PUERTO RICO
Vacations and Sightseeing
Vacations and Sightseeing
| Basic information | |
| Official language | Spanish, English |
| Capital | San Juan |
| Area | 8.875 km² |
| Population | 2,731,732 (2021) |
| Currency | U.S. dollar (USD) |
| Web | .pr |
| Code. | PRI |
| Tel. | +1-787 & +1-939 |
Vacations and Sightseeing
San Juan is the bustling capital of Puerto Rico. Its inner city is a Unesco World Heritage Site. The streets here are paved with blue adoquine cobblestones covered in slag. The city has more than 400 carefully restored 16th- and 17th-century Spanish colonial buildings. The old quarter of San Juan attracts many tourists, who also enjoy the casinos, beautiful beaches and tropical climate. In San Juan you will also find the El Morro, which is a 16th-century fortress. The construction of the Castillo San Felipe del Morro started in 1540, when King Charles V of Spain ordered the construction, including the surrounding walls. It was completed in 1589. Most of the walls in the fortress were added later, in the period between 1760 and 1780. The fortress is imposing 140 metres above the sea. The fort is a maze of tunnels, dungeons, barracks, outposts and ramps. The view over San Juan Bay is spectacular. There are also beautiful churches and museums in San Juan.
El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest in the US national park system. This lush, mountainous terrain is a two-hour drive from San Juan. You can walk here in the abundant flora of the rainforest. There are many hiking trails, ranging from easy walks to difficult climbs. You can also take a dip under a waterfall. This is a part of Puerto Rico that has not changed for centuries.
The Camuy Caves are one of the largest cave systems in the world and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. These caves are located in the northwest of Puerto Rico. The caves here are part of a large network of natural limestone caves and underground water channels intersected by the Camuy River, the fourth largest underwater river in the world. The cave system was discovered in 1958. More than 16 km with 220 caves and 17 entrances have been mapped, but experts estimate that there are 800 caves in this system. Only a small part of the cave complex is open to the public.
Sources
Peffer, R / Puerto Rico
Levy,P / Puerto Rico,
CIA - World Factbook
BBC - Country Profiles
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