Editing Vieques, Puerto Rico

{{Short description|Island-municipality of Puerto Rico}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Vieques
| other_name         = Isla de Vieques
| native_name        = <small>{{lang|es|Municipio Autónomo de Vieques}}</small>
| native_name_lang   = es<!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "es" for Spanish. -->
| settlement_type    = Island-[[Municipalities of Puerto Rico|Municipality]]
| image_skyline      = Vieques Bio Bay NR.jpg
| image_alt          = 
| image_caption      = Mosquito Bioluminescent Bay in Vieques
| image_flag         = Vieques Flag.svg
| flag_alt           = 
| image_shield       = Escudo de Vieques, Puerto Rico.svg
| shield_alt         = 
| nicknames          = ''"Isla Nena", "Isabel Segunda"''
| motto              = 
| anthem             = 
| image_map          = Locator-map-Puerto-Rico-Vieques.svg
| mapsize            = 300px
| map_alt            = 
| map_caption        = Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Vieques Municipality
| coordinates        = {{coord|18|07|N|65|25|W|region:US-PR|display=inline,title}}
| coor_pinpoint      = 
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| subdivision_type   = [[Sovereign state]]
| subdivision_name   = {{flag|United States}}
| subdivision_type1  = [[Commonwealth (United States insular area)|Commonwealth]]
| subdivision_name1  = {{flag|Puerto Rico}}
| established_title  = Indigenous settlement
| established_date   = 3000 – 2000 BCE
| established_title1 = Spanish settlement
| established_date1  = 1811
| established_title2 = [[Isabel II barrio-pueblo|Isabel II]] founded
| established_date2  = 1843 – 1852
| established_title3 = Municipality founded
| established_date3  = July 1, 1875
| founder            = [[Teófilo José Jaime María Le Guillou]]
| parts_type         = [[Barrios of Puerto Rico|Barrios]]
| parts              = 8 barrios
| p1                 = [[Isabel II barrio-pueblo]]
| p2                 = [[Florida, Vieques, Puerto Rico|Florida]]
| p3                 = [[Llave]]
| p4                 = [[Mosquito, Vieques, Puerto Rico|Mosquito]]
| p5                 = [[Puerto Diablo]]
| p6                 = [[Puerto Ferro]]
| p7                 = [[Puerto Real, Vieques, Puerto Rico|Puerto Real]]
| p8                 = [[Punta Arenas, Vieques, Puerto Rico|Punta Arenas]]
| seat_type          = 
| seat               = 
| government_footnotes = 
| leader_party       = [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|PNP]]
| leader_title       = Mayor
| leader_name        = José (Junito) Corcino Acevedo
| leader_title1      = Senatorial District
| leader_name1       = [[Puerto Rico Senatorial district VIII|8 – Carolina]]
| leader_title2      = Representative District
| leader_name2       = 36
| area_footnotes     = <ref>{{cite web |title=Vieques Island |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Vieques-Island |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=March 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722215614/https://www.britannica.com/place/Vieques-Island |archive-date=July 22, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_total_km2     = 135
| area_land_km2      = 
| area_water_km2     = 
| area_water_percent = 
| area_note          = 
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m        = 
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web|title=PUERTO RICO: 2020 Census|url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/puerto-rico-population-change-between-census-decade.html|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=The United States Census Bureau|language=EN-US}}</ref>
| population_total   = 8249
| population_as_of   = 2020
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym = Viequense
| population_note    = 
| demographics_type1 = [[Racial group]]s
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="2000 Decennial Profiles">{{cite web |url=http://www.topuertorico.org/pdf/2kh72.pdf |title=2000 Decennial Profiles: Vieques Municipio, Puerto Rico |page=76 |publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]] |date=May 2001 |access-date=June 13, 2011 |via=Welcome.toPuertoRico.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216013103/http://www.topuertorico.org/pdf/2kh72.pdf |archive-date=February 16, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| demographics1_title1 = [[White people|White]]
| demographics1_info1 = 48.7%
| demographics1_title2 = [[Black people|Black]]
| demographics1_info2 = 38.1%
| demographics1_title3 = [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]]/[[Alaska Native|AN]]
| demographics1_info3 = 0.4%
| demographics1_title4 = [[Asian people|Asian]]<br />-&nbsp;[[Native Hawaiian]]/[[Pacific Islander|Pi]]
| demographics1_info4 = 0.6%<br />0.8%
| demographics1_title5 = Other<br />Two or more races
| demographics1_info5 = 8.8%<br />3.4%
| timezone1          = [[Atlantic Standard Time|AST]]
| utc_offset1        = −4
| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP Code]]
| postal_code        = 00765
| area_code          = [[Telephone numbers in Puerto Rico|787/939]]
| blank_name_sec1    = [[List of highways in Puerto Rico|Major routes]]
| blank_info_sec1    = [[File:Ellipse sign 200.svg|31px|link=Puerto Rico Highway 200]] [[File:Ellipse sign 201.svg|31px|link=Puerto Rico Highway 201]]
| website            = 
| footnotes          = 
| population_rank    = [[Municipalities of Puerto Rico|76th]] in Puerto Rico
}}

'''Vieques''' ({{IPAc-en|v|i|ˈ|eɪ|k|ə|s|audio=En-us-Vieques from Puerto Rico pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg}}; {{IPA|es|ˈbjekes}}), officially '''Isla de Vieques''', is an island, [[Culebra barrio-pueblo|town]] and [[Municipalities of Puerto Rico|municipality]] of [[Puerto Rico]], and together with [[Culebra, Puerto Rico|Culebra]], it is geographically part of the [[Spanish Virgin Islands]]. Vieques lies about {{convert|8|mi|km|0}} east of the [[Geography of Puerto Rico|mainland of Puerto Rico]], measuring about {{convert|20|mi|km|0}} long and {{convert|4.5|mi|km|0}} wide. Its most populated [[barrio]] is the town of [[Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico|Isabel Segunda]] (or "Isabel the Second", sometimes written "Isabel II"), the administrative center located on the northern side of the island. The population of Vieques was 8,249 at the 2020 Census.

The island's name is a Spanish spelling of a [[Taíno language|Taíno]] word said to mean "small island" or "small land". It also has the nickname ''Isla Nena'', usually translated as "girl island" or "little girl island", alluding to its perception as Puerto Rico's little sister. The island was given this name by the Puerto Rican poet [[Luis Llorens Torres|Luís Lloréns Torres]]. During the [[British colonization of the Americas|British colonial]] period, its name was '''Crab Island'''.

Vieques is best known internationally as the site of a [[United States Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico|series of protests]], held against the [[United States Navy]]'s use of the island as a [[bombing range]] and testing-ground, leading to the Navy's departure in 2003.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Canedy|first=Dana|date=May 2, 2003|title=Navy Leaves a Battered Island, and Puerto Ricans Cheer|language=|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/02/us/navy-leaves-a-battered-island-and-puerto-ricans-cheer.html|access-date=July 10, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Today, the former navy lands are a [[Vieques National Wildlife Refuge|national wildlife refuge]]; some of it is open to the public, but much remains closed off due to biological or chemical contamination or [[unexploded ordnance]] that the military is, slowly, cleaning up.<ref>{{Cite web|agency=Associated Press|title=Puerto Rico cleanup by U.S. military will take more than a decade|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/puerto-rico-cleanup-us-military-will-take-decade-rcna529|access-date=July 10, 2021|website=[[NBC]]|language=}}</ref>

Some of the most beautiful beaches on the island are on the eastern end (former site of the Marine Base) that the Navy named Red Beach, [[Blue Beach (Vieques)|Blue Beach]], [[Caracas Beach (Vieques)|Caracas Beach]], Pata Prieta Beach, La Chiva Beach, and Plata Beach. At the far western tip (formerly the Navy Base) is [[Punta Arenas, Vieques, Puerto Rico|Punta Arenas]], which the Navy named 'Green Beach'. The beaches are commonly listed among the top in the [[Caribbean]] for their azure waters and white sands.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=February 16, 2016|title=The 50 best beaches in the world|url=http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/feb/16/50-best-beaches-in-the-world|access-date=July 10, 2021|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=en}}</ref>

==History==
===Pre-Columbian history===
Archaeological evidence suggests that Vieques was first inhabited by ancient Indigenous peoples of the Americas who traveled mostly from South America perhaps between 3000 BCE and 2000 BCE. Estimates of these prehistoric dates of inhabitation vary widely. These tribes had a [[Stone Age]] culture and were probably fishermen and [[hunter-gatherer]]s.

