| Yabucoa, Puerto Rico | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Town and Municipality — | |||
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| Nickname(s): "Ciudad del Azúcar" | |||
| Anthem: "Yabucoa es mi Pueblo" | |||
| Location of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico within Puerto Rico. | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| Territory | Puerto Rico | ||
| Founded | 1793 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Hon. Ángel S. García De Jesús (PNP) | ||
| • Senatorial dist. | 7 - Humacao | ||
| • Representative dist. | 34 | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 83.3 sq mi (215.65 km2) | ||
| • Land | 55.3 sq mi (143.11 km2) | ||
| • Water | 28 sq mi (72.55 km2) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 37,941 | ||
| • Density | 455.7/sq mi (175.9/km2) | ||
| Demonym | Yabucoeños | ||
| Racial groups[1] | |||
| • White | 68.5% | ||
| • Black | 8.6% | ||
| • American Indian/AN | 0.6% | ||
| • Asian | 0.3% | ||
| • Other Two or more races |
13.6% 8.2% |
||
| Time zone | AST (UTC-4) | ||
| Zip code | 00767 | ||
Yabucoa (Spanish pronunciation: [ʝaβuˈkoa]) is a small town in the south eastern tip of Puerto Rico located in the southeastern region, north of Maunabo; south of San Lorenzo, Las Piedras and Humacao; and east of Patillas and about one hour from San Juan. Yabucoa is spread over 9 wards and Yabucoa Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Its name is derived from the Taíno word meaning land of water, most likely due to the large number of rivers that water the region. Yabucoa is also known as "La Ciudad del Azúcar" (The City of Sugar).
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Yabucoa was founded in 1793.
The design of the flag of Yabucoa is abstract, inspired by the colors of the municipal shield; green, white and violet.
In the shield appear two angels the Santos Angeles Custodios, patron saints of Yabucoa. The color purple (violet) field of the shield represents the highest dignity of the angels. The walking sticks are attributes of the traveller, and refer to the holy office of the Angels as guides and companions in man's journey in his earthly life. The canes are adorned with guajana flowers, representing the wealth of the sugar cane. The green land where the angels stand symbolizes the fertile valley in which Yabucoa is located.
The Municipality of Yabucoa is located in the south-eastern coast of Puerto Rico. The valley of Yabucoa is surrounded by the hills of the San Lorenzo Batholith on three sides and by the Caribbean Sea on the fourth. The hills surrounding the Yabucoa valley as well as the bedrock underlying the alluvium in the valley are composed of the San Lorenzo Batholith, a large, igneous intrusive body emplaced during the Late Cretaceous (Rogers, 1977; Rogers and others, 1979). The San Lorenzo Batholith is a composite body that is composed of gabbro (Kd), diorite, tonalite, granodiorite, and quartz monzonite. The altitude of the hills surrounding the valley of Yabucoa reaches a maximum of about 650 m at the head of the Río Guayanes basin. The land surface in the Yabucoa valley slopes gently from an altitude of about 30 m above mean sea level, at the western edge of the valley, to sea level where the valley meets the Caribbean Sea.
Yabucoa is known for its agricultural prowess because of the surrounding fertile valley that produces most of the island's plantain and bananas. Yabucoeños are known as the "sugar people" because most of the valley was used for sugar cane growth and because one of the most visible landmarks, seen when entering the municipality, is the old Hacienda Roig sugar mill, one of the last mills that produced sugar in Puerto Rico (for recent photos (sept 11,2011). [2]
A tunnel connecting the town of Yabucoa with the town of Maunabo to the south has been completed and is currently the longest on the island.