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Barrios of Puerto Rico
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Barrios of Puerto Rico
The barrios of Puerto Rico are the third-level administrative divisions defined with geographic boundaries serving as the primary legal subdivisions of the 78 municipalities in the archipelago and island of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the U.S. Amounting to 902 wards or boroughs equivalent to minor civil divisions in the U.S., like cities, townships, and parishes, barrios are under the governmental authority of the popularly elected strong mayor and unicameral legislature governing the municipality within which they are located. Barrios are subdivided into numerous subbarrios, districts, communities, and/or sectors.
Except for San Juan, Ponce, Florida, and Vieques, all municipalities have a barrio equivalent to a downtown area in the U.S. called pueblo, officially known as barrio-pueblo (literally "neighborhood-town"), which typically is the site of the historic Spanish colonial settlement, administrative center, and urban core of the municipality. Of the 902 barrios proper, 828 are barrios and 74 barrios-pueblos.
The history of the creation of the barrios of Puerto Rico can be traced to the 19th century, when historical documents first mention them. Historians have speculated that their creation may have been related to the Puerto Rican representation at the Cortes of Cádiz. The names of barrios in Puerto Rico come from various sources, mostly from Spanish or Indian origin. One barrio in each municipality (except for Florida, Ponce, and San Juan) is identified as the barrio-pueblo. It is differentiated from other barrios in that it is the historical center of the municipality and the area that represented the seat of the municipal government at the time Puerto Rico formalized the municipio and barrio boundaries in the late 1940s. From time to time barrios are created, broken up, or merged. The downtown district of each town was called pueblo until 1990, when they began to be referred to as barrio-pueblo in the US Census, and contains the plaza, municipal buildings and a Roman Catholic church.
In 1832 there were 490, in 1878 there were 841, in 1990 there were 899 barrios.
The United States Census Bureau recognizes 902 barrios in Puerto Rico. The US classifies barrios as minor civil divisions for statistical purposes. As components of each municipality, each municipality has one or more barrios. Every municipality has at least one barrio called barrio Pueblo which is home to the largest urban area of the municipality, and the political seat of the municipality. Most municipalities have a single barrio named barrio Pueblo while others, most prominently the larger municipalities like the municipality of Ponce, may have a barrio Pueblo that is made of several barrios. Florida is the municipality with the fewest barrios, while Ponce, at 31, has the most.
The US Census Bureau further breaks down some barrios in Puerto Rico into subbarrios. One such example is Santurce (in San Juan) which has 40 subbarrios. Another example is barrio Segundo in Ponce which consists of subbarrios Clausells and Baldorioty de Castro (commonly shortened to Baldorioty). With over 24 square miles (62 km2), barrio Lapa in the northeast area of the municipality of Salinas, has the largest territorial area of any barrio in Puerto Rico, being larger in size than 10 of Puerto Rico's municipalities.
Another subdivision that may exist within a barrio is a comunidad, as seen in Census data. Esperanza is a comunidad in Vieques and an example of a subdivision of a barrio which is not called a subbarrio but is called instead a comunidad. Outside of the Census data and in Puerto Rico barrios are divided by sectors. Municipios list their barrios and the sectors within them. Cañaboncito barrio in Caguas, for example, has over 90 sectors. The types of sectors (sectores) may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.
While in the past, barrios in Puerto Rico had political authority, each with their own elected mayor and "barrio councils", currently barrios in Puerto Rico are no longer vested with any political authority. Their purpose was originally for the collection of taxes, but during the 1800s any political authority barrios had been centralized in the municipal governments. In 1880 Spain's Nomenclature of its Territories publication, it is stated that the municipalities were subdivided, as needed, to facilitate voting and to ease the administration of each municipality. An analysis of the 1899 Puerto Rican and Cuban census, published by the War Department and Inspector General of the United States in 1900 listed the census population numbers by barrios of Puerto Rico.
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Barrios of Puerto Rico
The barrios of Puerto Rico are the third-level administrative divisions defined with geographic boundaries serving as the primary legal subdivisions of the 78 municipalities in the archipelago and island of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the U.S. Amounting to 902 wards or boroughs equivalent to minor civil divisions in the U.S., like cities, townships, and parishes, barrios are under the governmental authority of the popularly elected strong mayor and unicameral legislature governing the municipality within which they are located. Barrios are subdivided into numerous subbarrios, districts, communities, and/or sectors.
Except for San Juan, Ponce, Florida, and Vieques, all municipalities have a barrio equivalent to a downtown area in the U.S. called pueblo, officially known as barrio-pueblo (literally "neighborhood-town"), which typically is the site of the historic Spanish colonial settlement, administrative center, and urban core of the municipality. Of the 902 barrios proper, 828 are barrios and 74 barrios-pueblos.
The history of the creation of the barrios of Puerto Rico can be traced to the 19th century, when historical documents first mention them. Historians have speculated that their creation may have been related to the Puerto Rican representation at the Cortes of Cádiz. The names of barrios in Puerto Rico come from various sources, mostly from Spanish or Indian origin. One barrio in each municipality (except for Florida, Ponce, and San Juan) is identified as the barrio-pueblo. It is differentiated from other barrios in that it is the historical center of the municipality and the area that represented the seat of the municipal government at the time Puerto Rico formalized the municipio and barrio boundaries in the late 1940s. From time to time barrios are created, broken up, or merged. The downtown district of each town was called pueblo until 1990, when they began to be referred to as barrio-pueblo in the US Census, and contains the plaza, municipal buildings and a Roman Catholic church.
In 1832 there were 490, in 1878 there were 841, in 1990 there were 899 barrios.
The United States Census Bureau recognizes 902 barrios in Puerto Rico. The US classifies barrios as minor civil divisions for statistical purposes. As components of each municipality, each municipality has one or more barrios. Every municipality has at least one barrio called barrio Pueblo which is home to the largest urban area of the municipality, and the political seat of the municipality. Most municipalities have a single barrio named barrio Pueblo while others, most prominently the larger municipalities like the municipality of Ponce, may have a barrio Pueblo that is made of several barrios. Florida is the municipality with the fewest barrios, while Ponce, at 31, has the most.
The US Census Bureau further breaks down some barrios in Puerto Rico into subbarrios. One such example is Santurce (in San Juan) which has 40 subbarrios. Another example is barrio Segundo in Ponce which consists of subbarrios Clausells and Baldorioty de Castro (commonly shortened to Baldorioty). With over 24 square miles (62 km2), barrio Lapa in the northeast area of the municipality of Salinas, has the largest territorial area of any barrio in Puerto Rico, being larger in size than 10 of Puerto Rico's municipalities.
Another subdivision that may exist within a barrio is a comunidad, as seen in Census data. Esperanza is a comunidad in Vieques and an example of a subdivision of a barrio which is not called a subbarrio but is called instead a comunidad. Outside of the Census data and in Puerto Rico barrios are divided by sectors. Municipios list their barrios and the sectors within them. Cañaboncito barrio in Caguas, for example, has over 90 sectors. The types of sectors (sectores) may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.
While in the past, barrios in Puerto Rico had political authority, each with their own elected mayor and "barrio councils", currently barrios in Puerto Rico are no longer vested with any political authority. Their purpose was originally for the collection of taxes, but during the 1800s any political authority barrios had been centralized in the municipal governments. In 1880 Spain's Nomenclature of its Territories publication, it is stated that the municipalities were subdivided, as needed, to facilitate voting and to ease the administration of each municipality. An analysis of the 1899 Puerto Rican and Cuban census, published by the War Department and Inspector General of the United States in 1900 listed the census population numbers by barrios of Puerto Rico.