The Municipality of Barceloneta sits on the
Northern Karst region of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the
Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by the municipalities of
Arecibo,
Florida, and
Manatí. In terms of physical features, the municipality occupies a roughly rectangular area in the northern coast of the island. It has a surface area of 36.4 square miles (94.24 km2). Barceloneta's terrain is predominantly plain. Since it is located in the karst region, it features hills,
ponors, and caves. Near the coast, the terrain is occupied by the
Caño Tiburones wetlands. Updated flood zone maps (as of 2019) show that Barceloneta is extremely vulnerable to
flooding, along with
Humacao,
Rincón,
Toa Baja, and
Corozal. For its many wetlands, Barceloneta ends up being extremely vulnerable when hit by a major hurricane.
Water features The
Río Grande de Manatí travels across the municipalities of Manatí and Barceloneta and drains into the
Atlantic Ocean. Barceloneta also features the
Caño Tiburones, a natural reserve.
Barrios Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Barceloneta is subdivided into
barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a small barrio referred to as , near the center of the municipality. •
Barceloneta barrio-pueblo and subbarrios, are further subdivided into smaller areas called (
sectors in English). The types of
sectores may vary, from normally
sector to
urbanización to
reparto to
barriada to
residencial, among others.
Special Communities (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 Barceloneta: Abra del Pimiento, Abra los Caballos, Cité Sector in Garrochales, Palenque, and Seboruco. ==Tourism==