ResourcesOverview
Coral reefs are discontinuous around the main island of Puerto Rico, and most abundant along the east, south and west coasts. The offshore islands are more continuously fringed by reefs. Coral cover is highly varied, and the island ../../includes some of the best developed and most diverse coral reefs in the US Caribbean territories. As elsewhere, coral disease has had a significant impact on the total coral cover. The Diadema die-off was also considerable here, but numbers are now reported to be increasing. Coral bleaching in the late 1980s caused significant mortality, and a major bleaching event was also observed in 1998, though little associated mortality appears to have occurred.
Construction and tourism were the leading sectors in the economy in 1998, and this has had considerable impacts on the reefs. Clearance of over 75 percent of Puerto Rico’s mangroves, combined with dredging, agricultural runoff, pollution from untreated sewage, and sedimentation from forest clearance have had a considerable impact on most coastal reefs. Although there are no big commercial fisheries, smallscale fisheries are significant, with a total catch of over 1 600 tons in 1996. Overfishing of large predators, parrotfishes and spiny lobsters is widely reported. Oil spills have further impacted reefs in some areas.
Efforts to control some of the more damaging activities and protect some of the reefs from further decline are now underway. A number of marine protected areas have been designated, together with seasonal fishery on some spawning aggregations. New legislation is being developed to begin to address some of the pollution problems of the area.
Geography
Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic, mostly mountains, with coastal plain belt in north; mountains precipitous to sea on west coast; sandy beaches along most coastal areas
People
Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant and other 15% white (mostly Spanish origin) 80.5%, black 8%, Amerindian 0.4%, Asian 0.2%, mixed and other 10.9% 0-14 years: 23.5% (male 476,726; female 453,782)
15-64 years: 65.8% (male 1,249,850; female 1,353,438)
65 years and over: 10.7% (male 180,053; female 244,139) (2002 est.)
Economy
Purchasing power parity - $43.9 billion (2001 est.) revenues: $6.7 billion
expenditures: $9.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00) pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, food products; tourism
Profile
Puerto Rico has one of the most dynamic economies in the Caribbean region. A diverse industrial sector has surpassed agriculture as the primary locus of economic activity and income. Encouraged by duty-free access to the US and by tax incentives, US firms have invested heavily in Puerto Rico since the 1950s. US minimum wage laws apply. Sugar production has lost out to dairy production and other livestock products as the main source of income in the agricultural sector. Tourism has traditionally been an important source of income, with estimated arrivals of nearly 5 million tourists in 1999. Growth fell off in 2001, largely due to the slowdown in the US economy
History
Populated for centuries by aboriginal peoples, the island was claimed by the Spanish Crown in 1493 following Columbus' second voyage to the Americas. In 1898, after 400 years of colonial rule that saw the indigenous population nearly exterminated and African slave labor introduced, Puerto Rico was ceded to the US as a result of the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship in 1917 and popularly elected governors have served since 1948. In 1952, a constitution was enacted providing for internal self-government. In plebiscites held in 1967, 1993, and 1998 voters chose to retain commonwealth status.
Information provided by CIA Worldfactbook, US Department of State, Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN). ReefBase: Oliver, J. and M. Noordeloos. Editors. 2002, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Center,
7 Aug 2008 at 7:36am
Coral reefs house thousands of species but are in danger of becoming extinct.
5 Aug 2008 at 9:11am
The two crew of a yacht competing in the World ARC rally were rescued by helicopter on Sunday after they hit a reef in the Coral Sea. Asolare, an Amel 54, struck Moore Reef, approximately 52 nautical miles North West of Willis Island in the Coral ...
5 Aug 2008 at 12:30am
: Photo: Annaliza Savage/Wired.com SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Academy of Sciences is practicing what they preach. The organization's new 410,000-square-foot eco-friendly facility in Golden Gate Park is a living, breathing science experimen...
7 Aug 2008 at 1:38am
KUWAIT (KUNA): The diving team in the Kuwait Environment Protection Society (KEPS) has recently discovered a kind of starfish that preys on coral reef.
