Ponce (Puerto Rico)
| Ponce | |||
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| Location in Puerto Rico | |||
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| Basic data | |||
| Foundation : | 1692 | ||
| State : | United States | ||
| Outside area : | Puerto Rico | ||
| Coordinates : | 18 ° 1 ′ N , 66 ° 36 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | Atlantic Standard Time ( UTC − 4 ) | ||
| Residents : | 166,327 (as of 2010) | ||
| Population density : | 550.8 inhabitants per km 2 | ||
| Area : | 302 km 2 (approx. 117 mi 2 ) | ||
| Height : | 15 m | ||
| Postcodes : | 00716, 00717, 00728, 00730, 00731, 00733, 00780, 00715, 00732, 00734 | ||
| Area code : | +1 787 939 | ||
| FIPS : | 72-63820 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 1611718 | ||
| Website : | www.ponceweb.org | ||
 View from Vigia hill to Ponce. |
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Ponce is the fourth largest city in Puerto Rico after San Juan with around 166,000 residents. It is located in the south of the island.
It is located a few kilometers from the Caribbean coast . The nickname Ponces is Ciudad de los Leones, La Perla del Sur (City of Lions, Pearl of the South). It was named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza , a great-grandson of the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León .
In 1883, Ponce was hit by a great fire, except for the southern part, a lot was destroyed. In 1937 the Ponce massacre took place here , in which unarmed nationalists were shot by police during a celebration of the 64th anniversary of the abolition of slavery .
With the opening of the Holiday Inn Hotel in the 1960s, tourism found its way into Ponce.
In October 1985, 129 people died in a mudslide in the Mameyes region . The need could be alleviated through international aid, including from European countries.
The highest mountain in Puerto Rico, the Cerro de Punta, is located in the municipality of Ponce. Ponce is home to the Museo de Arte de Ponce , the most important museum in Puerto Rico. Ponce is the seat of the basketball club Leones de Ponce (eleven-time national champion). Ponce has one domestic airport, Mercedita Airport . Mayor is Francisco Zayas Seijo (PPD). Ponce is the headquarters of the Serralles Distillery (brands Don Q and Captain Morgan ).
In 2014, after six years of construction, the Portugués Dam was officially opened.
education
The University of Puerto Rico has maintained the only campus in the southern part of the island here since 1970 (University of Puerto Rico at Ponce - UPRP). This emerged from the Colegio Universitario Tecnológico de Ponce . 2,318 people are currently studying here. There are also the following educational institutions here: Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico and the Ponce School of Medicine.
sons and daughters of the town
- Juan Morel Campos (1857-1896), composer
- Amalia Paoli (1861–1942), opera singer
- Antonio Paoli (1871–1946), opera singer
- Emilio Capacetti (1895–1983), singer
- Luis A. Ferré (1904–2003), Governor
- Horacio Rivero, Jr. (1910-2000), four-star admiral in the United States Navy
- Isolina Ferré (1914–2000), Roman Catholic religious, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Ruth Fernández (1919–2012), singer
- Héctor Campos-Parsi (1922–1998), composer
- Ray Romero (1923-2006), percussionist
- Elín Ortiz (1934–2016), television producer and actor
- Cheo Feliciano (1935–2014), composer and singer of salsa and bolero music
- Míriam Colón (1936–2017), actress
- Rafael Hernández Colón (1936–2019), governor
- Carlos Ortiz (* 1936), world boxing champion
- José Torres (1936–2009), world boxing champion
- Rosario Ferré (1938–2016), writer and scientist
- Pedro Rosselló (* 1944), governor
- Héctor Lavoe (1946–1993), composer and singer of salsa and bolero music
- Ednita Nazario (* 1955), singer
- Juan Miguel Betancourt (* 1970), Catholic clergyman, auxiliary bishop in Hartford
- Roy Rosselló (* 1970), member of the boy band Menudo
- Lymari Nadal (* 1978), actress
- Felix Serralles (* 1992), racing car driver
- Carlos Javier Correa (* 1994), baseball player
The parents of the two musicians Eddie and Charlie Palmierie emigrated from here to New York City in 1926 .
Web links
- Places of Interest in Ponce, Puerto Rico (Spanish)
- www.uprp.edu: University of Puerto Rico at Ponce (Spanish)
- Official site (Spanish)