PUERTO RICO

Geography:

• Location: Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic

• Geographic Coordinates: 18 15 N, 66 30 W

• Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

• Climate: tropical marine, mild; little seasonal temperature variation

• Terrain: mostly mountains, with coastal plain belt in north; mountains precipitous to sea on west coast; sandy beaches along most coastal areas

• Elevation extremes: lowest point:  Caribbean Sea 0 m -- highest point:  Cerro de Punta 1,338 m

Government:

• Country name: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
• Dependency status: commonwealth associated with the US
• Government type: Commonwealth
• Capital: San Juan

Flag description: five equal horizontal bands of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bears a large, white, five-pointed star in the center; design influenced by the US flag, but based on the Cuban flag