Portugués River

Coordinates: 17°59′31.488″N 66°35′51.2874″W / 17.99208000°N 66.597579833°W / 17.99208000; -66.597579833

Portugués River (Spanish: Río Portugués) is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The river is also known as Río Tibes in the area where it flows through barrio Tibes in the municipality of Ponce. Río Portugués has a length of nearly 30 kilometers (19 mi) and runs south from the Cordillera Central mountain range into the Caribbean Sea. The Portugués is one of the best-known rivers in Ponce because of its prominent zigzagging through the city and its historical significance. The river is historically significant because the city of Ponce had its origins on its banks. It was originally known as Río Baramaya (Baramaya River). The river has its mouth at 17°58′51″N 66°37′26″W / 17.98083°N 66.62389°W / 17.98083; -66.62389. This river is one of the 14 rivers in the municipality. At one point it was also known as Río Ponce.

Origin

Portugués River has its origin in Cerro Guilarte, located the western part of barrio Portugués in the bordering municipality of Adjuntas, just north of Ponce, and drains into the Caribbean Sea after running for some 27.6 kilometers (17.1 mi). The river has a discharge of 16,000 feet³/second. The toponomy, or origin of the name, comes from one of its first settlers, Pedro Rodríguez de Guzman, knows as el Portugués ("the Portuguese") because his ancestry was from Portugal.