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Ceiba, Puerto Rico
Ceiba, Puerto Rico
	; Flag
	; Flag
	Nickname(s): Los Come Sopas", "La Ciudad del Marlin", "Los Sin Sopa
	Location within the island of Puerto Rico
Country	United States
Territory	Puerto Rico
Founded	April 7, 1838
	Government
- Mayor	Hon. Pedro Colon (PNP)
- Senatorial dist.	8 - Carolina
- Representative dist.	36
	Area
- Total	77.3 sq mi (200.28 km2)
- Land	27.2 sq mi (70.5 km2)
- Water	50.1 sq mi (129.78 km2)
	Population (2000)
- Total	18,294
- Density	652.2/sq mi (251.8/km2)
- Gentilic	ceibeños
Time zone	AST (UTC-4)
	Anthem - "Ceiba"

Ceiba (SAY-bah) is a small town in northeast Puerto Rico. It is named after the famous Ceiba tree^{[citation needed]}. Ceiba is located in the east coast of the island, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, north of Naguabo, south of Fajardo, and east of Río Grande. It is located about one hour's driving distance from San Juan. Ceiba is spread over 7 wards and Ceiba Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the Fajardo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Ceiba, situated near Fajardo, used to be home of an American military air-base, the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. Most of the units there were relocated and the base was closed in 2004. Ex-governor Sila María Calderón suggested turning the property into a major international airport, to serve as a relief to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, and to increase the number of international airlines that operate into Puerto Rico. She has met with skepticism about these plans from such groups as environmentalists, economists and others, and the situation as far as what will be done with Ceiba's old air base is still being debated.

Locals are commonly known as "Los Come Sopa" (The Soup Eaters). Even though there is no official reason as to why they are called this, a few stories have been suggested. Among the tales is the belief that since the town did not have a local meat market people had to travel long distances in order to buy some meat and therefore mostly ate soup.

Ceiba is also known as "La Ciudad del Marlin" (The town of the Marlin).

[edit] History

Ceiba was founded on April 7, 1838 by Luis de la Cruz. Ceiba derives its name from an Indian word Seyba, which is the name for a famous tree that grows in the island, the Ceiba pentandra,(Kapok).

[edit] Flag

Ceiba's flag derives its design and colors from the municipal coat of arms. This maintains the same symbolism given to the coat of arms. It is made of two vertical lines of the same width, red in the left side and green on the right. The red side depicts a yellow cross.

[edit] Coat of Arms

It depicts a shield with golden field with a Ceiba tree in the middle. In the upper part of the shield it has a red horizontal line with a golden cross in the middle and two golden flowers in each side. The cross symbolizes the Christian faith as well as a recognition to Don Luis de la Cruz who founded the town. The golden flowers represent sugar cane flowers. Above the shield there is a golden Spanish fort.

[edit] Demographics

[edit] Barrios (Districts/Wards)

Ceiba Pueblo
Chupacallos

Daguao
Guayacán

Machos
Quebrada Seca

Río Abajo
Saco

[edit] Geo/Topography

Ceiba is home of the Ceiba Forest (787) which extends along the coastline between Ceiba and Fajardo. 95% of the forest is classified as mangrove. Various species of birds can be seen as well as turtles and manatees. Its rivers includes; Río Daguao, Río Demajagua and Río Fajardo.

[edit] Economy

[edit] Industry

Manufacturing (plywood, apparell, hardware products).

[edit] Tourism

[edit] Landmarks and places of interest

Ceiba Historic Mural
Los Machos Beach
Medio Mundo Beach
Roosevelt Roads Base
The great cellist Pablo Casals lived in Ceiba.

[edit] Festivals and events

Enamorado (Lovers) Marathon - February
Air Show - April 18-19
Marlin Festival - May - June
Fiestas Patronales-San Antonio de Padua (Patron Saint Festivities) - June
Fiesta Nacional de la Raza (Race) - October
Marathon Del Pavo - November

[edit] Sports

Former IBF world Jr. Middleweight boxing champion Carlos Santos hails from Ceiba.

[edit] References

Ceiba[1]

[edit] Additional Information

Religious outlook: As in most towns of Puerto Rico it was founded on the Christian ideas and faith statements of the Catholic Church which prevailed in previous centuries through Spaniard tradition. The town still maintains a central Catholic church which can be found in the town square. Today, Protestants make up most of the proclaimed Christians in the town^{[citation needed]} with almost a 100 small churches scattered among the different wards.

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