San Juan Puerto Rico)

San Juan (official name: Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Bautista) is the capital city of Puerto Rico and one of the 78 municipalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Rich. In the 2010 Census it had a population of 442,447 inhabitants and a population density of 1,983.45 people per km².

Economically, it is the most important economic and industrial center of Puerto Rico, and its metropolitan area concentrates most of the economic activity of the island. It is the seventeenth city by size of its gross domestic product in Latin America (about 34,460 million US dollars), being one of the most attractive to invest in Spanish-speaking America. It is the most cosmopolitan city in the entire Caribbean, and the oldest city in the United States with the largest historic district.^{[citation needed]}

According to The Economist, it is among the twenty best cities to do business in Latin America.

It is classified as a Global city.

History

In 1493, on his second voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus found the island now known as Puerto Rico and named it San Juan Bautista.

Ruins of the residence of Juan Ponce de León in Caparra.

San Juan quickly became the most important Spanish military post in the Americas. In 1508, Juan Ponce de León was appointed by the Spanish government as the first governor of the island. It was he who founded the original establishment, Caparra, to the west of the current metropolitan area. The city was built on an islet around 1521. To defend the island from conquest attempts by the English and Dutch, Spain built the military forts of San Felipe del Morro and San Cristóbal. Both constructions are today places of tourist attraction. In 1595, the British Francis Drake was defeated in San Juan Bay by the cannons of El Morro, during what would be his last expedition against America, dying shortly after being defeated again by the Spanish in Panama.

Plaza de Armas de San Juan (then known as "Place of Alfonso XII") in 1892

Over the centuries, Puerto Rico's military strength became an economic force that resulted in the only island in the Caribbean where industry and commerce surpassed agricultural production.

In 1898, Puerto Rico became a war booty for the United States during the Spanish-American War. Since then, Puerto Rico has been under the control of the United States. In 1917, the Jones Act conferred United States citizenship on Puerto Ricans, and the island became official territory of the United States, with United States governors appointed by the president.

Puerto de San Juan in 1923.

In 1948, the first national elections were held and Puerto Ricans elected their first governor, and in 1952, Puerto Rico obtained its Commonwealth status.

Old San Juan was built as a military emplacement for the Spanish military. The area covers seven square blocks of narrow streets paved in cobblestones and lined with old colonial houses with their balconies and patios. The forts and walls of Old San Juan are among the best preserved in the hemisphere. The area is full of houses, churches and old squares that represent the most appreciated architecture of the Caribbean.

La Garita, a sentry box at Castillo San Felipe del Morro, has come to symbolize Puerto Rico and Old San Juan. The name of the city of San Juan has undergone a curious change over time. When the Spanish arrived in the country on November 19, 1493, Admiral Christopher Columbus baptized it San Juan Bautista. Years later, the conquistador Juan Ponce de León, during the exploration of the north coast, discovered a wide bay which he described as "Puerto Rico". Over time the names were exchanged: the island was renamed Puerto Rico, and the bay, the port and the city, San Juan.

San Juan Metropolitan Area from space, July 1997.

The Municipality of San Juan is located in the northeast region of the coastal plains, north of Aguas Buenas and Caguas; to the east of Guaynabo and Bayamón; and to the west of Carolina and Trujillo Alto.

Old San Juan occupies the western shore of a rocky islet at the mouth of San Juan Bay. During the 19th century, the main population centers sprang up beyond the old city walls and on the main island, and they joined with the existing groups to the south and east of Old San Juan. As a result, the city is now made up of a variety of neighborhoods, or neighborhoods.

To the east of Old San Juan lies the residential and tourist area of Condado, on land that used to be owned by Pablo Ubarri Capetillo, a Spanish railroad builder and Count of San José de Santurce during the Spanish colonial period. Beaches such as Ocean Park are popular with swimmers, surfers and kitesurfers and are present along the district's Atlantic coastline.

Near Condado is the area of Santurce Centro and Miramar. Miramar is primarily a residential area located south of the Condado Lagoon. Attached to Miramar is the old neighborhood of Miraflores, formerly a drained banana plantation and a landfill where the first airport in Puerto Rico was built, the Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (Isla Grande Airport). Miramar receives the Puerto Rico Convention Center, Hotels and the recently inaugurated T Mobile District and Coca Cola Music Hall, as well as some of the boat docks of the Port of San Juan.

Santurce, originally called "San Mateo de Cangrejos," was the destination for freed African slaves during the city's early days. After Pablo Ubarri requested permission to unite Santurce with San Juan via tramway in 1878, the municipality was divided into three parts and its main town was united with the city and renamed Santurce (Santurtzi in Basque). In Santurce you can find the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico, the Luis A. Ferré Fine Arts Center and most of the city's theaters.

