San Juan, city, Argentina

San Juan (săn wän, Span. sän hwän), city (1991 pop. 353,476), capital of San Juan prov., W Argentina. It is a commercial and industrial center in an agricultural region. Wine is the chief product, and vineyards dot the picturesque landscape. Fruits and grains are grown, cattle are raised, and the province is rich in minerals. Founded in 1562, San Juan figured prominently in the civil wars of the 19th cent. Many Argentine statesmen, including Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, were born in San Juan.

San Juan, city, Puerto Rico

San Juan, city (1990 pop. 437,745), capital, largest city, chief port, and commercial and cultural center of Puerto Rico, NE Puerto Rico. Coffee, tobacco, sugar, and fruit are exported from the busy port, mainly to the United States. San Juan's industries include tourism, brewing, distilling, and publishing; manufactures include metal products, cement, and clothing. The city is Puerto Rico's financial center and has many international banks and business corporations. San Juan also has an international airport. The city's old section, situated on two rocky islets guarding one of the best harbors in the Caribbean, is linked by bridges with the mainland.

The bay was named Puerto Rico [rich port] by Ponce de León, who in 1508 founded a settlement at nearby Caparra. In 1521 the settlement was moved across the bay to San Juan's present site. Strongly fortified, it withstood attacks by English buccaneers in 1595 but succumbed for a few months in 1598 to George Clifford, earl of Cumberland, and was sacked by the Dutch in 1625. San Juan's port gained increasing importance during the 18th and 19th cent. U.S. troops occupied the city during the Spanish-American War in 1898.

In the old city, whose narrow streets, small shops, and houses with overhanging balconies recall a colonial atmosphere, there are impressive historic buildings: El Morro castle (begun 1539), which commands the harbor entrance and is a national monument; San Cristóbal castle (begun 1631), originally a Spanish fort; and La Fortaleza (begun 1529), a former fort now used as the governor's official residence. Other San Juan landmarks include San José Church (founded c.1523), the oldest church in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere; Casa Blanca (1523); and the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista, which contains the tomb of Ponce de León. Also in the city are the Univ. of Puerto Rico and its School of Tropical Medicine, the College of the Sacred Heart, a campus of the InterAmerican Univ. of Puerto Rico, and the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico. Nearby are several resort beaches (notably the Condado and Isla Verde), which attract tourists from North America.

San Juan, river, Nicaragua

San Juan (sän hwän), river, c.110 mi (180 km) long, flowing from the southeast corner of Lake Nicaragua E to the Caribbean Sea, near the port of San Juan del Norte. The lower course of the deep navigable river is the boundary between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and Costa Rica's right to free navigation on the river there has been the source of dispute and tension between the two nations.

San Juan, river, United States

San Juan (săn wän), river, c.400 mi (640 km) long, rising in the San Juan Mts., SW Colo., and flowing generally W through N.Mex. and Utah to Lake Powell on the Colorado River. Navajo Dam Navajo Dam, 402 ft (123 m) high and 3,648 ft (1,112 m) long, NW N.Mex., on the San Juan River, near the Colo. line; built 1958–63 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
..... Click the link for more information. , part of the upper Colorado River storage project, is on the river, which is unnavigable. Its chief tributaries are the Animas, Los Pinos, La Plata, Piedra, and Mancos rivers. The San Juan is used for irrigation; vegetables, fruits, and grains are grown in the river valley in northwestern N.Mex.

San Juan, pueblo, United States

San Juan, pueblo (1990 pop. 1,821), Rio Arriba co., N N.Mex., on the Rio Grande; settled 1598 by Juan de Oñate Oñate, Juan de (hwän dā ōnyä`tā), fl. 1595–1614, Spanish explorer in the American Southwest, possibly b.
..... Click the link for more information. . A Franciscan mission was later established. It was the home of Popé Popé (pōpā`), d. c.1690, medicine man of the Pueblo .
..... Click the link for more information. , the medicine man who led the Native Americans in the Pueblo revolt of 1680. The inhabitants are Pueblo Pueblo, name given by the Spanish to the sedentary Native Americans who lived in stone or adobe communal houses in what is now the SW United States. The term pueblo is also used for the villages occupied by the Pueblo.
..... Click the link for more information. who speak a language of the Tanoan family and produce art and handicrafts.

San Juan

City (pop., 2000: metro. area, 421,958), seaport, and capital of Puerto Rico. It was visited in 1508 by Juan Ponce de León and founded in the early 16th century by the Spanish. It became heavily fortified and was a starting point for expeditions to unknown parts of the New World. Several times it was attacked by the British, including Francis Drake in 1595. In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, San Juan fell to the U.S. The city expanded rapidly in the 20th century and is one of the major ports and tourist resorts of the West Indies. Industries include petroleum and sugar refining, brewing, and distilling. San Juan is the commonwealth's financial capital and many U.S. banks and corporations maintain offices there. El Morro and San Cristóbal fortifications are among the city's historic remnants.

San Juan

1. the capital and chief port of Puerto Rico, on the NE coast; University of Puerto Rico; manufacturing centre. Pop.: 433 733 (2003 est.)

2. a city in W Argentina: almost completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1944. Pop.: 455 000 (2005 est.)