Brief historical-geographical account of the primacy of San Juan within the urbsn system of Puerto Rico

Abstract

The role of capitals as a primate city is one of the main features in the geographical history of Latin America. San Juan, the capital city of Puerto Rico, constitutes a different experience. The capital had never established absolute dominance within the local urban system. This geographical feature is a product of political externalities imposed in the last 500 years. In the new millennium and after several decades of conurbation and counter-urbanization, this American colony faces a scenario of demographic contraction, economic and political erosion that could make feasible and invigorate a historical repositioning of the capital as a first-order but fragile Primate city in the Caribbean basin.