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The capital and largest city of Puerto Rico, in the northeast part of the island on the Atlantic Ocean. Settled by Ponce de León in 1508–1509, it was attacked by English buccaneers in the 1590s and sacked by the Dutch in 1625. American forces took control of the city during the Spanish-American War (1898). Population: 427,000.
The bay was named Puerto Rico [rich port] by Ponce de León, who in 1508 founded a settlement at nearby Caparra. In 1521 the settlement was moved across the bay to San Juan's present site. Strongly fortified, it withstood attacks by English buccaneers in 1595 but succumbed for a few months in 1598 to George Clifford, earl of Cumberland, and was sacked by the Dutch in 1625. San Juan's port gained increasing importance during the 18th and 19th cent. U.S. troops occupied the city during the Spanish-American War in 1898.
In the old city, whose narrow streets, small shops, and houses with overhanging balconies recall a colonial atmosphere, there are impressive historic buildings: El Morro castle (begun 1539), which commands the harbor entrance and is a national monument; San Cristóbal castle (begun 1631), originally a Spanish fort; and La Fortaleza (begun 1529), a former fort now used as the governor's official residence. Other San Juan landmarks include San José Church (founded c.1523), the oldest church in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere; Casa Blanca (1523); and the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista, which contains the tomb of Ponce de León. Also in the city are the Univ. of Puerto Rico and its School of Tropical Medicine, the College of the Sacred Heart, a campus of the InterAmerican Univ. of Puerto Rico, and the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico. Nearby are several resort beaches (notably the Condado and Isla Verde), which attract tourists from North America.
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Local Time: Jul 25, 10:09 PM
| San Juan, Puerto Rico | |||
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| Nickname: La Ciudad Amurallada (The Walled City), Los Capitalinos (The Ones From the Capital), La Losa (The Tile) | |||
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| Country | United States | ||
| Territory | Puerto Rico | ||
| Founded | 1508/1521 | ||
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| Time zone | AST (UTC-4) | ||
| Anthem – "En Mi Viejo San Juan" | |||
| Website: www.sanjuancapital.com | |||
San Juan (IPA: [saŋ hwaŋ]) (from the Spanish San Juan Bautista, "Saint John the Baptist") is the capital and largest municipality on Puerto Rico. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 433,733, making it the 42nd-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico ("City of Puerto Rico"). It is the oldest city in Puerto Rico as well as in the United States, and the second oldest European-established city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, now in the Dominican Republic.[2] Several historical buildings are located in San Juan; among the most notable are the city's former defensive forts, Fort San Felipe del Morro and Fort San Cristobál.
Today, San Juan serves as one of Puerto Rico's most important seaports,[3] and is the island's manufacturing, financial, cultural, and tourism center. The population of the metropolitan area, including San Juan and the municipalities of Bayamón, Guaynabo, Cataño, Canóvanas, Caguas, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Carolina and Trujillo Alto, is about 2 million inhabitants; thus, about half the population of Puerto Rico now lives and works in this area.[4] The city has been the host of numerous important events within the sports community, including the 1979 Pan American Games, 1966 Central American and Caribbean Games, 2006 World Baseball Classic and the Caribbean Series.
In 1508, Juan Ponce de León founded the original settlement Caparra (named after the province Caceres, Spain, the birthplace of then-governor of Spain's Caribbean territories Nicolas de Ovando),[5] which today is known as the Pueblo Viejo sector of Guaynabo, just to the west of the present San Juan metropolitan area. 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 island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.[6] In 1521, the newer settlement was given its formal name, San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico, in honor of John the Baptist, following the tradition of christening the town with both its formal name and the name which Christopher Columbus had originally given the island.
