The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the easternmost and smallest of the Greater Antilles, is in United States territory, 8896 km2 (3435 sq mi) in area. It is roughly rectangular in shape and approximately 170 km E-W in length and 60 km in width. It lies between latitudes 17°55′ and 18°30′N and longitudes 65°37′ and 67°15′W.
The island is surrounded by a narrow insular shelf that drops to oceanic depths reaching 2000 and 3000 m in some places within 3 km of the shore.
The small island of Mona, in the middle of the passage separating Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic to the west, belongs to Puerto Rico politically, as do the islands of Vieques and Culebra to the east.
The central backbone of Puerto Rico, the Cordillera Central, is a rugged terrane of steepsided mountains reaching an elevation of 1338 m at their highest point, Cerro de Punta.
The main watershed is displaced somewhat to the south of the center line of the island and the major streams flow northward to the Atlantic. The...
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Weaver, J.D. (1975). Puerto rico . In: World Regional Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31081-1_93
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31081-1_93
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