Vieques

About

Vieques ( ; Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbjekes], locally [ˈbjekeʔ]), officially the Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, comprising the Spanish Virgin Islands together with Culebra. Located about 8 miles (13 km) east of the main island of Puerto Rico, it is about 20 miles (32 km) long and 4.5 miles (7 km) wide. Vieques is spread over 7 barrios and Isabel Segunda (or Isabel the Second, sometimes written Isabel II), its historic and administrative center. Residents of the island are known as viequenses. The population of the island is 8,249 as of the 2020 Census.

The island's name is a Spanish spelling of a Taíno word said to mean "small island" or "small land". It also has the nickname Isla Nena, usually translated as "girl island" or "little girl island", alluding to its perception as Puerto Rico's little sister. The island was given this name by the Puerto Rican poet Luís Lloréns Torres. During the British colonial period, its name was Crab Island.

Vieques is best known internationally as the site of a series of protests against the United States Navy's use of the island as a bombing range and testing-ground, which led to the Navy's departure in 2003. The legal battle between Governor Carlos Romero Barceló and the Navy was difficult, since the Supreme Court in 1990 refused to consider whether the Federal Water Pollution Control Act obligated courts to enjoin the military from bombing the island.

Today, the former Navy lands are a national wildlife refuge; some of it is open to the public, but much remains closed off due to biological or chemical contamination or unexploded ordnance that the military is cleaning up.

Some of the most well-known beaches on the island are on the eastern end (former site of the Marine Base) that the Navy named Red Beach, Blue Beach, Caracas Beach, Pata Prieta Beach, La Chiva Beach, and Plata Beach. At the far western tip (formerly the Navy Base) is Punta Arenas, which the Navy named Green Beach. The beaches are commonly listed among the top in the Caribbean for their azure waters and white sands.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.