Editing Humacao, Puerto Rico (section)

==History==
[[File:Statue of Cacique Jumacao (Humacao, Puerto Rico).jpg|150px|left|thumb|Statue of Cacique Jumacao]]
The region of what is now Humacao belonged to the [[Taíno people|Taíno]] region of Humaka, which covered a portion of the southeast coast of Puerto Rico.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.taino-tribe.org/jatiboni-s.html|title=Gobierno Tribal del Pueblo Jatibonicu Taíno de Puerto Rico|access-date=March 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122012139/http://www.taino-tribe.org/jatiboni-s.html|archive-date=January 22, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The region was led by cacique [[Jumacao]] (also referred to as "Macao").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/puerto-rico/ |title=Genocide Studies Program: Puerto Rico |publisher=[[Yale University]] |author=Schimmer, Russell |year=2010 |access-date=April 13, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520120915/http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/puerto-rico/ |archive-date=May 20, 2013 }}</ref> The Taíno settlement was located on the shores of what is called now the [[Humacao River]]. It is believed that the Taíno chief Jumacao was the first "cacique" to learn to read and write in Spanish, since he wrote a letter to the [[King of Spain]] [[Charles I of Spain|Charles I]] complaining about how the [[Governor of Puerto Rico|Governor of the island]] wasn't complying with their peace agreement. In the letter, Jumacao argued that their people were virtually prisoners of Spain. It is said that King Charles was so moved by the letter that he ordered the Governor to obey the terms of the treaty.<ref name="linktopr">{{cite web|url=http://www.proyectosalonhogar.com/link%20p.r/www.linktopr.com/humacao.html|title=Humacao... la Perla del Oriente|publisher=ProyectoSalonHogar|access-date=April 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713153511/http://www.proyectosalonhogar.com/link%20p.r/www.linktopr.com/humacao.html|archive-date=July 13, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="AA">"El agua del paraíso (Spanish Edition)"; by: Benito Pastoriza Iyodo; Publisher: Xlibris (April 21, 2008); {{ISBN|1-4363-2567-6}}; {{ISBN|978-1-4363-2567-7}}{{self-published source|date=January 2018}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=January 2018}}

During the early 16th century, the region was populated by [[Cattle ranching|cattle ranchers]]. However, since most of them officially resided in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]], a settlement was never officially organized. At the beginning of the 18th century, specifically around 1721–1722, the first official settlement was constituted in the area. Most of the residents at the time were immigrants from the [[Canary Islands]], but due to attacks from [[Island Caribs|Caribs]], [[Piracy in the Caribbean|pirates]], and other settlers, some of them moved farther into the island in what is now [[Las Piedras, Puerto Rico|Las Piedras]].<ref name="enciclopediapr">{{cite web|url=http://www.enciclopediapr.org/esp/article.cfm?ref=07122002&page=2|title=Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico: Humacao – Fundación e historia|access-date=April 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414043100/http://www.enciclopediapr.org/esp/article.cfm?ref=07122002&page=2|archive-date=April 14, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Still, some settlers remained and by 1776, historian [[Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra]] visited the area and wrote about the population there. By 1793, the church was recognized as parish and the settlement was officially recognized as town.<ref name="linktopr" />

By 1894, Humacao was recognized as a city. Due to its thriving population, buildings and structures like a hospital, a theater, and a prison were built in the city. In 1899, after the United States invasion of the island as a result of the [[Spanish–American War]], the municipality of [[Las Piedras, Puerto Rico|Las Piedras]] was annexed to Humacao. This lasted until 1914, when the [[Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico]] voted on splitting both towns again.<ref name="enciclopediapr" />

Puerto Rico was ceded by [[Spain]] in the aftermath of the [[Spanish–American War]] under the terms of the [[Treaty of Paris of 1898]] and became a territory of the [[United States]]. In 1899, the [[United States Department of War]] conducted a [[census]] of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Humacao was 14,313.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Joseph Prentiss Sanger|author2=Henry Gannett|author3=Walter Francis Willcox|title=Informe sobre el censo de Puerto Rico, 1899, United States. War Dept. Porto Rico Census Office| url=https://archive.org/details/reportoncensusof00unitiala/page/160/mode/2up? |year=1900|publisher=Washington : Govt. print. off.|page=160}}</ref>

Humacao was led by mayor [[Marcelo Trujillo Panisse]] for over a decade. A basketball star in his early years, Trujillo has pushed for the development of infrastructure facilities for sports and the fine arts in the city. In March 2008, a new [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] diocese was established as the [[Fajardo, Puerto Rico|Fajardo]]-Humacao diocese. Its first bishop is Monsignor [[Eusebio Ramos Morales|Eusebio 'Chebito' Ramos Morales]], a [[Maunabo, Puerto Rico|maunabeño]] who was rector of the Humacao's main parish in the 1990s.

In 2019, Luis Raul Sanchez became interim mayor of Humacao after Marcelo Trujillo Panisse died in September 2019.<ref name="2019 mayor">{{Cite web|url=https://www.elorientalpr.net/?p=14636|title=Confirmadas las aspiraciones políticas de Luis Raúl Sánchez – Periódico El Oriental|access-date=September 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608083055/http://www.elorientalpr.net/?p=14636|archive-date=June 8, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

On September 20, 2017 [[Hurricane Maria]] struck Puerto Rico.  Punta Santiago in Humacao saw a six-foot storm surge. The hurricane caused destruction of homes and infrastructure.<ref>{{cite news | title=María, un nombre que no vamos a olvidar. El huracán María dejó irreconocible a Humacao| trans-title=Maria, a name we will never forget. Humacao is unrecognizable after Hurricane Maria|newspaper=El Nuevo Día| date=2019-06-13 | url=https://huracanmaria.elnuevodia.com/2017/municipio/humacao/| language=es | access-date=2022-09-11}}</ref>