Puerto Rico#See also

Puerto Rico is Spanish for "rich port". Puerto Ricans often call the island {{lang|es|Borinquen}}, a derivation of {{lang|tnq|Borikén}}, its Indigenous Taíno name, which is popularly said to mean "Land of the Valiant Lord".{{cite book |last=Allatson |first=Paul |title=Key Terms in Latino/a Cultural and Literary Studies |page=47 |location=Malden, Mass. |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4051-0250-6}}{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.taino-tribe.org/terms1.htm#anchor250018 |title=Taino Indigenous Peoples of the Caribbean |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013032642/http://www.taino-tribe.org/terms1.htm |archive-date=13 October 2007 |encyclopedia=Clásicos de Puerto Rico |edition=2nd |editor=Cayetano Coll y Toste |publisher=Ediciones Latinoamericanas, S.A. |year=1972}}{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/advanceinantill00grosgoog |title=H. B. Grose, Advance in the Antilles: the new era in Cuba and Porto Rico, Presbyterian Home Missions, 1910 |publisher=Literature Dept., Presbyterian Home Missions |year=1910 |access-date=6 February 2011 |last1=Grose |first1=Howard Benjamin}} The terms {{lang|es|boricua}}, {{lang|es|borinqueño}}, and {{lang|es|borincano}} are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage,[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Boricua Boricua.] Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Accessed 9 February 2022. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220210030451/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Boricua Archived.][https://dle.rae.es/borincano Borincano.] Diccionario de la Real Academia Española. Accessed 9 February 2022.[https://web.archive.org/web/20220210030619/https://dle.rae.es/borincano Archived.] and derive from {{lang|tnq|Borikén}} and {{lang|tnq|Borinquen}} respectively.Julian Granberry and Gary Vescelius. Languages of the Pre-Columbian Antilles. The University of Alabama Press. 2004. p.92. {{ISBN|978-0-8173-8191-2}} The island is also popularly known in Spanish as {{lang|es|La Isla del Encanto}}, meaning "the island of enchantment".{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rc7FAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA121 |chapter=¡Adelante Hermanas de la Raza!, Josefina Silva de Cintron and Puerto Rican Women's Feminismo. – The New York's World Fair: 1939–1940 |title=Exploring the Decolonial Imaginary: Four Transnational Lives |first=Patricia A. |last=Schechter |location=New York |publisher=MacMillan |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-137-01284-5}} Note: The phase "The Island of Enchantment" has been traced back to a travel guide by that title that Theodore Roosevelt Jr. offered in House & Garden magazine in 1938.

Columbus named the island {{lang|es|San Juan Bautista}}, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, while the capital city was named {{lang|es|Ciudad de Puerto Rico}} ("Rich Port City"). Eventually traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, while San Juan became the name used for the main trading/shipping port and the capital city.{{efn|Proyecto Salón Hogar (in Spanish) "{{lang|es|Los españoles le cambiaron el nombre de Borikén a San Juan Bautista y a la capital le llamaron Ciudad de Puerto Rico. Con los años, Ciudad de Puerto Rico pasó a ser San Juan, y San Juan Bautista pasó a ser Puerto Rico.}}"{{cite web |url=http://www.proyectosalonhogar.com/enciclopedia_ilustrada/HistoriaPR1.htm |title=Historia de Puerto Rico |publisher=Proyectosalonhogar.com |access-date=14 April 2014 |archive-date=30 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140430045127/http://www.proyectosalonhogar.com/Enciclopedia_Ilustrada/HistoriaPR1.htm |url-status=live }}}}

The island's name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898.{{cite web |title=Treaty of Peace Between the United States and Spain; December 10, 1898 |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp |website=The Avalon Project |publisher=Yale Law School |access-date=27 July 2016 |archive-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708063629/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp |url-status=live }} The anglicized name was used by the U.S. government and private enterprises (also Porto in Italian, French, and Portuguese). The name was changed back to Puerto Rico in 1931 by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila.{{cite web |title=Crafting an Identity |url=http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/HAIC/Historical-Essays/Foreign-Domestic/Crafting-Identity/ |website=History, Art & Archives |publisher=Office of the Historian and the Clerk of the House's Office of Art and Archives |access-date=27 July 2016 |archive-date=19 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819122410/http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/HAIC/Historical-Essays/Foreign-Domestic/Crafting-Identity/ |url-status=live }}{{efn|In 1932, the U.S. Congress officially back-corrected the former Anglicization of Porto Rico into the Spanish name Puerto Rico.{{cite book |author=Pedro A. Malavet |title=America's colony: the political and cultural conflict between the United States and Puerto Rico |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pKqVpqGVsJYC |year=2004 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-5680-5 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pKqVpqGVsJYC&pg=PA43 43], [https://books.google.com/books?id=pKqVpqGVsJYC&pg=PA181 181 note 76] |access-date=18 October 2020 |archive-date=8 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208215202/https://books.google.com/books?id=pKqVpqGVsJYC |url-status=live }}To change the name of the island of Porto Rico to Puerto Rico, S.J. Res 36, 72nd Congress, enacted 1932. ({{USStat|47|158}}) It had been using the former spelling in its legislative and judicial records since it acquired the archipelago. Patricia Gherovici states that both Porto Rico and Puerto Rico were used interchangeably in the news media and documentation before, during, and after the U.S. conquest of the island in 1898. The Porto spelling, for instance, was used in the Treaty of Paris, but Puerto was used by The New York Times that same year. Nancy Morris clarifies that "a curious oversight in the drafting of the Foraker Act caused the name of the island to be officially misspelled".{{cite book |author=Patricia Gherovici |title=The Puerto Rican syndrome |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2jSsxVWxu2sC |year=2003 |publisher=Other Press, LLC |isbn=978-1-892746-75-7 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=2jSsxVWxu2sC&pg=PA140 140–141] |access-date=18 October 2020 |archive-date=8 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208215157/https://books.google.com/books?id=2jSsxVWxu2sC |url-status=live }} However, Gervasio Luis Garcia traces the Anglicized spelling to a National Geographic article from 1899, after which the spelling was kept by many agencies and entities because of the ethnic and linguistic pride of the English-speaking citizens of the American mainland.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw2ZjkgjchkC |title=Hispanic Americans in Congress, 1822–2012 |last=Historian |first=Office of the |date=1 January 2013 |publisher=Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-16-092068-4 |language=en |access-date=17 August 2016 |archive-date=8 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208215204/https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw2ZjkgjchkC |url-status=live }}}}{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/registerportori03ricogoog |title=Register of Porto Rico |last1=Secretary's |first1=Puerto Rico |last2=Office |first2=Puerto Rico Secretary's |date=1 January 1903 |publisher=Office of the Secretary |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gWczAQAAIAAJ |title=Porto Rico: A Caribbean Isle |last1=Van Deusen |first1=Richard James |last2=Van Deusen |first2=Elizabeth Kneipple |date=1931 |publisher=Henry Holt |language=en |access-date=17 August 2016 |archive-date=8 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208215040/https://books.google.com/books?id=gWczAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jGhNAAAAYAAJ |title=Scientific survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands |last=Sciences |first=New York Academy of |date=1922 |publisher=New York Academy of Sciences |language=en}}

The official name of the entity in Spanish is {{lang|es|Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico}} ("Free Associated State of Puerto Rico"), while its official English name is Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Spanish official name was suggested by its architect Luis Muñoz Marín and adopted by a constitutional assembly on July 25, 1952. Some authorities have called it a euphemism and have charged that the official name in English of "Commonwealth" constitutes a fig leaf, i.e., associated with the covering up of an act that is actually embarrassing or distasteful with something of innocuous appearance.[https://books.google.com/books?id=w5mB2mY-ac4C&pg=PT380 Latino/a Thought: Culture, Politics, and Society.] Francisco H. Vazquez. Page 380. Lanham, Md: Rowman Littlefield Publishers. 2009. Accessed 25 May 2012. Puerto Rico remains a territory of the United States, exercising substantial internal self-government, but subordinated to the U.S. Constitution in areas such as foreign affairs or defense. For this reason, it is not considered to be a full-fledged associated state under either international or U.S. domestic law.[http://rozenbergquarterly.com/extended-statehood-in-the-caribbean-fifty-years-of-commonwealth-the-contradictions-of-free-associated-statehood-in-puerto-rico/ Extended Statehood in the Caribbean ~ Fifty Years of Commonwealth ~ The Contradictions Of Free Associated Statehood in Puerto Rico.] Rozenberg Quarterly. Accessed 15 August 2020.[http://www.bu.edu/law/workingpapers-archive/documents/lawsong_and_sloaner040809rev.pdf The Constitutionality of Decolonization by Associated Statehood: Puerto Rico's Legal Status Reconsidered.] Gary Lawson and Robert D. Sloane. Boston University School of Law. Working Paper Number 09-11. 3 August 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20191018000656/http://www.bu.edu/law/workingpapers-archive/documents/lawsong_and_sloaner040809rev.pdf Archived] on 18 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine.

{{Main|History of Puerto Rico}}

{{Expand section|date=September 2024}}

File:Taino Village.JPG village, located at the spot in which their remains were discovered in 1975, in the aftermath of Hurricane EloiseCarmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo. Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 141.]]

The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people before 430 BC. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant Indigenous culture was that of the Taínos. The Taíno people's numbers went dangerously low during the later half of the 16th century because of new infectious diseases carried by Europeans, exploitation by Spanish settlers, and warfare.{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/how-europeans-brought-sickness-new-world-rev2|title=How Europeans Brought Sickness to the New World|website=www.sciencemag.org|date=3 June 2015}}

Located in the northeastern Caribbean, Puerto Rico formed a key part of the Spanish Empire from the early years of the exploration, conquest and colonization of the New World. The island was a major military post during many wars between Spain and other European powers for control of the region in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

File:Puerto Rico departamentos 1886.jpg of Puerto Rico during Spanish provincial times (1886)]]

In 1593, Portuguese soldiers, sent from Lisbon by order of Phillip II, composed the first garrison of the San Felipe del Morro fortress in Puerto Rico. Some brought their wives, while others married Puerto Rican women, and today there are many Puerto Rican families with Portuguese last names. The smallest of the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico was a stepping-stone in the passage from Europe to Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northern territories of South America. Throughout most of the 19th century until the conclusion of the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico and Cuba were the last two Spanish colonies in the New World; they served as Spain's final outposts in a strategy to regain control of the American continents. Realizing that it was in danger of losing its two remaining Caribbean territories, the Spanish Crown revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. The decree was printed in Spanish, English and French in order to attract Europeans, with the hope that the independence movements would lose their popularity and strength with the arrival of new settlers. Free land was offered to those who wanted to populate the islands on the condition that they swear their loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Catholic Church.{{cite web|url=http://www.ensayistas.org/antologia/XIXE/castelar/esclavitud/cedula.htm|title=Teoría, Crítica e Historia: La abolición de la esclavitud y el mundo hispano|website=Ensayistas}}

File:Mapa de Puerto Rico (1952).jpg

In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was invaded and subsequently became a possession of the U.S. The first years of the 20th century were marked by the struggle to obtain greater democratic rights from the U.S.{{Cite journal |last=González-Cruz |first=Michael |date=1998 |title=The U.S. Invasion of Puerto Rico: Occupation and Resistance to the Colonial State, 1898 to the Present |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2634086 |journal=Latin American Perspectives |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=7–26 |issn=0094-582X}}

The Foraker Act of 1900 established a civil government, ending rule by American generals and the Department of War. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Ortega v. Lara, {{Ussc|202|339|pin=342|1906}},{{efn|{{caselaw source|case=Ortega v. Lara, {{Ussc|202|339|pin=342|1906|el=no}}|cornell=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/202/339|justia=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/202/339/|openjurist=http://openjurist.org/202/us/339|findlaw=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/202/339.html}} }} involving the Foraker Act and referring to the island as "the acquired country", soon affirmed that the U.S. Constitution applied within its territory and that any domestic Puerto Rican laws which did not conflict with it remained in force.{{cite journal|last1=Roselló|first1=Pedro Luis Perea|date=April–June 1963|editor1-last=Santiago|editor1-first=Maria García|editor2-last=Vega|editor2-first=Pedro Malavey|editor3-last=González|editor3-first=José M. Novoa|editor4-last=Goyco|editor4-first=Edwin Toro|title=Res communes omnium|department=Doctrina|journal=Revista de Derecho Puertorriqueño|language=es|version=Printed in Spain: Imprenta vda. de Daniel Cochs—Cros. 23.—Barcelona|location=Ponce, Puerto Rico|publisher=Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law|volume=2|issue=8|pages=7–24|issn=0034-7930}}

The Jones Act of 1917 made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens.{{Cite web|url=https://guides.loc.gov/latinx-civil-rights/jones-shafroth-act|title=A Latinx Resource Guide: Civil Rights Cases and Events in the United States|access-date=2025-02-15|website=library of Congress}} The Jones act paved the way for the drafting of Puerto Rico's Constitution and its approval by Congress and Puerto Rican voters in 1952 Puerto Rico is one of five territories with less representation in the Federal government, along with the Federal District.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

{{further|Proposed political status for Puerto Rico|President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status|}}

