Humacao

Humacao, a small city and the capital of a municipal district and department of the same name, in Porto Rico, 46 m. S.E. of San Juan. Pop. (1899) of the city, 4428; and of the municipal district, 14,313. Humacao is attractively situated near the E. coast, 9 m. from the port of Naguabo and a little over 6 m. from its own port of Punta Santiago, with which it is connected by a good road; a railway was under construction in 1908, and some of the sugar factories of the department are now connected by rail with the port. The department covers the eastern end of the island and includes all the islands off its coast, among which are Culebra and Vieques; the former (pop. in 1899, 704) has two excellent harbours and is used as a U.S. naval station; the latter is 21 m. long by 6 m. wide and in 1899 had a population of nearly 6000. Grazing is the principal industry, but sugar-cane, tobacco and fruit are cultivated. There are valuable forests in the mountainous districts, a part of which has been set aside for preservation under the name of the Luquillo forest reserve. Humacao was incorporated as a city in 1899. It suffered severely in the hurricane of 1898, the damage not having been fully repaired as late as 1906.

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