Back Puerto Rico AF Puerto Rico ALS ፕዌርቶ ሪኮ AM Puerto rico AMI Puerto Rico AN Puerto Rico ANG पोर्टो रिको ANP بورتوريكو Arabic پويرطوريكو ARY پويرتو ريكو ARZ

Puerto Rico

"Porto Rico" and "Borinquen" redirect here. For other uses, see Porto Rico (disambiguation), Borinquen (disambiguation), and Puerto Rico (disambiguation).

Puerto Rico
Unincorporated and organized U.S. territory
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico[b]
Free Associated State of Puerto Rico
Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico (Spanish)
Flag of Puerto Rico
Flag
Official seal of Puerto Rico
Coat of arms
Official logo of Puerto Rico
Seal of Puerto Rico
Nickname(s): 
"La Isla del Encanto" (Spanish)
('The Island of Enchantment')
Motto: 
"Joannes est nomen ejus" (Latin)
('John is his name')
Anthem: "La Borinqueña" (Spanish)
("The Song of Borinquen")
Location of Puerto Rico
Location of Puerto Rico
Sovereign state United States[a]
Before annexationCaptaincy General of Puerto Rico
Cession from Spain10 December 1898
Current constitution25 July 1952
Capital
and largest city
San Juan
18°27′N 66°6′W / 18.450°N 66.100°W / 18.450; -66.100
Common languages94.3% Spanish
5.5% English
0.2% other[1]
Official languages
Ethnic groups
(2020)[3]
By self-identified race:
By ethnicity:
Demonym(s)Puerto Rican (Spanish: puertorriqueño -a)
boricua (neutral)[c]
borinqueño -a
borincano -a[4]
puertorro -a[d][5]
GovernmentDevolved presidential constitutional dependency
• President
Joe Biden (D)
• Governor
Pedro Pierluisi (PNP/D)
LegislatureLegislative Assembly
• Upper house
Senate
• Lower house
House of Representatives
United States Congress
• Resident Commissioner
Jenniffer González (PNP/R)
Area
• Total
13,792 km2 (5,325 sq mi)[e][6]
• Land
8,868 km2 (3,424 sq mi)
• Water
4,924 km2 (1,901 sq mi)
• Water (%)
35.6
Dimensions
[f][7]
• Length
178 km (111 mi)
• Width
65 km (40 mi)
Highest elevation
1,338 m (4,390[g] ft)
Population
• 2023 estimate
3,205,691[h][8] (136th)
• 2020 census
3,285,874[9]
• Density
361.4/km2 (936.0/sq mi) (41st)
GDP (PPP)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $132.052 billion[10] (85th)
• Per capita
Increase $41,682[10] (40th)
GDP (nominal)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $117.515 billion[10] (62nd)
• Per capita
Increase $37,093[10] (28th)
Gini (2011)53.1[11]
high
HDI (2015)0.845[12]
very high · 40th
CurrencyUnited States dollar (US$) (USD)
Time zoneUTC-04:00 (AST)
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
Driving sideright
Calling code+1 (787), +1 (939)
USPS abbreviation
PR
ISO 3166 code
Internet TLD.pr
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Puerto Rico[i] (Spanish for 'rich port'; abbreviated PR; Taino: Borikén or Borinquen),[14] officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico[b] (Spanish: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit. 'Free Associated State of Puerto Rico'), is a Caribbean island, Commonwealth, and unincorporated territory of the United States. It is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Mona, Culebra, and Vieques. With roughly 3.2 million residents, it is divided into 78 municipalities, of which the most populous is the capital municipality of San Juan.[14] Spanish and English are the official languages of the executive branch of government,[16] though Spanish predominates.[17]

Puerto Rico was settled by a succession of peoples beginning 2,000 to 4,000 years ago;[18] these included the Ortoiroid, Saladoid, and Taíno. It was then colonized by Spain following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493.[14] Puerto Rico was contested by other European powers, but remained a Spanish possession for the next four centuries. An influx of African slaves and settlers primarily from the Canary Islands and Andalusia vastly changed the cultural and demographic landscape of the island. Within the Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico played a secondary but strategic role compared to wealthier colonies like Peru and New Spain.[19][20] By the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, centered around a fusion of indigenous, African, and European elements.[21][22] In 1898, following the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was acquired by the United States.[14][23]

Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917, and can move freely between the island and the mainland.[24] However, when resident in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans are disenfranchised at the national level, do not vote for the president or vice president,[25] and generally do not pay federal income tax.[26][27][Note 1] In common with four other territories, Puerto Rico sends a nonvoting representative to the U.S. Congress, called a Resident Commissioner, and participates in presidential primaries; as it is not a state, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in Congress, which governs it under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. Congress approved a local constitution in 1952, allowing U.S. citizens residing on the island to elect a governor. Puerto Rico's current and future political status has consistently been a matter of significant debate.[28][29]

