Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical marine, mild, little seasonal temperature variation
Terrain: mostly mountains with coastal plain belt in north; mountains precipitous to sea on west coast
Natural resources: some copper and nickel; potential for onshore and offshore crude oil
Land use: 8% arable land; 9% permanent crops; 51% meadows and pastures; 25% forest and woodland; 7% other
Environment: many small rivers and high central mountains ensure land is well watered; south coast relatively dry; fertile coastal plain belt in north
Note: important location between the Dominican Republic and the Virgin
Islands group along the Mona Passage—a key shipping lane to the Panama Canal;
San Juan is one of the biggest and best natural harbors in the Caribbean
- People
Population: 3,291,207 (July 1990), growth rate 0.1% (1990)
Birth rate: 19 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1990)