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Río Grande, Puerto Rico
—  Municipality  —
Flag
Nickname(s): La Ciudad del Yunque
Anthem: "Entre las ondas que juguetean"
Location of Río Grande in Puerto Rico
Coordinates: 18°22′49″N 65°49′53″W / 18.38028°N 65.83139°W / 18.38028; -65.83139Coordinates: 18°22′49″N 65°49′53″W / 18.38028°N 65.83139°W / 18.38028; -65.83139
Country	United States
Territory	Puerto Rico
Founded	July 25, 1840
Government
• Mayor	Hon. Eduard Rivera Correa (PPD)
• Senatorial dist.	8 - Carolina
• Representative dist.	36,37
Area
• Total	89.6 sq mi (232.11 km2)
• Land	60.7 sq mi (157.28 km2)
• Water	28.9 sq mi (74.83 km2)
Population (2010)
• Total	54,304
• Density	Bad rounding here610/sq mi (Bad rounding here230/km2)
Demonym	Riograndeños
Time zone	AST (UTC-4)
Zip code	00721, 00745

Río Grande (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈri.o ˈɣɾande]) is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Northern Coastal Valley, north of Las Piedras, Naguabo and Ceiba; east of Loíza and Canóvanas and west of Luquillo. Río Grande is spread over eight wards and Río Grande Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History [edit]

Río Grande was founded on July 16, 1840, by Desiderio and Quilimaco Escobar, with the approbation of governor Miguel López. It was named after the Río Grande and is located where the Río Grande and the Río Espíritu Santo (Holy Spirit) join.

Cityscape [edit]

Barrios [edit]

Tourism [edit]

Río Grande is home to one of the largest secluded areas with beach access (Coco Beach) on the entire island. Major hotels in the area include Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Resort and Gran Melia Puerto Rico Resort. Every March, the Trump International Golf Club plays host to the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open.

Within a ten-minute drive is El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rain forest within the United States National Forest System and a finalist in the New 7 Wonders of Nature receiving thousands of votes from around the globe at www.n7w.com.

Hotels [edit]

• Rio Grande Plantation Eco Resort
• The Wyndham Rio Mar Beach Resort and Spa
• Gran Melia Golf Resort
• St. Regis Beach Resort

Landmarks and places of interest [edit]

• Coco Beach
• El Yunque
• Indio Cave
• Las Picúas Beach

Economy [edit]

Agriculture [edit]

Fruits, ornamental plants, vegetables, and cattle.

Business [edit]

Local retail stores are aside the PR-3. Large shopping centers were not present mainly due to the closeness of the Canóvanas shopping district area. However, there is one large shopping mall located on 65fh of Infantry express way and 956ht street. Because it is relatively new many of its spaces are not leased yet. Together both cities are growing economically very fast and becoming the eastern pole of economy of the northeastern area of Puerto Rico attracting hotels, shopping malls, sport venues among others. Another thing that is making Río Grande more attractive to tourists and businesses alike is the newly constructed and opened Route 66 (or ruta 66), which makes it a lot more accessible and more appealing to home buyers.

Industry [edit]

Manufacture of textiles.

Culture [edit]

Festivals and events [edit]

• Cross Festival (May)
• Patron Celebrations (July)

Sports [edit]

Baseball, basketball and handball are popular sports in Río Grande.

Government [edit]

Like all municipalities in Puerto Rico, Río Grande is administered by a mayor. The current mayor is Eduard Rivera Correa, who was elected at the 2004 general election.

The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district VIII, which is represented by two senators. In 2012, Pedro A. Rodríguez and Luis Daniel Rivera were elected as District Senators.^[2]

Flag [edit]

The Río Grande flag consists of two horizontal stripes of equal size united by a white triangle placed on the side of the mast. On the white triangle is a Puerto Rican parrot.

Coat of arms [edit]

In a silver field, two Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vitatta), accompanied by a waving blue stripe, a green mountain with three peaks. The top portion of the shield is blue, with an opened silver book, accompanied on each side by five gold coins. Topped by a three tower gold crown outlined in black with green openings.

Books [edit]

• Ciudad de El Yunque, El Yunque City Río Grande, Puerto Rico(Bilingual): Author and Photographer-Greg Boudonck; Photographer and Translator-Maria Magdalena Ruiz O'Farrill

References [edit]

	Puerto Rico portal
	Geography portal

External links [edit]

• Río Grande and its barrios, United States Census Bureau

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