Geography of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is located in the archipelago of the Antilles. The Antilles is a chain of islands that stretch more than 1500 miles starting from Florida (USA) to Venezuela (South America). They enclose the Caribbean sea. To the north and east is the Atlantic Ocean.
The Antilles is divided into two, the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica together with the island of Hispanola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) make up the Greater Antilles. These are the largest islands of the Antilles, Puerto Rico being the smallest of the four. The Lesser Antilles, located east and southeast of Puerto Rico, are made up of dozens of smaller islands, just to mention a few, the Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Barbados and Trinidad. Cultural and political diversity is typical throughout the region.
Geographical Areas of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is divided into three geographical areas:
Central Interior Mountain Ranges
This area covers most of the island of Puerto Rico. It includes the interior mountains, hills, mountain sides, and low areas within the mountains. These mountain ranges are La Cordillera Central, La Sierra de Cayey, La Sierra de Luquillo, and La Sierra Bermeja.
La Cordillera Central extends
from Aibonito (on the east) to Maricao (on the west). 35 km 
from the northern coast and 15 to
25 km from the south coast. Its highest peaks are located between
Villalba and Adjuntas. These are Cerro La Puntita (4,389 ft) and
Los Tres Picachos (3615 ft). Much more rain falls on the northern
side of the mountain range as compared to the southern side. The
northern side is much steeper than the southern side.
La Sierra de Cayey is an extension of La Cordillera Central. It extends from Cayey to Humacao. To the far east its elevation reaches a mere 400 ft. Two ramifications called Sierra Guardarraya and Cuchillas de Panduras extend southeast between Yabucoa and Maunabo.
From Gurabo to Fajardo, in the northeast we have La Sierra De Luquillo. El Yunque (cool tourist site) is one of its peaks (3,494 ft), El Toro (3524 ft) and El Pico Oeste (3416 ft) also happen to be up there.
Sierra Bermeja which extends from Guánica to the southwestern tip of the island, located south of El Valle de Lajas (largest valley in PR) is the smallest of the branches of the Central Mountain ranges. Its highest peaks reach 1000 ft.
Our Tropical Karst is located in the northern interior
mountainous part of the island of Puerto Rico. This particular area consists of
formations of limestone rock dissolved by water throughout the
geological ages. This area is a plateau with elevations from
100-700 ft. The northern part is made up of limestone hills while
the interior is pocketed with hills, holes and caves. Many caves
here have not been completely explored.
Some rivers, like El Río de Camuy, pass through this area
disappear under the surface and reappear various kilometers down
hill. It is the site of the Rio de Camuy Cave Park.
The Arecibo Observatory,
the worlds largest radio/telescope, is also located in this area.
The Coastal Plains are smaller in square miles than the Central Interior Mountain Ranges and the Northern Karst. This area, which is relatively flat, was originally formed by the erosion of the interior mountains. The largest cities on the island are located here, San Juan to the north , Ponce to the south and Mayaguez to the west. Beaches and sand dunes are abundant on Puerto Rico's 1,126 kilometers of coast.
The Antilles | Geographical Areas of Puerto Rico | Climate | Soils
COPYRIGHT ã 1998
solboricua.com
Reproduction of layout, images or articles is
prohibited.