Excavations at the [[Puerto Ferro]] site by Luis Chanlatte and Yvonne Narganes<ref>{{cite journal |title=Current Research |date=January 1992 |journal=[[American Antiquity]] |volume=57 |number=1 |pages=146–163 |doi=10.1017/S0002731600051222|s2cid=245677814 }}</ref> uncovered a fragmented human skeleton in a large hearth area. Radiocarbon dating of shells found in the hearth indicate a burial date of c. 1900 BCE. This skeleton, popularly known as ''El Hombre de Puerto Ferro'', was buried at the center of a group of large boulders near Vieques's south-central coast, approximately one kilometer northwest of the [[Puerto Mosquito|Bioluminescent Bay]]. Linear arrays of smaller stones radiating from the central boulders are apparent at the site today, but their age and reason for placement are unknown.

Further waves of settlement by [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] followed over many centuries. The [[Arawakan languages|Arawak]]-speaking [[Saladoid]] (or [[Igneri]]) people, thought to have originated in modern-day [[Venezuela]], arrived in the region perhaps around 200 BC (estimates vary). These tribes, noted for their pottery, stone carving, and other artifacts, eventually merged with groups from [[Hispaniola]] and [[Cuba]] to form what is now called the [[Taíno people|Taíno]] culture. This culture flourished in the region from around 1000 AD until the arrival of [[European ethnic groups|European]]s in the late 15th century.

===Spanish colonial period===
The European discovery of Vieques is sometimes credited to [[Christopher Columbus]], who landed in [[Puerto Rico]] in 1493. It does not seem to be certain whether Columbus personally visited Vieques, but in any case the island was soon claimed by the Spanish. During the early 16th century Vieques became a center of Taíno rebellion against the European invaders, prompting the Spanish to send armed forces to the island to quell the resistance. The native Taíno population was decimated, and its people either killed, imprisoned or enslaved by the Spanish.<ref name="Historic Resources_UFDC">{{cite journal |url=https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/AA/00/06/19/61/00673/17-25.pdf |title=Historic Resources on the Vieques Naval Reservation and the Historical Development of Vieques Island, Puerto Rico |first1=Michael A. |last1=Cinquino |first2=Carmine A. |last2=Tronolone |first3=Charles |last3=Vandrei |first4=Gary S. |last4=Vescelius |name-list-style=amp |journal=Proceedings of the 17th Congress for Caribbean Archaeology |date=1997 |pages=376–387 |via=University of Florida Digital Collections |access-date=June 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626221350/https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/AA/00/06/19/61/00673/17-25.pdf |archive-date=June 26, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Spanish did not, however, permanently colonize Vieques at this time, and for the next 300 years it remained a lawless outpost, frequented by [[Piracy|pirates]] and outlaws. As European powers fought for control in the region, a series of attempts by the [[French colonization of the Americas|French]], [[British colonization of the Americas|English]] and [[Danish colonization of the Americas|Danish]] to colonize the island in the 17th and 18th centuries were repulsed by the Spanish.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Spanish took steps to permanently settle and secure the island. In 1811, Don Salvador Meléndez, then governor of Puerto Rico, sent military commander Juan Rosselló to begin what would become the annexation of Vieques by the Puerto Ricans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mullenneaux |first=Lisa |title=Ni Una Bomba Más!: Vieques vs. U.S. Navy |location=New York |publisher=Penington Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-97042-960-5 |page=22}}</ref>

In 1832, under an agreement with the Spanish Puerto Rican administration, Frenchman [[Teófilo José Jaime María Le Guillou]] became Governor of Vieques, and undertook to impose order on the anarchic province. He was instrumental in the establishment of large plantations, marking a period of social and economic change. Le Guillou is now remembered as the ''founder of Vieques'' (though this title is also sometimes conferred on Francisco Saínz, governor from 1843 to 1852, who founded [[Isabel II barrio-pueblo|Isabel Segunda]], the main town in Vieques, named after [[Isabella II of Spain|Queen Isabel II]] of Spain). Vieques was formally annexed to Puerto Rico in 1854.

In 1816, Vieques was briefly visited by [[Simón Bolívar]] when his ship ran aground there while fleeing defeat in Venezuela.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keeling |first=Stephen |title=The Rough Guide to Puerto Rico |publisher=[[Rough Guides]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-85828-354-8 |page=162 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bKWIc9uQd_cC&pg=PA162 |access-date=March 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322194438/http://books.google.com/books?id=bKWIc9uQd_cC&pg=PA162 |archive-date=March 22, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the second part of the 19th century, thousands of slaves of African descent were brought to Vieques to work the [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean|sugarcane plantations]]. They arrived from mainland Puerto Rico and nearby islands of [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]], [[Nevis]], [[Saint Kitts]], [[Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint Croix]], and many other Caribbean islands. Slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico in 1873.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=October 27, 2016|title=Milestones|url=https://viequesinsider.com/milestones/|access-date=July 11, 2021|website=Vieques Insider|language=en-US}}</ref>

===European colonial period===

The island also received considerable attention as a possible colony from [[Scottish colonization of the Americas|Scotland]], and after numerous attempts to buy the island proved unsuccessful, the Scottish fleet, en route to [[Darien scheme|Darien]] in 1698, made landfall and took possession of the island in the name of the [[Company of Scotland|Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and The Indies]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hidalgo |first=Dennis R |date=2001 |title=To Get Rich for Our Homeland: The Company of Scotland and the Colonization of the Isthmus of Darien. |url=https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/clahr/vol10/iss3/2 |journal=Colonial Latin American Historical Review |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=311 |via=UNM University Libraries}}</ref> Scottish sovereignty of the island proved short-lived, as a Danish ship arrived shortly afterward and claimed the island. From 1689 to 1693, the island was controlled by [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] as '''Krabbeninsel''' ([[German language|German]] ''crab island''), where the English name Crab Island came from.

===United States control===
[[File:Vieques, PR.jpg|thumb|Municipio de Vieques plaque]]
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 conducted its first census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Vieques was 6,642 (but this included 704 residents from a nearby island, [[Culebra, Puerto Rico|Culebra]]).<ref name="OfficeSanger1900">{{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/informesobreelc00joangoog|year=1900|publisher=Imprenta del gobierno|page=[https://archive.org/details/informesobreelc00joangoog/page/n255 164]|language=es|access-date=May 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115044918/http://archive.org/details/informesobreelc00joangoog|archive-date=November 15, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1920s and 1930s, the [[sugar industry]], on which Vieques was dependent, went into decline due to falling prices and industrial unrest. Many locals were forced to move to mainland Puerto Rico or [[Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint Croix]] to look for work.

In 1941, while Europe was in the midst of [[World War II]], the [[United States Navy]] purchased or seized almost eighty percent<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vieques Island|url=https://vieques-island.com/|access-date=September 14, 2021|website=Vieques Island|language=en-US}}</ref> of Vieques as an extension to the [[Roosevelt Roads Naval Station]] nearby on the Puerto Rican mainland. It is said that the original purpose of the base (never implemented) was to provide a safe haven for the [[Royal Navy|British fleet]] and the [[British royal family]] should Great Britain fall to [[Nazi Germany]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hulme|first=Peter|date=Winter 1987|title=Islands of Enchantment|journal=[[New Formations: A Journal of Culture, Theory & Politics]]|volume=3}}</ref> This assertion does not match U.S. Navy documents and the obvious fact that Canada's [[Halifax Harbour|Halifax harbor]] would have been a more likely fallback position for the British fleet, with British King [[George VI]] already reigning as King of Canada. The base was however seen as the Atlantic's counterpart of [[Pearl Harbor]] in the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] due to its strategic location. The Naval Station at Roosevelt Roads was a perfect location to defend the strategic approaches to the [[Panama Canal]].