File:ISS017-E-18779 - View of Puerto Rico.jpg

In 2009, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization approved a draft resolution calling on the U.S. government to expedite a process that would allow the Puerto Rican people to exercise fully their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/gacol3193.doc.htm |title=Members Hear Petitioners Speak up for Independence, Statehood, Free Association |publisher=General Assembly of the United Nations |date=15 June 2009 |access-date=11 August 2017 |archive-date=9 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409222101/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/gacol3193.doc.htm |url-status=live }} In November 2012, a two-question referendum took place, simultaneous with the general elections.[http://www.oslpr.org/2009-2012/leyes/pdf/ley-283-28-Dic-2011.pdf Ley Numero 283 del 28 de diciembre de 2011.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412031116/http://www.oslpr.org/2009-2012/leyes/pdf/ley-283-28-Dic-2011.pdf |date=12 April 2019 }} Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. 28 December 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2012.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20111124013232/http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news03.php?nt_id=62931&ct_id=1 Fortuño calls for status vote next August.]}} John Marino. Caribbean Business. Released on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011. The first question, voted on in August, asked voters whether they wanted to maintain the current status under the territorial clause of the U.S. Constitution. 54% voted against the status quo, effectively approving the second question to be voted on in November. The second question posed three alternate status options: statehood, independence, or free association.{{cite web |author=casiano communications |url=http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news03.php?nt_id=62931&ct_id=1 |title=Fortuño calls for status, legislative reform votes on 12 August 2012 |publisher=Caribbeanbusinesspr.com |date=4 October 2011 |access-date=30 October 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124013232/http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news03.php?nt_id=62931&ct_id=1 |archive-date=24 November 2011 }} 61.16% voted for statehood, 33.34% for a sovereign free-associated state, and 5.49% for independence.{{cite news |title=Puerto Rico votes on whether to change relationship with US, elects governor and legislators |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/puerto-rico-votes-on-whether-to-change-relationship-with-us-elects-governor-and-legislators/2012/11/06/d87278ae-288b-11e2-aaa5-ac786110c486_story.html |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=6 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114122818/http://www.hispanicmarketinfo.com/2011/12/23/census-2010-puerto-rico-dominicans-and-other-immigrants-a-growing-population/ |archive-date=14 January 2012}}{{Failed verification|date=June 2021}}

In 2016, President Barack Obama signed into law H.R. 5278: PROMESA, establishing a Control Board over the Puerto Rican government. This board will have a significant degree of federal control involved in its establishment and operations. In particular, the authority to establish the control board derives from the federal government's constitutional power to "make all needful rules and regulations" regarding U.S. territories; The president would appoint all seven voting members of the board; and the board would have broad sovereign powers to effectively overrule decisions by Puerto Rico's legislature, governor, and other public authorities.{{cite web |url=https://policy.house.gov/legislative/bills/hr-5278-puerto-rico-oversight-management-and-economic-stability-act-2016-promesa |title=H.R. 5278, Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act of 2016 (PROMESA) |date=6 June 2016 |website=Policy.house.gov |access-date=14 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819125905/https://policy.house.gov/legislative/bills/hr-5278-puerto-rico-oversight-management-and-economic-stability-act-2016-promesa |archive-date=19 August 2016 }} There would be another referendum in 2017 in Puerto Rico, in favor of statehood although it was boycotted by some political opponents of it. (see 2017 Puerto Rican status referendum)

File:Puerto Rico Rainfall Totals from Hurricane Maria Updated 2022.jpg

In 2017, Puerto Rico suffered back-to-back large hurricanes: the Category 5 Hurricane Irma (September 7, 2017) and the Category 4 Hurricane Maria (September 20, 2017).[https://www.rand.org/hsrd/hsoac/projects/puerto-rico-recovery/hurricanes-irma-and-maria.html RAND - Hurricanes Irma and Maria: Impact and Aftermath] The storms caused an extreme amount of damage to the island, causing the following effects: all power was knocked out, 95% cell service, 43% of waste water treatment plants, 40 thousand land slides, 97% of roads blocked, 28% of health facilities damaged, leading to over 90% of the population applying for assistance after the storms. See also Effects of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

It is thought that a combination of the debt crisis and two major hurricanes in the late 2010s, caused further departures from the island. Overall the population has decreased by about half a million in the 21st century, with many seeking better opportunities on the mainland.{{cite web | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/mass-exodus-puerto-rico-feared-after-historic-hurricane-debt-crisis-n804856 | title=Mass exodus from Puerto Rico feared after historic hurricane, debt crisis | website=NBC News | date=26 September 2017 }}

Puerto Rico held its statehood referendum during the 3 November 2020 general elections; the ballot asked one question: "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?" The results showed that 52 percent of Puerto Rico voters answered yes.{{cite web |url= https://elecciones2020.ceepur.org/Noche_del_Evento_92/index.html#en/default/PLEBISCITO_Resumen.xml |title= 2020 Puerto Rican status referendum |publisher= elecciones2020.ceepur.org |date= 5 November 2020 |access-date= 6 November 2020 |archive-date= 3 November 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201103191716/https://elecciones2020.ceepur.org/Noche_del_Evento_92/index.html#en/default/PLEBISCITO_Resumen.xml |url-status= live }} In the United States in the early 2020s, the Puerto Rico Status Act was being worked on by Congress, and H.R. 8393 passed the House in 2022—though it has not passed the Senate; this bill would support PR making a binding referendum. The bill does not decide PR's fate, it simply prepares the United States to respond the outcome of referendum.{{cite web | url=https://time.com/6242054/house-passes-bill-that-would-allow-puerto-rico-to-vote-on-its-statehood-or-independence/ | title=Puerto Rico Independence Bill Passes in the House | date=17 December 2022 }} In the 5 November 2024 elections, there was three choices in a non-binding referendum which included Statehood, Independence, or Independence with Free Association on the ballot; Statehood won with 59%.{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/jenniffer-gonzalez-of-puerto-ricos-pro-statehood-party-edges-ahead-in-gubernatorial-election | title=Jenniffer González of Puerto Rico's pro-statehood party edges ahead in gubernatorial election | website=PBS | date=6 November 2024 }} In addition, on November 5, 2024, Jennifer Gonzalez, who is pro-statehood, won the office of Governor of Puerto Rico in the 2024 general election with nearly 40% of the vote.{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/puerto-rico-governor-jenniffer-gonzalez-colon-wins_n_671ffc6fe4b0a4f117c7df65/amp|title=Jenniffer González-Colón, A Pro-Statehood Trump Ally, Wins Puerto Rico Governor's Race|date=6 November 2024|access-date=6 November 2024|last=Kaufman|first=Alexander C.|website=HuffPost}}

{{Main|Geography of Puerto Rico|Geology of Puerto Rico|List of islands of Puerto Rico}}

File:Patillas Puerto Rico.jpg, in southeast Puerto Rico|alt=]]

Puerto Rico consists of the main island of Puerto Rico and various smaller islands, including Vieques, Culebra, Mona, Desecheo, and Caja de Muertos. Of these five, only Culebra and Vieques are inhabited year-round. Mona, which has played a key role in maritime history, is uninhabited most of the year except for employees of the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources.{{cite journal |title=Ciencia y economía del guano: La isla mona en puerto rico, siglo XIX |author1=Cortés Zavala |author2=María Teresa |author3=José Alfredo Uribe Salas |name-list-style=amp |journal=Memorias: Revista Digital de Historia y Arqueología Desde el Caribe |year=2014 |volume=11 |issue=22 |pages=81–106 |doi=10.14482/memor.22.5948|doi-access=free | issn=1794-8886 }} There are many other even smaller islets, like Monito, located near Mona,{{cite journal |url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_q6VhhkczIYV3NTbkNYMmpIWk0 |title=Marine Managed Areas and Associated Fisheries in the US Caribbean |author=Schärer-Umpierre, Michelle T. |journal=Marine Managed Areas and Fisheries |series=Advances in Marine Biology |year=2014 |volume=69 |page=140 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-800214-8.00004-9 |pmid=25358299 |isbn=978-0-12-800214-8 |display-authors=etal |access-date=10 December 2015 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728043246/https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_q6VhhkczIYV3NTbkNYMmpIWk0/view?usp=drive_open |url-status=live }} and Isla de Cabras and La Isleta de San Juan, both located on the San Juan Bay. The latter is the only inhabited islet with communities like Old San Juan and Puerta de Tierra, which are connected to the main island by bridges.{{cite journal |title=La ciudad contemporanea, una polis sin politica? |author=Helmer, Etienne |journal=Boletin Cientifico Sapiens Research |year=2011 |volume=1 |issue=2 |page=88}}{{cite journal |title=Edenes insostenibles: El campo de la ciudad en la intentona cultural de los cincuenta |author=Esterrich, Carmelo |journal=CENTRO: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies |year=2009 |volume=21 |issue=1 |page=180}}

File:NOAA Bathymetry Image of Puerto Rico (2020).png

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has an area of {{convert|3515|sqmi|km2|sp=us}}, of which {{convert|3459|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}} is land and {{convert|56|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}} is water.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/puerto-rico/ |title=The World Factbook – Puerto Rico#Geography |publisher=Cia.gov |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=5 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105163943/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/puerto-rico/ |url-status=live }} Puerto Rico is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island but smaller than Connecticut. The maximum length of the main island from east to west is {{convert|110|mi|km|abbr=on}}, and the maximum width from north to south is {{convert|40|mi|km|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.topuertorico.org/descrip.shtml |title=Welcome to Puerto Rico! |publisher=topuertorico.org |access-date=30 December 2007 |archive-date=24 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224225019/http://www.topuertorico.org/descrip.shtml |url-status=live }} Puerto Rico is the smallest of the Greater Antilles. It is 80% of the size of Jamaica,{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jamaica/ |title=The World Factbook – Jamaica |publisher=CIA |access-date=24 April 2008 |archive-date=11 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111023238/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jamaica |url-status=live }} just over 18% of the size of Hispaniola and 8% of the size of Cuba, the largest of the Greater Antilles.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/ |title=The World Factbook – Cuba |publisher=CIA |access-date=24 April 2008 |archive-date=2 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202182827/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/ |url-status=live }}

The topography of the island is mostly mountainous with large flat areas in the northern and southern coasts. The main mountain range that crosses the island from east to west is called the Cordillera Central (also known as the Central Mountain Range in English). The highest elevation in Puerto Rico, Cerro de Punta {{convert|4390|ft|m}}, is located in this range. Another important peak is El Yunque, one of the highest in the Sierra de Luquillo at the El Yunque National Forest, with an elevation of {{convert|3494|ft|m|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-caribbean-national-forest-hiking-fishing-puerto-rico-sidwcmdev_066593.html |title=Caribbean National Forest – El Yunque Trail # 15 |publisher=GORP.com |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818050917/http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-caribbean-national-forest-hiking-fishing-puerto-rico-sidwcmdev_066593.html |archive-date=18 August 2010 |url-status=dead }}File:Map of Highways, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Routes in Puerto Rico.jpg

Puerto Rico has 17 lakes, all man-made, and more than 50 rivers, most of which originate in the Cordillera Central.{{cite web |url=http://www.gobierno.pr/DRNA/ReservasNaturales/LagosRiosLagunas/Lagos/Lagos_I.htm |title=Los Lagos de Puerto Rico |access-date=29 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041225032628/http://www.gobierno.pr/DRNA/ReservasNaturales/LagosRiosLagunas/Lagos/Lagos_I.htm |archive-date=25 December 2004 |url-status=dead }} (archived from on 29 June 2007). {{in lang|es}} Rivers in the northern region of the island are typically longer and of higher water flow rates than those of the south, since the south receives less rain than the central and northern regions.

Puerto Rico is composed of Cretaceous to Eocene volcanic and plutonic rocks, overlain by younger Oligocene and more recent carbonates and other sedimentary rocks.{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3790/is_200605/ai_n17177064 |title=Late Cretaceous Siliceous Sponges From El Rayo Formation, Puerto Rico |author1=Andrzej Pisera |author2=Michael Martínez |author3=Hernan Santos |publisher=Journal of Paleontology |date=May 2006 |access-date=6 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105065534/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3790/is_200605/ai_n17177064 |archive-date=5 January 2009 }} Most of the caverns and karst topography on the island occurs in the northern region. The oldest rocks are approximately {{Nowrap|190 million}} years old (Jurassic) and are located at Sierra Bermeja in the southwest part of the island. They may represent part of the oceanic crust and are believed to come from the Pacific Ocean realm.

