Mona Island (Spanish: Isla de Mona) is the third-largest island of the Puerto Rican archipelago, after the main island of Puerto Rico and Vieques. It is the largest of three islands in the Mona Passage, the strait between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, with the others being Monito Island and Desecheo Island. It measures about 7 miles by 4 miles (11 km by 7 km), and lies 41 mi (66 km) west of Puerto Rico, of which it is administratively a part as one of two islands comprising the Isla de Mona e Islote Monito barrio in the municipality of Mayagüez. The island is managed under the Mona and Monito Islands Nature Reserve (Reserva Natural Islas de Mona y Monito). There are no permanent inhabitants, as only rangers and biologists from the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources temporarily reside on the island to manage visitors and take part in research projects. along with the neighboring island of Monito, it forms part of the Mona and Monito Islands National Natural Landmark which recognizes and preserves the ecosystem of the islands as an outstanding example of diversity and natural history. The island is home to a number of endemic species such as the Mona ground iguana, and it is an important seabird area.
History
Pre-Columbian history Mona Island is believed to have been originally settled by the Taíno in the 12th century or sooner. An archeological excavation during the 1980s discovered many Pre-Columbian objects on the island that helped support historians' theories of the island's first inhabitants. Stone tools found in a rock shelter have been dated to around 3000 BC. Much later the island was settled by the Taínos and remained so until the arrival of the Spanish in the 15th century.
Colonial period On November 19, 1493, during his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus encountered the island now known as Puerto Rico, which the natives called Borinquen (or Borikén), and which Columbus named San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist). Within hours of setting foot in Puerto Rico, Columbus and his ships headed west to Hispaniola, where he expected to meet several crewmembers who had remained behind from his first voyage. As he left Puerto Rico, he reputedly became the first European to sight the island on September 24, 1494, which was claimed for Spain. The name Mona derives from the Taíno name Ámona, bestowed by the natives in honor of the ruling Cacique or chief of the island. In 1502, Fray Nicolás de Ovando was sent to Isla de la Mona to keep an eye, from a safe distance, on the native revolts occurring in Hispaniola. With a group of 2,000 Spanish settlers, Ovando was left in charge of creating a permanent settlement on the island. Due to its small size and location, the island proved inadequate to accommodate such a large settlement, and food became scarce as shipments from Hispaniola and Puerto Rico were received infrequently. In 1515, after some wrangling, Ferdinand II was able to reclaim the island from Diego Colón, Viceroy of the Indies. By then, Isla de la Mona was an important point of trade between Spain and the rest of Latin America, as well as a rest stop for the crews of boats carrying slaves. With his possession of the island, King Ferdinand II gave the resident Taínos two options if they wished to continue living on the island: they could work by fishing, making hammocks and cultivating plants, or they could become miners and help in the mining of guano and other minerals. Realizing that mining would require intense labor, the majority of inhabitants chose to work as fishermen and farmers. By accepting this option, they also were exempted from paying imposed taxes, and were able to avoid the hard labor many other natives endured in mines. In time, natives from other neighboring islands were brought to Mona Island to assist with labor. After the death of Ferdinand II in 1516, ownership of the island was transferred to Cardenal Cisneros. The island changed ownership again in 1520, when Francisco de Barrionuevo became the island's new landlord. By 1524, Alonso Manso, bishop of Puerto Rico, had become interested in gaining personal wealth, and he accused Barrionuevo, among others, of various crimes under the Spanish justice system of the time. Because of this situation, Barrionuevo exiled himself to one of Spain's colonies in South America, taking many Taínos along with him, and leaving the island practically deserted. By 1522, ships from other major sea powers such as England, France, and the Netherlands began to arrive at Isla de la Mona to replenish supplies for their transatlantic voyages. The island also provided a refuge from which they, as well as pirates, could attack and plunder Spanish galleons. In 1561, during an audience held in Santo Domingo, it was recommended that Isla de la Mona should become a part of that colony (which at the time occupied the entirety of Hispaniola). The reasons offered were simply that the island was closer to Santo Domingo (presently the Dominican Republic) than to Puerto Rico, and that it had a small population which could help the colony's economy in overall agricultural production. However, the petition was turned down and the island continued to remain politically part of Puerto Rico. In 1583, the Spanish archbishop of Puerto Rico received royal permission to bring Christianity to Mona Island. However, by this time most Taínos remaining on the island had either died or fled to mainland Puerto Rico due to repeated raiding by European (especially French) ships. From the end of the 16th century up until the mid-19th century the island was largely abandoned by the colonial authorities. It seems to have been sporadically inhabited, although records from this period are somewhat sketchy. It continued to be used as a refuge by pirates and privateers, including the notorious Captain Kidd who hid out there in 1699. The island's circumstances changed in the mid-19th century when it became the site of commercial guano mining operations. Various companies were granted licenses to extract the bat and seagull guano (a valuable fertilizer and key strategic commodity for the production of gunpowder) from the island's caves. Mining continued until 1927.
20th century
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