Much of the land was bought from the owners of large farms and sugar cane plantations, and the expropriations triggered the final demise of the sugar industry. Without consulting the local population who had lived and worked there for centuries and protested the expropriations,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Historia de Vieques|url=http://www.vieques-island.com/navy/rabin.html#PARTEII|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222091327/http://www.vieques-island.com/navy/rabin.html#PARTEII|archive-date=February 22, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> the decision to turn it into a bombing range was made in Washington. In a similar way as the [[Chagossians|former population]] of the [[Chagos Archipelago|Chagos Islands]], who were displaced to make way for an Air Force Base in the Indian Ocean in the 1960s, many agricultural workers, who had no formal title to the land they occupied, were evicted and forced to migrate.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/ayala/vieques/Papers/06ayalacentro.pdf |title=From Sugar Plantations to Military Bases: the U.S. Navy's Expropriations in Vieques, Puerto Rico, 1940–45 |last=Ayala |first=César |date=Spring 2001 |journal=Centro: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=22–44 |via=Department of Sociology, UCLA |access-date=July 21, 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227114757/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/ayala/vieques/Papers/06ayalacentro.pdf |archive-date=February 27, 2009}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Vieques tiene historia|url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00062883/00003|access-date=September 14, 2021|website=ufdc.ufl.edu|language=en}}</ref>

For over sixty years, the US military used the island (with a population of over 9000 inhabitants in 1950<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rioz Castro: Vieques y la diaspora|url=http://cie.uprrp.edu/cuaderno/download/numero_26/vol26_09_rioz-castro.pdf}}</ref>) as a live munitions target practice. According to internal Navy documents, bombardments occurred on 180 days out of a year on average. The US military used the highest possible contaminant [[depleted uranium]] (DU) munitions since 1972 on the populated (and full of exotic wildlife) island, at a rate of over 80 live bombs daily for decades.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Contaminación en Vieques|url=http://www.uprh.edu/exegesis/fernandezporto.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The health consequences are felt to this day as the cancer rates are ostensibly higher for the population of Vieques, especially children, than for those on the main island.<ref name=":2" />

After the war, the US Navy continued to use the island for military exercises, and as a firing range and testing ground for [[munitions]].

===Protests and departure of the United States Navy===
{{Main|United States Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico}}
[[File:Radar in Vieques, Puerto Rico.jpg|thumb|Radar in Vieques, Puerto Rico]]
The continuing postwar presence in Vieques of the United States Navy drew protests from the local community, angry at the expropriation of their land and the environmental impact of weapons testing. The locals' discontent was exacerbated by the island's perilous economic condition.
[[File:Fuera la Marina de Vieques Ya, Puerto Rico.jpg|thumb|{{lang|es|Fuera la Marina de Vieques Ya}} (translation: Navy out of Vieques now) sign on structure]]
Protests came to a head in 1999 when Vieques native [[David Sanes]], a civilian employee of the United States Navy, was killed by a jet bomb that the Navy said misfired. Sanes had been working as a security guard. A popular campaign of [[civil disobedience]] resurged; not since the mid-1970s had ''Viequenses'' come together ''en masse'' to protest the target practices.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=te1cUiXUweYC&q=vieques+1970s+cristobal&pg=PA216 |title=Puerto Rico under Colonial Rule: Political Persecution And The Quest For Human Rights |date=June 2006 |editor-first1=Ramón |editor-last1=Bosque-Pérez |editor-first2=José Javier Colón |editor-last2=Morera |location=New York |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-6417-5 |page=216 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The locals took to the ocean in their small fishing boats and successfully stopped the US Navy's military exercises for a short period, until the US Navy and two [[United States Coast Guard|US Coast Guard]] cutters began controlling access to the island and escorting boaters away from Vieques.

On April 27, 2001, the Navy resumed operations and protesting resumed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/205643445/|title=On this date: "Five years ago..."|date=April 27, 2006|page=2|newspaper=Northwest Herald|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> At this point over 600 protesters had already been detained.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Jacobs|first=Andrew|date=April 29, 2001|title=Tiny Island Turns Into a Symbol of Discontent|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/29/us/tiny-island-turns-into-a-symbol-of-discontent.html|access-date=July 11, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The Vieques issue became something of a ''[[cause célèbre]]'', and local protesters were joined by sympathetic groups and prominent individuals from the mainland United States and abroad, including political leaders [[Rubén Berríos]], [[Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.|Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]], [[Al Sharpton]] and [[Rev. Jesse Jackson|Jesse Jackson]], singers [[Danny Rivera]], [[Willie Colón]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/puertorico/quagmire.htm |title=Vieques vigil a quagmire: U.S. pressed on whether to close Navy range |first=James |last=Anderson |date=October 18, 1999 |newspaper=[[Miami Herald]] |access-date=July 21, 2019 |via=Latin American Studies.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321101734/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/puertorico/quagmire.htm |archive-date=March 21, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Ricky Martin]], actors [[Edward James Olmos]] and [[Jimmy Smits]], boxer [[Félix Trinidad|Félix 'Tito' Trinidad]], baseball superstar [[Carlos Delgado]], writers [[Ana Lydia Vega]] and [[Giannina Braschi]], and Guatemala's Nobel Prize winner [[Rigoberta Menchú]]. Kennedy's son, Aidan Caohman "Vieques" Kennedy,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2001-07-28-0107280098-story.html |title=Newest Kennedy A Vieques Namesake |date=July 28, 2001 |newspaper=[[South Florida Sun-Sentinel]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130110203/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2001-07-28-0107280098-story.html |archive-date=January 30, 2019}}</ref> was born while his father served jail time in Puerto Rico for his role in the protests. The problems arising from the US Navy base have also featured in songs by various musicians, including Puerto Rican rock band [[Puya (band)|Puya]], rapper [[Immortal Technique]] and [[reggaeton]] artist [[Tego Calderón]]. In popular culture, one [[subplot]] of "[[The Two Bartlets]]" episode of [[The West Wing]] dealt with a protest on the bombing range led by a friend of [[White House Deputy Chief of Staff]] [[Josh Lyman]]; the character was modeled on future West Wing star [[Jimmy Smits]], a native of Puerto Rico who was repeatedly arrested for leading protests there.

As a result of this pressure, in May 2003 the Navy withdrew from Vieques, and much of the island was designated a [[National Wildlife Refuge]] under the control of the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]].<ref name=":0" /> The island was also placed on the [[National Priorities List]] (NPL), the list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for long-term remedial action (cleanup) financed by the federal Superfund program. Closure of [[Roosevelt Roads Naval Station]] followed in 2004, and prior to [[Hurricane Maria]] the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station was reopened.

A report by the Government Accountability Office was published in 2021 and estimated there were "8 million items of material potentially presenting an explosive hazard, and approximately 109,000 munitions items: 41,000 projectiles; 32,000 bombs; 4,700 mortars; 1,300 rockets; 18,000 submunitions; and 12,000 grenades, flares, pyrotechnics, and other munitions" that had been removed from the testing site, and that further cleanup was expected to continue by 2032.<ref>{{cite report |date= March 26, 2021 |title= Defense Cleanup: Efforts at Former Military Sites on Vieques and Culebra, Puerto Rico, Are Expected to Continue through 2032|url= https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-268.pdf |publisher= United States Government Accountability Office |page= 15-16 |docket= GAO-21-268 |access-date= December 25, 2024|quote=}}</ref>

===Hurricane Maria and rebuilding efforts===
[[File:Mangroves in Vieques, Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria 2017.jpg|thumb|Mangroves in Vieques, where electrical power lines were destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017]]
Puerto Rico was struck by [[Hurricane Maria]] on September 20, 2017, and the storm caused widespread devastation and a near-total shutdown of the island's tourism-based economy. The largest hotel on the island, ''The W,'' has not reopened since the storm, but most smaller hotels, bed and breakfasts, and Airbnb operators have resumed operations.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/28/us/vieques-cut-off-after-hurricane-maria/index.html |title=Islanders cut off from world: 'We've lost everything' |first=Bill |last=Weir |date=September 28, 2017 |website=[[CNN]] |access-date=July 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029025228/https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/28/us/vieques-cut-off-after-hurricane-maria/index.html |archive-date=October 29, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

As of December 2019, the [[Susana Centeno Hospital]] in Vieques had not been repaired and remained shuttered. Expectant mothers had to travel to the main island of Puerto Rico to give birth. People needing dialysis had to travel to the main island. In November 2018, a mobile dialysis machine was delivered to a temporary clinic.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/07/us/puerto-rico-trump-vieques.html |title=Hunger and an 'Abandoned' Hospital: Puerto Rico Waits as Washington Bickers |first=Patricia |last=Mazzei |date=April 7, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=July 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725172747/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/07/us/puerto-rico-trump-vieques.html |archive-date=July 25, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On January 21, 2020, the [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA) approved $39.5&nbsp;million to help rebuild its only hospital after damage caused by Hurricane Maria. FEMA approved the funding after the [[Office of Management and Budget]] agreed to provide money to rebuild the Susan Centeno community health center based on its "replacement value."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Uria |first=Daniel |date=January 21, 2020 |title=FEMA approves funds to rebuild hospital on Puerto Rican island |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/01/21/FEMA-approves-funds-to-rebuild-hospital-on-Puerto-Rican-island/5001579648472/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303205841/https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/01/21/FEMA-approves-funds-to-rebuild-hospital-on-Puerto-Rican-island/5001579648472/ |archive-date=March 3, 2020 |access-date=March 3, 2020 |website=UPI}}</ref>

