Orocovis (, ; from the Taino chief Orocobix) is a town 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 ...

located in the center of the island. Founded by Juan Rivera de Santiago in 1825. Orocovis is spread over 17 barrios. It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area. It's located north of Villalba and Coamo; south of Morovis and Corozal; southeast of Ciales; east of Jayuya; and west of Barranquitas

History

Since before the Spanish colonization in the

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

, the

Taíno The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...

were already established in the region. They were led by the

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

Orocobix and his tribe known as the Jatibonicu. After

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...

s settled in the island, the region was part of the south of Manatí and the north region of Coamo. By 1823 Orocovis was a

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

of Barranquitas while Morovis (previously part of Manatí) had a barrio called Barros. Both Orocovis and Barros were eventually united to establish a new town. In early 1825, Juan Rivera de Santiago sought and obtained legal power by the neighbors of the region to request the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

authorization to found a

in the Barros area, where they had bought 14

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s of land from Eulalia (Olaya) de Rivera Melendez, who donated an additional acre to establish several municipal works. However, due to the distance from bodies of water, the settlement was moved to another place where it is today. On November 10, 1825, Governor Miguel de la Torre granted permission to found the new municipality of Barros. In 1838, the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of ''San Juan Bautista de Barros'' was created and was blessed and inaugurated on October 29 of the same year. However, in 1875, a fire destroyed the church, the King's House, the priest's house and several homes. Most of Orocovis' nicknames stem from its location in the center of the island. Some of them are: "''Corazón de Puerto Rico''" (Heart of Puerto Rico) and "''Centro Geográfico de Puerto Rico''" (Geographical Center of Puerto Rico). Locals say the center of Puerto Rico is in a barrio called Pellejas, on Road 566, Km 5.7 in Orocovis. That the center of Puerto Rico is in front of the Catholic church was determined to be false by engineers from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. 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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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 Barros, as Orocovis was then called, was 14,845. In 1928, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico approved a resolution to change the name of Barros to Orocovis, to honor the Taíno cacique of the same name, who lived in that region.

Geography

The municipality Orocovis is mountainous with many valleys. Most of the Orocovis terrain runs through the Cordillera Central of the island. Most of the high peaks are in the southern region of the municipality within the limits of the municipality with Villalba and Coamo. The highest peak of the town is Cerro Mogote. The rivers Toro Negro, Sana Muertos, Orocovis, Matrullas, and Bauta, and the creeks Doña Juana, Palmar and Cacaos are among the water bodies in the town. There are two lakes: El Guineo, a reservoir of the Toro Negro River, and the Matrullas Lake formed by the Bauta River. El Guineo is Puerto Rico's highest lake.

Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Orocovis is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a barrio referred to as . # Barros # Orocovis #

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

# Ala de la Piedra # Bauta Abajo # Bauta Arriba # Bermejales # Botijas # Cacaos # Collores # Damián Abajo # Damián Arriba # Gato # Mata de Cañas # Pellejas # Sabana # Saltos

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 Orocovis: and .

Energy consortium

An Energy Consortium was signed in late February, 2019 by Villalba, Orocovis, Morovis, Ciales and Barranquitas municipalities. The consortium is the first of its kind for the island. It is intended to have municipalities work together to safeguard and create resilient, and efficient energy networks, with backups for their communities.

Culture

"The Musical Capital of Puerto Rico"

Orocovis is sometimes called "''The Musical Capital of Puerto Rico''" because many major Puerto Rican performers were either born or raised in the town, particularly bandleader Bobby Valentín, folk singer Andrés Jiménez, merengue singer Manny Manuel, salsa legend William "H. Christ" Corchado, and the Colón-Zayas family of musicians, which includes Emma (singer, multi-instrumentalist) and Edwin (a

cuatro Cuatro, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4, number 4, may refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), a family of Latin American string instruments, including: ** Cuatro (Venezuela) ** Puerto Rican cuatro * Cuatro (TV channel), a Spanish free-to ...

player).

Santo (art figurines)

Celestino Avilés Meléndez (1925-2004), a ''santero'' from Orocovis, saved the dying art from his workshop. ''Santeros'' are folk artists who create wooden, religious statuettes called '' Santos''. The folk artists were dispersed around Puerto Rico and were few in number. Avilés' initiative, in 1983, for ''santeros'' to meet continues to this day with the taking place in Orocovis, the third week in December annually. Also, Avilés' establishing the in 1982, a museum for ''santeros'' art, revived the culture and art of ''santeros'' and ''santos'' and by 2019, there were more than 300 ''santeros'' making ''santos'' in Puerto Rico.