To the south of Santurce is Hato Rey, which was the land used to raise cattle for the Royal Government (hence its name, “el hato del rey”) around the XVI. Hato Rey is currently the financial center of the island and the Caribbean. A section of this district is referred to as the Golden Mile (actually 0.47 miles in length), due to the large number of national and international banks and companies located there.

In the southern part of the city is the mostly residential area of Río Piedras. Río Piedras used to be a separate municipality, founded in the mid-1850s, home to sugarcane plantations and properties owned by some of San Juan's wealthiest residents (as well as their working-class staff). Spanish colonial governors also had their summer homes there, on the land where it eventually gave way to the main campus of the University of Puerto Rico. In 1951, the municipalities of San Juan and Río Piedras were united to delimit the current perimeter of San Juan. Today, Río Piedras is home to the traditionally renowned Plaza del Mercado and the San Juan Botanical Gardens and comprises the largest area of the municipality of San Juan.

Cityscape

Neighborhoods

Barrios de San Juan

Currently, the Municipality of San Juan is made up of eighteen neighborhoods (districts), being the San Juan Antiguo neighborhood, made up of the islet of San Juan, the first to be established within this municipality in the year 1521. By then the municipality had a land area of approximately 2.6 km². Later, in 1863, the first capital suburb known as Santurce was annexed, causing the territory of the capital city to increase by more than 600% to 16.2 km². This neighborhood was part of the then diluted municipality of San Mateo de Cangrejos. The other neighborhoods of San Mateo, understood as those of Cangrejos and Hato Rey, were divided between the municipalities of Carolina and Río Piedras respectively. Hato Rey is the financial district of the city of San Juan.

The last great expansion of the municipality of San Juan occurred in 1951 through Legislative Project 177, where as a result of the referendum promoted by the then governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, the Municipality of Río Piedras was annexed to the Municipality of San Juan. In this way, the territory of the capital increased by about 107.6 km² to its current size of 123.9 km², which is equivalent to a growth of 765%.

The following table shows information for the eighteen neighborhoods of San Juan:

Old San Juan

Main article: Old San Juan

Facades of the Old Saint John

Old San Juan is the name given to the historic district of San Juan. It is located on the Isleta de San Juan, which is connected to the main island of Puerto Rico by bridges. The city is characterized by its cobbled streets and colorful buildings that date back to the 16th and centuries. -variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">XVII, when the island was a Spanish colony. The small island, which encompasses an area of 47 square miles (120 km²), is also home to the working-class neighborhood of Puerta de Tierra and most of Puerto Rico's central government buildings, including the Commonwealth Capitol. The main central part of the city is characterized by narrow streets made of blue cobblestones and picturesque colonial buildings, some of which date back to the 16th centuries. and XVII. Sections of the ancient city are surrounded by massive walls and several notable defensive structures and fortresses. These include the 16th century Fort San Felipe del Morro and the XVII, both part of the San Juan National Historic Site, and from the XVI the Palacio de Santa Catalina, also known as La Fortaleza, which serves as the governor's mansion. These fortifications, as well as the defensive wall of Old San Juan, were named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983.

Climate

San Juan enjoys an average annual temperature of 26 degrees Celsius (79 °F); although temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius (90 °F) or higher are not uncommon during the summer, especially if the winds are coming from the south. The temperature can drop as low as 18 degrees Celsius (64 °F) during winter, although the average winter temperature is 19 degrees Celsius (66 °F). The lowest temperature recorded since 1950 was 7 degrees Celsius (45 °F) in 1995. Rainfall is fairly well distributed throughout the year, but the months of January, February, and March are usually the driest.

Average San Juan de Puerto Rico Climate Parameters
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	34	34	35	36	36	36	35	37	36	37	35	33	37
Average temperature (°C)	29	29	30	31	31	32	32	32	32	32	31	29	30.8
Temp. medium (°C)	19	19	19	21	22	23	23	23	23	23	22	20	21.4
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	10	7	7	16	16	19	20	20	17	16	13	10	7
Total precipitation (mm)	121.7	83.8	89.4	147.3	182.1	115.3	170.2	163.6	187.7	172.5	204.7	162.3	1800.6
Source: Weather Channel24 February 2012

Demographics

According to the 2010 census, 395,326 people resided in San Juan. The population density was 1,983.45 inhabitants/km². Of the 395,326 inhabitants, San Juan was made up of 72.7% White, 11.9% African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 9% some other race, and 5.3% two or more races. Of the total population, 98.19% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

San Juan is the most populous city with the highest population density in the Metropolitan Area and in all of Puerto Rico. The population, however, has experienced a decrease in recent decades as a result of migration to adjacent municipalities. The following comparative table shows the population evolution of the municipality according to data provided by the United States Census Bureau:

From 1899 to 1950 the municipality of San Juan excluded what until then made up the Municipality of Río Piedras. For this reason, during this period the population, land area, and population density data only refer to the neighborhoods of San Juan Antiguo and Santurce.

