List of cities in Puerto Rico
Municipalities of Puerto Rico
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The Municipalities of Puerto Rico number 78 and they make up the smallest electoral division of the Commonwealth. Each municipality is further divided into barrios, though the latter are not vested with political authority.
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Administrative divisions
There are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the United States Government, but Puerto Rico has 78 municipalities or "municipios" at the secondary order. For U.S. Census purposes, the municipalities are equivalent to a county. They are conveniently grouped into eight electoral districts, which do not possess administrative functions. In 1991, the Autonomous Municipalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Act was passed as a strategy for the decentralizing control and for improving government services to the people.
Municipal politics
The municipalities elect a Mayor and a legislative assembly in the general elections every four years.
List of municipalities
The following is an alphabetical list of all the municipalities in Puerto Rico, with their mayors and their political affiliation.
| Municipality | FIPS code | Founded | Population (2010) | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjuntas | 001 | 1815 | 19,143 | 66.69 sq mi (172.73 sq km) |
| Aguada | 003 | 1508 | 42,042 | 30.85 sq mi (79.90 sq km) |
| Aguadilla | 005 | 1780 | 64,685 | 36.53 sq mi (94.61 sq km) |
| Aguas Buenas | 007 | 1838 | 29,032 | 30.09 sq mi (77.92 sq km) |
| Aibonito | 009 | 1824 | 26,493 | 31.31 sq mi (81.10 sq km) |
| Añasco | 011 | 1733 | 28,348 | 39.29 sq mi (101.75 sq km) |
| Arecibo | 013 | 1616 | 100,131 | 125.95 sq mi (326.20 sq km) |
| Arroyo | 015 | 1855 | 19,117 | 15.01 sq mi (38.87 sq km) |
| Barceloneta | 017 | 1881 | 22,322 | 18.69 sq mi (48.41 sq km) |
| Barranquitas | 019 | 1803 | 28,909 | 34.25 sq mi (88.71 sq km) |
| Bayamón | 021 | 1772 | 208,116 | 44.32 sq mi (114.80 sq km) |
| Cabo Rojo | 023 | 1771 | 50,917 | 70.37 sq mi (182.27 sq km) |
| Caguas | 025 | 1775 | 142,893 | 58.60 sq mi (151.77 sq km) |
| Camuy | 027 | 1807 | 35,159 | 46.36 sq mi (120.06 sq km) |
| Canóvanas | 029 | 1909 | 47,648 | 32.87 sq mi (85.12 sq km) |
| Carolina | 031 | 1816 | 176,762 | 45.32 sq mi (117.38 sq km) |
The municipal amalgamation proposal
In October 2009, a Puerto Rican legislator proposed a bill that would reduce to 20 the 78 municipalities currently making up the Island. The bill called for a referendum to take place on June 13, 2010, and which would let the people decide on the matter. The bill never made into law.
It was not the first time that an attempt to consolidate municipalities had failed. In 1902 the Puerto Rico legislature, under pressure from the US.-appointed governor of the Island, passed a law consolidating the then-76 municipalities of Puerto Rico into 46. The law was repealed three years later.
The proposed twenty new municipalities (in bold) and the existing municipalities that would have made them up:
San Juan
Bayamón
Toa Baja
Vega Baja
Manatí
Arecibo
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Aguadilla
San Sebastián
Mayagüez
San Germán
Yauco
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Utuado
Ponce
Juana Díaz
Cayey
Guayama
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Caguas
Humacao
Fajardo
Carolina
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- ^ county equivalent
- ^ "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA.gov. http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/codes/pr.html. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
- ^ "U.S. Census Bureau municipality information". http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ^ "U.S. Census Bureau geography". http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?ref=geo&refresh=t#. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ^ Legislador propone reducir a 20 los 78 municipios de Puerto Rico en PrimeraHora.com (In Spanish)
- ^ Historia de Nuestros Barrios: Barrio Lapa, Salinas. Page 4. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ Guayanilla. Encyclopedia Puerto Rico. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
- ^ Historia de Nuestros Barrios: Lapa, Salinas. Accessed February 13, 2011.
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