Puerto Rico lies at the boundary between the Caribbean and North American Plates and is being deformed by the tectonic stresses caused by their interaction. These stresses may cause earthquakes and tsunamis. These seismic events, along with landslides, represent some of the most dangerous geologic hazards in the island and in the northeastern Caribbean. The 1918 San Fermín earthquake occurred on {{Nowrap|11 October}}, 1918 and had an estimated magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale.{{cite web |url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/puerto_rico/puerto_rico_history.php |title=Earthquake History of Puerto Rico |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |access-date=11 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714105156/https://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/puerto_rico/puerto_rico_history.php |archive-date=14 July 2007}} It originated off the coast of Aguadilla, several kilometers off the northern coast, and was accompanied by a tsunami. It caused extensive property damage and widespread losses, damaging infrastructure, especially bridges. It resulted in an estimated 116 deaths and $4 million in property damage. The failure of the government to move rapidly to provide for the general welfare contributed to political activism by opponents and eventually to the rise of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. On 7 January 2020,[https://www.usgs.gov/news/morning-update-puerto-rico-january-7-2020 Morning Update for Puerto Rico - January 7, 2020: On Jan. 7, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the region at 4:24 am local time (08:24:26 UTC). Significant damage is possible. Over the past several weeks, hundreds of small earthquakes have occurred in the Puerto Rico region, beginning in earnest with a M 4.7 earthquake late on December 28 and a M 5.0 event a few hours.] Puerto Rico Earthquakes. 7 January 2020. Accessed 9 February 2022. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220210022037/https://www.usgs.gov/news/morning-update-puerto-rico-january-7-2020 Archived.] the country experienced its largest earthquake since 1918,[https://reporter.lcms.org/2020/puerto-rico-hit-by-largest-earthquake-in-100-years/ Puerto Rico hit by largest earthquake in 100 years.] Cheryl Magness. Reporter. 8 January 2020. Accessed 9 February 2022. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220210021015/https://reporter.lcms.org/2020/puerto-rico-hit-by-largest-earthquake-in-100-years/ Archived.] estimated at magnitude 6.4.[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/6-5-quake-strikes-puerto-rico-amid-heavy-seismic-activity-n1111666 6.4-magnitude quake strikes Puerto Rico, killing at least 1 amid heavy seismic activity: "We've never been exposed to this kind of emergency in 102 years," Gov. Wanda Vázquez said as the island grapples with ongoing aftershocks and assesses the damage.] Nicole Acevedo and Ben Kesslen. NBC News. 7 January 2020. Accessed 7 February 2022. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220210022858/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/6-5-quake-strikes-puerto-rico-amid-heavy-seismic-activity-n1111666 Archived.] Economic losses were estimated to be more than $3.1 billion.[https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/puerto-rico-earthquake-01-07-2020/index.html Analyst says earthquakes could cost Puerto Rico's economy up to $3.1 billion.] Kate Trafecante. CNN. 7 January 2020. Accessed 9 February 2022. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220210015803/https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/puerto-rico-earthquake-01-07-2020/index.html Archived.]

The Puerto Rico Trench, the largest and deepest trench in the Atlantic, is located about {{convert|71|mi|km|abbr=on}} north of Puerto Rico at the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates.{{cite web |author=Uri ten Brink |url=http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03trench/welcome.html |title=Explorations: Puerto Rico Trench 2003 – Cruise Summary and Results |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=20 November 2009 |archive-date=24 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724090028/http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03trench/welcome.html |url-status=live }} It is {{convert|170|mi|km|abbr=on}} long.{{cite web |url=http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03trench/welcome.html |title=NOAA Ocean Explorer: Puerto Rico Trench |publisher=Oceanexplorer.noaa.gov |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-date=24 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724090028/http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03trench/welcome.html |url-status=live }} At its deepest point, named the Milwaukee Deep, it is almost {{convert|27600|ft|m|abbr=on}} deep. The Mona Canyon, located in the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, is another prominent oceanic landform with steep walls measuring between {{convert|1.25|and|2.17|mi|km}} in height from bottom to top.{{Cite web |last=Mondziel |first=Steven A. |year=2007 |title=Morphology, Structure, and Tectonic Evolution of the Mona Canyon, Puerto Rico |url=https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncw/f/mondziels2007-1.pdf |website=uncg.edu |publisher=University of North Carolina Wilmington |via=Journal of Marine Geology |access-date=20 August 2023 |archive-date=20 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820221315/https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncw/f/mondziels2007-1.pdf |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Climate of Puerto Rico|Climate change in Puerto Rico}}

File:Puerto Rico Köppen.png

The climate of Puerto Rico in the Köppen climate classification is mostly tropical rainforest. Temperatures are warm to hot year round, averaging near {{convert|85|°F|°C|abbr=on}} in lower elevations and {{convert|70|°F|°C|abbr=on}} in the mountains. Easterly trade winds pass across the island year round. Puerto Rico has a rainy season, which stretches from April into November, and a dry season stretching from December to March. The mountains of the Cordillera Central create a rain shadow and are the main cause of the variations in the temperature and rainfall that occur over very short distances. The mountains can also cause wide variation in local wind speed and direction due to their sheltering and channeling effects, adding to the climatic variation. Daily temperature changes seasonally are quite small in the lowlands and coastal areas.

Between the dry and wet seasons, there is a temperature change of around {{convert|6|F-change|1}}. This change is due mainly to the warm waters of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, which significantly modify cooler air moving in from the north and northwest. Coastal water temperatures during the year are about {{convert|75|°F|°C|abbr=on}} in February and {{convert|85|°F|°C|abbr=on}} in August. The highest temperature ever recorded was {{convert|110|F}} at Arecibo,{{Cite news |last=Stillman |first=Dan |date=7 June 2023 |title=Historic heat is roasting Puerto Rico, where it feels like 125 degrees |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/06/07/puerto-rico-heat-wave-caribbean/ |access-date=9 June 2023 |archive-date=17 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017040357/https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/06/07/puerto-rico-heat-wave-caribbean/ |url-status=live }} while the lowest temperature ever recorded was {{convert|40|F}} in the mountains at Adjuntas, Aibonito, and Corozal.{{cite web |url=http://nowdata.rcc-acis.org/SJU/pubACIS_results |title=NOWData – NOAA Online Weather Data |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=27 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009161414/http://nowdata.rcc-acis.org/SJU/pubACIS_results |archive-date=9 October 2011 |url-status=dead }} The average yearly precipitation is {{convert|66|in|0|abbr=on}}.{{cite journal |last1=Daly |first1=Christopher |last2=Helmer |first2=Eileen H. |last3=Quiñonez |first3=Maya |year=2003 |title=Mapping the Climate of Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra |journal=International Journal of Climatology |volume=23 |issue=11 |pages=1359–81 |doi=10.1002/joc.937 |bibcode=2003IJCli..23.1359D|doi-access=free }} Climate change in Puerto Rico has had a large impact on the ecosystems and landscapes.{{cite web | title=Effects of Climate Change in Puerto Rico | website=Center for Media Engagement | date=2024-06-13 | url=https://mediaengagement.org/blogs/effects-of-climate-change-in-puerto-rico/ | access-date=2024-11-04}}

Puerto Rico experiences the Atlantic hurricane season, similar to the rest of the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean. On average, a quarter of its annual rainfall is contributed from tropical cyclones, which are more prevalent during periods of La Niña than El Niño.{{cite journal |last1=Rodgers |first1=Edward B. |last2=Adler |first2=Robert F. |last3=Pierce |first3=Harold F. |title=Contribution of Tropical Cyclones to the North Atlantic Climatological Rainfall as Observed from Satellites |journal=Journal of Applied Meteorology |date=November 2001 |volume=40 |issue=11 |pages=1785–1800 |doi=10.1175/1520-0450(2001)040<1785:COTCTT>2.0.CO;2|bibcode=2001JApMe..40.1785R |doi-access=free }} A cyclone of tropical storm strength passes near Puerto Rico, on average, every five years. A hurricane passes in the vicinity of the island, on average, every seven years. Since 1851, the Lake Okeechobee Hurricane (also known as the San Felipe Segundo hurricane in Puerto Rico) of September 1928 is the only hurricane to make landfall as a Category 5 hurricane.Aurelio Mercado and Harry Justiniano. [http://coastalhazards.uprm.edu/ Coastal Hazards of Puerto Rico.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006134919/http://coastalhazards.uprm.edu/ |date=6 October 2011 }} Retrieved on 23 January 2008. In 2017, Puerto Rico was affected by Category 5 Hurricane Irma and Category 4 Hurricane Maria,[https://www.rand.org/hsrd/hsoac/projects/puerto-rico-recovery/hurricanes-irma-and-maria.html RAND - Hurricanes Irma and Maria: Impact and Aftermath], rand.org causing widespread and devastating impacts, particularly to the electric grid.

{{main|Fauna of Puerto Rico|Flora of Puerto Rico}}

Puerto Rico is home to three terrestrial ecoregions: Puerto Rican moist forests, Puerto Rican dry forests, and Greater Antilles mangroves.{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|display-authors=1|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287|doi-access=free}} Puerto Rico has two biosphere reserves recognized by the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme: Luquillo Biosphere Reserve represented by El Yunque National Forest and the Guánica Biosphere Reserve.

File:Common Coquí.jpg]]

Species endemic to the archipelago number 239 plants, 16 birds and 39 amphibians/reptiles, recognized as of 1998. Most of these (234, 12 and 33 respectively) are found on the main island.{{cite web |url=http://islands.unep.ch/ISV.htm#459 |title=Island Directory |publisher=Islands.unep.ch |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=7 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060907000405/http://islands.unep.ch/ISV.htm#459 }} The most recognizable endemic species and a symbol of Puerto Rican pride is the coquí, a small frog easily identified by the sound of its call, from which it gets its name. Most coquí species (13 of 17) live in the El Yunque National Forest,{{Cite web |title=Coquí in the Rainforest |url=https://www.discoverpuertorico.com/coqui |access-date=30 March 2023 |website=Discover Puerto Rico |language=en |archive-date=30 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330103426/https://www.discoverpuertorico.com/coqui |url-status=live }} the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. Forest Service system, located in the northeast of the island. It was previously known as the Caribbean National Forest. El Yunque is home to more than 240 plants, 26 of which are endemic to the island. It is also home to 50 bird species, including the critically endangered Puerto Rican amazon.

In addition to El Yunque National Forest, the Puerto Rican moist forest ecoregion is represented by protected areas such as the Maricao and Toro Negro state forests. These areas are home to endangered endemic species such as the Puerto Rican boa (Chilabothrus inornatus), the Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus venator), the Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus brunnescens) and the elfin woods warbler (Setophaga angelae). The Northern Karst country of Puerto Rico is also home to one of the remaining rainforest tracts in the island, with the Río Abajo State Forest being the first focus for the reintroduction of the highly endangered Puerto Rican parrot outside of the Sierra de Luquillo.{{cite web |title=Iguaca Aviary Techniques used in the Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd699768.pdf |access-date=23 July 2022 |website=US Fish & Wildlife Services |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208022640/https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd699768.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |title=View of News of the Rio Abajo Aviary for Puerto Rican Parrot |url=https://jco.birdscaribbean.org/index.php/jco/article/view/1133/879 |access-date=23 July 2022 |journal=Journal of Caribbean Ornithology |date=18 December 1990 |volume=3 |issue=3 |page=4 |archive-date=20 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820221314/https://jco.birdscaribbean.org/index.php/jco/article/view/1133/879 |url-status=live }}

In the southwest, the Guánica State Forest and Biosphere Reserve contain over 600 uncommon species of plants and animals, including 48 endangered species and 16 that are endemic to Puerto Rico, and is considered a prime example of the Puerto Rican dry forest ecoregion and the best-preserved dry forest in the Caribbean.Ewel, J.L. & J.L. Whitmore. 1973. The ecological life zones of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. USDA For. Serv. Res. Pap. ITF-18. Other protected dry forests in Puerto Rico can be formed within the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge complex at the Cabo Rojo, Desecheo, Culebra and Vieques National Wildlife Refuges, and in the Caja de Muertos and Mona and Monito Islands Nature Reserves.{{Cite book |last1=Ewel |first1=J. J. |url=https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/rp/rp_itf018.pdf |title=The Ecological Life Zones of Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands |last2=Whitmore |first2=J. L. |id=Forest Service Research Paper ITF-18 |publisher=USDA Forest Service Institute of Tropical Forestry |year=1973 |author-link=John Ewel |access-date=20 August 2023 |archive-date=20 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820221316/https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/rp/rp_itf018.pdf |url-status=live }} Examples of endemic species found in this ecoregion are the higo chumbo (Harrisia portoricensis), the Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur), and the Mona ground iguana (Cyclura stejnegeri), the largest land animal native to Puerto Rico.{{citation |last1=Alberts |first1=Allison |title=Testing the Utility of Headstarting as a Conservation Strategy for West Indian Iguanas |work=Iguanas: Biology and Conservation |page=210 |year=2004 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-23854-1 |last2=Lemm |first2=Jeffrey |last3=Grant |first3=Tandora |last4=Jackintell |first4=Lori}}

Puerto Rico has three of the seven year-long bioluminescent bays in the Caribbean: Laguna Grande in Fajardo, La Parguera in Lajas and Puerto Mosquito in Vieques. These are unique bodies of water surrounded by mangroves that are inhabited by the dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense.{{Cite journal |last1=Soler-Figueroa |first1=Brenda María |last2=Otero |first2=Ernesto |date=1 January 2015 |title=The Influence of Rain Regimes and Nutrient Loading on the Abundance of Two Dinoflagellate Species in a Tropical Bioluminescent Bay, Bahía Fosforescente, La Parguera, Puerto Rico |journal=Estuaries and Coasts |language=en |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=84–92 |doi=10.1007/s12237-014-9827-0 |bibcode=2015EstCo..38...84S |issn=1559-2731 |s2cid=85305359}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/bioluminescent-bay-puerto-rico-unique-places-around-the-world.html|title=Bioluminescent Bay, Puerto Rico - Unique Places around the World|website=WorldAtlas|access-date=15 February 2020|archive-date=15 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215211706/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/bioluminescent-bay-puerto-rico-unique-places-around-the-world.html|url-status=dead}} However, tourism, pollution, and hurricanes have highly threatened these unique ecosystems.{{Cite web|last=Yancey-Bragg|first=N'dea|title=After Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico's rare bioluminescent bays may go dark|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/22/after-hurricane-maria-puerto-ricos-rare-bioluminescent-bays-may-go-dark/694833001/|access-date=29 June 2020|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US|archive-date=27 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227163632/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/22/after-hurricane-maria-puerto-ricos-rare-bioluminescent-bays-may-go-dark/694833001/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Government of Puerto Rico|Politics of Puerto Rico}}

Puerto Rico has a republican form of government based on the American model, with separation of powers subject to the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United States.{{cite web |url=http://www.oslpr.org/english/PDF/The%20Constitution%20of%20the%20Commonwealth%20of%20Puerto%20Rico.pdf |title=Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Article I, Section 2 |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229150849/http://www.oslpr.org/english/pdf/the%20constitution%20of%20the%20commonwealth%20of%20puerto%20rico.pdf |archive-date=29 December 2009 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/inr/rls/10543.htm |title=U.S. Department of State. Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty |publisher=State.gov |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-date=21 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621161149/https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/inr/rls/10543.htm |url-status=live }} All governmental powers are delegated by the United States Congress, with the head of state being the president of the United States. As an unincorporated territory, Puerto Rico lacks full protection under the U.S. Constitution.{{cite web |url=https://fam.state.gov/FAM/07FAM/07FAM1120.html |title=U.S. Department of State. Foreign Affairs Manual: Volume 7 – Consular Affairs (7 FAM 1120), 'Acquisition of U.S. Nationality in U.S. Territories and Possessions', pp. 1–3. |format=PDF |access-date=13 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222081013/https://fam.state.gov/FAM/07FAM/07FAM1120.html |archive-date=22 December 2015 |url-status=dead }}

The government of Puerto Rico is composed of three branches. The executive is headed by the governor, currently Jenniffer González-Colón. The legislative branch consists of the bicameral Legislative Assembly, made up of a Senate as its upper chamber and a House of Representatives as its lower chamber; the Senate is headed by a president, currently José Luis Dalmau, while the House is headed by the speaker of the House, currently Tatito Hernández. The governor and legislators are elected by popular vote every four years, with the last election held in November 2024. The judicial branch is headed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, currently Maite Oronoz Rodríguez. Members of the judiciary are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Puerto Rico is represented in the U.S. Congress by a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives, the resident commissioner, currently Pablo Hernández Rivera. Current congressional rules have removed the commissioner's power to vote in the Committee of the Whole, but the commissioner can vote in committee.[http://clerk.house.gov/legislative/house-rules.pdf Rules of the House of Representatives. Rule III] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005220012/http://clerk.house.gov/legislative/house-rules.pdf/ |date=5 October 2015 }}.