The former Municipality of Río Piedras, incorporated into San Juan in 1951, was the third most populous city in Puerto Rico at the time of annexation. Its strategic location south of the capital served as a meeting point for all the main transportation routes on the island and as a geographical prelude to San Juan. This was just one of the factors driving its dramatic urban development during the 20th century, reflected in the broader population increase observed in any region in all of Puerto Rico during this period. The population of this old municipality prior to the annexation and according to the latter is evidenced in the following comparative table.

Economy

Buildings of the Golden Mile of San Juan.

San Juan experienced significant economic growth after World War II, a period in which the city experienced an industrial revolution. The economy is mainly based on companies dedicated to the manufacture of various products, including: chemical substances (chlorine and household cleaning products), medicines, rum and other alcoholic beverages, fertilizers, electric tools, electronic devices, plastics, textiles and food products. Tourism is also a key industry that benefits from San Juan's proximity to Puerto Rico's main airport, Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. The main tourist center of the city is located in the Condado district where there are numerous luxury hotels.

The walled city is home to cafes, art galleries, museums, beautifully restored homes, and unique shops.

The new part of the city is home to prestigious banks such as Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, Oriental Bank, Firstbank, Banco Santander, Scotiabank, Citibank and others.

In addition, Plaza Las Américas, the largest shopping center in the Caribbean, is located here.

Arts and culture

These are some of the cultural events that we can find in San Juan:

• International Folk Festival - January
• Musical Theatre Festival - January
• San Sebastian Street Festival - January
• Festival Casals - February
• Puerto Rican Theatre Festival - March
• Fiesta Música Puertorriqueña - May
• National Trovadores Competition - May
• Fiestas Patronales de San Juan Bautista - June
• Summer Festival - June
• Fiestas de la Bahía - July
• Ceramic Festival - September
• Cultural Festival of the Child - September
• National Four Contest - December

Education

Universities

Torre de la Universidad de Puerto Rico.

San Juan is home to many higher education institutions in Puerto Rico, such as the Río Piedras campus and the Medical Sciences campus of the University of Puerto Rico. Other institutions located in San Juan are the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, the Metropolitan University, the metropolitan campus of the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, Carlos Albizu University, the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico, and the Center for Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. There are numerous smaller centers in the city, such as the ICPR Junior College, the Institute of Banking and Commerce, and the International Junior College of Santurce. There are also several technical schools, including the Technological College of San Juan, the Liceo de Artes y Ciencias, the Ramírez College of Business and Technology, and the Puerto Rico Technical Junior College. In the field of artistic education, it is worth mentioning the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and the School of Plastic Arts of Puerto Rico.

Tourism

Post World War II technological advances in aircraft development, along with the island's climate and natural environment, have led San Juan to be the island's tourist center indirectly promoting that the rest of the The Caribbean has been known throughout the world for the last sixty years. Currently, San Juan has numerous hotels, museums, historic buildings, restaurants, beaches and shopping centers, with numerous tourist attractions both inside and outside of Old San Juan.

Plaza de Armas de San Juan

Tourist attractions in Old San Juan:

• Palomas Park
• Chapel of Christ
• Castle San Felipe del Morro
• Fuerte San Cristobal
• La Fortaleza (Palacio de Santa Catalina)
• Casa Alcaldía
• Casa de España, social center founded in 1914.
• Plaza de Armas de San Juan
• The Capitol
• Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist
• Primate Archbishop of San Juan
• Pablo Casals Museum
• Museum of History of San Juan
• White House (house of the first Spanish governor of Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de León, when the island was Spanish possession)
• Telúrico
• Whale Headquarters
• Colegio de Párvulos (First Catholic School for Primary Education in Puerto Rico; Still Operating)
• Cemetery Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis
• Plaza de la Uvas, Paseo de los Enamorados, near the Capitol of San Juan

Outside of Old San Juan:

• The Cañuelo
• Club Gallica
• Laguna del Condado
• Botanic Garden of San Juan
• Colosseum José Miguel Agrelot
• Hato Rey
• County
• Green Island
• Río Piedras

Transportation

With 4,300 vehicles per paved mile, San Juan is by far the most vehicle-density city in the world. The city is served by five expressways and numerous arterial avenues and boulevards, but continues to suffer significant traffic congestion problems.

