southwest coast of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and forms part of the San Germán–Cabo Rojo metropolitan area as well as the larger Mayagüez–San Germán–Cabo Rojo Combined Statistical Area.

History

The area near Las Salinas (salt flats) has been inhabited since 30 BC and AD 120 according to archaeological evidence. Punta Ostiones, listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as an archeological site, was home to a large group of Archaic Indians. Despite the threat of

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

and natives, the Spanish settled the area of Los Morrillos around 1511. By 1525,

salt mining Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite Formation (geology), formations. History Before the advent of the moder ...

was an important industry in the area. In 1759 the first request to establish itself as a town was denied. Cabo Rojo was founded on December 17, 1771, by Nicolás Ramírez de Arellano, a descendant of Spanish nobility, with the approval of Governor and Captain General Miguel de Muesas. According to Fray Iñigo Abbad y Lasierra, by the end of 1776, Cabo Rojo had a population of 1,215 people. Cabo Rojo (''red cape'' in English) derives its name from both the reddish color of its salt-flats and the reddish tint that characterizes the seaside cliffs along its southern coast. According to legend, the name was given by

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

himself. The first church, founded in 1783, was called San José. The present-day main Catholic church is called San Miguel Arcángel Church located in the town's square. Puerto Rico was ceded by

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the aftermath of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

under the terms of 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, was signed by Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States on December 10, 1898, and marked the end of the ...

and became an unincorporated territory of the United States. On October 18, 1898, formal possession of the island was assumed and the American flag raised over the fortifications from which the emblem of Spain had flown for nearly four centuries.

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...

struck Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, causing large-scale damage and destruction to infrastructure. In Cabo Rojo, around 400 homes lost their roof, and three thousand residents were left without drinking water as a result of Hurricane María. The coastal fishing village of Joyuda was the most impacted area of Cabo Rojo.

Geography

The municipality of Cabo Rojo lies on the southern-west corner of the island of

, on the Western Coastal Plains. Sierra Bermeja, Puerto Rico's geologically oldest mountain range, crosses the municipality from west to east towards Lajas. It is bordered by Mayagüez and Hormigueros to the north, San Germán and Lajas to the east, the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

to the south and the

Mona Passage The Mona Passage () is a strait that separates the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. The Mona Passage connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and is an important shipping route between the Atlantic and the Panama Canal. The Mona Pas ...

to the west. Cabo Rojo has a surface area of 72 square miles (187 km²). Cabo Rojo's terrain is flat, however, some notable peaks are Mariquita, Buena Vista, Cerro Vargas, and Peñones de Melones.

Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Cabo Rojo is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a small barrio referred to as , near the center of the municipality. Cabo Rojo is a principal municipality of the San Germán–Cabo Rojo metropolitan area as well as the larger Mayagüez–San Germán–Cabo Rojo Combined Statistical Area. #

Bajura Bajura District ( ), a part of Sudurpashchim Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Martadi (today part of Badimalika municipality) as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population o ...

# Boquerón # Cabo Rojo barrio-pueblo # Guanajibo # Llanos Costa # Llanos Tuna # Miradero # Monte Grande # Pedernales People from the El Combate community in barrio Boquerón are known as ''mata con hacha'' ("those who kill with axes") based on an old folk tale about a fight over the ''salinas'', where those from Cabo Rojo fought with axes against people from the adjacent town of Lajas. The latter apparently fought back by throwing stones and are thus known as ''tira piedras'' ("those who throw stones").

Sectors

Barrios (which are like minor civil divisions) and subbarrios, are further subdivided into smaller areas called (''sectors'' in English). The types of ''sectores'' may vary, from normally ''sector'' to ''urbanización'' to ''reparto'' to ''barriada'' to ''residencial'', among others.

Special Communities

(Special Communities of Puerto Rico) are marginalized communities whose citizens are experiencing a certain amount of

social exclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

. A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of the commonwealth. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Cabo Rojo: Ballajá, Colacho, El Fuego y Las Piedras (Guaniquilla), Hoyo Bravo, Las Quebradas en Monte Grande, Pedernales, Puerto Real, and Sector Corozo.

Climate

Demographics

In 1899, the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...

conducted a

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Cabo Rojo was 16,154.

Tourism

There are 127 beaches in Cabo Rojo, including . Its tourism industry has flourished with the development of hotels and marinas, but local and international environmentalists are concerned that this development will endanger Cabo Rojo's rich and beautiful beaches, sunsets and natural resources. Cabo Rojo is also well known for its fishing, particularly the ''Puerto Real'' fishing village, and its many seafood restaurants, most of which are found in the

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

of Joyuda.

