San Juan Geography

Geography of San Juan

The capital and seat of power of Puerto Rico is located in the municipio of San Juan. The entire peninsula of Puerto Rico as well as most of the other islands and peninsulas in the Caribbean were once part of a series of marine mountain ranges under the Atlantic Ocean. About one hundred and eighty-five million years ago, a series of movements of the tectonic plates under the Atlantic Ocean caused some areas to sink deeper under the earth and other areas to rise about the water's surface. These emerging marine mountain ranges formed islands and peninsulas atop the Atlantic Ocean and one of these islands is Puerto Rico.

The general geographic characteristic of Puerto Rico is that of a very mountainous expanse of land. This means there can be found within Puerto Rico several mountains and mountain ranges, many of which have once existed somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. San Juan however, which is situated at the northeastern coast of the island is part of a stretch of shoreline regions which is found all throughout the northern area of Puerto Rico.

If you are looking for San Juan, Puerto Rico on a map of the world, you are to find it at the latitude coordinates of 18º27'00''North and at the longitude coordinates of 66º04'00''West. The entire area within the boundaries of San Juan spans 76.93 square miles or 199.2 square kilometers. Of this 76.93 square miles of total territory area, 47.82 square miles or 123.9 square kilometers is made up of land areas. That makes about 62.2% of San Juan territory comprised of solid land while the remaining 37.8% (29.11 square miles or 75.4 square kilometers) of San Juan's total territory made up of water areas.

If you are within San Juan, you are to find the municipio of Aguas Buenas and Caguas located on the immediate south. The eastern side of San Juan is bordered by the neighboring cities of Carolina and Trujillo Alto while to the west of San Juan can be found Bayamon City and Guaynabo. And to the north of San Juan lies the beautiful and expansive magnificence of the Atlantic Ocean.

The northern region of San Juan, Puerto Rico is considered as the biggest and best harbor in the entire island. It is also the one of the largest and busiest in the entire Caribbean region, and is certainly one of the best utilized natural harbors in the area. Aside from the there are also two lakes and three streams that provide water to San Juan. The San Juan lakes are known as Laguna del Condado and Laguna Los Corozos while the streams are called Cerro Magueyes, Montes de San Patricio and Montes de Hatillo.