Manatí () 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' ...

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 ...

on the northern coast. It is north of Morovis and Ciales, east of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and Barceloneta, and west of Vega Baja. Manatí has over 8 barrios and Manatí barrio-pueblo, the downtown area and the administrative center of the city. It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Manatí was founded in 1738 by Don Pedro Menendez Valdes. The Iglesia Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria church was built in the seventeenth century and is still standing in its original spot. Manati is known as ''La Ciudad Metropolitana'' (The Metropolitan City), and also as ''Las Atenas de Puerto Rico,'' (The Athens of Puerto Rico).Rivera, Magaly. "Manati" Welcome to Puerto Rico! 7 Dec 2011. . It is named after the

manatee Manatees (, family (biology), family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivory, herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing t ...

. In the formative years of the town's development, the town mayor was José Aulet. It was Juan Ponce de León who identified the Manatí section of the Manuatabón River as the inaugural site for gold panning efforts. The Aulet family possessed extensive lands that were abundant in pineapples, sugar cane, and green bananas. In 1985, the Aulet family entered into a transaction to sell this land to the government. In 1853, the region experienced a significant transition from mining to an expansion of agricultural practices, with particular emphasis on the cultivation and processing of sugar cane. The demand for sugar, coupled with its elevated price in international markets, solidified sugar cane as the primary commodity crop of the area. Additionally, carpentry gained prominence as a trade during this period. At that time, the town consisted of 280 residences, two public squares, eight streets, and a school serving 50 pupils. 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 a territory of the United States. 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, concluding that the population of Manatí was of 13,989 people. On September 20, 2017,

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. In Manatí, the hurricane wrought considerable devastation, resulting in approximately 1,500 residences being either destroyed or damaged. Highways were rendered impassable due to the accumulation of debris and flooding, leaving numerous communities isolated and without means of communication. The breaching of the Río Grande de Manatí caused the destruction of many structures including around 70 residences.

Geography

Manatí is on the northern central coast and the Northern Karst.

Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Manatí is divided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and a large Catholic church are located in the center of the municipality, in a barrio referred to as . # Bajura Adentro # Bajura Afuera # Coto Norte # Coto Sur # Manatí barrio-pueblo # Río Arriba Poniente # Río Arriba Saliente # Tierras Nuevas Poniente # Tierras Nuevas Saliente

Sectors

Barrios (which are, in contemporary times, roughly comparable to 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 Manatí: Cerro Gandía, Cerro Quiñones and El Horno.

Climate

Demographics

Tourism

In 2014, Manati welcomed its first hotel, the Hyatt Place Hotel and Casino, located next to Casino Atlántico and a LongHorn Steakhouse, which opened in April 2014. The hotel has an outdoor swimming pool, 3 meeting rooms and a fitness center. The official name was Hyatt Place Manati & Casino. Manati is popular for its beaches and is part of the Porta Altantico tourism district. In 2019, Manatí began offering free tours of its city, beaches, historic places and eateries.

Landmarks and places of interest

Some of the places of interest in Manatí include: *The Acropolis Sports Complex *"Manatí, PR - The Athens of Puerto Rico." Eye Tour. 2011. Web. 7 Dec 2011.. * * Historic Zone * Beach * Beach and Hacienda Azucarera la Esperanza *, where visitors have been cited for public indecency. (Puerto Rico does not have nudist beaches.) * Beach, which is considered the most popular beach in the city. * Ruins * * The New Manati Arena * Manati Baseball Stadium * , which is considered a dangerous beach.

Economy

Agriculture

Isidoro Colón established the "Candelaria" sugar mill in the years between 1860 and 1870, located between Manatí and Barceloneta. Manatí is the pineapple center of Puerto Rico. In addition in Manatí, there is cultivation of fruits, sugar cane, and coffee. is a farming company in Manatí that provides local fruit and vegetables to local chefs.

Industry

The industry of Manatí is shoes, woodwork, and a pineapple cannery as well as pharmaceuticals: *

Bristol-Myers Squibb The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consist ...

Warner Chilcott Warner Chilcott (formerly Galen) was a company in the pharmaceutical industry based in Rockaway, New Jersey. It was primarily focused on women's healthcare and dermatology. On October 1, 2013, the company was acquired by Actavis (now Allergan). H ...

DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

* Patheon *Actavis (inside W.C) *Janssen Ortho LLC

Retailers

*Burlington store

Healthcare

Manati has two large, private hospitals, Doctor's Center Hospital, and Manatí Medical Center Dr. Otero Lopez (formerly the government owned Hospital de Area). There is also the smaller Municipal Hospital. The area surrounding PR-2 is known for having many medical offices.

Education

Manati has 3 public high schools: Petra Corretjer de O'neill High School, Fernando Callejo High School, and the Escuela Instituto Tecnologico Recinto De Manati, the latter also serving as a

technical institute An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

. Private Schools: *Colegio Marista «El Salvador», Manatí *Colegio De La Inmaculada *Piaget Bilingual Academy *Academia Discípulos de Cristo *Higher Education Academy *La Reiné Christian Bilingual School Manatí's only university is the American University of Puerto Rico, Manatí Campus. There are several technical institutes, such as Instituto de Banca y Comercio, Atenas College, EDP College and Dewey University.

Transportation

There are 15 bridges in Manatí.

Culture

Festivals and events

Manatí 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 February. The is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment. Other festivals and events celebrated in Manatí include: *Los Tubos beach festival – June/July *Mar Chiquita festival – June *Christmas festival – December

Radio stations

* WMNT (AM) - Radio Atenas 1500 AM * WNRT FM - Triunfo 96.9 FM

Notable natives and residents

Notable people from Manatí include: * Cecilia Callejo, dancer and actress * José Miguel Class, singer * Noel Cuevas, professional baseball player * Manuel Ramos Otero, poet and LGBT activist * Carlos Santana Becerra, judge * Yara Sofia, drag queen * Antonio Vélez Alvarado, father of the Puerto Rican flag * Joaquín Rosa Gómez, constitutional framer and politician * Carlos Beltrán, Professional Baseball Outfielder * Neftalí Soto, Professional Baseball Player *

Iván Rodríguez Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 27, 1971), nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Ran ...

, Professional Baseball Player * José Valentin, Professional Baseball Player * Luis Daniel Rivera, actor and politician

Gallery

Playa, Manatí, 00674, Puerto Rico - panoramio (1).jpg, Mar Chiquita beach and bay in Manatí Cueva de las golondrinas, Manati - panoramio.jpg, Cueva de las Golondrinas Buildings in Manatí barrio-pueblo.jpg, Buildings near the Manatí barrio-pueblo Hidden beach, Manati, PR - panoramio.jpg, Beach in Manatí

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manati, Puerto Rico Municipalities of Puerto Rico Populated places established in 1738 San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area 1738 establishments in the Spanish Empire