The family of Jaideliz Moreno Ventura, 13, whose 2020 death was blamed on the lack of a functioning hospital and lifesaving medical equipment in Vieques, is suing the government for violation of human and civil rights. Funds for rebuilding the hospital were approved two weeks after Jaideliz's death.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Acevedo |first1=Nicole |title=Family of teen who died in Vieques, with no hospital since hurricane, sues Puerto Rico officials |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/family-teen-who-died-vieques-no-hospital-hurricane-sues-puerto-n1256219 |access-date=January 31, 2021 |work=NBC News |date=January 31, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

While [[Pedro Pierluisi|Governor Pedro Pierluisi]] expected construction to begin on the hospital rebuild in 2022,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Journal |first=Maricarmen Rivera Sánchez, The Weekly |title=Gov't: Vieques to Have New Hospital by Mid-2024 |url=https://www.theweeklyjournal.com/online_features/govt-vieques-to-have-new-hospital-by-mid-2024/article_2acfda32-013c-11ec-ac6f-e79d10397f83.html |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=The Weekly Journal |language=en}}</ref> it was delayed until 2023 with the holdup blamed on both construction complications on the island and further bureaucratic procedures by [[Federal Emergency Management Agency|FEMA]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=BNamericas - Puerto Rico puts out to tender new hospital ... |url=https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/puerto-rico-puts-out-to-tender-new-hospital-construction |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=BNamericas.com |language=en}}</ref>  As of November 2024, construction was not yet complete.

==Government==
[[File:Casa Alcaldía Isabel Segunda, Vieques PR.jpg|thumb|200px|left|[[Casa Alcaldía de Vieques|Casa Alcaldía]] (City Hall), Isabel Segunda]]
{{See also|Government of Puerto Rico}}

Vieques is a [[Municipalities of Puerto Rico|municipio of Puerto Rico]], translated as "municipality" and in this context roughly equivalent to "township". All municipalities in Puerto Rico are administered by a mayor, elected every four years. The current mayor of Vieques is [[José "Junito" Corcino Acevedo]], of the [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|New Progressive Party]] (PNP). He was first elected at the [[Puerto Rican general election, 2020|2020 general elections]].

The city belongs to the [[Puerto Rico Senatorial district VIII]], which is represented by two Senators. In 2024, [[Marissa Jiménez]] and [[Héctor Joaquín Sánchez Álvarez]] were elected as District Senators.<ref>[https://elecciones2024.ceepur.org/Escrutinio_General_121/index.html#es/default/SENADORES_POR_DISTRITO_Carolina_VIII.xml Elecciones Generales 2024: Escrutinio General] {{webarchive|url=https://elecciones2024.ceepur.org/Escrutinio_General_121/index.html#es/default/SENADORES_POR_DISTRITO_Carolina_VIII.xml |date=2024-12-30 }} on CEEPUR</ref>
{{clear}}

===Barrios===
[[File:Vieques Barrios.jpg|thumb|500px|Topographic Map of Vieques, 1951<br />with ''[[Barrios of Puerto Rico|barrios]]'']]
Vieques is divided into eight [[Barrios of Puerto Rico|barrios]], including the downtown barrio called Isabel Segunda.<ref name="Law2015">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nXCeCQAAQBAJ |last=Law |first=Gwillim |title=Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: A Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 through 1998 |page=300 |date=May 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0447-3 |access-date=December 25, 2018 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="US2010Census" />

{{Table alignment}}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders defaultright col5right"
|+ Population and Area Statistics of Vieques Barrios
|- 
! scope="col" | ''Barrio''
! scope="col" | {{nowrap|Area (m<sup>2</sup>)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-state=dt&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-tree_id=4001&-transpose=N&-redoLog=true&-all_geo_types=N&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=06000US7214728953&-geo_id=06000US7214736564&-geo_id=06000US7214746196&-geo_id=06000US7214755312&-geo_id=06000US7214765331&-geo_id=06000US7214765374&-geo_id=06000US7214765675&-geo_id=06000US7214766148&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en&-show_geoid=Y |title=Total Population: Florida barrio, Vieques Municipio, Puerto Rico |website=American Factfinder |access-date=August 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212034111/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-state=dt&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-tree_id=4001&-transpose=N&-redoLog=true&-all_geo_types=N&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=06000US7214728953&-geo_id=06000US7214736564&-geo_id=06000US7214746196&-geo_id=06000US7214755312&-geo_id=06000US7214765331&-geo_id=06000US7214765374&-geo_id=06000US7214765675&-geo_id=06000US7214766148&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en&-show_geoid=Y |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}
! scope="col" | Population<br />{{nowrap|<small>(census 2000)</small>}}
! scope="col" | Density
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | [[List of cays and islets of Puerto Rico|Cays and islets]]
|-
! scope="row" | [[Isabel II barrio-pueblo]]
| 696997 || 1459|| 2093.3||—
|-
! scope="row" | [[Florida, Vieques, Puerto Rico|Florida]]
| 11553856 || 4126|| 357.1||—
|-
! scope="row" | [[Llave]]
| 15420815 || 8|| 0.5||—
|-
! scope="row" | [[Mosquito, Vieques, Puerto Rico|Mosquito]]
| 6279364 || 0|| 0.0||—
|-
! scope="row" | [[Puerto Diablo]]
| 45323702 || 984|| 21.7||Roca Cucaracha, Isla Yallis, Roca Alcatraz, Cayo Conejo, Cayo Jalovita, Cayo Jalova
|-
! scope="row" | [[Puerto Ferro]]
| 21199791 || 856|| 40.4||Isla Chiva, Cayo Chiva
|-
! scope="row" | [[Puerto Real, Vieques, Puerto Rico|Puerto Real]]
| 19943599 || 1673|| 83.9||Cayo de Tierra, Cayo de Afuera (Cayo Real)
|-
! scope="row" | [[Punta Arenas, Vieques, Puerto Rico|Punta Arenas]]
| 11227244 || 0|| 0.0||—
|- style="background:#EAECF0; font-weight:bold;" class="sortbottom"
! scope="row" style="background:#EAECF0; font-weight:bold;" | Vieques
| 131645368 || 9106 || 69.2||&nbsp;
|}
<!--where is this list from? there are eight barrios, see above, according to all sources
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
#Monte Santo neighborhood(in Florida barrio)
#Colonia Luján (in Puerto Ferro barrio)
#Destino (in Puerto Real barrio)
#Esperanza (in Puerto Real barrio)
#Martineau Bay and Resort Spa (in Isabela Segundo – barrio pueblo)
#Pilón (= Quebrada Pilón, in Puerto Real barrio?)
#Villa Borinquen
#Monte Carmelo
#Verde Vieques
{{div col end}}

These are often referred to as "[[barrio]]s", though this term is also applied to various other sublocalities and townships on the island.
-->

