7 Because of its tropical climate nearly 9 out of 10 Puerto Rican households have no heating system. But overall, the island's tropical marine climate has little seasonal variation, and rain occurs year round. 6 The mountains in the interior separate the main island into two distinct climate regions, the north being relatively humid and the south semi-arid. Puerto Rico has coastal plains, sandy beaches, and a forested and mountainous interior, with the highest peak exceeding 4,000 feet. 4 Puerto Rico's energy consumption per capita is about one-third of that in the 50 U.S. Petroleum accounts for about two-thirds of the Commonwealth's total energy use, while natural gas accounts for one-fifth, coal for about one-tenth, and renewables account for the rest. 1, 2, 3 Puerto Rico consumes about 27 times more energy than it produces. The Commonwealth has some renewable resources in the form of solar, wind, hydropower, and biomass, but relies primarily on imported fossil fuels to meet its energy needs. Puerto Rico has no proved reserves or production of fossil fuels. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico consists of the easternmost islands of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, southeast of Florida.

It represents the first approach integrating satellite imagery with population census data for studying the human environment in the Caribbean.Puerto Rico consumes about 27 times more energy than it produces. This study reinforces the need for an efficient land use planning, and provides information to support research and planning efforts related to land development and conservation. The San Juan Metropolitan Area is one of the most expanded urbanized areas with a population of 2–2.5 million, comparable with the most sprawled cities of the U.S. The ineffective plan of land development has left a high degree of urban sprawl in 40% of island, where cities and towns appear typically surrounded by sprawl. This analysis helps differentiate zones in the landscape with different uses and conditions, identifying not only urban and rural settings, but also the interface where development occurs in a territory dominated by forests and pastures, analogous to a wildland urban interface. Half of the urban development occurs outside of urban centers.

A large part of these developments occur in both low-density patterns of construction and sparsely populated neighborhoods.

Eleven percent of the island is composed of urban/built-up surfaces. We define three new regions for Puerto Rico: Urban (16%), Densely Populated Rural (36%), and Sparsely Populated Rural (48%). This study integrates geospatial technology and population census data to understand how people use and develop the lands. The island of Puerto Rico has both a high population density and a long history of ineffective land use planning.

San juan puerto rico map population