Landmarks and places of interest

The San Miguel Arcángel Church, in the main town square, was built between 1773 and 1783. The famous Cabo Rojo lighthouse, Los Morrillos Lighthouse, known by locals as ''El Faro'', was built in 1881 over limestone cliffs that rise 200 feet above sea level. This old lighthouse was automated and electrically charged in 1967 and is considered to have some, if not, the most spectacular ocean views on Puerto Rico's west coast. The lighthouse has undergone recent renovations which has created controversy because of the quality of the work. According to locals and scholars, the internal structure was gutted leaving nothing of historical significance behind. The lighthouse is located near the ''Salinas'', or

salt mine Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations. History Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...

s. These salt mines are reported to be the oldest industry in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

. Salt has been mined in this site non-stop since the time of the Taínos. Near the ''Salinas'', a local civic group '' Caborrojeños Pro Salud y Ambiente'' run a visitor center known as the ''Centro Interpretativo Las Salinas De Cabo Rojo don Efrén Pérez Rivera''. They offer free guided tours of the local area, which is rich in flora and fauna. * Teatro Excelsior which was built in 1871 * Boquerón Beach * Cofresí Cave * El Combate Beach * Joyuda Beach * Joyuda Lagoon * Club Deportivo del Oeste * Nautical Club * Punta Arenas Beach * Puerta Real Beach * Isla de Ratones * Buyé Beach * The Lighthouse (El Faro) Beach * La Playuela in Los Morrillos (El Faro) * Guaniquilla Lagoon * Quebrada Los Chorros To stimulate local tourism during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico The COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico was an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pa ...

, the

Puerto Rico Tourism Company The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (, or simply ''Turismo'') is the government-owned corporation in charge of tourism matters and regulations in Puerto Rico. The company was created during Governor Luis A. Ferré's administration (1969-1973) to coo ...

launched the ''Voy Turistiendo'' (I'm Touring) campaign in 2021. The campaign featured a passport book with a page for each municipality. The Cabo Rojo passport page lists , , , (for

agritourism Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including direct-to-consumer sales such as farm stands and u-pick, agricultu ...

), and several beaches including Playuela, Buyé, El Combate, and Boquerón, as places of interest.

National protected areas

* The Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge is home for a number of native bird species including the endangered

yellow-shouldered blackbird The yellow-shouldered blackbird (''Agelaius xanthomus''), known in Puerto Rican Spanish as ''mariquita de Puerto Rico'' or ''capitán'', is a species of blackbird endemic to Puerto Rico. It has black plumage with a prominent yellow patch on the ...

also known as ''la mariquita de Puerto Rico'' or ''capitán''. * The Boquerón State Forest is one of seven state forests managed by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources.

Culture

Festivals and events

Cabo Rojo celebrates its

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

festival in September. The is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment. The festival has featured live performances by well-known artists such as El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Plena Libre, Kany García, and Cano Estremera. Other festivals and events celebrated in Cabo Rojo include: * Pescao Festival – March * Años Cuarenta Festival – April * Chigüero Festival – April * Betances Festival – April * Oyster Festival – May * Boquerón Bay Crossing – July * Watermelon Festival – July * Retorno a la Arena – July * La Pileta Festival – December * Le Lo Lai Festival – December

Sports

Cabo Rojo had a BSN

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team, ''Los Turistas de Cabo Rojo'' (the "Cabo Rojo Tourists") from 1989 to 1993. Indias de Mayagüez, female

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team from

Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenino The Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenino (LVSF) is a professional volleyball league in Puerto Rico. The competitions are organized by the Puerto Rican Volleyball Federation (Federación Puertorriqueña de Voleibol, FPV). Current teams League c ...

played the 2009 season at the Coliseo Rebekah Colberg Cabrera, because their home ground, ''Palacios de los Deportes'', was under remodeling.

Government

All municipalities in Puerto Rico are administered by a mayor, elected every four years. The current mayor of Cabo Rojo is Jorge Morales Wiscovitch, of the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was first elected at the 2020 general elections. The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district IV, which is represented by two Senators. In

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, Jeison Rosa and Karen Michelle Román Rodríguez were elected as District Senators.

Symbols

The has an official flag and coat of arms.

Flag

The flag contains elements of the coat of arms, excluding the sword, the anchors and the crown.