===Sectors===
{{Further|List of barrios and sectors of Vieques, Puerto Rico}}
Barrios (which are like [[minor civil divisions]])<ref name="Barrio-Pueblo">{{cite web |title=US Census Barrio-Pueblo definition |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/barrio.htm |website=factfinder.com |publisher=US Census |access-date=January 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513190743/https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/barrio.htm |archive-date=May 13, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> are further subdivided into smaller areas called {{lang|es|sectores}} (''sectors'' in English). The types of ''sectores'' may vary, from normally ''sector'' to ''urbanización'' to ''reparto'' to ''barriada'' to ''residencial'', among others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presupuesto.pr.gov/Presupuesto2015-2016/PresupuestosAgencias/229.htm|title=Agencia: Oficina del Coordinador General para el Financiamiento Socioeconómico y la Autogestión (Proposed 2016 Budget)|website=Puerto Rico Budgets|language=es|access-date=June 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628234856/http://www.presupuesto.pr.gov/Presupuesto2015-2016/PresupuestosAgencias/229.htm|archive-date=June 28, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | author1=Rivera Quintero, Marcia | title=El vuelo de la esperanza: Proyecto de las Comunidades Especiales Puerto Rico, 1997–2004 | date=2014 | publisher=San Juan, Puerto Rico Fundación Sila M. Calderón | edition=first | isbn=978-0-9820806-1-0 }}</ref><ref name="Law 1-2001">{{cite web|url=http://www.lexjuris.com/lexlex/Leyes2001/lex2001001.htm|title=Leyes del 2001|website=Lex Juris Puerto Rico|language=es|access-date=June 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914224408/http://www.lexjuris.com/lexlex/Leyes2001/lex2001001.htm|archive-date=September 14, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Special Communities===
{{main|Puerto Rico Office for Socioeconomic and Community Development}}
{{lang|es|Comunidades Especiales de Puerto Rico}} (Special Communities of Puerto Rico) are marginalized communities whose citizens are experiencing a certain amount of [[social exclusion]]. A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of the commonwealth. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Vieques: Sector Gobeo in Barrio Florida, Bravos de Boston, 
Jagüeyes, Monte Carmelo, Pozo Prieto (Monte Santo) and Villa Borinquén.<ref>{{Citation|author1=Rivera Quintero, Marcia|title=El vuelo de la esperanza:Proyecto de las Comunidades Especiales Puerto Rico, 1997–2004|date=2014| publisher=San Juan, Puerto Rico Fundación Sila M. Calderón| edition=Primera edición|page=273|isbn=978-0-9820806-1-0}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Sub-tropical dry forest vieques.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Sub-tropical dry forest on Vieques]]
Vieques measures about {{convert|21|mi|km}} east-west, and three to {{convert|4|mi|km|spell=in}} north-south. It has a land area of {{convert|52|sqmi|km2}} and is located about {{convert|10|mi|km|spell=in}} to the east of Puerto Rico. To the north of Vieques is the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south, the [[Caribbean Sea|Caribbean]]. The island of [[Culebra, Puerto Rico|Culebra]] is about {{convert|10|mi|km}} north of Vieques, and the [[United States Virgin Islands]] lie to the east. Vieques and Culebra, together with various small islets, make up the [[Spanish Virgin Islands]], sometimes known as the Passage Islands.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}}<ref name="PR_Ency">{{cite web |url=https://enciclopediapr.org/en/encyclopedia/vieques-municipality/ |title=Vieques Municipality|publisher=Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades (FPH)|website=enciclopediapr.org|access-date=July 21, 2019}}</ref>

The former US Navy lands, now wildlife reserves, occupy the entire eastern and western ends of Vieques, with the former live weapons testing site (known as the "LIA", or "Live Impact Area") at the extreme eastern tip.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McCaffrey |first=Katherine T. |chapter=Environmental Struggle After the Cold War: New Forms of Resistance to the U.S. Military in Vieques, Puerto Rico |editor-last=Lutz |editor-first=Catherine |title=Bases of Empire: The Global Struggle Against U.S. Military Posts |publisher=New York University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-81475-243-2}}</ref> These areas are unpopulated. The former civilian area occupies very roughly the central third of the island and contains the towns of [[Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico|Isabel Segunda]] on the north coast, and [[Esperanza, Puerto Rico|Esperanza]] on the south.

Vieques has a terrain of rolling hills, with a central ridge running east–west. The highest point is [[Monte Pirata (Vieques)|Monte Pirata]] at {{convert|987|ft|m}}. Geologically the island is composed of a mixture of [[volcanic rock|volcanic]] [[bedrock]], [[sedimentary rock]]s such as [[limestone]] and [[sandstone]], and [[Alluvium|alluvial deposits]] of gravel, sand, silt, and clay. There are no permanent rivers or streams. Much former agricultural land has been reclaimed by nature due to prolonged disuse, and, apart from some small-scale farming in the central region, the island is largely covered by brush and [[Puerto Rican dry forests|subtropical dry forest]]. Around the coast lie palm-fringed sandy beaches interspersed with lagoons, [[mangrove|mangrove swamps]], [[Salt pan (geology)|salt flat]]s and [[coral reef]]s.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}}

A series of nearshore islets and rocks are part of the municipality of Vieques, clockwise starting at the northernmost:
*Roca Cucaracha (a rock of less than five meters in diameter)
*Isla Yallis <!-- Block 1010, Block Group 1, Census Tract 9501-->
*Roca Alcatraz <!-- Block 1009, Block Group 1, Census Tract 9501-->
*Cayo Conejo <!-- Block 1009, Block Group 1, Census Tract 9501-->
*Cayo Jalovita <!-- Block 1006, Block Group 1, Census Tract 9501-->
*Cayo Jalova <!-- Block 1006, Block Group 1, Census Tract 9501-->
*Isla Chiva <!-- Block 1004, Block Group 1, Census Tract 9501-->
*Cayo Chiva <!-- Block 1003, Block Group 1, Census Tract 9501 (part, one of four)-->
*Cayo de Tierra
*Cayo de Afuera (Cayo Real)

===Bioluminescent Bay===
[[File:Mosquito bay, Bioluminescent bay, Vieques - panoramio (3).jpg|thumb|Bioluminescent Bay at night]]
[[File:Kayaking in the Bioluminescent Bay Vieques.webm|thumb|thumbtime=55|Kayaking in [[#Bioluminescent Bay|the Bioluminescent Bay]], Vieques, Puerto Rico]]{{Main|Puerto Mosquito}}
The Vieques [[bioluminescence|Bioluminescent]] Bay (also known as ''Puerto Mosquito'', ''Mosquito Bay'', or ''"The Bio Bay"''), was declared the "Brightest bioluminescent bay" in the world by [[Guinness World Records]] in 2006,<ref>{{cite web |title=Brightest bioluminescent bay |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/brightest-bioluminescent-bay |website=Guinness World Records |date=2006}}</ref> and is listed as a [[national natural landmark]], one of [[List of National Natural Landmarks in Puerto Rico|five in Puerto Rico]]. The luminescence in the bay is caused by a [[microorganism]], the [[dinoflagellate]] ''[[Pyrodinium bahamense]]'', which glows whenever the water is disturbed, leaving a trail of neon blue.

A combination of factors creates the necessary conditions for bioluminescence: [[Rhizophora mangle|red mangrove]] trees surround the water (the organisms have been related to mangrove forests<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Physiology and dynamics of the tropical dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense |last1=Usup |first1=Gires |last2=Azanza |first2=Rhodora V. |date=1998 |editor1-first=Donald M. |editor1-last=Anderson |editor2-first=Allan D. |editor2-last=Cembella |editor3-first=Gustaaf M. |editor3-last=Hallegraeff |title=The Physiological Ecology of Harmful Algal Blooms |pages=81–94 |series=NATO ASI Series G, Ecological sciences no. 41. |location=Berlin |publisher=[[Springer-Verlag]] |isbn=978-3-54064-117-9}}</ref> although mangrove is not necessarily associated with this species<ref>{{cite journal |title=Factors affecting the distribution of Pyrodinium bahamense var. bahamense in coastal waters of Florida |last1=Phlips |first1=E. J. |last2=Badylak |first2=S. |last3=Bledsoe |first3=E. |last4=Cichra |first4=M. |date=2006 |journal=[[Marine Ecology Progress Series]] |volume=322 |pages=99–115 |doi=10.3354/meps322099|bibcode=2006MEPS..322...99P |doi-access=free }}</ref>); a complete lack of modern development around the bay; the water is warm enough and deep enough; and a small channel to the ocean keeps the [[dinoflagellate]]s in the bay. This small channel was created artificially, the result of attempts by the occupants of Spanish ships to choke off the bay from the ocean. The Spanish believed that the bioluminescence they encountered there while first exploring the area was the work of the [[devil]] and tried to block ocean water from entering the bay by dropping huge boulders in the channel.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} The Spanish only succeeded in preserving and increasing the luminescence in the now isolated bay.

[[Kayaking]] is permitted in the bay and may be arranged through local vendors.

===Climate===
Vieques has a warm, relatively dry, tropical climate. Temperatures vary little throughout the year, with average daily maxima ranging from {{convert|84.7|°F|°C|abbr=on}} in January to {{convert|89.9|°F|°C|abbr=on}} in September. Average daily minima are about 18&nbsp;°F or 6&nbsp;°C lower. Rainfall averages around {{convert|40|to|45|in|mm|abbr=off}} per year, with the month of September being the wettest. The west of the island receives significantly more rainfall than the east. Prevailing winds are easterly.