Beginning in the mid-20th century, the U.S. government, together with the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, launched a series of economic projects to develop Puerto Rico into an industrial high-income economy. It is classified by the International Monetary Fund as a developed jurisdiction with an advanced, high-income economy;[30] it ranks 40th on the Human Development Index. The major sectors of Puerto Rico's economy are manufacturing (primarily pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and electronics) followed by services (namely tourism and hospitality).[31]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "Puerto Rico 2015-2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census. Department of Commerce. 2019. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  2. ^ "P. Rico Senate declares Spanish over English as first official language". Agencia EFE. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 4 September 2015. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  3. ^ "2020 Census Illuminates Racial and Ethnic Composition of the Country". United States Census. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  4. ^ "puertorriqueño". Diccionario de la Lengua Española por la Real Academia Española (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  5. ^ "puertorro". Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española: Diccionario de Americanismos (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  6. ^ "State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Geografía de Puerto Rico". Sistemas de Información Geográfica (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Quick Facts Puerto Rico: Population Estimates, July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. 1 July 2023. Archived from the original on 30 March 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Table 2. Resident Population for the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 26 April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2023 Edition. (PR)". International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2023. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Household Income for States: 2010 and 2011" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  12. ^ Fuentes-Ramírez, Ricardo R. (2017). "Human Development Index Trends and Inequality in Puerto Rico 2010–2015". Ceteris Paribus: Journal of Socio-Economic Research. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  13. ^ Amaral, Patrícia & Ana Maria Carvalho (2014). Portuguese-Spanish Interfaces: Diachrony, synchrony, and contact. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 130. ISBN 978-90-272-5800-7.
  14. ^ a b c d "CIA World Factbook – Puerto Rico". Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  15. ^ "7 fam 1120 acquisition of u.s. nationality in u.s. territories and possessions". U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 7- Consular Affairs. U.S. Department of State. 3 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  16. ^ Pueblo v. Tribunal Superior, 92 D.P.R. 596 (1965). Translation taken from the English text, 92 P.R.R. 580 (1965), pp. 588–89. See also López-Baralt Negrón, Pueblo v. Tribunal Superior: Español: Idioma del proceso judicial, 36, Revista Jurídica de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. 396 (1967), and Vientós-Gastón, Informe del Procurador General sobre el idioma, 36 Revista del Colegio de Abogados de PuertO Rico. (P.R.) 843 (1975).
  17. ^ "Puerto Rico". Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  18. ^ Stacy Taus-Bolstad (1 September 2004). Puerto Ricans in America. Lerner Publications. pp. 7–. ISBN 978-0-8225-3953-7. OCLC 1245779085.
  19. ^ Caban, Pedro A. (2009). Constructing a Colonial People: Puerto Rico and the United States, 1898–1932. Westview Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7867-4817-4.
  20. ^ Santiago-Valles, Kelvin A. (1994). Subject People and Colonial Discourses: Economic Transformation and Social Disorder in Puerto Rico, 1898–1947. SUNY Press. p. ix. ISBN 978-0-7914-1589-4.
  21. ^ Lipski, John M. (2005). A History of Afro-Hispanic Language: Five Centuries, Five Continents. Cambridge University Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-107-32037-6.
  22. ^ "Documenting a Puerto Rican Identity | In Search of a National Identity: Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth-Century Puerto Rico | Articles and Essays | Puerto Rico at the Dawn of the Modern Age: Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century Perspectives". Digital Collections, Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  23. ^ José Trías Monge. Puerto Rico: The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World. New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press, 1999. p. 4.
  24. ^ 8 U.S. Code § 1402 – Persons born in Puerto Rico on or after 11 April 1899 Archived 8 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine (1941) Retrieved: 14 January 2015.
  25. ^ Igartúa–de la Rosa v. United States (Igartúa III) Archived 16 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 417 F.3d 145 (1st Cir. 2005) (en banc), GREGORIO IGARTÚA, ET AL., Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ET AL., Defendants, Appellees. No. 09-2186 Archived 5 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine (24 November 2010)
  26. ^ The trauma of Puerto Rico's 'Maria Generation' . Archived 24 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine Robin Ortiz. ABC News. 17 February 2019. Accessed 24 September 2019.
  27. ^ PUERTO RICO: Fiscal Relations with the Federal Government and Economic Trends during the Phaseout of the Possessions Tax Credit. Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine General Accounting Office publication number GAO-06-541. US Gen. Acctg. Office, Washington, DC. 19 May 2006. Public Release: 23 June 2006. (Note: All residents of Puerto Rico pay federal taxes, with the exception of federal income taxes which only some residents of Puerto Rico must still pay).
  28. ^ "Puerto Rico's Political Status and the 2012 Plebiscite: Background and Key Questions" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. 25 June 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016 – via fas.org.
  29. ^ "El Nuevo Día". Elnuevodia.com. 18 April 2017. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  30. ^ "Advanced economies". IMF. Archived from the original on 17 June 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  31. ^ "Manufactura" (in Spanish). Government of Puerto Rico. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.


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