MAYAGEZ

city and municipality, western Puerto Rico. Created in 1760 as Nuestra Seora de la Candelaria de Mayagez, it was elevated to the royal status of villa in 1836 and to a city in 1877. In 1918 the city and port were ravaged by an earthquake and tidal wave, but they were quickly rebuilt. Mayagez has been one of the most progressive cities of Puerto Rico and, since the late 19th century, has been a centre of political activity. With its excellent deepwater harbour, Mayagez has long been the chief shipping port of western Puerto Rico and the centre of the island's needlework industry. The establishment of the Mayagez Foreign Trade Zone, with heavy rent and tax subsidies, has fostered assembly and electronics industries, creating products for reexport. Other products include foods, beer, liquor, furniture, clothing, tiles, soap, cigars, and agricultural tools. The city is linked by rail and by commercial flights to San Juan. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's experimental station at Mayagez is said to have the largest collection of tropical plants in the Western Hemisphere. Among the city's educational institutions is the Mayagez Campus of the University of Puerto Rico. There are some nuclear research facilities associated with the campus. Mayagez municipality, with an area of 77 square miles (200 square km), contains 5 urban or partly urban and 13 rural barrios (wards), including offshore Mona Island in the centre of the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Agricultural products of the district include sugarcane, tobacco, coffee, and fruits and vegetables. Minerals include the Las Mesas limonite (iron-ore) deposits. Pop. (1980) city, 82,968; (1990) mun., 100,371.