Vieques is prone to [[tropical storm]]s and at risk from [[hurricane]]s from June to November. In 1989, [[Hurricane Hugo]] caused considerable damage to the island,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://marine.usgs.gov/fact-sheets/prstorm/prstorm.html |title=High-Energy Storms Shape Puerto Rico |website=U.S. Geological Survey |date=May 16, 1996 |access-date=June 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017155543/http://marine.usgs.gov/fact-sheets/prstorm/prstorm.html |archive-date=October 17, 2011}}</ref> and in 2017, [[Hurricane Maria]] also caused major damage.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/12/22/571950669/puerto-rican-island-still-in-crisis-mode-3-months-after-maria |title=Puerto Rican Island 'Still In Crisis Mode' 3 Months After Maria |website=National Public Radio |date=December 22, 2017 |access-date=December 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229033217/https://www.npr.org/2017/12/22/571950669/puerto-rican-island-still-in-crisis-mode-3-months-after-maria |archive-date=December 29, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Weather box
|location = Vieques Island, Puerto Rico (1955–1976 normals, extremes 1955–1976)
|single line = Y
| Jan high F = 84.7
| Feb high F = 85.2
| Mar high F = 86.4
| Apr high F = 87.5
| May high F = 88.4
| Jun high F = 89.4
| Jul high F = 89.6
| Aug high F = 89.7
| Sep high F = 89.9
| Oct high F = 89.3
| Nov high F = 87.9
| Dec high F = 85.7
|year high F = 87.8
| Jan low F = 66.9
| Feb low F = 66.6
| Mar low F = 67.0
| Apr low F = 68.1
| May low F = 70.4
| Jun low F = 71.7
| Jul low F = 71.6
| Aug low F = 71.7
| Sep low F = 71.5
| Oct low F = 70.9
| Nov low F = 69.5
| Dec low F = 67.8
|year low F = 69.5
|Jan record high F = 90
|Feb record high F = 90
|Mar record high F = 92
|Apr record high F = 95
|May record high F = 93
|Jun record high F = 94
|Jul record high F = 93
|Aug record high F = 94
|Sep record high F = 95
|Oct record high F = 94
|Nov record high F = 94
|Dec record high F = 90
|year record high F= 95
|Jan record low F = 55
|Feb record low F = 52
|Mar record low F = 54
|Apr record low F = 56
|May record low F = 59
|Jun record low F = 59
|Jul record low F = 60
|Aug record low F = 63
|Sep record low F = 63
|Oct record low F = 60
|Nov record low F = 61
|Dec record low F = 57
|year record low F = 52
| Jan precipitation inch = 2.74
| Feb precipitation inch = 1.29
| Mar precipitation inch = 1.31
| Apr precipitation inch = 2.30
| May precipitation inch = 4.40
| Jun precipitation inch = 3.22
| Jul precipitation inch = 3.16
| Aug precipitation inch = 5.02
| Sep precipitation inch = 5.25
| Oct precipitation inch = 5.00
| Nov precipitation inch = 4.98
| Dec precipitation inch = 3.39
|year precipitation inch = 42.06
|precipitation colour = green
| unit rain days = 0.01 in
| Jan rain days = 
| Feb rain days = 
| Mar rain days = 
| Apr rain days = 
| May rain days = 
| Jun rain days = 
| Jul rain days = 
| Aug rain days = 
| Sep rain days = 
| Oct rain days = 
| Nov rain days = 
| Dec rain days = 
| year rain days = 
|source 1 = Western Regional Climate Center<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?pr9763
| title = VIEQUES ISLAND, PUERTO RICO
| publisher = Western Regional Climate Center
| access-date = May 21, 2020
}}</ref>
}}

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
| 1900= 5938
| 1910= 10425
| 1920= 11651
| 1930= 10582
| 1940= 10362
| 1950= 9228
| 1960= 7210
| 1970= 7767
| 1980= 7662
| 1990= 8602
| 2000= 9106
| 2010= 9301
|estyear=
|estimate= 
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2016">{{cite web|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml|title=Population and Housing Unit Estimates|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108154236/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml|archive-date=January 8, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/PEP/2016/PEPANNRES/0500000US72005|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 21, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426102944/http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|archive-date=April 26, 2015}}</ref><br />1899 (shown as 1900)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/reportoncensusof00unitiala#page/n245/mode/2up|title=Report of the Census of Porto Rico 1899|publisher=War Department Office Director Census of Porto Rico|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716033905/https://archive.org/stream/reportoncensusof00unitiala#page/n245/mode/2up|archive-date=July 16, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> 1910–1930<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/00476569ch4.pdf|title=Table 3-Population of Municipalities: 1930 1920 and 1910|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817181600/https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/00476569ch4.pdf|archive-date=August 17, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><br />1930–1950<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/23761117v1ch12.pdf|title=Table 4-Area and Population of Municipalities Urban and Rural: 1930 to 1950|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150830033735/http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/23761117v1ch12.pdf|archive-date=August 30, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> 1960–2000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc-3-53-eng.pdf|title=Table 2 Population and Housing Units: 1960 to 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724061852/https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc-3-53-eng.pdf|archive-date=July 24, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> 2010<ref name= "US2010Census">{{cite book|title=Puerto Rico:2010:population and housing unit counts.pdf|url=https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo35934/cph-2-53.pdf|year=2010|publisher=U.S. Dept. of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=December 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220183043/https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo35934/cph-2-53.pdf|archive-date=February 20, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
2020<ref>{{Cite web|title=PUERTO RICO: 2020 Census|url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/puerto-rico-population-change-between-census-decade.html|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=The United States Census Bureau|language=EN-US}}</ref>|2020=8249}}

===2020===
According to the 2020 Census, Vieques is the third-least populous municipality (after [[Maricao]] and [[Culebra, Puerto Rico|Culebra]]) with a population of 8,249.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=April 28, 2004|title=Census of Population and Housing, 2000 [United States]: Summary File 4, Puerto Rico|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/icpsr13563.v1|access-date=August 26, 2021|website=ICPSR Data Holdings|doi=10.3886/icpsr13563.v1}}</ref>

8.0% of the population is of non-Hispanic origin, making it the second-least Hispanic municipality in Puerto Rico after [[Culebra, Puerto Rico|Culebra]]. This represents an increase from 2010, when only 5.7% of the population was non-Hispanic.<ref>{{Cite web|title=PUERTO RICO: 2020 Census|url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/puerto-rico-population-change-between-census-decade.html|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=The United States Census Bureau|language=EN-US}}</ref>

===2010===
The 2010 US census,<ref name="census" /> showed the total population of Vieques was 9,301. 94.3% of the population are [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (of any race). Natives of Vieques are known as {{lang|es|Viequenses}}.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan=3|Self-defined race 2010<ref name="Ethnicity 2010 census">{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP3&prodType=table |title=Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin |website=American FactFinder |access-date=July 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330044211/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP3&prodType=table |archive-date=March 30, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
! Race
! Population
! % of population 
|-
| '''[[White Puerto Ricans|White]]'''||5,456||48.7
|-
| '''[[Afro-Puerto Rican|Black]]'''||2,617||38.1
|-
| '''[[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] <br />and [[Alaska Native]]'''||62||0.7
|-
| '''[[Asian people|Asian]]'''||6||0.1
|-
| '''[[Native Hawaiian]]<br />[[Pacific Islander]]'''||0||0
|-
| '''Some other race'''||688||7.4
|-
| '''Two or more races'''||309||3.4
|}

===Language===
Both [[Puerto Rican Spanish|Spanish]] and [[American English|English]] are recognized as official languages. Spanish is the primary language of most inhabitants.

==Economy==
The [[sugar industry]], once the mainstay of the island's economy, declined during the early 20th century, and finally collapsed in the 1940s when the US Navy took over much of the land on which the sugar cane plantations stood. After an initial naval construction phase, opportunities to make a living on the island were increased to include not only fishing or subsistence farming, but also Naval jobs. Crops grown on the island include [[avocado]]s, bananas, [[coconut]]s, grains, [[papaya]]s and [[sweet potato]]es. A number of permanent local jobs were provided by the US Navy, and their economy benefited. Starting in the 1970s [[General Electric]] had employed a few hundred workers at a manufacturing plant but that plant subsequently closed.  Unemployment was widespread, with consequent social problems. The 2000 US census reported a median household income in 1999 dollars of $9,331 (compared to $41,994 for the US as a whole), and 35.8% of the population of 16 years and over in the labor force (compared to 63.9% for the US as a whole).<ref name=census>{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=&geo_id=05000US72147&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US72%7C05000US72147&_street=&_county=vieques&_cityTown=vieques&_state=&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=050&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry= |title=Population of Vieques Municipio, Puerto Rico |website=American FactFinder |access-date=April 17, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109102757/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=&geo_id=05000US72147&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US72%7C05000US72147&_street=&_county=vieques&_cityTown=vieques&_state=&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=050&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry= |archive-date=November 9, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Following the 2003 departure of the US Navy, the frail economy of the island was left in shambles, and efforts had to be made to redevelop the island's agricultural economy, clean up contaminated areas of the former bombing ranges, and to develop Vieques as a tourist destination. The Navy cleanup is now the island's largest employer, and has contributed over $20&nbsp;million to the local economy over the last five years through salaries, housing, vehicles, taxes, and services. The Navy has provided specialized training to several local islanders.