Puerto Rican elections are governed by the Federal Election Commission and the State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico.{{cite web|date=25 July 2018|title=Help America Vote Act (HAVA) 2018 ELECTION SECURITY GRANT|url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/5676842/Puerto-Rico-State-Elections-Commission-Help.pdf|access-date=30 October 2011|publisher=Puerto Rico State Elections Commission|archive-date=29 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729065604/https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/5676842/Puerto-Rico-State-Elections-Commission-Help.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/2008pdates.pdf |title=2008 Presidential Primary Dates and Candidates Filling Datelines for Ballot Access |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=28 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028170649/http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/2008pdates.pdf |url-status=live }} Residents of Puerto Rico, including other U.S. citizens, cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections, but can vote in primaries. Puerto Ricans who become residents of a U.S. state or Washington, D.C. can vote in presidential elections.

Puerto Rico has eight senatorial districts, 40 representative districts, and 78 municipalities; there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the U.S. government. Municipalities are subdivided into wards or barrios, and those into sectors. Each municipality has a mayor and a municipal legislature elected for a four-year term. The municipality of San Juan is the oldest, founded in 1521;{{cite web|title=Consulados. Link to Puerto Rico|url=http://www.linktopr.com/consulados.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040411192635/http://www.linktopr.com/consulados.html|archive-date=11 April 2004|access-date=3 February 2009}} the next earliest settlements are San Germán in 1570, Coamo in 1579, Arecibo in 1614, Aguada in 1692 and Ponce in 1692. Increased settlement in the 18th century saw 30 more communities established, following 34 in the 19th century. Six were founded in the 20th century, the most recent being Florida in 1971.{{cite web |url=http://www.linktopr.com/fundacion.html |title=LinktoPR.com – Fundación de los Pueblos |access-date=21 April 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040421093959/http://www.linktopr.com/fundacion.html |archive-date=21 April 2004 }}

{{main|Political party strength in Puerto Rico}}

File:Political-party-strength-in-puerto-rico-2012.png.]]

Since 1952, Puerto Rico has had three main political parties: the Popular Democratic Party (PPD in Spanish), the New Progressive Party (PNP in Spanish) and the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP). The three parties stand for different political status. The PPD, for example, seeks to maintain the island's status with the U.S. as a commonwealth, while the PNP seeks to make Puerto Rico a U.S. state. Meanwhile, the PIP seeks to make Puerto Rico a sovereign nation free from U.S. authority. In terms of party strength, the PPD and PNP usually hold about 47% of the vote each while the PIP holds about 5%.

After 2007, other parties emerged on the island. The first, the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party was registered that same year. The party claims that it seeks to address the islands' problems from a status-neutral platform. But it ceased to remain as a registered party when it failed to obtain the required number of votes in the 2008 general election. Four years later, the 2012 election saw the emergence of the Movimiento Unión Soberanista (English: Sovereign Union Movement) and the Partido del Pueblo Trabajador (English: Working People's Party) but none obtained more than 1% of the vote.

Other non-registered parties include the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, the Socialist Workers Movement, and the Hostosian National Independence Movement.

{{Main|Political status of Puerto Rico|Proposed political status for Puerto Rico}}

The nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with the U.S. is the subject of ongoing debate in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Congress, and the United Nations.{{cite press release |title=Special committee on decolonization approves text calling on United States to expedite Puerto Rican self-determination process |date=13 June 2006 |publisher=Department of Public Information, United Nations General Assembly |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/gacol3138.doc.htm |access-date=1 October 2007 |archive-date=9 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409222103/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/gacol3138.doc.htm |url-status=live }} Specifically, the basic question is whether Puerto Rico should remain an unincorporated territory of the U.S., become a U.S. state, or become an independent country.{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32933.pdf |title=Political Status of Puerto Rico: Background, Options, and Issues in the 109th Congress |date=25 May 2005 |author=Keith Bea |publisher=Congressional Research Service |access-date=1 October 2007 |archive-date=28 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928232129/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32933.pdf |url-status=live }}

File:PR Capitol, south side.JPG, home of the Legislative Assembly in Puerto Rico|alt=|left]]

Constitutionally, Puerto Rico is subject to the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress under the territorial clause of Article IV of the U.S. Constitution.U.S. Const. art. IV, § 3, cl. 2 ("The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States ..."). Laws enacted at the federal level in the U.S. apply to Puerto Rico as well, regardless of its political status. Their residents do not have voting representation in the U.S. Congress. Puerto Rico lacks "the full sovereignty of an independent nation", for example, the power to manage its "external relations with other nations", which is held by the U.S. federal government. The U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that once the U.S. Constitution has been extended to an area (by Congress or the courts), its coverage is irrevocable. To hold that the political branches may switch the Constitution on or off at will would lead to a regime in which they, not this Court, say "what the law is".Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244, 261 (1901), commenting on an earlier Supreme Court decision, Loughborough v. Blake, 18 U.S. (5 Wheat.) 317 (1820); Rasmussen v. United States, 197 U.S. 516, 529–530, 536 (1905)(concurring opinions of Justices Harlan and Brown), that once the Constitution has been extended to an area, its coverage is irrevocable; Boumediene v. Bush – That where the Constitution has been once formally extended by Congress to territories, neither Congress nor the territorial legislature can enact laws inconsistent therewith. The Constitution grants Congress and the President the power to acquire, dispose of, and govern territory, not the power to decide when and where its terms apply.

Puerto Ricans "were collectively made U.S. citizens" in 1917 as a result of the Jones–Shafroth Act.The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion: 1803–1898. By Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew H. Sparrow. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2005. pp. 166, 178. "U.S. citizenship was extended to residents of Puerto Rico by virtue of the Jones Act, chap. 190, 39 Stat. 951 (1971)(codified at 48 U.S.C. § 731 (1987)") U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections, though both major parties, Republican and Democratic, hold primary elections in Puerto Rico to choose delegates to vote on the parties' presidential candidates. Since Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory and not a U.S. state, the U.S. Constitution does not fully enfranchise U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico.{{cite web |url=http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_citi.html |title=Constitutional Topic: Citizenship |publisher=U.S. Constitution Online |access-date=6 June 2009 |archive-date=11 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211130139/http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_citi.html |url-status=live }}

Only fundamental rights under the American federal constitution and adjudications are applied to Puerto Ricans. Various other U.S. Supreme Court decisions have held which rights apply in Puerto Rico and which ones do not. Puerto Ricans have a long history of service in the U.S. Armed Forces and, since 1917, they have been included in the U.S. compulsory draft when it has been in effect.

Though the Commonwealth government has its own tax laws, residents of Puerto Rico, contrary to a popular misconception, do pay U.S. federal taxes: customs taxes (which are subsequently returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury), import/export taxes, federal commodity taxes, social security taxes, etc. Residents pay federal payroll taxes, such as Social Security and Medicare, as well as Commonwealth of Puerto Rico income taxes. All federal employees, those who do business with the federal government, Puerto Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S., and some others, such as Puerto Rican residents that are members of the U.S. military, and Puerto Rico residents who earned income from sources outside Puerto Rico also pay federal income taxes. In addition, because the cutoff point for income taxation is lower than that of the U.S. IRS code, and because the per-capita income in Puerto Rico is much lower than the average per-capita income on the mainland, more Puerto Rico residents pay income taxes to the local taxation authority than if the IRS code were applied to the island. This occurs because "the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government has a wider set of responsibilities than do U.S. State and local governments."{{cite web |url=http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healthcare-industry-policy-article/puerto-rico/267827 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401034052/http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healthcare-industry-policy-article/puerto-rico/267827 |archive-date=1 April 2010 |title=Puerto Ricans pay federal commodity taxes |publisher=Stanford.wellsphere.com |access-date=30 October 2011}}{{cite web |url=https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc903.html |title=Internal Revenue Service. ', Topic 903 – Federal Employment Tax in Puerto Rico' |publisher=Irs.gov |date=18 December 2009 |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-date=3 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703133155/https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc903.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE58N5X320090924 |title=Reuters, 'Puerto Rico hopes to gain from U.S. healthcare reform', 24 September 2009 |work=Reuters |date=24 September 2009 |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-date=30 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130062125/https://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE58N5X320090924 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Schaefer |first=Brett |url=http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/03/dc-voting-rights-no-representation-no-taxation |title=The Heritage Foundation, 11 March 2009. "D.C. Voting Rights: No Representation? No Taxation!", By Robert A. Book, PhD |publisher=Heritage.org |access-date=16 October 2010 |archive-date=29 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429113102/http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/03/dc-voting-rights-no-representation-no-taxation |url-status=unfit }}{{cite web |url=http://www.mcvpr.com/CM/CurrentEvents/CEOsummitarticle.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515142411/http://www.mcvpr.com/CM/CurrentEvents/CEOsummitarticle.pdf |archive-date=15 May 2011 |title=Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association, CEO Summit, Federal and Local Incentives: Where we are, Where We Want to be. Amaya Iraolagoitia, Partner, Tax Dept. |access-date=14 August 2010 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.jct.gov/x-24-06.pdf |title=Joint Committee on Taxation. An Overview of the Special Tax Rules Related to Puerto Rico and an Analysis of the Tax and Economic Policy Implications of Recent Legislative Options |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-date=3 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903121058/http://www.jct.gov/x-24-06.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{#Tag:Ref|Members of the military must pay federal income tax}}

In 2009, Puerto Rico paid {{Nowrap|$3.742 billion}} into the U.S. Treasury.{{cite web |url=https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/09db05co.xls |title=Table 5. Internal Revenue Gross Collections, by Type of Tax and State, Fiscal year 2009 |publisher=Internal Revenue Service |format=XLS |access-date=11 August 2017 |archive-date=9 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709062753/https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/09db05co.xls |url-status=live }} Residents of Puerto Rico pay into Social Security, and are thus eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement. They are excluded from the Supplemental Security Income, and the island receives a smaller fraction of the Medicaid funding it would receive if it were a U.S. state.[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-healthcare-puertorico-idUSTRE58N5X320090924 Puerto Rico hopes to gain from U.S. healthcare reform.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016022450/http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/09/24/us-healthcare-puertorico-idUSTRE58N5X320090924 |date=16 October 2015 }} Reuters. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2012. Also, Medicare providers receive less-than-full state-like reimbursements for services rendered to beneficiaries in Puerto Rico, even though the latter paid fully into the system.{{cite web |url=http://www.prfaa.com/news/?p=252 |title=News & Media |publisher=PRFAA |date=6 July 2009 |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511054048/http://www.prfaa.com/news/?p=252 |archive-date=11 May 2011 }}

Puerto Rico's authority to enact a criminal code derives from Congress and not from local sovereignty as with the states. Thus, individuals committing a crime can only be tried in federal or territorial court, otherwise it would constitute double jeopardy and is constitutionally impermissible.

In 1992, President George H. W. Bush issued a memorandum to heads of executive departments and agencies establishing the current administrative relationship between the federal government and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This memorandum directs all federal departments, agencies, and officials to treat Puerto Rico administratively as if it were a state, insofar as doing so would not disrupt federal programs or operations.

Many federal executive branch agencies have significant presence in Puerto Rico, just as in any state, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, Social Security Administration, and others. While Puerto Rico has its own Commonwealth judicial system similar to that of a U.S. state, there is also a U.S. federal district court in Puerto Rico, and Puerto Ricans have served as judges in that Court and in other federal courts on the U.S. mainland regardless of their residency status at the time of their appointment. Sonia Sotomayor, a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, serves as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Puerto Ricans have also been frequently appointed to high-level federal positions, including serving as U.S. ambassadors to other nations.