Coat of arms

The point or red triangle symbolizes the "Cabo Bermejo" (Vermillion Cape) in Los Morrillos. The blue and white, with the anchors, represent the sea that "bathes our coasts". The flaming sword, is an attribute to Archangel Saint Michael, the town's patron saint. Finally, the crown, which heightens and distinguishes the shield, stands for the status of Cabo Rojo.

Anthem

The anthem of Cabo Rojo is a composition with music and lyrics by Carlos Weber Asencio.

Transportation

Although Cabo Rojo lacks an airport, it is approximately 11 miles from the

Eugenio María de Hostos Airport Eugenio is an Italian and Spanish masculine given name deriving from the Greek ' Eugene'. The name is Eugénio in Portuguese and Eugênio in Brazilian Portuguese. The name's translated literal meaning is well born, or of noble status. Similar de ...

(MAZ) in Mayagüez, a commercial airport that serves direct flights to and from

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

. Cabo Rojo has grown tremendously in the last few years as evidenced by its accreditation as a city. Cabo Rojo's nearest airport servicing international destinations is forty-five minutes away in Aguadilla's Rafael Hernández Airport (BQN). This airport was part of the now deactivated Ramey Air Force Base. PR-100 is the main highway in the city, connecting northward to PR-2 between Hormigueros and Mayagüez, and southward to the Boquerón sector. Other mayor roads include PR-101, which connects to Lajas, PR-102, connecting to Mayagüez and San Germán, PR-103, an older road which parallels the newer PR-100, and PR-301, connecting to El Combate sector and the Los Morrillos Lighthouse. There are 20 bridges in Cabo Rojo.

Notable people

The following is a list of notable Caborrojeños: * Antonio Fas Alzamora is the longest serving member of the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly. *

Ramón Emeterio Betances Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán (April 8, 1827 – September 16, 1898) was a Puerto Rican independence leader, abolitionist and medical doctor. He led the nations independence movement and was the primary instigator of the ''Grito de Lares' ...

y Alacán (1827–1898) was a nationalist and a medical doctor. He was the primary instigator of the Grito de Lares revolution and, as such, is considered to be the father of the

Puerto Rican independence movement Throughout the history of Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans, its inhabitants have initiated several movements to gain independence for the Geography of Puerto Rico, island, first from the Spanish Empire until 1898 and since then from the United States. ...

and, as well, the Father of the Country. * Salvador Brau y Asencio (1842–1912) was a journalist, poet, writer and also a historian. *

Roberto Cofresí Roberto Cofresí y Ramírez de Arellano (June 17, 1791 – March 29, 1825), better known as El Pirata Cofresí, was a Puerto Rican pirate. He was born into a noble family, but the political and economic difficulties faced by the island as a colo ...

y Ramírez de Arellano (1791–1825), better known as "El Pirata Cofresí", was a pirate. * Elisa Colberg (1903–1988) was the founder of the Puerto Rican Girl Scouts, the first troop of which formed in 1926 in Cabo Rojo. * Dra. Rebekah Colberg (1918–1985), is known as "The Mother of Women's Sports in Puerto Rico". * Ramón López Irizarry (1897–1982) was an educator and scientist who invented an easier way to extract the cream from the coconut pulp and developed the original formula of "

Coco Lopez Coco or variants may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Coco'' (2009 film), a French comedy film * ''Coco'' (2017 film), an American animated fantasy film * '' Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle'' (), a 2020 Japanese anime film ...

" * Demensio Rivera (1932–1967) was a United States Army veteran of the Korean War who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross; and whose award was upgraded in 2014, decades after his death, to the Medal of Honor. * Efrén Pérez Rivera is a former college professor and noted Puerto Rican environmentalist leader. * Colonel Carlos Betances Ramírez (1910–2001), was the only Puerto Rican to command a Battalion in the Korean War.

Gallery

SalvadorBrauMonument.jpg, Monument to Salvador Brau in front of the San Miguel Arcángel Roman Catholic church (1783), Cabo Rojo Historic house in Cabo Rojo, PR.jpg, Historic buildings at Ruiz Belvis St. ColiseoColberg.jpg, Coliseo Rebekah Colberg

References

External links

Cabo Rojo and its barrios, United States Census Bureau, 2000
{{Authority control Municipalities of Puerto Rico Populated coastal places in Puerto Rico Populated places established in 1771 San Germán–Cabo Rojo metropolitan area