The ambiguous use of San Juan Bautista and Puerto Rico for calling both the city and the island 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, while the name for the Island (San Juan Bautista) had become the name for the city.[7]
San Juan, as a settlement of the Spanish Empire, was used by merchant and military ships traveling from Spain as the first stopover in the Americas. 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 to Europe. Because of the rich transports, San Juan became a target of the foreign powers of the time.[8]
The city was witness to attacks from the English led by Sir Francis Drake in 1595 and by George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, in 1598. Artillery from San Juan's fort, El Morro, repelled Drake; however, Clifford managed to land troops and lay siege to the city.[9] After a few months of British 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 lead by Boudewijn Hendricksz, but El Morro withstood the assault and was not taken. The English attacked again in 1797, during the French Revolutionary Wars, led by Sir Ralph Abercromby (who had just conquered Trinidad). 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, and the colonial revolutions, led to an expansion of San Juan and other Puerto Rican settlements in the late 18th and early 19th century.
In May 1898, United States Navy ships, among them the USS Detroit, USS Indiana, USS New York, USS Amphitrite, USS Terror and USS Montgomery, commanded by Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, bombed San Juan during the Spanish-American War, though the city was not occupied.[10][11] On July 25, General Nelson A. Miles landed at Guánica (in southwestern Puerto Rico) with 3,300 soldiers and took over the island with little resistance.[12] Spain ceded the island to the United States later the same year by signing the Treaty of Paris.
Camp Las Casas, 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 65th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army. This regiment has been active since 1898, and it is still active today. 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.
Lieutenant Colonel Teofilo Marxuach was responsible for the first bullet shot by the American military during World War I, when he ordered the "Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry" to open fire on the Odenwald, a German armed supply ship, when it was trying to force its way out of San Juan’s bay. This event occurred on April 6, 1917, the day that the United States declared war on Germany.
San Juan is located at , and is suitated along the north-east coast of Puerto Rico. The city lies north of Aguas Buenas and Caguas; east of Guaynabo and Bayamón; and west of Carolina and Trujillo Alto. San Juan contains two natural lagoons, the Condado and the San Jose.[13]
San Juan's climate is classified as tropical marine. San Juan enjoys an average temperature of 82 °F (28 °C) during the year,
although 90 °F or higher temperatures are often felt during the summer, especially if the winds come from the south. In the
winter, temperatures can drop to the 60s, though the average winter low is 71 °F. The coldest temperature ever recorded was 60°F
on March 3, 1957, and the hottest was 98 °F on October 9, 1981. Rainfall is well-distributed all year, but the months of
February, March and April are the driest. San Juan is a tropical city.[14]
Old San Juan occupies the western end of a rocky islet 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. As a result, the city is now composed of a variety of neighborhoods.
During the Spanish colonial times most of the urban population resided in what is now known as Old San Juan. This sector is located on the western half of a small island called the Isleta de San Juan, which is connected to the mainland by bridges and a causeway. The small island, which comprises an area of 47 mi² (122 km²), also hosts the working class neighborhood of Puerta de Tierra and most of Puerto Rico's central government buildings, including those of the Commonwealth's Capitol. The main central part of the city is characterized by narrow cobblestone streets 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 and 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 La Fortaleza, which serves as the governor's mansion.[15] Other buildings of interest predating the 20th century are the Ayuntamiento or Alcaldía (City Hall), the San José Church (1523) and the adjacent Hotel El Convento, 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 a history museum), and the municipal cemetery of Saint María Madgalena of Pazzis, located just outside the city walls.[16][17][18] 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.[19] 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 ships.
San Juan is subdivided into 18 wards (barrios), 16 of which fall within the former (until 1951) municipio of Rio Piedras. Eight barrios are further subdivided in to sub-barrios, including both barrios of the former municipio of San Juan.
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East of Old San Juan lies the upscale tourist oriented neighbourhood of Condado, which occupies land that used to be owned by entrepreneur Pablo Ubarri Capetillo, a Spanish railroad developer and Count of San José de Santurce under the Spanish colonial period. Beaches such as nearby Ocean Park, popular with swimmers, surfers and kitesurfers, are found all along the district's Atlantic coastline which is also the locus of numerous hotels.[20]
Near Condado are two separate business districts, Santurce and Miramar. 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 Airportin honor of Major Fernando Luis Ribas-Dominicci (USAF). Miramar now hosts the Puerto Rico Convention Center as well as some of San Juan Harbor's cruise ship piers. In 2005 Miramar was designated an historical district of Puerto Rico.[21]
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 sought permission to link San Juan with Río Piedra 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 (Saint George in Basque), Ubarri's birthplace in Vizcaya, Spain. The "Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico" (Art Museum of Puerto Rico)[22] and other important cultural venues are located in Santurce.