{{Main|Municipalities of Puerto Rico}}

File:USA Puerto Rico labeled.svg

Unlike the vast majority of U.S. states, Puerto Rico has no first-order administrative divisions akin to counties, but has 78 municipalities or municipios as the secondary unit of administration; for U.S. Census purposes, the municipalities are considered county equivalents. Municipalities are subdivided into barrios, and those into sectors. Each municipality has a mayor and a municipal legislature elected for four-year terms, per the Autonomous Municipalities Act of 1991.

{{Main|Foreign and intergovernmental relations of Puerto Rico}}

Puerto Rico is subject to the Commerce and Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution and is thus restricted on how it can engage with other nations, sharing the opportunities and limitations that state governments have albeit not being one. As is the case with state governments, it has established several trade agreements with other nations, particularly with Latin American countries such as Colombia and Panamá.{{cite news |url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/colombiaypuertoricosedanlamano-1556164.html |title=Colombia y Puerto Rico se dan la mano |date=20 July 2013 |access-date=11 August 2013 |language=es |newspaper=El Nuevo Día |archive-date=24 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824132404/http://www.elnuevodia.com/colombiaypuertoricosedanlamano-1556164.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.icesi.edu.co/blogs/paises/2013/07/23/puerto-rico/ |title=Relaciones comerciales entre Colombia y Puerto Rico |date=23 July 2013 |access-date=11 August 2013 |language=es |publisher=Universidad ICESI |archive-date=2 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002064317/http://www.icesi.edu.co/blogs/paises/2013/07/23/puerto-rico/ |url-status=live }}

It has also established trade promotion offices in many foreign countries, all Spanish-speaking, and within the U.S. itself, which now include Spain, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Colombia, Washington, D.C., New York City and Florida, and has included in the past offices in Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Such agreements require permission from the U.S. Department of State; most are simply allowed by existing laws or trade treaties between the U.S. and other nations which supersede trade agreements pursued by Puerto Rico and different U.S. states. Puerto Rico hosts consulates from 41 countries, mainly from the Americas and Europe, with most located in San Juan.

At the local level, Puerto Rico established by law that the international relations which states and territories are allowed to engage must be handled by the Department of State of Puerto Rico, an executive department, headed by the secretary of state of Puerto Rico, who also serves as the unincorporated territory's lieutenant governor. It is also charged to liaise with general consuls and honorary consuls based in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, along with the Office of the Resident Commissioner, manages all its intergovernmental affairs before entities of or in the U.S. (including the federal government of the U.S., local and state governments of the U.S., and public or private entities in the U.S.).{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Both entities frequently assist the Department of State of Puerto Rico in engaging with Washington, D.C.-based ambassadors and federal agencies that handle Puerto Rico's foreign affairs, such as the U.S. Department of State, the Agency for International Development, and others. The current secretary of state is Larry Seilhamer Rodríguez from the New Progressive Party, while the current director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration is Jennifer M. Stopiran also from the NPP and a member of the Republican Party of the U.S.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The resident commissioner of Puerto Rico, the delegate elected by Puerto Ricans to represent them before the federal government, including the U.S. Congress, sits in the U.S. House of Representatives, serves and votes on congressional committees, and functions in every respect as a legislator except being denied a vote on the final disposition of legislation on the House floor. The current resident commissioner is Jenniffer González-Colón, a member of the New Progressive Party and the Republican Party, elected in 2016. She received more votes than any other official elected in Puerto Rico that year.{{cite news |last=Wines |first=Michael |title=She's Puerto Rico's Only Link to Washington. She Could Be Its Future Governor. |newspaper=New York Times |date=26 July 2019 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/26/us/Jenniffer-Gonzalez-Colon-puerto-rico.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726173211/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/26/us/Jenniffer-Gonzalez-Colon-puerto-rico.html |archive-date=26 July 2019 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |quote=She noted that her campaign to become resident commissioner garnered more votes in 2016 than any other candidate for office in the unincorporated territory.}}

Many Puerto Ricans have served as U.S. ambassadors to different nations and international organizations, such as the Organization of American States, mostly but not exclusively in Latin America. For example, Maricarmen Aponte, a Puerto Rican and now an acting assistant secretary of state, previously served as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador.{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/148343.htm |title=Mari Carmen Aponte |website=State.gov |access-date=21 May 2019 |archive-date=21 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521205719/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/148343.htm |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Military of Puerto Rico}}

File:Federal lands in Puerto Rico and VI.JPG) throughout the 20th century|alt=]]

As it is an unincorporated U.S. territory, the defense of Puerto Rico is provided by the U.S. as part of the Treaty of Paris with the president of the U.S. as its commander-in-chief. Puerto Rico has its own National Guard, and its own state defense force, the Puerto Rico State Guard, which by local law is under the authority of the Puerto Rico National Guard.

The commander-in-chief of both local forces is the governor of Puerto Rico who delegates his authority to the Puerto Rico adjutant general, currently Major General José J. Reyes. The Adjutant General, in turn, delegates the authority over the State Guard to another officer but retains the authority over the Puerto Rico National Guard as a whole.

U.S. military installations in Puerto Rico were part of the U.S. Atlantic Command (LANTCOM after 1993 USACOM), which had authority over all U.S. military operations that took place throughout the Atlantic. Puerto Rico had been seen as crucial in supporting LANTCOM's mission until 1999, when U.S. Atlantic Command was renamed and given a new mission as U.S. Joint Forces Command. Puerto Rico is currently under the responsibility of U.S. Northern Command.

Both the Naval Forces Caribbean (NFC) and the Fleet Air Caribbean (FAIR) were formerly based at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. The NFC had authority over all U.S. Naval activity in the waters of the Caribbean while FAIR had authority over all U.S. military flights and air operations over the Caribbean. With the closing of the Roosevelt Roads and Vieques Island training facilities, the U.S. Navy has basically exited from Puerto Rico, except for the ships that steam by, and the only significant military presence in the island is the U.S. Army at Ft Buchanan, the Puerto Rican Army and Air National Guards, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Protests over the noise of bombing practice forced the closure of the naval base. This resulted in a loss of 6,000 jobs and an annual decrease in local income of $300 million.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/national/after-closing-of-navy-base-hard-times-in-puerto-rico.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003005620/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/national/after-closing-of-navy-base-hard-times-in-puerto-rico.html |archive-date=3 October 2017 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=After Closing of Navy Base, Hard Times in Puerto Rico |date=3 April 2005 |work=The New York Times| access-date=31 October 2017}}

A branch of the U.S. Army National Guard is stationed in Puerto Rico – known as the Puerto Rico Army National Guard – which performs missions equivalent to those of the Army National Guards of different U.S. states, including ground defense, disaster relief, and control of civil unrest. The local National Guard also incorporates a branch of the U.S. Air National Guard – known as the Puerto Rico Air National Guard – which performs missions equivalent to those of the Air National Guards of each one of the U.S. states.

File:USS Maryland (SSBN-738) 1997.jpg USS Maryland, Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, 1997|alt=]]

At different times in the 20th century, the U.S. had about 25 military or naval installations in Puerto Rico.OSD, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (DIOR); "Atlas/Data Abstract for the United States and Selected Areas – Fiscal Year 1997;" Department of Defense; 1998. Note: The count of 25 military installations included the branch component of the Roosevelt Roads Naval facility on the island of Vieques, as distinct from the Roosevelt Roads Naval station in Cieba The largest of these installations were the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility (AFWTF) on Vieques, the National Guard training facility at Camp Santiago in Salinas, Fort Allen in Juana Diaz, the Army's Fort Buchanan in San Juan, the former U.S. Air Force's Ramey Air Force Base in Aguadilla, and the Puerto Rico Air National Guard's Muñiz Air National Guard Base in San Juan.Meléndez, Edwin; Meléndez, Edgardo; Colonial Dilemma; South End Press; Boston; 1993

The former U.S. Navy facilities at Roosevelt Roads, Vieques, and Sabana Seca have been deactivated and partially turned over to the local government. Other than U.S. Coast Guard and Puerto Rico National Guard facilities, there are only two remaining military installations in Puerto Rico: the U.S. Army's small Ft. Buchanan (supporting local veterans and reserve units) and the PRANG (Puerto Rico Air National Guard) Muñiz Air Base (the C-130 Fleet). In recent years, the U.S. Congress has considered their deactivations, but these have been opposed by diverse public and private entities in Puerto Rico – such as retired military who rely on Ft. Buchanan for the services available there.

Puerto Ricans have participated in many U.S. military conflicts, including the American Revolution, when volunteers from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico fought the British in 1779 under the command of General Bernardo de Gálvez (1746–1786).{{cite web |url=http://mlis.state.md.us/1997rs/billfile/sj0002.htm |title=Participation of Hispanics in the American Revolution |work=SJR2 |author=Maryland General Assembly |date=8 April 1997 |access-date=9 August 2012 |archive-date=5 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105051722/http://mlis.state.md.us/1997rs/billfile/sj0002.htm |url-status=live }} They continue to be disproportionately represented in present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.{{cite web |author=Danny Nieves |url=http://www.valerosos.com/anouncements.html |title=Special Announcements |publisher=Valerosos.com |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=13 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713064457/http://www.valerosos.com/anouncements.html |url-status=live }} The most notable example is the 65th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army, nicknamed The Borinqueneers, from the original Taíno name of the island (Borinquen). The all-Puerto Rican regiment participated in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the War on Terror; in 2014, it was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for its heroism during the Korean War.

A significant number of Puerto Ricans serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, largely as National Guard members and civilian employees. The size of the overall military-related community is estimated to be 100,000, including retired personnel. Fort Buchanan has about 4,000 military and civilian personnel. In addition, approximately 17,000 people are members of the Puerto Rico Army and Air National Guards, or the U.S. Reserve forces.Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Reserve Affairs; "Official Guard and Reserve Manpower Strengths and Statistics – Summary End Fiscal Year 1996;" 1996

{{Main|Constitution of Puerto Rico|Law of Puerto Rico}}

The insular legal system is a blend of civil law and the common law systems.

Puerto Rico is the only current U.S. jurisdiction whose legal system operates primarily in a language other than American English: namely, Spanish. Because the U.S. federal government operates primarily in English, all Puerto Rican attorneys must be bilingual in order to litigate in English in U.S. federal courts, and litigate federal preemption issues in Puerto Rican courts.{{Cite web |last=Hunter |first=Britt |title=Research Guides: Commonwealth Caribbean Law Research Guide: Puerto Rico |url=https://guides.law.fsu.edu/caribbean/puertorico |access-date=19 January 2024 |website=guides.law.fsu.edu |language=en |archive-date=19 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119165910/https://guides.law.fsu.edu/caribbean/puertorico |url-status=live }}{{Original research inline|date=March 2021}}

Title 48 of the United States Code outlines the role of the U.S. Code to U.S. territories and insular areas such as Puerto Rico. After the U.S. government assumed control of Puerto Rico in 1901, it initiated legal reforms resulting in the adoption of codes of criminal law, criminal procedure, and civil procedure modeled after those then in effect in California. Although Puerto Rico has since followed the federal example of transferring criminal and civil procedure from statutory law to rules promulgated by the judiciary, several portions of its criminal law still reflect the influence of the California Penal Code.

The judicial branch is headed by the chief justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, which is the only appellate court required by the Constitution. All other courts are created by the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico.{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=Steven H.|title=The U.S. Justice System An Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2021|isbn=978-1-59884-305-7}} There is also a Federal District Court for Puerto Rico, and someone accused of a criminal act at the federal level may not be accused for the same act in a Commonwealth court, and vice versa, since Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory lacks sovereignty separate from Congress as a state does.{{cite web |url=http://www.ramajudicial.pr/ts/2015/2015tspr25.pdf |title=Opinión del Tribunal emitida por el Juez Asociado señor Martínez Torres |publisher=El Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico |work=Legal Document |date=20 March 2015 |access-date=7 February 2016 |author=Martínez Torres, Juez (Judge) |archive-date=22 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122145414/http://www.ramajudicial.pr/ts/2015/2015tspr25.pdf |url-status=live }} The U.S. Supreme Court held in 2016 that such a parallel accusation would constitute double jeopardy.Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, {{ussc|579|59|2016}}.

