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San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area

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The San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area, most commonly known as the San Juan metropolitan area (Spanish: área metropolitana de San Juan), is the largest and most populous metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in Puerto Rico, concentrated in the capital municipality of San Juan and surrounding municipalities, including Bayamón, Caguas, and Carolina, on the northeastern coastal plain of the main island.[1][2] One of 6 metropolitan statistical areas in Puerto Rico, it lies within the San Juan–Bayamón combined statistical area (CSA), which is one of 3 primary statistical areas in the main island as defined by the United States Census Bureau. As of 2023, census estimates place the population of the San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area at 2,035,733.

San Juan metropolitan area
Área metropolitana de San Juan
Metropolitan Area
Bayamón and Cataño
San Juan and Guaynabo
Carolina and Trujillo Alto
Caguas
Old San Juan to
Isla Verde
Condado Beach in Condado in Santurce
Nickname(s): 
Área Metro (Metro Area);
La Losa ("the slab")
Map of Puerto Rico with urban areas demarcated in orange to yellow
Map of Puerto Rico with urban areas
demarcated in orange to yellow
Map
Statistical areas in Puerto Rico
Country United States
Territory Puerto Rico
Principal citiesSan Juan, Bayamón, Caguas, and Guaynabo
Population
 (2023)
 • MSA
2,035,733
 • CSA
2,360,082
Time zoneUTC−4
Inner urban core of the San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area at night, 2020

San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area

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The San Juan metropolitan area (Spanish: área metropolitana de San Juan), also simply known as the área metro (metro area), is the sprawling area surrounding the capital municipality of San Juan and its conurbation, the municipalities of Bayamón, Carolina, Guaynabo, Trujillo Alto, and Cataño. Occasionally, the suburb of Levittown in the municipality of Toa Baja is included within the statistical area. As the most populous municipalities surrounding San Juan, these municipalities are considered to be the inner urban area or core municipalities of the San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area (MSA).[3] This urban region is also commonly referred to as the área metro de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico metro area), as it is the primary metropolitan area in the archipelago and island. However, it is only one of six metropolitan areas in Puerto Rico.

Timelapse (1984-2018) of inner urban core of the San Juan metropolitan area

Municipalities

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With an area of 1,438 sq mi (3,725 sq km)[4][5] and an estimated population of 2,035,733, the San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area (MSA) is the largest and most populous in Puerto Rico, covering 40 of 78 municipalities in the eastern half of the main island. San Juan, Bayamón, Caguas, and Guaynabo are considered to be its principal cities.[6][7][8] As of 2023, the San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area is the 36th most populated in the United States between the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN MSA and the San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA MSA.

Topography

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General physiographic map of Puerto Rico, with mountainous terrain in green, karst in orange, and plains in yellow

Comprising San Juan, Bayamón, Carolina, Guaynabo, Trujillo Alto, and Cataño, the inner urban core of the San Juan metropolitan area is generally on the eastern part of the northern coastal plain of the main island of Puerto Rico. However, of the 6 municipalities within the inner urban core, only Cataño is completely situated on the coastal plain. In contrast, only the northern parts of San Juan, Bayamón, Carolina, Guaynabo, and Trujillo Alto are on the coastal plain, as the southern parts of Bayamón and Guayabo are on the hilly terrain of the Northern Karst Belt, and those of Carolina and Trujillo Alto are on the mountainous terrain of the Sierra de Luquillo. Less populated and restricted by rugged topography, these outer areas are mostly rural.

Roughly covering the eastern half of the main island of Puerto Rico, the topography of the 34 municipalities outside the inner urban core of the San Juan metropolitan area varies between the eastern and southern coastal plains, the Caguas Valley, the Yabucoa Valley, the North Karst Belt, and the Cordillera Central, Sierra de Cayey, and Sierra de Luquillo mountain subranges.

Aside from an urbanized, densely populated downtown area and administrative center, categorized as a barrio and known as a pueblo, and concentrated urbanized residential areas with large populations, these municipalities are mostly rural, particularly those furtherest way, in distance and elevation, from the inner urban core around the capital, San Juan. Generally, low lying areas along or near the shoreline in coastal municipalities, like those found in Vega Baja and Humacao, are greatly more urbanized and populated than inland, karstic, and mountainous areas, especially in elevated and interior municipalities like Orocovis, which is strictly rural and sparsely populated.

