Vieques

Island; population (2001 est) 9,100 (combined with smaller nearby islands). It lies 13 km/8 mi off the east coast of Puerto Rico. The fertile main island was annexed by Puerto Rico in 1854; length 34 km/21 mi from east–west; width up to 6 km/4 mi. It has sugarcane and pineapple plantations and pastures where cattle and hogs graze and a few wild horses roam, and produces refined sugar, charcoal, and dairy goods. The hilly island has a warm, dry climate and has become a popular beach resort locale. Its chief settlement is Vieques; population (1990 est) 2,400. Two-thirds of the island, at either end, has been used by the US Navy since World War II for exercises and as a firing range. Vieques Sound, to the north, separates the island from Culebra, which is 16 km/10 mi away.

US president George W Bush announced in June 2001 that the US Navy would end bombing exercises on Vieques by May 2003. The US Navy owns two-thirds of the island, and the bombing range covers 364 ha/900 acres. Although the navy switched to dummy bombs in 1999, after a live bomb killed a civilian guard on the range, activists in Puerto Rico and the USA continued to protest against the range.