Puerto Rico - Geography

Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational Issues

Puerto Rico is located Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic. The climate is tropical marine, mild; little seasonal temperature variation. The terrain is mostly mountains with coastal plain belt in north; mountains precipitous to sea on west coast; sandy beaches along most coastal areas.

Location

This entry identifies the country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
Location : Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic

Geographic coordinates

This entry includes rounded latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center of an entity and is based on the locations provided in the Geographic Names Server (GNS), maintained by the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency on behalf of the US Board on Geographic Names.
Geographic coordinates : 18 15 N, 66 30 W

Map references

This entry includes the name of the Factbook reference map on which a country may be found. Note that boundary representations on these maps are not necessarily authoritative. The entry on Geographic coordinates may be helpful in finding some smaller countries.
Map references : Central America and the Caribbean

Area

This entry includes three subfields. Total area is the sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. Land area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers). Water area is the sum of the surfaces of all inland water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, or rivers, as delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines.
Area - total : 13,790 sq km
Area - land : 8,870 sq km
Area - water : 4,921 sq km

Area - comparative

This entry provides an area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).
Area - comparative : slightly less than three times the size of Rhode Island

Land boundaries

This entry contains the total length of all land boundaries and the individual lengths for each of the contiguous border countries. When available, official lengths published by national statistical agencies are used. Because surveying methods may differ, country border lengths reported by contiguous countries may differ.
Land boundaries : 0 km

Coastline

This entry gives the total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.
Coastline : 501 km

Maritime claims

This entry includes the following claims, the definitions of which are excerpted from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which alone contains the full and definitive descriptions
Maritime claims - territorial sea : 12 nm
Maritime claims - exclusive economic zone : 200 nm

Climate

This entry includes a brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.
Climate : tropical marine, mild; little seasonal temperature variation

Terrain

This entry contains a brief description of the topography.
Terrain : mostly mountains with coastal plain belt in north; mountains precipitous to sea on west coast; sandy beaches along most coastal areas

Elevation extremes

This entry includes both the highest point and the lowest point.
Elevation extremes - lowest point : Caribbean Sea 0 m
Elevation extremes - highest point : Cerro de Punta 1,339 m

Natural resources

This entry lists a country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
Natural resources : some copper and nickel; potential for onshore and offshore oil

Land use

This entry contains the percentage shares of total land area for three different types of land use
Land use - arable land : 3.69%
Land use - permanent crops : 5.59%
Land use - other : 90.72% (2005)

Irrigated land

This entry gives the number of square kilometers of land area that is artificially supplied with water.
Irrigated land : 400 sq km (2003)

Natural hazards

This entry lists potential natural disasters.
Natural hazards : periodic droughts; hurricanes

Environment - current issues

This entry lists the most pressing and important environmental problems. The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry
Environment - current issues : erosion; occasional drought causing water shortages

Geography - note

This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.
Geography - note : important location along the Mona Passage - a key shipping lane to the Panama Canal; San Juan is one of the biggest and best natural harbors in the Caribbean; many small rivers and high central mountains ensure land is well watered; south coast relatively dry; fertile coastal plain belt in north

More Information about the country

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