Orocovis Municipio de Orocovis | |
|---|---|
Town andMunicipality | |
 Salto de Doña Juana waterfall in Orocovis | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
| Nicknames: "Corazón de Puerto Rico", "El Centro Geográfico de Puerto Rico" | |
| Anthem:"Mi patria es una bella isla" | |
 Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Orocovis Municipality | |
| Coordinates:18°13′37″N66°23′28″W / 18.22694°N 66.39111°W /18.22694; -66.39111 | |
| Commonwealth |  Puerto Rico |
| Founded | November 10, 1825 |
| Founder | Juan Rivera de Santiago |
| Barrios | |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jesús E. Colón Berlingeri (PNP) |
| • Senatorial dist. | 5 - Ponce |
| • Representative dist. | 26 |
| Area | |
• Total | 71.11 sq mi (184.17 km2) |
| • Land | 71 sq mi (184 km2) |
| • Water | 0.066 sq mi (0.17 km2) |
| Population (2020)[1] | |
• Total | 21,434 |
| • Rank | 58th in Puerto Rico |
| • Density | 302/sq mi (116/km2) |
| Demonym | Orocoveños |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (AST) |
| ZIP Code | 00720 |
| Area code | 787/939 |
| Major routes |      |
| Website | www |
Orocovis (Spanish pronunciation:[oɾoˈkoβis],locally[oɾoˈkoβiʔ]; from theTaino chief Orocovis) is a town andmunicipality ofPuerto Rico located in the center of the island. Founded by Juan Rivera de Santiago in 1825. Orocovis is spread over 17 barrios. It is part of theSan Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area. It's located north ofVillalba andCoamo; south ofMorovis andCorozal; southeast ofCiales; east ofJayuya; and west ofBarranquitas
Since before theSpanish colonization in the16th century, theTaíno were already established in the region. They were led by thecaciqueOrocobix and his tribe known as theJatibonicu. AfterSpaniards settled in the island, the region was part of the south of Manatí and the north region of Coamo. By 1823Orocovis was abarrio ofBarranquitas while Morovis (previously part of Manatí) had a barrio calledBarros. Both Orocovis and Barros were eventually united to establish a new town.
In early 1825,Juan Rivera de Santiago sought and obtained legal power by the neighbors of the region to request theGovernor authorization to found amunicipality in the Barros area, where they had bought 14acres of land from Eulalia (Olaya) de Rivera Melendez, who donated an additional acre to establish several municipal works. However, due to the distance from bodies of water, the settlement was moved to another place where it is today. On November 10, 1825, GovernorMiguel de la Torre granted permission to found the new municipality of Barros.
In 1838, theparish ofSan Juan Bautista de Barros was created and was blessed and inaugurated on October 29 of the same year. However, in 1875, a fire destroyed the church, the King's House, the priest's house and several homes.
Most of Orocovis' nicknames stem from its location in the center of the island. Some of them are: "Corazón de Puerto Rico" (Heart of Puerto Rico) and "Centro Geográfico de Puerto Rico" (Geographical Center of Puerto Rico). Locals say the center of Puerto Rico is in a barrio calledPellejas, onRoad 566, Km 5.7 in Orocovis. That the center of Puerto Rico is in front of the Catholic church was determined to be false by engineers from theUniversity of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus.[citation needed]
Puerto Rico was ceded bySpain in the aftermath of theSpanish–American War under the terms of theTreaty of Paris of 1898 and became a territory of theUnited States. In 1899, theUnited States Department of War conducted acensus of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Barros, as Orocovis was then called, was 14,845.[2]
In 1928, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico approved a resolution to change the name of Barros toOrocovis, to honor the Taíno cacique of the same name, who lived in that region.
The municipality Orocovis is mountainous with many valleys. Most of the Orocovis terrain runs through theCordillera Central of the island. Most of the high peaks are in the southern region of the municipality within the limits of the municipality withVillalba andCoamo. The highest peak of the town is Cerro Mogote.[3]
The riversToro Negro,Sana Muertos,Orocovis,Matrullas, andBauta, and the creeks Doña Juana, Palmar and Cacaos are among the water bodies in the town. There are two lakes:El Guineo, a reservoir of the Toro Negro River, and theMatrullas Lake formed by the Bauta River. El Guineo is Puerto Rico's highest lake.[4]
Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Orocovis is subdivided intobarrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a barrio referred to as"el pueblo".[5][6]
Barrios (which are, in contemporary times, roughly comparable tominor civil divisions)[7] and subbarrios,[8] are further subdivided into smaller areas calledsectores (sectors in English). The types ofsectores may vary, from normallysector tourbanización toreparto tobarriada toresidencial, among others.[9][10][11]
Comunidades Especiales de Puerto Rico (Special Communities of Puerto Rico) are marginalized communities whose citizens are experiencing a certain amount ofsocial exclusion. A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of the commonwealth. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Orocovis:Ala de la Piedra, Alturas de Orocovis, Cacao, Sector Parcelas in Botijas 1, Botijas II, Comunidad Miraflores[12] andLa Pica (Luis M. Alfaro).[13]
An Energy Consortium was signed in late February, 2019 byVillalba, Orocovis,Morovis,Ciales andBarranquitas municipalities. The consortium is the first of its kind for the island. It is intended to have municipalities work together to safeguard and create resilient, and efficient energy networks, with backups for their communities.[14]
Orocovis is sometimes called "The Musical Capital of Puerto Rico" because many major Puerto Rican performers were either born or raised in the town, particularly bandleaderBobby Valentín, folk singerAndrés Jiménez, merengue singerManny Manuel, salsa legend William "H. Christ" Corchado, and the Colón-Zayas family of musicians, which includes Emma (singer, multi-instrumentalist) andEdwin (acuatro player).
