Vieques or Vieques Island (Spanish Isla de Vieques) is an island in the Caribbean, belonging to Puerto Rico. It also forms one of the 78 independent communities of Puerto Rico.
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The long-drawn island has a length of 33 kilometers with a maximum width of seven kilometers in its east-west extent. It lies just twelve kilometers east of the main island of Puerto Rico and has a land area of approximately 135 km². The highest elevation of the hilly island is the Monte Pirata with an altitude of about 300 meters. Vieques has about 9530 inhabitants (as of 2000), which mainly live in the west of the island. The east of the island was a military restricted area for many years, as the US had a military base there.
The island is now a tourist town. Most of the holidaymakers come from the USA and from the main island of Puerto Rico. There are regular flights to the airport of the capital San Juan. In addition, there are daily ferry services between Fajardo on the main island and Vieques.
The neighboring islands of Vieques are all within two, mostly within a kilometer distance from the main island. They are listed clockwise, starting with the northernmost side of the island to the southernmost side:
- Roca Cucaracha (a rock less than five meters in diameter)
- Isla Yallis
- Roca Alcatraz
- Cayo Conejo
- Cayo Jalovita
- Cayo Jalova
- Isla Chiva
- Cayo Chiva
- Cayo de Tierra
- Cayo de Afuera (Cayo Real)