South of Santurce is Hato Rey, 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,[23] and is now considered the financial center of the island. A section of this district is often referred to as the "Golden Mile" (actually miles ( km) long) due in part to the many banks and businesses located there.[23]
In the southern part of the city is the socially diversified community of Río Piedras. 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 University of Puerto Rico. 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.[24] and is home to the renowned, traditional “ Plaza del Mercado” (Río Piedras Marketplace), and the San Juan Botanical Garden.
San Juan experienced significant economic growth following World War II. During this period the city underwent an industrial revolution.[25] The city’s economy relies mostly on companies dedicated to the manufacture of several products, including: Chemical substances (bleach and house cleaning products); medicines; rum and other beverages; fertilizers; electric tools; electronic devices; plastics, textiles, and food-based products.[25] Tourism is also a key industry, based on San Juan’s proximity to Puerto Rico’s main airport, the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.[25] The tourism focus of the city is located in the district of Condado Beach where there are numerous luxurious hotels.[25] 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 “La Milla de Oro,” which serves as the headquarters of numerous local and international banks. San Juan is often referred to as the “Wall Street of the Caribbean,” due to the influence of the area on the city’s economy.[23]
Due to technological advances after World War II in the development of the airliner coupled with the island's climate and natural setting, has 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.[26] Today the capital boasts numerous deluxe hotels, fine restaurants, museums, historical buildings, beaches and shopping centers. Its main tourist attractions are Old San Juan, Condado, Ocean Park, and Isla Verde.
Places and monuments emphasized in tourism campaigns consist of: Old San Juan, promoting the historic nature of its colonial buildings and narrow streets covered by blue cobblestones.[25] This includes the city's ancient defensive wall and forts, most notably El Morro and the Castle of San Cristóbal.[25] On January 23, 1984 both of these edifications where catalogued as being part of humanity's cultural patrimony.[25] The numerous restaurants and art galleries in the zone are frequently visited by visitors.[25] The local universities are promoted as historic places, most notably the campus of University of Puerto Rico located in Rio Piedras, which is the oldest university in the island being founded in 1903. The campus of the Interamerican University is also regarded as an historical location being founded in 1912.
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Demographic distribution
San Juan
Río Piedras
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San Juan is the largest city in Puerto Rico in population.[1] 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.
San Juan is influential in the educational aspect of Puerto Rico, serving as location to many universities and colleges. The most prestigious universities in the area include the University of Puerto Rico's main campus in Río Piedras, the University of the Sacred Heart, the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, the Ana G. Méndez University System's Metropolitan University and the Metropolitan campus of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico. There are numerous minor colleges located in the city, including the Instituto Comercial de Puerto Rico Junior College and the International Junior College, located in Santurce.[27] There are several technological campuses located in San Juan, such as the Technological College of San Juan, Ramirez College of Business and Technology and the Puerto Rico Technical Junior College. The Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music and the School of Plastic Arts in Old San Juan are specialized in education that promote the fine arts and music.[27]
In addition to dozens of state-run elementary, junior- and senior-high schools, the San Juan City Government now operates two bilingual schools, including one sports-magnet school, the first municipal-run schools in Puerto Rico.
Most of Puerto Rico's best private schools are located in San Juan, including Robinson and St. John's in the Condado, Perpetuo Socorro in Miramar, St. John's Episcopal and Santa Mónica in Santurce, La Merced and Espíritu Santo in Hato Rey, San José, San Ignacio and San Antonio in Río Piedras and Cupeyville in Cupey.
