Ponce (ˈ; ˈponθe) is both a city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 and a municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the southern part of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

. The city is the seat of the municipal government.

The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

 metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza

Juan Ponce de León y Loayza

Juan Ponce de León y Loayza was the son of Juan Ponce de Leon II , an interim Spanish governor of Puerto Rico in 1579. His mother was Isabel de Loayza, daughter of Governor Cervantes de Loayza...

, the great-grandson of Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León

Juan Ponce de León

Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named...

. Ponce is often referred to as La Perla del Sur (The Pearl of the South), La Ciudad Señorial (The Noble, or Lordly, City), and La Ciudad de las Quenepas (Genip City).