San Juan
- Filed under: Puerto Rico
- Date: May 26,2008
San Juan is the capital and largest municipality in 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 (”Puerto Rico City”). In addition to being the oldest city in Puerto Rico it is the oldest European-founded U.S. city, older than even St. Augustine, Florida. Puerto Rico’s capital is the second oldest European-established city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, now in the Dominican Republic. 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, and La Fortaleza, the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas.
Today, San Juan serves as one of Puerto Rico’s most important seaports, 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. 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.
San Juan is located at [show location on an interactive map] 18°27?0?N, 66°04?00?W, and is suitated along the north-eastern coast of Puerto Rico. It lies south of the Atlantic Ocean; north of Guaynabo and Trujillo Alto; east of and Bayamón; and west of Carolina. The city occupies an area of 76.93 square miles (199.2 km²), of which, 29.11 square miles (75.4 km²) is water. The majority San Juan’s water territory is composed of San Juan Bay, and of two natural lagoons, the Condado and the San José.
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 (32 °C) 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 (22 °C). The coldest temperature ever recorded was 60 °F (16 °C) on March 3, 1957, and the hottest was 98 °F (37 °C) 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.