Tourism

* Bosque Estatal de Toro Negro *Las Piscinas del Area Recreativa Doña Juana (Doña Juana Pool, Spring Water and Recreative Park) *Las Cabañas de Doña Juana (Ribs restaurant) *Área Recreativa de Damián (Recreative park of Damian) *Ríos (rivers) *Vistas Panorámicas (panoramic views)

Landmarks and places of interest

*Indian Cave * Matrullas Lake * El Guineo Lake *Orocovis Museum *Taíno Refuge *Mirador Villalba - Orocovis *

Toro Negro State Forest Toro Negro State Forest (Spanish: ''Bosque Estatal de Toro Negro'') is one of the 21 forests that make up the public forests system in Puerto Rico. It is also Puerto Rico's highest cloud forest. It is in the Cordillera Central, Puerto Rico, Cord ...

*Área Recreativa Cerro La Guaira (Recreative Park) * Cascada Chorro de Doña Juana

Festivals and events

Orocovis 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 June. 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 Orocovis include: * Children's Theater Festival – April * Shrimp Festival – July * Artisan Fair – September * Youth Festival – October * Puerto Rican National Meat Pie Festival – November

Economy

Agriculture

Cattle, coffee, fruits, tobacco, and wheat. A young business growing hydroponics lettuce was in negotiations to be a supplier for

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

in 2019.

Industrial

Several small nutritional product industries.

Demographics

According to the 2000 census, Orocovis has a population of 23,844 with a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is 378.4 people per square mile (145.5/km²). Although there was a decline in the population during the 1980s, it has steadily increased during the last decades. Statistics taken from the 2000 census shows that 81.4% of Orocoveños have Spanish or

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

origin, 4.1% are

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 0.4% are

Amerindian In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

etc.

Government

All municipalities in Puerto Rico are administered by a mayor, elected every four years. Jesús Colón Berlingeri (of the New Progressive Party) has served as mayor since 1998. The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district VI, which is represented by two Senators. In 2024, Rafael Santos Ortiz and Wilmer Reyes Berríos were elected as District Senators.

Education

Orocovis has several public and private schools and public education is administered by the

Puerto Rico Department of Education The Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDOE; ) is one of five jurisdiction-wide public education systems in the United States, with Hawaii, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa being the others. The PRDOE is the state education ...

Transportation

There is no direct

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

connection to Orocovis. Roads #137 and #155 lead from the north, while roads #138 and #155 lead from the south. Orocovis lies at about an hour and a half 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 ...

, the capital of Puerto Rico. There are 17 bridges in Orocovis.

Symbols

The has an official flag and coat of arms.

Flag of Orocovis

The Flag of Orocovis is formed by five vertical stripes: Two green stripes at the ends, representing the territories of Aibonito and Barranquitas; and a blue one in the center representing the regional domain of the cacique Orocobix prior to the Spanish colonization. These stripes are divided by two narrower white stripes, representing the territories granted by Barranquitas and Morovis to form the municipality in 1825. Over the blue portion there's an

oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas of mathematics (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.), it is given a more precise definition, which may inc ...

with a

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

. The Sun has seventeen rays that represent the different regions of the town. The Sun, being the center of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

, represents Orocovis as the center of the island of

Coat of arms

The oval is symbol of the letter " O", initial of the name of the town. In each quadrant appear representative elements of the town. In the left superior quadrant a Taíno Indian bust, symbol of the great "Chief Orocobix" and the Indian heritage of the town, silhouetted in gold on a silver-plated background. The Indian bust faces to the star or sun that appears in the superior right quadrant, which is in gold on a blue background and represents the territorial municipality with its seventeen rays or demarcations. In the inferior right quadrant, a plantain plant is observed representing the

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, silhouetted in gold on a silver-plated background. A bridge also silhouetted in gold on a blue background, above the river appears in the left inferior quadrant.

References

External links

History of Orocovis website

Puerto Rico Government Directory - Orocovis
{{Authority control * Municipalities of Puerto Rico San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area Populated places established in 1772 1770s establishments in the Spanish West Indies 1772 establishments in the Spanish Empire 1770s establishments in Puerto Rico Energy in Puerto Rico