==Tourism==
[[File:Corcho Beach, Vieques, Puerto Rico.jpg|Bahía del Corcho (Cork Bay), or Playa Caracas (Caracas Beach), also called Red Beach, a name given to the beach by the U.S. Navy and used mostly by English speakers|thumb|right|300px]]
For sixty years the majority of Vieques was closed off by the US Navy, and the island remained almost entirely undeveloped for tourism. This lack of development is now marketed as a key attraction. Vieques is promoted under an [[ecotourism]] banner as a sleepy, unspoiled island of rural bucolic charm and pristine deserted beaches, and is rapidly becoming a popular destination.

Since the Navy's departure, tensions on the island have been low, although land speculation by foreign developers and fears of overdevelopment have caused some resentment among local residents, and there are occasional reports of lingering [[Anti-Americanism|anti-American sentiment]].<ref name="Boston">{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/caribbean/articles/2007/01/07/unpretentious_vieques_an_island_in_transition/ |title=Unpretentious Vieques, an island in transition |first=Brent |last=Harold |date=January 7, 2007 |newspaper=[[Boston Globe]] |access-date=January 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107063112/http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/caribbean/articles/2007/01/07/unpretentious_vieques_an_island_in_transition/ |archive-date=January 7, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The lands previously owned by the Navy have been turned over to the U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Service and the authorities of Puerto Rico and Vieques for management. The immediate bombing range area on the eastern tip of the island suffers from severe contamination, but the remaining areas are mostly open to the public, including many beautiful beaches that were inaccessible to civilians while the military was conducting training maneuvers.

Snorkeling is excellent, especially at [[Blue Beach (Vieques)|Blue Beach]] (Bahía de la Chiva). Aside from archeological sites, such as La Hueca, and deserted beaches, a unique feature of Vieques is the presence of two pristine [[Bioluminescence|bioluminescent]] bays, including Mosquito Bay. Vieques is also famous for its [[paso fino]] horses, which are owned by locals and left to roam free over parts of the island.<ref name=Boston /><ref>{{cite web | title=The Not So Wild Horses of Vieques | website=Uncommon Caribbean | date=June 1, 2017 | url=https://www.uncommoncaribbean.com/vieques/wild-horses-vieques | access-date=April 10, 2021}}</ref>

In 2011, [[TripAdvisor]] listed Vieques among the Top 25 Beaches in the World, writing "If you prefer your beaches without the accompanying commercial developments, Isla de Vieques is your tanning turf, with more than 40 beaches and not one traffic light."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Beaches-cTop-g1 |title=25 Best Beaches in the World – Travelers' Choice Abarrios |website=Trip Advisor |access-date=March 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302110501/https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Beaches-cTop-g1 |archive-date=March 2, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

As of summer 2020, travel to the island was restricted due to the [[COVID-19]] [[COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico|outbreak]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.elvocero.com/gobierno/alcalde-de-vieques-reitera-oposici-n-a-apertura-del-turismo/article_a0a345c4-abe7-11ea-aae9-230a9ad4736e.html |title=Alcalde de Vieques reitera oposición a apertura del turismo |access-date=July 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701102231/https://www.elvocero.com/gobierno/alcalde-de-vieques-reitera-oposici-n-a-apertura-del-turismo/article_a0a345c4-abe7-11ea-aae9-230a9ad4736e.html |archive-date=July 1, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Landmarks and places of interest===
[[File:Ceiba tree in Vieques Island, Puerto Rico.jpg|thumb|Very old Ceiba tree in Vieques Island, Puerto Rico]]
*[[Fuerte de Vieques|Fortín Conde de Mirasol]] (Count Mirasol Fort), a fort built by the Spanish in the mid 19th century, now a museum
*Playa Esperanza ([[Esperanza Beach]])
*The tomb of Le Guillou, the town founder, in [[Isabel II barrio-pueblo|Isabel Segunda]]
*La Casa Alcaldía (City Hall)
*[[Punta Mulas Light|Faro Punta Mulas]], built in 1896
*[[Puerto Ferro Light|Faro de Puerto Ferro]]
*Sun Bay Beach<ref name="Sun Bay">{{cite web |url=http://www.drdpuertorico.com/parquesnacionales/sun-bay-recibe-bandera-azul/ |title=Sun Bay recibe Bandera Azul |website=DRD Puerto Rico |language=es |publisher=Programa de Parques Nacionales de Puerto Rico |access-date=February 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213184949/http://www.drdpuertorico.com/parquesnacionales/sun-bay-recibe-bandera-azul/ |archive-date=February 13, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*The Bioluminescent Bay
*The 300-year-old [[ceiba]] tree
*Rompeolas (Mosquito Pier), renamed Puerto de la Libertad [[David Sanes|David Sanes Rodríguez]] in 2003
*Puerto Ferro Archaeological Site
*Black Sand Beach (Playa Negra)
*Hacienda Playa Grande (Old Sugarcane Plantation Building)
*Underground U.S. Navy Bunkers<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/vieques-military-bunkers |title=Vieques Military Bunkers |website=Atlas Obscura |access-date=June 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510160452/https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/vieques-military-bunkers |archive-date=May 10, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*Wreckage of the World War II Navy Destroyer {{USS|Killen|DD-593}}

==Culture==
===Festivals and events===
[[File:20080720 155752 Festival Viequense 2008.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Fiestas Patronales, Isabel Segunda, 2008]]
Vieques celebrates its [[Fiestas patronales in Puerto Rico|patron saint]] festival in July. The {{lang|es|Fiestas Patronales de Nuestra Señora del Carmen}} is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.<ref name="PR_Ency" /><ref>{{cite web | title=Puerto Rico Festivales, Eventos y Actividades en Puerto Rico | website=Puerto Rico Hoteles y Paradores | url=https://www.puertoricohotelesparadores.com/festivales-eventos-actividades | language=es | access-date=July 17, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226163727/https://www.puertoricohotelesparadores.com/festivales-eventos-actividades | archive-date=February 26, 2020 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Other festivals and events celebrated in Vieques include:
* Three Kings Festival – (or [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany Festival]]) – January 6
* {{lang|es|Festival Cultural Viequense}} (Vieques Cultural Festival) – June
* {{lang|es|Festival de la Arepa}} – August/September

==Symbols==
The {{lang|es|municipio}} has an official flag and coat of arms.<ref>{{cite web | title=Ley Núm. 70 de 2006 -Ley para disponer la oficialidad de la bandera y el escudo de los setenta y ocho (78) municipios. | website=LexJuris de Puerto Rico | url=https://www.lexjuris.com/LEXLEX/Leyes2006/lexl2006070.htm | language=es | access-date=June 15, 2021}}</ref>

===Flag===
The Vieques flag, approved in 1975, contains a representation of the municipal coat of arms and maintains its same symbolism. It consists of seven horizontal straight stripes, of equal width, four white and three blue, alternated. In its center is a green rhombus where a simplified design of the castle appears in yellow. The naval crown seen on the coat of arms is omitted from the flag.<ref name="LexJuris (Leyes y Jurisprudencia) de Puerto Rico 2020">{{cite web | title=VIEQUES | website=LexJuris (Leyes y Jurisprudencia) de Puerto Rico | date=February 19, 2020 | url=http://www.lexjuris.com/pueblos/pueblos_files/VIEQUES.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219000405/http://www.lexjuris.com/pueblos/pueblos_files/VIEQUES.html | archive-date=February 19, 2020 | url-status=live | language=es | access-date=September 22, 2020}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
On a barry shield with silver and blue waves is a [[Vert (heraldry)|green]] rhombus with a gold castle and on top is a golden crown with silver sails. The silver and blue waves symbolize the sea around Vieques. In the green rhombus is a historic Vieques fort represented by the traditional Spanish heraldic castle.<ref name="LexJuris (Leyes y Jurisprudencia) de Puerto Rico 2020" />

==Transportation==
Vieques is served by [[Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport]], which currently accommodates only small propeller-driven aircraft. Services to the island run from [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]]'s [[Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport]], [[Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport|Isla Grande Airport]] (20- to 30-minute flights) and from [[José Aponte de la Torre Airport|Ceiba Airport]] (5-minute flights) and to [[Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport|Culebra]]. Flights are also available between Vieques and [[Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint Croix]], [[Tortola]], [[Virgin Gorda]] and [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint Thomas]].