San Juan is the birthplace of numerous artists gokand musicians, locally known as Sanjuaneros, who have significantly
influenced the 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 who
became a renowned composer of Puerto Rican Danzas. International musicians such as
renowned opera singer Justino Díaz and Grammy Award
winners Raymond Ayala and
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico, located in Santurce, specializes in contemporary artwork from locations in 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.[29]
Other museums such as the Pablo Casals Museum, the Book Museum, Americas Museum and the National Gallery display historic items and artwork alongside contemporary art.[30][31] Miscellaneous museums such as the Children’s Museum and the Bacardi Distillery (also known as the "Rum Cathedral") in nearby Cataño appeal to different audiences trough interactive exhibitions.[32][33]
San Juan's harbor is the fourth busiest in the Western Hemisphere, ranked among the top 17 of the world's in terms of container movement and the largest home-based cruise port in the world with over a dozen cruise ships plying its docks and each year new cruise ships either originate or call at the port. Two airports serve the Metropolitan Area. The Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, San Juan's primary commercial airport located nine miles (14 km) from Old San Juan in neighboring Carolina which serves more than 30 domestic and international airlines and is also the busiest airport in the Caribbean. It is the main connection to the Caribbean for the United States and viceversa, often being called "The Gateway to the Caribbean". The second airport in the area is the Fernando Ribas Dominicci Airport, located directly across the Caño San Antonio from Old San Juan in the Isla Grande district,[34] used mainly by general aviation aircraft, charter flights, and 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 for the Isla Grande Flight School and Caribbean Flight Center, both of them two of the few flight schools in the entire island.
Increased investment in public transportation has not changed the fact that San Juan is an automobile reliant city and its fast growth has sparked urban sprawl. It is currently served by five limited-access expressways and highways and numerous arterial avenues and boulevards and suffers from severe traffic congestion.[35]
In an attempt to decrease vehicle dependency and road congestion, the City constructed a metro system dubbed “Tren Urbano” ("Urban Train"). The 10.7 mile (17.2 km) line connects to sixteen stations.[36] The project, which began in late 2004, cost 2.25 billion dollars and was more than $1 billion over budget and four years late. The Tren Urbano has received far less ridership than was originally projected and has failed to make a significant impact on reducing the city's traffic, despite the fact that 2006 has reported a 7.5% increase in ridership over 2005.
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 different routes. Its fleet is comprised of 277 regular buses and 35 buses for handicapped persons, and its ridership is estimated at 112,000 on work days.[37]
A daily ferry service known as the Cataño Ferry, (“La Lancha de Cataño” in Spanish) which operates a route across San Juan Bay between Old San Juan and the municipality of Cataño.[38]
There is a planned project to build a “light interurban rail system” connecting the cities of San Juan and Caguas.[39]
The main hospital and medical school in the city of San Juan is "El Centro Medico de Rio Piedras" (Medical Center of Rio Piedras). It has various helicopters in service, allowing patients and people in need of medical attention to be carried to the center from many places around the island.
Teams based in San Juan have been notably successful in athletic competition. The Santurce Crabbers won the National Superior Basketball League championship on 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 a total of seventeen times. The Santurce Crabbers are located third among teams with more championships in the Caribbean Series, winning championships in the 1951, 1953, 1955, 1993 and 2000 editions of the tournament. The city has also been the host of numerous events within the sports community; some examples include:
The recently-built $28-million San Juan Natatorium is beginning to attract islandwide and regional swim meets, as well winter training by top-rated mainland U.S. colleges and universities, including the United States Military Academy at West Point.
In July 2007, the San Juan Golf Academy and its golf 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.
| Club | Sport | League | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fraigcomar | Soccer | Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol | |
| Santurce Crabbers | Basketball | National Superior Basketball | Games are played in the Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum or in Mario "Quijote" Morales Coliseum in Guaynabo.[47] |
| Santurce Crabbers | Baseball | Professional Baseball League of Puerto Rico | Relocated to Manatí, Puerto Rico and renamed to Atenienses de Manatí |
| San Juan Senators | Baseball | Professional Baseball League of Puerto Rico | Relocated to Carolina, Puerto Rico and renamed to the Carolina Giants |
| San Juan Mets | Baseball | Professional Baseball League of Puerto Rico |
The following cities have been identified as sister cities by Sister Cities International:[48]
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Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico San Juan (capital) |
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| Topics |
Culture | Geography | Government | History | Economy |
| Municipalities |
Adjuntas | Aguada | Aguadilla | Aguas Buenas | |
