Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas. The 2005 census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 177,830 making it the fifth-largest city in the state of Jalisco. The City of Puerto Vallarta is the government seat of the Municipality of Puerto Vallarta which comprises the city as well as population centers outside of the city extending from Boca de Tomatlán to the Nayarit border (the Ameca River).
The city is located at 20°40′N 105°16′W / 20.667°N 105.267°W / 20.667; -105.267. The municipality has an area of 502.19 square miles (1,300.67 km²). To the North it borders the SW part of the state of Nayarit. To the East it borders the municipality of Mascota and San Sebastián, and to the South it borders the municipalities of Talpa de Allende and Cabo Corriente.
Puerto Vallarta is named after Ignacio Vallarta, a former governor of Jalisco. In Spanish, Puerto Vallarta is often shortened to "Vallarta", while English speakers call the city P.V. for short. The city occasionally is spelled or pronounced as Porto Vallarta. Being a Spanish name, Vallarta is usually pronounced 'vie-arta', not 'val-arta'. In Internet shorthand the city is often referred to as PVR, after the IATA code (ICAO MMPR) for its international airport.