Also, a [[Vieques Ferry|ferry]] runs from [[Ceiba, Puerto Rico|Ceiba]] several times a day. The ferry service is administered by the Autoridad de Transporte Marítimo (ATM) in Puerto Rico.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vieques.com/passenger-cargo-ferry-guide/ |title=Passenger & Cargo Ferry Guide, Vieques & Fajardo, Puerto Rico |website=Vieques.com |access-date=October 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022230414/http://vieques.com/passenger-cargo-ferry-guide/ |archive-date=October 22, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2019, governor [[Wanda Vázquez Garced]] said she would address the troubled, inconsistent ferry service between the islands and Ceiba.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/nota/gravelaflotaquesirvealasislasmunicipio-2513723/|title=Grave la flota que sirve a las islas municipio|date=August 25, 2019|website=El Nuevo Dia|language=es|access-date=October 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028212811/https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/nota/gravelaflotaquesirvealasislasmunicipio-2513723/|archive-date=October 28, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are 13 bridges in Vieques, none of them distinguished.<ref name="bridge">{{cite web |title=Vieques Bridges |url=http://bridgereports.com/pr/vieques/ |website=National Bridge Inventory Data |publisher=US Dept. of Transportation |access-date=February 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220181414/http://bridgereports.com/pr/vieques/ |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Public health==
{{Update|date=July 2022}}
There have been claims linking Vieques' higher cancer rate<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2003/vol7n20/Media3-en.html |title=Rullan: Studies on Cancer in Vieques Reflect Increase |first=Sandra Ivelisse |last=Villerrael |date=May 11, 2003 |volume=7 |number=20 |newspaper=Puerto Rico Herald |access-date=June 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314155155/http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2003/vol7n20/Media3-en.html |archive-date=March 14, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> to the long history of weapons testing on the island.

Nayda Figueroa, an epidemiologist for Puerto Rico's Cancer Registry, stated that research showed Vieques' cancer rate from 1995 to 1999 was 31 percent higher than for the main island.  [[Michael Thun]], head of epidemiological research at the American Cancer Society, cautioned that the variations in the rates could be attributed to chance, given the small population on Vieques.<ref name=MiamiHerald>{{cite news |url=http://www.americas.org/item_14739 |title=Vieques Cancer Rate an Issue |first=Shannon |last=Novak |date=May 7, 2004 |newspaper=Miami Herald |access-date=April 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311075133/http://www.americas.org/item_14739 |archive-date=March 11, 2007}}</ref> 
A 2000 [[Nuclear Regulatory Commission]] report concluded that "the public had not been exposed to depleted uranium contamination above normal background (naturally occurring) levels".<ref name=ATSDR>{{cite web |url=http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/PHA/isladevieques/idv_p1.html |title=Soil Pathway Evaluation, Isla de Vieques Bombing Range |website=Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry |access-date=April 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061012050950/http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/PHA/isladevieques/idv_p1.html |archive-date=October 12, 2006}}</ref>

Surveys of the wreckage of a target ship in a shallow bay at the bombing range, however, revealed its identity to be that of the {{USS|Killen|DD-593|6}}, a target ship in nuclear tests in the Pacific in 1958. By 2002, it was evident that thousands of tons of steel that had originally been irradiated in the 1958 nuclear tests was missing from the wreckage in the bay. That steel has been missing for over 35 years and is still unaccounted for by the US Navy, [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] and US [[Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry]] (ATSDR). Hundreds of steel drums of unknown origin were found among the wreckage. Their identity and contents have not been adequately verified.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

In response to concerns about potential contamination from toxic metals and other chemicals, the ATSDR conducted a number of surveys in 1999–2002 to test Vieques' soil, water supply, air, fish and shellfish for harmful substances. The general conclusion of the ATSDR survey was that no public health hazard existed as a result of the Navy's activities.<ref name=ATSDR /> However, scientists have pointed out that fish samples were drawn from local markets, which often import fish from other areas. Also sample sizes from each location were too small to provide compelling evidence for the lack of a public health danger (Wargo, Green Intelligence). The conclusions of the ATSDR report have more recently, {{As of|2009|lc=y}}, been questioned and discredited. A review is underway.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/science/earth/07vieques.html |title=New Battle on Vieques, Over Navy's Cleanup of Munitions |last=Navarro |first=Mireya |date=August 6, 2009 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=July 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721194832/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/science/earth/07vieques.html |archive-date=July 21, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/science/earth/14vieques.html |title=Navy's Vieques Training May Be Tied to Health Risks |last=Navarro |first=Mireya |date=November 13, 2009 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=July 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721193606/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/science/earth/14vieques.html |archive-date=July 21, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/science/earth/30agency.html |title=Reversal Haunts Federal Health Agency |last=Navarro |first=Mireya |date=November 29, 2009 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=July 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721194830/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/science/earth/30agency.html |archive-date=July 21, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Casa Pueblo, a Puerto Rican environmental group, reported "a series of studies pertaining to the flora and fauna of Vieques that clearly demonstrates sequestration of high levels of toxic elements in plant and animal tissue samples. Consequently, the ecological food web of the Vieques Island has been adversely impacted."<ref name=CasaPueblo>{{cite web |url=http://www.casapueblo.org/english/other/vieques.html |title=Casa Pueblo report: Summary of Findings |access-date=April 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200502/http://www.casapueblo.org/english/other/vieques.html |archive-date=September 27, 2007}}</ref>

==Notable people==
* [[Jaime Rexach Benitez]], educator, politician and humanist;
* [[Susana Centeno]], nurse, public servant
* [[Nelson Dieppa]], professional boxer;
* [[Juan Francisco Luis]], Governor of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] (1978–1987);
* [[German Rieckehoff|Germán Rieckehoff Sampayo]], was president of the Puerto Rican Olympic committee;
* [[Carlos Vélez Rieckehoff]], local nationalist leader and political activist;
* [[David Sanes|David Sanes Rodríguez]], civilian killed by the US Navy in a live-fire bombing practice, his death sparked protests that culminated in the US Navy leaving the island.

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="130px">
300-year-old Ceiba Tree in Isabel II, Vieques, Puerto Rico.jpg|300-year-old Ceiba Tree in Isabel II
Vieques_SunBayBeach.jpg|Sun Bay Beach
Vieques_jaskyna_na_PlayaNavio.jpg|A view of Tobarrios Navío Beach from a nearby sea cave
Vieques_Tomáš_v_Esperanze.jpg|A view from the Malecón (promenade) in Esperanza tobarrios of Cayo de Afuera
Corcho Beach, Vieques, Puerto Rico.jpg|Playa Caracas (Red Beach)
Vieques_PlayaNavio2.jpg|Navío Beach
Festival Viequense 2007.jpg|Festival Viequense (2007)
Esperanza Vieques.jpg|Esperanza Beach
Isabella II, Vieques.JPG|Isabella II, Vieques
Fort Count of Mirasol.JPG|Fort Count of Mirasol
File:Building entrance ruins Vieques PR 2021-08-04 16-17-38 1.jpg|Playa Grande Sugar Plantation
Playa Negra black sand beach Vieques Puerto Rico 2021-08-04 11-50-50 1.jpg|Playa Negra, a black sand beach
La playa negra Vieques.jpg|Playa Negra and cliffs
Wild horses on Playa Negra.JPG|Wild horses on Playa Negra
Shoreline at Esperanza, Vieques.jpg|Esperanza
Vieques_from_air.jpg|Aerial view from East
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal|Puerto Rico|Geography|Environment}}
* [[United States Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico]]
* [[List of Vieques birds]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in San Juan metropolitan and eastern Puerto Rico#Vieques|National Register of Historic Places listings in Vieques]]
* [[Kahoolawe]]
* [[Vieques National Wildlife Refuge]]
* [[Culebra, Puerto Rico]]
* [[Hurricane Maria]]

==References==
{{reflist|22em}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Vieques, Puerto Rico}}
* {{Facebook|Municipio-de-Vieques-708551149181894/}}
* [https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4972v.ct002783/?r=0.088,0.002,0.792,0.294,0 Topographic map of Vieques in the Library of Congress archives]
* [http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/vieques/index.html Vieques, Puerto Rico: ATSDR Documents Dealing with the Isla de Vieques Bombing Range]
* [http://welcome.topuertorico.org/city/vieques.shtml Welcome to Puerto Rico! Vieques]
* [http://dloc.com/vieques Archivo Histórico de Vieques Collection] hosted in the [[Digital Library of the Caribbean]]
* [http://dloc.com/diasporaproject Diaspora Project DH Center at UPR-RP Collection] hosted in the [[Digital Library of the Caribbean]]


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[[Category:Vieques, Puerto Rico| ]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1832]]
[[Category:Former Scottish colonies]]
[[Category:Places with bioluminescence]]