Land use:
arable land: 8%
permanent crops: 9%
meadows and pastures: 41%
forest and woodland: 20%
other: 22%
Irrigated land: 390 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: the recent drought has caused water levels in
reservoirs to drop and prompted water rationing for more than
one-half of the population
natural hazards: periodic droughts
international agreements: NA
Geographic note: important location 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; many small rivers and high central mountains ensure land is well watered; south coast relatively dry; fertile coastal plain belt in north
People ———
Population: 3,819,023 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 25% (male 484,038; female 461,175)
15-64 years: 65% (male 1,201,841; female 1,279,707)
65 years and over: 10% (male 174,274; female 217,988) (July 1996
est.)
Population growth rate: 0.18% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 15.56 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate: 7.46 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)