About Puerto Rico
Capital City: San Juan, founded in 1508 by explorer
Juan Ponce de León.
Patron Saint: Our Lady of the Divine Providence whose fiesta
patronal or
feast day is celebrated on November 19.
National Holiday: November 19 (commemorates the discovery of Puerto Rico
in 1493 as well as the feast day of Puerto Rico's patron saint)
National Hymn: La Borinqueña
National Bird: Stripe-headed tanager (spyndalis zena)
National Flower: Flor de maga (maga grandiflora)
Unofficial National Symbol: The Coquí, a tiny tree frog
Motto: Puerto Rico lo hace mejor (Puerto Rico does it better)
Population: About 3.950 million people inhabit the island (about 1,000 people
per square mile). An additional 2 million Puerto Ricans have migrated to
the United States.
Geography:
Puerto Rico is located in the West Indies between the Dominican Republic (to the west) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (to the east). The north side of the island borders the Atlantic Ocean, while the southern portion is located on the Caribbean Sea. The island measures 9,104 square kilometers, which is roughly three times the size of Rhode Island. The landscape includes mountains throughout the island, a central plain, and 500 kilometers of coastline. The island is close to the deepest submarine depression in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Milwaukee Depth, which lies in the Puerto Rico Trench, at a depth of 27,493 feet, about 100 miles northwest of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Trench can be traced back to the beginning of the Tertiary period.
Borders:
Puerto Rico is under the jurisdiction of U.S. customs. Borders are open between Puerto Rico and the United States allowing for free movement between the two.
History:
Christopher Columbus and his crew disembarked on the island on November 19, 1493, claiming the island for the Spanish crown and naming it San Juan Bautista, after Saint John the Baptist. The island's main settlement was named Puerto Rico or rich port. In the 1520s, the island was renamed Puerto Rico and its capital city, San Juan, the apparent mistake of a map-maker. At the time of Columbus' arrival, there were an estimated 60,000 Taíno indians living on the island, which they called Borinquén. A Spanish colony for over 400 years, Puerto Rico became a possession of the United States in 1898 when Spain ceded the island following defeat in the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans became United States citizens with the implementation of the Jones Act of 1917. With the adoption of an autonomous constitution in 1952, Puerto Rico became known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
People:
The local population is racially diverse and includes people who trace their roots to European, African, Asian, and Amerindian descent. Puerto Ricans don't usually call themselves “American.” To most Puerto Ricans, “my country” means Puerto Rico and not the United States. The vast majority (about eighty-five percent) of Puerto Ricans consider themselves to be Roman Catholics, while about fifteen percent are Protestant or of other religions. Although Spanish is the official language in Puerto Rico, many people speak both Spanish and English.
Government:
As Commonwealth of the United States, Puerto Rico is a self-governing nation voluntarily associated with the United States. For administrative purposes, the island has been divided into seventy-eight municipalities comprised of several towns, similar to counties in the United States. Each municipality is run by a mayor (alcalde) and a Municipal Assembly of a dozen or more members, depending on the municipality's size. Every four years, each municipality elects a mayor and assembly by popular vote. Suffrage is granted universally to anyone over the age of eighteen. The head of the government is the Governor (currently Sila María Calderón), an office that was instated in 1948. The Governor, as well as members of Puerto Rico's Senate (twenty-eight members) and House of Representatives (fifty-one members), is elected every four years. As a U.S. Commonwealth, Puerto Rico has one non-voting member elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.
Economy:
San Juan is Puerto Rico's capital city and major port, ideally situated on the northeastern portion of the coast. Due to the island's location along a major route to the Panama Canal known as the Mona Passage and the prominence of San Juan's natural harbor, Puerto Rico has profited greatly from the shipping industry. The island exports a diverse array of items such as pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, medical equipment, tuna, rum, and agricultural products such as sugarcane, coffee, pineapples, bananas, plantains, and livestock. With an estimated five million visitors in 1999, tourism has become a key contributor to the island's economy.