{{Main|Crime in Puerto Rico|Illegal drugs in Puerto Rico}}

The homicide rate of 19.2 per 100,000 inhabitants was significantly higher than any U.S. state in 2014.{{cite web|url=https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/tables/table-5/table_5_crime_in_the_united_states_by_state_2014.xls|title=Table 5|website=FBI}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/jul/22/gun-homicides-ownership-world-list |title=Gun homicides and gun ownership listed by country |first=Mona |last=Chalabi |date=22 July 2012 |newspaper=The Guardian}} Most homicide victims are gang members and drug traffickers with about 80% of homicides in Puerto Rico being drug related.{{cite web |url=http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=345039&CategoryId=14092 |title=Latin American Herald Tribune – 80% of Puerto Rico Murders Called Drug-Related |website=Laht.com |access-date=22 November 2016 |archive-date=23 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123055804/http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=345039&CategoryId=14092 |url-status=dead }}

In 1992, the FBI made armed carjacking a federal crime and rates decreased per statistics,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/31/us/after-carjacking-surge-puerto-rico-is-wary-behind-the-wheel.html|title=After Carjacking Surge, Puerto Rico Is Wary Behind the Wheel|first=Mireya|last=Navarro|date=31 July 1994|access-date=23 June 2019|newspaper=The New York Times}} but as of 2019, the problem continued in municipalities like Guaynabo and others.{{cite web|url=https://www.metro.pr/pr/noticias/2018/02/08/sacan-familia-auto-carjacking-guaynabo.html|title=Sacan familia de auto para hacer carjacking en Guaynabo|first=Metro Puerto|last=Rico|website=Metro|date=8 February 2018 |language=es|access-date=23 June 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.telemundopr.com/noticias/destacados/Video-Carjacking-en-centro-comercial-de-Guaynabo-415767433.html|title=Video: Carjacking en centro comercial de Guaynabo|website=Telemundo PR|date=9 March 2017 |language=es|access-date=23 June 2019}}{{cite news |url=https://www.elvocero.com/ley-y-orden/investigan-carjacking-en-guaynabo/article_10c65766-3100-11e8-a045-d7c8b1099ad8.html|title=Investigan carjacking en Guaynabo|author=Nicole Candelaria |newspaper=El Vocero de Puerto Rico|date=26 March 2018 |language=es|access-date=23 June 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/policia-tribunales/nota/mujervictimadecarjackingapuntadepistolaenguaynabo-1322156/|title=Mujer víctima de carjacking a punta de pistola en Guaynabo|date=19 January 2019|website=Primera Hora|language=es|access-date=23 June 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/sanjuan/press-releases/2014/arrests-of-elvin-manuel-otero-tarzia-sebastian-angelo-saldana-kevin-rivera-ruiz-and-a-male-juvenile|title=Arrests of Elvin Manuel Otero Tarzia, Sebastian Angelo Saldana, Kevin Rivera Ruiz, and a Male Juvenile|website=FBI|access-date=23 June 2019}} From 1 January 2019 to 14 March 2019, thirty carjackings had occurred on the island.{{cite web|url=https://www.notiuno.com/noticias/seguridad-y-justicia/alarmante-la-cifra-de-carjackings-en-la-isla/article_8aca3e14-4604-11e9-abb1-83bb825a5e77.html|title=Alarmante la cifra de "carjackings" en la Isla|publisher=Redacción Digital|website=UNO Radio Group|date=14 March 2019 |access-date=23 June 2019}}

{{Main|Economy of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rico government-debt crisis}}

File:GDP_per_capita_development_in_Puerto_Rico.svg per capita development of Puerto Rico]]

Puerto Rico is classified as a high income economy by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. It is considered the most competitive economy in Latin America by the World Economic Forum and ranks highly on the Human Development Index. According to World Bank, gross national income per capita in Puerto Rico in 2020 was $21,740.{{Cite web|title=GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$) - Puerto Rico {{!}} Data|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD?locations=PR|access-date=12 December 2021|website=data.worldbank.org|archive-date=12 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212054854/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD?locations=PR|url-status=live}} Puerto Rico's economy is mainly driven by manufacturing (primarily pharmaceuticals, textiles, petrochemicals and electronics) followed by services (primarily finance, insurance, real estate and tourism); agriculture represents less than 1% of GNP.{{cite web|title=PUERTO RICO FACT SHEET|url=http://www.gdb-pur.com/economy/documents/PREconomicFactSheet-March2016.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525013719/http://www.gdb-pur.com/economy/documents/PREconomicFactSheet-March2016.pdf|archive-date=25 May 2017|access-date=26 August 2017|website=Gdb-pur.com|url-status=dead}}{{efn|pr.gov (in Spanish) "La manufactura es el sector principal de la economía de Puerto Rico."}}{{efn|pr.gov (in Spanish) "Algunas de las industrias más destacadas dentro del sector de la manufactura son: las farmacéuticas, los textiles, los petroquímicos, las computadoras, la electrónica y las compañías dedicadas a la manufactura de instrumentos médicos y científicos, entre otros."}} In recent years, it has also become a popular destination for MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions), with a modern convention center district overlooking the Port of San Juan.{{cite web |url=http://www.businessdestinations.com/destinations/puerto-ricos-tourism-industry-continues-to-expand/ |title=Puerto Rico's tourism industry continues to expand |work=Business Destinations |access-date=27 April 2017 |archive-date=28 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428053343/http://www.businessdestinations.com/destinations/puerto-ricos-tourism-industry-continues-to-expand/ |url-status=live }}

Responsibility for San Juan port inspections lies with PPQ. So high is the volume of cargo traffic that between 1984{{endash}}2000 the San Juan PPQ station recorded 7.74% of all interceptions, #4 in the country, #2 for insects and #3 for pathogens. Most species are originally from South America or elsewhere in the Caribbean due to PR's position as an intermediary on the way to the mainland. This is one of the worst locations for cut flowers and other plant parts {{endash}} both in terms of number of problems and diversity of species {{endash}} for insects in plant parts in baggage, and for pathogens in plant parts in baggage and cargo. Pathogen interceptions were dramatically (17%) higher 1999{{endash}}2000 than in 1985{{endash}}1986.{{Unbulleted list citebundle

|{{*}} {{cite journal | date=2006 | publisher=Springer | first5=David | pages=611–630 | title=Interceptions of nonindigenous plant pests at US ports of entry and border crossings over a 17-year period | first1=Deborah G. | last1=McCullough | first2=Timothy T. | last2=Work | first3=Joseph F. | last3=Cavey | first4=Andrew M. | last4=Liebhold | last5=Marshall | journal=Biological Invasions | volume=8 | issue=4 | doi=10.1007/s10530-005-1798-4 | bibcode=2006BiInv...8..611M | s2cid=23684940}}

|{{*}} {{cite journal | year=2009 | issue=1 | volume=46 | publisher=Wiley Publishing (British Ecological Society) | journal=Journal of Applied Ecology | issn=0021-8901 | last=Hulme | first=Philip E. | title=Trade, transport and trouble: managing invasive species pathways in an era of globalization | doi=10.1111/j.1365-2664.2008.01600.x | pages=10–18 | bibcode=2009JApEc..46...10H | s2cid=1620024| doi-access=free }}

|{{*}} {{cite journal | date=2016 | issue=1 | volume=7 | publisher=Nature Portfolio | journal=Nature Communications | issn=2041-1723 | first3=Jeffrey S. | last1=Early | first1=Regan | last2=Bradley | first2=Bethany A. | last3=Dukes | last4=Lawler | first4=Joshua J. | last5=Olden | first5=Julian D. | last6=Blumenthal | first6=Dana M. | last7=Gonzalez | first7=Patrick | last8=Grosholz | first8=Edwin D. | last9=Ibañez | first9=Ines | last10=Miller | first10=Luke P. | last11=Sorte | first11=Cascade J. B. | last12=Tatem | first12=Andrew J. | title=Global threats from invasive alien species in the twenty-first century and national response capacities | page=12485 | doi=10.1038/ncomms12485 | s2cid=1053793 | pmid=27549569 | pmc=4996970| bibcode=2016NatCo...712485E }}

|{{*}} {{cite journal | date=2014 | issue=1 | publisher=Annual Reviews | volume=59 | pages=13–30 | journal=Annual Review of Entomology | issn=0066-4170 | last1=Herms | first1=Daniel A. | last2=McCullough | first2=Deborah G. | title=Emerald Ash Borer Invasion of North America: History, Biology, Ecology, Impacts, and Management | doi=10.1146/annurev-ento-011613-162051 | s2cid=207608918 | pmid=24112110| doi-access=free }}

|{{*}} {{cite journal | date=2008 | issue=1 | publisher=Annual Reviews | volume=53 | journal=Annual Review of Entomology | issn=0066-4170 | last1=Liebhold | first1=Andrew M. | last2=Tobin | first2=Patrick C. | title=Population Ecology of Insect Invasions and Their Management | doi=10.1146/annurev.ento.52.110405.091401 | pages=387–408 | s2cid=11688227 | pmid=17877456}}

|{{*}} {{cite journal | date=2012 | issue=3 | volume=10 | publisher=Wiley Publishing (Ecological Society of America) | journal=Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment | issn=1540-9295 | last1=Liebhold | first1=Andrew M | last2=Brockerhoff | first2=Eckehard G | last3=Garrett | first3=Lynn J | last4=Parke | first4=Jennifer L | last5=Britton | first5=Kerry O | title=Live plant imports: the major pathway for forest insect and pathogen invasions of the US | doi=10.1890/110198 | pages=135–143 | bibcode=2012FrEE...10..135L | s2cid=86218354}}

|{{*}} {{cite journal | year=2010 | volume=60 | issue=11 | publisher=Oxford University Press (American Institute of Biological Sciences) | journal=BioScience | issn=1525-3244 | first3=Betsy | pages=886–897 | last1=Aukema | first1=Juliann E. | last2=McCullough | first2=Deborah G. | last3=Von Holle | last4=Liebhold | first4=Andrew M. | last5=Britton | first5=Kerry | last6=Frankel | first6=Susan J. | title=Historical Accumulation of Nonindigenous Forest Pests in the Continental United States | doi=10.1525/bio.2010.60.11.5 | s2cid=28154739}}

|{{*}} {{cite journal | date=2021 | volume=31 | issue=7 | last6=James | publisher=Wiley Publishing (Ecological Society of America) | journal=Ecological Applications | issn=1051-0761 | last1=Turner | first1=Rebecca M. | last2=Brockerhoff | first2=Eckehard G. | last3=Bertelsmeier | first3=Cleo | last4=Blake | first4=Rachael E. | last5=Caton | first5=Barney | first6=Alex | last7=MacLeod | first7=Alan | last8=Nahrung | first8=Helen F. | last9=Pawson | first9=Stephen M. | last10=Plank | first10=Michael J. | last11=Pureswaran | first11=Deepa S. | last12=Seebens | first12=Hanno | last13=Yamanaka | first13=Takehiko | last14=Liebhold | first14=Andrew M. | title=Worldwide border interceptions provide a window into human-mediated global insect movement | pages=e02412 | doi=10.1002/eap.2412 | s2cid=235809250 | pmid=34255404 | bibcode=2021EcoAp..31E2412T | url=https://www.dora.lib4ri.ch/wsl/islandora/object/wsl%3A28309 | access-date=28 September 2022 | archive-date=22 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022013917/https://www.dora.lib4ri.ch/wsl/islandora/object/wsl:28309 | url-status=live }}

}}

Puerto Rico's geography and political status are both determining factors for its economic prosperity, primarily due to its relatively small size; lack of natural resources and subsequent dependence on imports; and vulnerability to U.S. foreign policy and trading restrictions, particularly concerning its shipping industry.

Puerto Rico experienced a recession from 2006 to 2011, interrupted by four quarters of economic growth, and entered into recession again in 2013, following growing fiscal imbalance and the expiration of the IRS Section 936 corporate incentives that the U.S. Internal Revenue Code had applied to Puerto Rico. This IRS section was critical to the economy, as it established tax exemptions for U.S. corporations that settled in Puerto Rico and allowed their insular subsidiaries to send their earnings to the parent corporation at any time, without paying federal tax on corporate income. Puerto Rico has been able to maintain a relatively low inflation in the past decade while maintaining a purchasing power parity per capita higher than 80% of the rest of the world.Alan Heston, Robert Summers and Bettina Aten, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120822040945/http://pwt.econ.upenn.edu/php_site/pwt71/pwt71_form.php Penn World Table Version 7.1], Center for International Comparisons of Production, Income and Prices at the University of Pennsylvania, July 2012. Accessed on 19 August 2012. Note: GDP per capita data are "PPP Converted GDP Per Capita, average GEKS-CPDW, at current prices (in I$)", labeled as variable "cgdp2".

File:Puerto-rico-gdp-by-sector.png by economic sector]]