Bus

The Metropolitan Bus Authority (AMA) offers daily transportation to the residents of San Juan, Guaynabo, Bayamón, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto, Cataño and Carolina through 30 fixed routes. Its fleet consists of 277 regular buses and 35 adapted for people with disabilities. It is estimated that these buses are used by about 112,000 passengers from Monday to Friday. There is also a daily ferry service, known as the Cataño boat, which operates between Old San Juan and the city of Cataño.

Subway

An urban train at the Bayamon station.

In an attempt to reduce vehicle dependency and traffic congestion, the city built a subway system called "Tren Urbano." The subway line is 17.2 km long and connects to 16 stations. The project opened in late 2004, costing $2.25 billion, more than $1 billion in the budget four years later. The Urban Train has received fewer passengers than originally planned and the city's car traffic has not been significantly reduced, despite a 7.5% increase in passengers in 2006 compared to 2005. There is a project for the construction of an "interurban light rail system" connecting the cities of San Juan and Caguas.

Increased investment in public transportation has not changed the fact that San Juan is a car-dependent city, and its rapid growth has led to major urban sprawl. In mid-2010, the Government approved plans for a new design for the city of Puerto Rico, with a new mass transit system, new highways and intersections, and more access points to the beach. Car access to Old San Juan, the oldest part of the city, will not be allowed. The redevelopment plans also hope to make the city more attractive to attract new residents, as San Juan has been experiencing a declining population for the past 60 years.

Maritime

View of the cargo terminal of the port of San Juan.

San Juan is second port in the world with more cruise activity, just behind Miami.

The port of San Juan is the fourth busiest port located in the western hemisphere, ranked among the 17 largest in the world in terms of container movement. It is also the port that is the base for the largest number of cruise ships in the world with more than a dozen ships. It is the second port with the most cruise activity, only behind Miami.^{[citation required]}

Aerial

The metropolitan area is served by two airports. Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, San Juan's main commercial airport, located 12.7 km from the old town in the neighboring municipality of Carolina. The airport accommodates more than 30 national and international airlines and is the busiest airport in the Caribbean. It is often called "The Gateway to the Caribbean" as it serves as the main connection to the island and the rest of the Caribbean to the United States and vice versa. It handles more than 500 operations (takeoffs and landings) daily, with international flights to Europe, North America, South America, Central America and the entire Caribbean region.

The second of the airports is the Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport, which is located in front of the San Antonio stream or Caño San Antonio del Viejo San Juan, in the district of Isla Grande. It is used mainly by aviation aircraft general, charter flights, and some domestic commercial flights. It was the main airport before the opening of the new one. Today it is also widely used by the Isla Grande Flight School and the Caribbean Flight Center, the only aviation school on the island.

Sports

View of the Colosseum José Miguel Agrelot, the largest covered pavilion on the island.

In San Juan, as in the rest of Puerto Rico, the main sports are basketball and baseball, with soccer or football being a sport with much less following by Puerto Ricans. The city-based teams have had remarkable success in the various competitions. In basketball, the Cangrejeros de Santurce stand out, as they won the National Superior Basketball Championship in the 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003 seasons. In baseball, the section of the Cangrejeros also stands out together with the Senadores de San Juan team that together won the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League championship a total of seventeen times. The Cangrejeros rank third among the teams with the most Caribbean Series championships, having in their showcases the 1951, 1953, 1955, 1993 and 2000 editions of the tournament.

On the other hand, the city has hosted numerous events within the sports community, such as the X Central American and Caribbean Games, the 1974 World Basketball Championship, the 1979 Pan American Games or three rounds of the World Baseball Classic 2006, 2009 and 2013. It has also hosted the Caribbean Series nine times. and the FIBA Americas Championship in five.

Major League Baseball's Montreal Expos played 22 home games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium between 2003 and 2004, considering establishing a franchise in the city, although they would later move to Washington D.C. to become in the current Washington Nationals.

The recently built $28 million San Juan Natatorium is beginning to spark interest in swimming on the island; it also serves as the winter training center for the best educational centers and universities in the continental United States, including the United States Military Academy at West Point and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.

In July 2007, the San Juan Golf Academy and its driving range built the first and only 9-hole golf course in the city in the Puerto Nuevo area.

Professional teams

Predecessor: Kingston	Central American and Caribbean City 1962	Successor: Panama City
Predecessor: Mexico City	Pan American City 1979	Successor: Caracas

Twinnings

Ibero-American Capital of Culture

Predecessor: Montevideo

Ibero-American Capital of Culture 2014

Successor: Guatemala City