Celestino Avilés Meléndez (1925-2004), asantero from Orocovis, saved the dying art from his workshop.Santeros are folk artists who create wooden, religious statuettes calledSantos.[15] The folk artists were dispersed around Puerto Rico and were few in number. Avilés' initiative, in 1983, forsanteros to meet continues to this day with theEncuentro Nacional de Santeros taking place in Orocovis, the third week in December annually. Also, Avilés' establishing theMuseo Orocoveño Familia Avilés Inc. in 1982, a museum forsanteros art, revived the culture and art ofsanteros andsantos and by 2019, there were more than 300santeros makingsantos in Puerto Rico.[16]
Orocovis celebrates itspatron saint festival in June. TheFiestas Patronales de San Juan Bautista is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.[3][18][19]
Other festivals and events celebrated in Orocovis include:
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(December 2012) |
Cattle, coffee, fruits, tobacco, and wheat. A young business growing hydroponics lettuce was in negotiations to be a supplier forWalmart in 2019.[20]
Several small nutritional product industries.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 14,845 | — | |
| 1910 | 15,028 | 1.2% | |
| 1920 | 15,758 | 4.9% | |
| 1930 | 16,115 | 2.3% | |
| 1940 | 19,770 | 22.7% | |
| 1950 | 21,181 | 7.1% | |
| 1960 | 20,362 | −3.9% | |
| 1970 | 20,201 | −0.8% | |
| 1980 | 19,332 | −4.3% | |
| 1990 | 21,158 | 9.4% | |
| 2000 | 23,844 | 12.7% | |
| 2010 | 23,423 | −1.8% | |
| 2020 | 21,434 | −8.5% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[21] 1899 (shown as 1900)[22] 1910-1930[23] 1930-1950[24] 1960-2000[25] 2010[26]2020[27] | |||
According to the 2000 census, Orocovis has a population of 23,844 with apopulation density is 378.4 people per square mile (145.5/km2). Although there was a decline in the population during the 1980s, it has steadily increased during the last decades.
Statistics taken from the 2000 census shows that 81.4% of Orocoveños haveSpanish orWhite origin, 4.1% areblack, 0.4% areAmerindian etc.
| Race - Orocovis, Puerto Rico - 2000 Census[29] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Population | % of Total |
| White | 19,401 | 81.4% |
| Black/African American | 975 | 4.1% |
| American Indian andAlaska Native | 87 | 0.4% |
| Asian | 15 | 0.1% |
| Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 5 | 0.0% |
| Some other race | 2,618 | 11.0% |
| Two or more races | 743 | 3.1% |
All municipalities in Puerto Rico are administered by a mayor, elected every four years.Jesús Colón Berlingeri (of theNew Progressive Party) has served as mayor since 1998.
The city belongs to thePuerto Rico Senatorial district VI, which is represented by two Senators. In 2024,Rafael Santos Ortiz andWilmer Reyes Berríos were elected as District Senators.[30]
Orocovis has several public and private schools and public education is administered by thePuerto Rico Department of Education.
There is no directhighway connection to Orocovis. Roads#137 and#155 lead from the north, while roads#138 and#155 lead from the south. Orocovis lies at about an hour and a half fromSan Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico.
There are 17 bridges in Orocovis.[31]
Themunicipio has an official flag and coat of arms.[32]
The Flag of Orocovis is formed by five vertical stripes: Two green stripes at the ends, representing the territories ofAibonito andBarranquitas; and a blue one in the center representing the regional domain of the caciqueOrocobix prior to the Spanish colonization. These stripes are divided by two narrower white stripes, representing the territories granted by Barranquitas andMorovis to form the municipality in 1825.[33]
Over the blue portion there's anoval with aSun. The Sun has seventeen rays that represent the different regions of the town. The Sun, being the center of theSolar System, represents Orocovis as the center of the island ofPuerto Rico.[33]
The oval is symbol of the letter "O", initial of the name of the town. In each quadrant appear representative elements of the town. In the left superior quadrant a Taíno Indian bust, symbol of the great "Chief Orocobix" and the Indian heritage of the town, silhouetted in gold on a silver-plated background. The Indian bust faces to the star or sun that appears in the superior right quadrant, which is in gold on a blue background and represents the territorial municipality with its seventeen rays or demarcations. In the inferior right quadrant, aplantain plant is observed representing theagriculture, silhouetted in gold on a silver-plated background. A bridge also silhouetted in gold on a blue background, above the river appears in the left inferior quadrant.[33]
Places adjacent to Orocovis, Puerto Rico | |
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Data from Wikidata| International | |
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