San Juan–Bayamón combined area

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The San Juan–Bayamón combined statistical area (CSA) comprises the metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) of San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas, Arecibo, and Guayama, and the micropolitan statistical areas (μSAs) of Coco, Utuado, and Lares. It is the largest and most populous of three combined statistical areas in Puerto Rico.

Municipalities

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The San Juan–Bayamón combined statistical area includes three metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), three micropolitan statistical areas (μSAs), covering 50 of 78 municipalities in eastern and central of the main island of Puerto Rico.

In 2009, the San Juan–Bayamón combined statistical area comprised 68.9% of total population in Puerto Rico. The 2010 census placed the population at 2,728,791, a 4.16% increase over the 2000 census figure of 2,622,876.[10] The 2020 census placed the population at 2,414,593, a 11.51% decrease over the 2010 census figure of 2,728,791.

With an estimated population of 2,360,082 as of 2023, the San Juan–Bayamón combined statistical area is the most populous CSA in Puerto Rico and the 32nd most populous CSA in the United States between the Raleigh–Durham–Cary, NC CSA and the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro, TN CSA.

Topography

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Comprising Arecibo, Hatillo, Camuy, and Quebradillas, the Arecibo metropolitan area is completely situated on the Northern Karst Belt in northwestern region of the main island of Puerto Rico. The 3 municipalities in the Guayama metropolitan area–Patillas, Arroyo, and Guayama–are situated between the southern coastal plain and the Sierra de Cayey mountain subrange in the southeastern region of the main island. Both the Lares and Utuado micropolitan areas are situated between the Northern Karst Belt and the Cordillera Central mountain subrange in the western central region of the main island, while the Cocos micropolitan area of Salinas is situated between the southern coastal plain and the Sierra de Cayey mountain subrange in the southeastern region of the main island.

All municipalities have an urbanized, densely populated downtown area and administrative center, categorized as a barrio and known as a pueblo, and concentrated urbanized residential areas with large populations, which lie on the low lying regions along the coastline. The inland and mountainous parts of the municipalities are strictly rural and sparsely populated.

Other statistical areas

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In addition to the San Juan–Bayamón combined statistical area (CSA), Puerto Rico has two more combined statistical areas: the Mayagüez–Aguadilla CSA and the Ponce–Coamo CSA. The first is divided into two metropolitan statistical areas, the Mayagüez MSA and Aguadilla MSA, while the second is divided into one metropolitan statistical area, the Ponce MSA, and one micropolitan statistical area, the Coamo μSA. These statistical areas cover 22 of 78 municipalities in Puerto Rico.

Municipalities

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No statistical area

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As of 2023, there are 6 of 78 municipalities with less than 15,000 inhabitants that are not part of any statistical area in Puerto Rico.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Update of Statistical Area Definitions and Guidance on Their Uses (OMB Bulletin 23-01)" (CSV). 2023-07-01. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  2. ^ "Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States and Puerto Rico, July 2023" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  3. ^ www.uprrp.edu.com Census Geography of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 2016-11-01
  4. ^ "San Juan - Bayamón - Caguas (Metropolitan Statistical Area, Metropolitan Areas, USA) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  5. ^ "Census profile: San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, PR Metro Area". Census Reporter. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  6. ^ www.whitehouse.gov Office of Management and Budget I The White House - Puerto Rico Metropolitan Statistical Area - Code 41980 - Revised Delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas as of 2013 Census Bureau. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
  7. ^ "Update of Statistical Area Definitions and Guidance on Their Uses (OMB Bulletin 23-01)" (CSV). 2023-07-01. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  8. ^ Thompson, Trent. "QCEW County-MSA-CSA Crosswalk : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g "Puerto Rico Municipios Population Totals: 2020-2023". United States Census Bureau, Population Division. June 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  10. ^ "Table 4. Annual Estimates of the Population of Combined Statistical Areas in Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009 (CBSA-EST2009-04)". 2009 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2010-03-23. Archived from the original (CSV) on June 15, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
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