FORESTS OF PORTO EICO. 



17 



basis of rural population alone, Porto Rico, with 260 country people 

 per square mile, outnumbers its nearest competitor, New Jersey, by 

 more than 3 to 1, and Rhode Island by 17 to 1. Furthermore, 

 Porto Rico's rural population density alone outranks the total popu- 

 lation density of any but the three States mentioned (fig. 5). 



The distribution of population in Porto Rico is remarkably even, 

 and the centers of area and population are less than 5 miles apart 



/DOM 

 30M 



/4sj /sts^ /s4o /6so^T7sd^/aoo /e/o so jq 40 -so eo 70 ao 90 /soo /s/O 



LEGEND 



r~~) White Race WtSS S/a^e (African Negro) H^ B/dck (Negro Stock) 



WM Native Indian ^^ Free (African Neqro) WMM Mu/atto (Mixed) 



Fig. 4.— Growth in population in Porto Rico. 



1. 1493. Island discovered by Columbus. Pre-Columbian population (Fewkes). 



2. 1508. First white settlement under Ponce de Leon. 



3. 1515. Indians imported from Jamaica and other West Indies in servitude (Fewkes). 



4. 1530. First numerical record concerning importation of African negroes (census 1899). 



5. 1543. Bishop of San Juan reported to the King of Spain but 60 native Indians remaining on the island 



(census 1899). 



6. Total population middle of seventeenth century, 880 (census 1899). 



7. Slavery abolished by act of the Spanish Revolutionary National Assembly, March 22, 1873. 



8. Census of 1877 adopted new classification dividing the colored population into "mulattoes" and 



"blacks," which it will be seen closely conforms to the earlier classes of "free" and "slave" 

 (census 1899). 



in a direct line. 1 The center of population lies to the north of the 

 center of the island, because of the more equable climatic conditions, 

 the greater area of arable land, and the location of the capital and 

 largest city, San Juan, on the north side. 



1 The center of area of the island is situated 3 miles north and 2.1 miles west of the town of Barros, and 

 the center of population (1899) was 6.6 miles west and 2.4 miles north of the same town, making the two 

 points distant from each other 6 miles east and west and 4.5 miles north and south. (Census of Porto 

 Rico, 1899). 



21871°— Bull. 354—16 2 