Academically, most of Puerto Rico's economic woes stem from federal regulations that expired, have been repealed, or no longer apply to Puerto Rico; its inability to become self-sufficient and self-sustainable throughout history;{{efn|Torrech San Inocencio (2011; in Spanish) "Con los más de $1,500 millones anuales que recibimos en asistencia federal para alimentos podríamos desarrollar una industria alimentaria autosuficiente en Puerto Rico."{{cite news |url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/voz-titulo-1137663.html |title=La autosuficiencia alimentaria |first=Rafael |last=Torrcech San Inocencio |date=7 December 2011 |access-date=19 September 2013 |language=es |newspaper=El Nuevo Día |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106153646/http://www.elnuevodia.com/voz-titulo-1137663.html |archive-date=6 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}}} its highly politicized public policy which tends to change whenever a political party gains power;{{efn|Millán Rodriguez (2013; in Spanish) "Los representantes del Pueblo en la Junta de Gobierno de la Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica [...] denunciaron ayer que la propuesta del Gobernador para hacer cambios en la composición del organismo institucionaliza la intervención político partidista en la corporación pública y la convierte en una agencia del Ejecutivo.."{{cite news |url=http://www.vocero.com/denuncian-politizacion-de-junta-aee/ |title=Denuncian politización de Junta AEE |first=Yamilet |last=Millán Rodríguez |newspaper=El Vocero |date=4 April 2013 |access-date=19 September 2013 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104002045/http://www.vocero.com/denuncian-politizacion-de-junta-aee/ |archive-date=4 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}}} as well as its highly inefficient local government{{efn|Vera Rosa (2013; in Spanish) "Aunque Puerto Rico mueve entre el sector público y privado $15 billones en el área de salud, las deficiencias en el sistema todavía no alcanzan un nivel de eficiencia óptimo."{{cite news |url=http://www.vocero.com/ineficiencia-arropa-a-los-recursos-economicos-de-salud/ |title=Ineficiencia arropa a los recursos económicos de salud |date=17 May 2013 |access-date=19 September 2013 |language=es |newspaper=El Vocero |first=Ileanexis |last=Vera Rosado |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104000540/http://www.vocero.com/ineficiencia-arropa-a-los-recursos-economicos-de-salud/ |archive-date=4 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}}}{{efn|Vera Rosado (2013; in Spanish) "Para mejorar la calidad de servicio, que se impacta principalmente por deficiencias administrativas y no por falta de dinero[...]"}} which has accrued a public debt equal to 68% of its gross domestic product throughout time.{{efn|González (2012; in Spanish) "[...] al analizarse la deuda pública de la Isla contra el Producto Interno Bruto (PIB), se ubicaría en una relación deuda/PIB de 68% aproximadamente."{{cite news |url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/debemosmasdeloqueproducimos-1278143.html |title=Debemos más de lo que producimos |first=Jenisabel |last=González |date=13 June 2012 |access-date=19 September 2013 |language=es |newspaper=El Nuevo Día |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106153626/http://www.elnuevodia.com/debemosmasdeloqueproducimos-1278143.html |archive-date=6 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}}}{{efn|Bauzá (2013; in Spanish) "La realidad de nuestra situación económica y fiscal es resultado de años de falta de acción. Al Gobierno le faltó creatividad, innovación y rapidez en la creación de un nuevo modelo económico que sustentara nuestra economía. Tras la eliminación de la Sección 936, debimos ser proactivos, y no lo fuimos."{{cite news |url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/garciapadillainsisteenqueheredounpaisencantos-1657317.html |title=García Padilla insiste en que heredó un país "en cantos" |first=Nydia |last=Bauzá |newspaper=El Nuevo Día |date=2 December 2013 |access-date=2 December 2013 |language=es |archive-date=4 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204214520/http://www.elnuevodia.com/garciapadillainsisteenqueheredounpaisencantos-1657317.html |url-status=dead }}}} Puerto Rico currently has a public debt of $72.204 billion (equivalent to 103% of GNP), and a government deficit of $2.5 billion.{{cite web|author1=World Bank Indicators|author2=World Bank|title=World Bank Indicators 2012: Puerto Rico|url=http://data.worldbank.org/country/puerto-rico|access-date=5 February 2012|archive-date=15 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215065629/https://data.worldbank.org/country/puerto-rico|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Schwab|first=Klaus|year=2013|title=The Global Competitiveness Report 2013–2014|url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2013-14.pdf|access-date=7 September 2013|publisher=World Economic Forum|archive-date=20 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920154137/http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2013-14.pdf|url-status=live}}

By American standards, Puerto Rico is underdeveloped: It is poorer than Mississippi, the poorest state of the U.S., with 41% of its population below the poverty line.{{efn|Quintero (2013; in Spanish) "Los indicadores de una economía débil son muchos, y la economía en Puerto Rico está sumamente debilitada, según lo evidencian la tasa de desempleo (13.5%), los altos niveles de pobreza (41.7%), los altos niveles de quiebra y la pérdida poblacional."{{cite news |url=http://www.noticel.com/noticia/148055/las-estadisticas-hablan-puerto-rico-camino-a-ser-el-detroit-del-caribe.html |title=Las estadísticas hablan: Puerto Rico camino a ser el "Detroit del Caribe" |first=Laura |last=Quintero |date=14 September 2013 |access-date=22 January 2014 |language=es |newspaper=NotiCel |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201150906/http://www.noticel.com/noticia/148055/las-estadisticas-hablan-puerto-rico-camino-a-ser-el-detroit-del-caribe.html |archive-date=1 February 2014 |url-status=dead }}}} However, it has the highest GDP per capita in Latin America. Puerto Rico's main trading partners are the United States, Ireland, and Japan, with most products coming from East Asia, mainly China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Puerto Rico's dependency on oil for transportation and electricity generation, as well as its dependency on food imports and raw materials, makes Puerto Rico volatile and highly reactive to changes in the world economy and climate.

{{Main|Tourism in Puerto Rico}}

File:Beach in Coto, Isabela, Puerto Rico.jpg]]

Tourism in Puerto Rico is also an important part of the economy. In 2017, Hurricane Maria caused severe damage to the island and its infrastructure, disrupting tourism for many months. The damage was estimated at $100 billion. An April 2019 report indicated that by that time, only a few hotels were still closed, that life for tourists in and around the capital had, for the most part, returned to normal.{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2019/04/02/puerto-rico-breaks-tourism-record-while-rebuilding-hurricane-maria/3346139002/ |title=Nearly two years after Hurricane Maria devastation, Puerto Rico welcomes record number of tourists |date=2 April 2019 |publisher=USA Today |access-date=27 November 2019 |quote=Brief power outages still hit occasionally as the government prepares to privatize an aging and poorly maintained grid that was destroyed by the hurricane, and water shortages have hit parts of Puerto Rico's north coast since 30 percent of the island is experiencing a moderate drought that is affecting 791,000 of its 3.2 million inhabitants. |archive-date=27 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127164315/https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2019/04/02/puerto-rico-breaks-tourism-record-while-rebuilding-hurricane-maria/3346139002/ |url-status=live }} By October 2019, nearly all of the popular amenities for tourists, in the major destinations such as San Juan, Ponce and Arecibo, were in operation on the island and tourism was rebounding. This was important for the economy, since tourism provides up to 10% of Puerto Rico's GDP, according to Discover Puerto Rico.{{cite web |url=https://www.viahero.com/travel-to-puerto-rico/puerto-rico-tourism-update |title=Nearly two years after Hurricane Maria devastation, Puerto Rico welcomes record number of tourists |date=2 April 2019 |publisher=ViaHero |access-date=16 October 2019 |quote=Almost all of Puerto Rico's hotels are open for business. The beaches are ready for swimming and sunbathing, and even remote places to visit like El Yunque rainforest are receiving visitors. |archive-date=27 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127164436/https://www.viahero.com/travel-to-puerto-rico/puerto-rico-tourism-update |url-status=live }}

A tourism campaign was launched by Discover Puerto Rico in 2018 intended to highlight the island's culture and history, branding it distinct, and different from other Caribbean destinations. In 2019, Discover Puerto Rico planned to continue that campaign.{{cite web |url=https://skift.com/2019/04/24/culture-is-central-in-puerto-ricos-new-marketing-campaign/ |title=Culture Is Central in Puerto Rico's New Marketing Campaign |date=24 April 2019 |publisher=Skift |access-date=27 November 2019 |archive-date=27 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127164352/https://skift.com/2019/04/24/culture-is-central-in-puerto-ricos-new-marketing-campaign/ |url-status=live }}

In early 2017, the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis posed serious problems for the government which was saddled with outstanding bond debt that had climbed to $70 billion.{{cite news |url=http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/latestnews/2017/01/18/Puerto-Rico-oversight-board-favors-more-time-restructuring-talks |title=Puerto Rico oversight board favors more time for restructuring talks |author=Nick Brown |agency=Reuters |date=18 January 2017 |work=The Fiscal Times |access-date=16 February 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217145557/http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/latestnews/2017/01/18/Puerto-Rico-oversight-board-favors-more-time-restructuring-talks |url-status=live }} The debt had been increasing during a decade-long recession.{{cite news|url=http://www.starherald.com/news/nation_world/puerto-rico-gets-more-time-to-propose-fiscal-plan/article_b805f0e6-f333-5d33-8d94-d29a610d820a.html|title=Puerto Rico Gets More Time|date=29 January 2017|newspaper=Star Herald|access-date=16 February 2017|agency=Associated Press|location=Scottsbluff, ME}}{{dead link|date=May 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}

The Commonwealth had been defaulting on many debts, including bonds, since 2015. With debt payments due, the governor was facing the risk of a government shutdown and failure to fund the managed health care system.{{cite news |last=Platt |first=Eric |date=19 January 2017 |title=New Puerto Rico governor seeks amicable debt crisis resolution |url=https://www.ft.com/content/d9551584-de66-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/d9551584-de66-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=Financial Times |location=New York |access-date=17 February 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://www.treasury.gov/connect/blog/Pages/Secretary-Lew-Sends-Letter-to-115th-Congress-on-Puerto-Rico.aspx |title=Secretary Lew Sends Letter to 115th Congress on Puerto Rico |last=Watson |first=Dan |date=17 January 2017 |website=Department of the Treasury |access-date=16 February 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217062856/https://www.treasury.gov/connect/blog/Pages/Secretary-Lew-Sends-Letter-to-115th-Congress-on-Puerto-Rico.aspx |url-status=live }} "Without action before April, Puerto Rico's ability to execute contracts for Fiscal Year 2018 with its managed care organizations will be threatened, thereby putting at risk beginning July 1, 2017 the health care of up to 900,000 impoverished U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico", according to a letter sent to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. They also said that "Congress must enact measures recommended by both Republicans and Democrats that fix Puerto Rico's inequitable health care financing structure and promote sustained economic growth."

Initially, the oversight board created under PROMESA called for Puerto Rico's governor Ricardo Rosselló to deliver a fiscal turnaround plan by 28 January. Just before that deadline, the control board gave the Commonwealth government until 28 February to present a fiscal plan (including negotiations with creditors for restructuring debt) to solve the problems. A moratorium on lawsuits by debtors was extended to 31 May. It is essential for Puerto Rico to reach restructuring deals to avoid a bankruptcy-like process under PROMESA.{{cite news |url=http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/latestnews/2017/01/18/Puerto-Rico-oversight-board-favors-more-time-restructuring-talks |title=Puerto Rico oversight board favors more time for restructuring talks |author=Nick Brown |agency=Reuters |date=18 January 2017 |work=The Fiscal Times |access-date=16 February 2017 |quote=The bipartisan, seven-member oversight board was created under the federal Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA, passed by the U.S. Congress last year. It is charged with helping the island manage its finances and navigate its way out of the economic jam, including by negotiating restructuring deals with creditors. |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217145557/http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/latestnews/2017/01/18/Puerto-Rico-oversight-board-favors-more-time-restructuring-talks |url-status=live }} An internal survey conducted by the Puerto Rican Economists Association revealed that the majority of Puerto Rican economists reject the policy recommendations of the Board and the Rosselló government, with more than 80% of economists arguing in favor of auditing the debt.{{cite news |title=Economistas se Oponen a las Reformas para 'estimular la economía' |newspaper=El Nuevo Día |date=20 February 2017}}

In early August 2017, the island's financial oversight board (created by PROMESA) planned to institute two days off without pay per month for government employees, down from the original plan of four days per month; the latter had been expected to achieve $218 million in savings. Governor Rossello rejected this plan as unjustified and unnecessary. Pension reforms were also discussed including a proposal for a 10% reduction in benefits to begin addressing the $50 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/04/reuters-america-puerto-rico-to-furlough-workers-proposes-pension-plan-reform.html |title=Puerto Rico to furlough workers, proposes pension plan reform |first=Daniel |last=Bases |date=4 August 2017 |website=Cnbc.com |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806222116/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/04/reuters-america-puerto-rico-to-furlough-workers-proposes-pension-plan-reform.html |archive-date=6 August 2017 }}

{{main|Puerto Rico government-debt crisis|Budget of the Government of Puerto Rico|public debt of Puerto Rico}}

Puerto Rico has an operating budget of about U.S.$9.8 billion with expenses at about $10.4 billion, creating a structural deficit of $775 million (about 7.9% of the budget).{{cite news |url=http://elvocero.com/la-estadidad-es-una-unica-uniforme-e-irreversible/ |title=La Estadidad es una, única, uniforme e irreversible |first=José |last=Castrodad |newspaper=El Vocero |date=7 April 2014 |access-date=8 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409052840/http://elvocero.com/la-estadidad-es-una-unica-uniforme-e-irreversible/ |archive-date=9 April 2014 |url-status=dead }} The practice of approving budgets with a structural deficit has been done for {{years ago|2000}} consecutive years starting in 2000. Throughout those years, including present time, all budgets contemplated issuing bonds to cover these projected deficits rather than making structural adjustments. This practice increased Puerto Rico's cumulative debt, as the government had already been issuing bonds to balance its actual budget for four decades beginning in 1973.{{efn|Walsh (2013) "In each of the last six years, Puerto Rico sold hundreds of millions of dollars of new bonds just to meet payments on its older, outstanding bonds – a red flag. It also sold $2.5 billion worth of bonds to raise cash for its troubled pension system – a risky practice – and it sold still more long-term bonds to cover its yearly budget deficits."{{cite news |url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/worsening-debt-crisis-threatens-puerto-rico/ |title=Worsening Debt Crisis Threatens Puerto Rico |first=Mary |last=Walsh |newspaper=The New York Times |date=7 October 2013 |access-date=8 October 2013 |archive-date=2 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102003355/http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/worsening-debt-crisis-threatens-puerto-rico/ |url-status=live }}}}{{cite news |url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/comopuertoricollegoatenercreditochatarra-1704621.html |title=¿Cómo Puerto Rico llegó a tener crédito chatarra? |newspaper=El Nuevo Día |date=4 February 2014 |access-date=2 March 2014 |language=es |archive-date=2 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302003237/http://www.elnuevodia.com/comopuertoricollegoatenercreditochatarra-1704621.html |url-status=dead }}

File:Budget-of-the-government-of-puerto-rico-2012-percentage.png

Projected deficits added substantial burdens to an already indebted nation which accrued a public debt of $71B or about 70% of Puerto Rico's gross domestic product. This sparked an ongoing government-debt crisis after Puerto Rico's general obligation bonds were downgraded to speculative non-investment grade ("junk status") by three credit-rating agencies. In terms of financial control, almost 9.6%—or about $1.5 billion—of Puerto Rico's central government budget expenses for FY2014 is expected to be spent on debt service.{{efn|PRGDB "Financial Information and Operating Data Report to 18 October 2013" p. 142{{cite web |url=http://www.gdb-pur.com/spa/documents/commonwealthreport.pdf |title=Financial Information and Operating Data Report to October 18, 2013 |publisher=Puerto Rico Government Development Bank |date=18 October 2013 |access-date=4 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422202646/http://www.gdb-pur.com/spa/documents/commonwealthreport.pdf |archive-date=22 April 2014 |url-status=dead }}}} Harsher budget cuts are expected as Puerto Rico must now repay larger chunks of debts in the coming years.{{update inline|date=July 2016}}

For practical reasons the budget is divided into two aspects: a "general budget" which comprises the assignments funded exclusively by the Department of Treasury of Puerto Rico, and the "consolidated budget" which comprises the assignments funded by the general budget, by Puerto Rico's government-owned corporations, by revenue expected from loans, by the sale of government bonds, by subsidies extended by the federal government of the United States, and by other funds.

