Lajas (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlaxas], locally [ˈlahaʔ]) is a town and municipality located in the Lajas Valley in southwestern Puerto Rico, bordering the Caribbean Sea, south of San Germán and Sabana Grande; east of Cabo Rojo; and west of Guánica. Lajas is spread over 11 barrios plus Lajas Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Germán-Cabo Rojo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Guánica (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈɡwanika], locally [ˈwanika]) is a town and municipality in southern Puerto Rico, bordering the Caribbean Sea, south of Sabana Grande, east of Lajas, and west of Yauco. It is part of the Yauco metropolitan statistical area.
Guánica barrio-pueblo, also known as Pueblo de Guánica, is the downtown of the municipality. Guánica's population in 2020 was 13,787 people. Guánica is located on a deeply indented harbor of the same name. The harbor resembles a tropical fjord, narrow and bordered by rugged hills, barely a quarter-mile wide, but about two miles (3.2 km) from mouth to the town. The town is about 100 miles (160 km) and over two hours' driving distance from San Juan, and about 20 miles (30 km) west of Ponce.
Yauco (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈʝawko]) is a town and municipality in southern Puerto Rico. Although the downtown is inland, the municipality stretches to a southern coast facing the Caribbean Sea. Yauco is located south of Maricao, Lares and Adjuntas; east of Sabana Grande and Guánica; and west of Guayanilla. The municipality consists of 20 barrios and Yauco Pueblo (the downtown and administrative center of the municipality). It is both a principal town of the Yauco Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Ponce-Yauco-Coamo Combined Statistical Area.
It was founded by Fernando Pacheco on February 29, 1756, and developed for commodity crops of tobacco, sugar cane, and coffee. Yauco became a center for Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico in the 19th century due to its geographical similarity to their homeland. Corsicans have contributed to many areas of life in Yauco, particularly to its coffee industry. This has played a role in the town's nicknames of El Pueblo del Café (Town of Coffee), and residents of the municipality are often referred to as Los Corsos (The Corsicans).
The Mayagüez metropolitan area (Spanish: área metropolitana de Mayagüez), is the fourth largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in Puerto Rico, comprising the municipalities of Mayagüez, Cabo Rojo, San Germán, Lajas, Sabana Grande, and Hormigueros between the coastal plains and the Cordillera Central mountain subrange in the southwestern region of the main island. One of 6 metropolitan statistical areas in Puerto Rico, it lies within the Mayagüez–Aguadilla combined statistical area (CSA), which is one of 3 primary statistical areas in the main island as defined by the United States Census Bureau. As of 2023, census estimates place the population of the Mayagüez metropolitan area at 207,877.