Both budgets contrast each other drastically, with the consolidated budget being usually thrice the size of the general budget; currently $29B and $9.0B respectively. Almost one out of every four dollars in the consolidated budget comes from U.S. federal subsidies while government-owned corporations compose more than 31% of the consolidated budget.

The critical aspects come from the sale of bonds, which comprise 7% of the consolidated budget – a ratio that increased annually due to the government's inability to prepare a balanced budget in addition to being incapable of generating enough income to cover all its expenses. In particular, the government-owned corporations add a heavy burden to the overall budget and public debt, as none is self-sufficient. For example, in FY2011 the government-owned corporations reported aggregated losses of more than $1.3B with the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority (PRHTA) reporting losses of $409M, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA; the government monopoly that controls all electricity on the island) reporting losses of $272M, while the Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority (PRASA; the government monopoly that controls all water utilities on the island) reported losses of $112M.{{cite web |url=http://grupocne.org/2013/01/31/san-juan-2023-o-la-decadencia-de-un-pais/ |title=San Juan 2023 o la decadencia de un País |work=Centro Para Una Nueva Economía |publisher=Center for a New Economy |date=31 January 2013 |access-date=28 April 2014 |archive-date=29 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429045551/http://grupocne.org/2013/01/31/san-juan-2023-o-la-decadencia-de-un-pais/ |url-status=live }}

Losses by government-owned corporations have been defrayed through the issuance of bonds compounding more than 40% of Puerto Rico's entire public debt today.{{cite web |url=http://www2.pr.gov/presupuestos/presupuesto2011-2012/Resumen%20del%20Presupuesto/Servicio%20de%20la%20Deuda.pdf |title=SERVICIO DE LA DEUDA |website=".pr.gov |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525014050/http://www2.pr.gov/presupuestos/presupuesto2011-2012/Resumen%20del%20Presupuesto/Servicio%20de%20la%20Deuda.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2017 }} Holistically, from FY2000–FY2010 Puerto Rico's debt grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9% while GDP remained stagnant.{{cite web |url=http://gdbpr.com/spa/investors_resources/documents/2011-07-12-DeudaPublicaDic2010-GS.pdf |title=Reporte General sobre Deuda Pública |website=".pr.gov |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525013905/http://gdbpr.com/spa/investors_resources/documents/2011-07-12-DeudaPublicaDic2010-GS.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2017 }} This has not always provided a long-term solution. In early July 2017 for example, the PREPA power authority was effectively bankrupt after defaulting in a plan to restructure $9 billion in bond debt; the agency planned to seek Court protection.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/02/business/puerto-ricos-electric-power-authority-effectively-files-for-bankruptcy.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703030726/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/02/business/puerto-ricos-electric-power-authority-effectively-files-for-bankruptcy.html |archive-date=3 July 2017 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Puerto Rico's Power Authority Effectively Files for Bankruptcy |first=Mary Williams |last=Walsh |date=2 July 2017 |access-date=26 August 2017 |website=The New York Times}}

File:Map-of-jones-act-carrier-routes-for-puerto-rico.png merchant marine shipping routes for Puerto Rico|alt=|left]]

The cost of living in Puerto Rico is high and has increased over the past decade.{{efn|MRGI (2008) "Many female migrants leave their families behind due to the risk of illegal travel and the high cost of living in Puerto Rico."}}[https://archive.today/20140618035840/http://www.militaryinstallations.dod.mil/pls/psgprod/f?p=132:CONTENT:618940367579001::NO::P4_INST_ID,P4_INST_TYPE:4150,INSTALLATION "Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico"]. Military Installations. Department of Defense. Retrieved 17 June 2014.{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/29/puerto-ricos-cost-of-livi_n_4013350.html |title=Puerto Rico's Cost of Living Skyrockets |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=29 September 2013 |access-date=14 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313113741/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/29/puerto-ricos-cost-of-livi_n_4013350.html |archive-date=13 March 2014 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/economy-and-crime-spur-new-puerto-rican-exodus.html?_r=0 |work=The New York Times |first=Lizette |last=Alvarez |title=Economy and Crime Spur New Puerto Rican Exodus |date=8 February 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/sigueenaumentoelcostodevidaenpuertorico-1585599.html |title=Home – El Nuevo Día |publisher=Elnuevodia.com |date=31 August 2013 |access-date=14 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208121032/http://www.elnuevodia.com/sigueenaumentoelcostodevidaenpuertorico-1585599.html |archive-date=8 February 2014 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.primerahora.com/noticias/gobierno-politica/nota/midaconcluyealtocostodevidaeslapreocupacionmayordelboricua-399279/ |title=MIDA concluye alto costo de vida es la preocupación mayor del boricua |publisher=Primerahora.com |date=13 February 2013 |access-date=14 April 2014}}{{cite news |last=Dougherty |first=Conor |url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB118705864479596908 |title=Puerto Rico's Economic Slump Weighs Hard on Consumers |publisher=Online.wsj.com |date=14 August 2007 |access-date=14 April 2014}}{{cite web |last=Coto |first=Danica |url=http://nbclatino.com/2013/09/29/life-in-puerto-rico-becomes-costlier-amid-crisis/ |title=Life in Puerto Rico becomes costlier amid crisis |publisher=Nbclatino.com |date=29 September 2013 |access-date=14 April 2014 |archive-date=13 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413160122/http://nbclatino.com/2013/09/29/life-in-puerto-rico-becomes-costlier-amid-crisis/ |url-status=dead }}

Statistics used for cost of living sometimes do not take into account certain costs, such as the high cost of electricity, which has hovered in the 24¢ to 30¢ range per kilowatt-hour, two to three times the national average, increased travel costs for longer flights, additional shipping fees, and the loss of promotional participation opportunities for customers "outside the continental United States". While some online stores do offer free shipping on orders to Puerto Rico, many merchants exclude Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.

The household median income is stated as $19,350 and the mean income as $30,463 in the U.S. Census Bureau's 2015 update. The report also indicates that 45.5% of individuals are below the poverty level.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |title=Puerto Rico 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates |author= |date=2016 |website=US Census |publisher=Department of Commerce |access-date=25 September 2017 }} In 2011, median home value in Puerto Rico ranged from U.S.$100,000 to U.S.$214,000, while the national median home value was $119,600.{{efn|FRBNY (2011) "...home values vary considerably across municipios: for the metro area overall, the median value of owner-occupied homes was estimated at $126,000 (based on data for 2007–09), but these medians ranged from $214,000 in Guaynabo to around $100,000 in some of the outlying municipios. The median value in the San Juan municipio was estimated at $170,000."{{cite web |url=http://www.newyorkfed.org/regional/profile_puertorico.html |title=Puerto Rico |publisher=Federal Reserve Bank of New York |date=August 2011 |access-date=6 September 2013}}}}

File:Flying into San Juan-Puerto Rico.jpg

One of the most cited contributors to the high cost of living in Puerto Rico is the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, also known as the Jones Act, which prevents foreign-flagged ships from carrying cargo between two American ports, a practice known as cabotage.{{cite web |url=http://graduados.uprrp.edu/planificacion/facultad/elias-gutierrez/ERGTRADE.pdf |title=Impact of the Coastwise Trade Laws on the Transportation System of the United States of America |first=Elías |last=Gutierrez |access-date=6 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002122312/http://graduados.uprrp.edu/planificacion/facultad/elias-gutierrez/ERGTRADE.pdf |archive-date=2 October 2013 |url-status=dead }} Because of the Jones Act, foreign ships inbound with goods from Central and South America, Western Europe, and Africa cannot stop in Puerto Rico, offload Puerto Rico-bound goods, load mainland-bound Puerto Rico-manufactured goods, and continue to U.S. ports. Instead, they must proceed directly to U.S. ports, where distributors break bulk and send Puerto Rico-bound manufactured goods to Puerto Rico across the ocean by U.S.-flagged ships. The local government of Puerto Rico has requested several times to the U.S. Congress to exclude Puerto Rico from the Jones Act restrictions without success.{{efn|Santiago (2021) "Local detractors of the Jones Act [...] for many years have unsuccessfully tried to have Puerto Rico excluded from the law's provisions[...]"{{cite news |title=Jones Act requirement comes under new light |first=Jaime |last=Santiago |newspaper=Caribbean Business |url=http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/prnt_ed/news02.php?nw_id=7877&ct_id=0 |date=29 November 2012 |access-date=6 September 2013 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308221156/http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/prnt_ed/news02.php?nw_id=7877&ct_id=0 |archive-date=8 March 2014 }}}}

In 2013 the Government Accountability Office published a report which concluded that "repealing or amending the Jones Act cabotage law might cut Puerto Rico shipping costs" and that "shippers believed that opening the trade to non-U.S.-flag competition could lower costs".{{efn|name=joc-gao-report-repeal-quote|JOC (2013) "Repealing or amending the Jones Act cabotage law might cut Puerto Rico shipping costs"}}{{efn|name=joc-gao-report-lower-costs-quote|JOC (2013) "The GAO report said its interviews with shippers indicated they [...] believed that opening the trade to non-U.S.-flag competition could lower costs."}} Ultimately, the report concluded that "[the] effects of modifying the application of the Jones Act for Puerto Rico are highly uncertain" for both Puerto Rico and the U.S., particularly for the U.S. shipping industry and the military preparedness of the U.S.{{cite news |url=http://www.joc.com/regulation-policy/transportation-regulations/united-states/gao%27s-jones-act-report-inconclusive_20130320.html |title=GAO's Jones Act Report Is Inconclusive |newspaper=The Journal of Commerce |date=20 March 2013 |access-date=6 September 2013}}{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web |url=http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653046.pdf |title=GAO-13-260, Puerto Rico: Characteristics of the Island's Maritime Trade and Potential Effects of Modifying the Jones Act |publisher=United States Government Accountability Office |date=March 2013}} A 2018 study by economists at Boston-based Reeve & Associates and Puerto Rico-based Estudios Tecnicos has concluded that the 1920 Jones Act has no impact on either retail prices or the cost of living on Puerto Rico.{{cite report|url=https://3snn221qaymolkgbj4a0vpey-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Report_Impact-of-the-Jones-Act-on-Puerto-Rico_FINAL2.pdf|title=Impact of the U.S. Jones Act on Puerto Rico|date=June 2018|author1=Reeve & Associates|author2=Estudios Técnicos, Inc.|access-date=27 August 2018|archive-date=21 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121210412/https://3snn221qaymolkgbj4a0vpey-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Report_Impact-of-the-Jones-Act-on-Puerto-Rico_FINAL2.pdf}}

{{Main|Transportation in Puerto Rico}}

File:Puerto Rico Interstates.svg]]

Cities and towns in Puerto Rico are interconnected by a system of roads, freeways, expressways, and highways maintained by the Highways and Transportation Authority under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and patrolled by the Puerto Rico Police Department. The island's San Juan metropolitan area is served by a public bus transit system and a metro system called {{lang|es|Tren Urbano}} ('Urban Train'). Other forms of Puerto Rican public transport include seaborne ferries that serve Puerto Rico's archipelago as well as {{lang|es|carros públicos}} (private mini buses).

Puerto Rico has three international airports, the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, Mercedita International Airport in Ponce, and the Rafael Hernández International Airport in Aguadilla, and 27 local airports. The Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport is the largest aerial transportation hub in the Caribbean.{{cite web |url=http://www.prpa.gobierno.pr/APMain.aspx |title=Aeropuertos Internacionales y Regionales (Spanish) |publisher=Puerto Rico Ports Authority |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007181239/http://www.prpa.gobierno.pr/apmain.aspx |archive-date=7 October 2009 |url-status=dead }}

File:Tren Urbano in Bayamón (Puerto Rico).jpg}} train at Bayamón Station]]

Puerto Rico has nine ports in different cities across the main island. The San Juan Port is the largest in Puerto Rico, and the busiest port in the Caribbean and the 10th busiest in the United States in terms of commercial activity and cargo movement, respectively. The second largest port is the Port of the Americas in Ponce, currently under expansion to increase cargo capacity to {{Nowrap|1.5 million}} twenty-foot containers (TEUs) per year.{{cite web |url=http://www.portoftheamericas.com/about.project/overview.htm |title=About the Project – Overview |publisher=Port of the Americas Authority |access-date=28 July 2008}}

{{Main|Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority}}

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA, {{langx|es|Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica, AEE}})—is an electric power company and the government-owned corporation of Puerto Rico responsible for electricity generation, power transmission, and power distribution in Puerto Rico.{{cite web |url=http://www.presupuesto.gobierno.pr/PresupuestosAnteriores/af2008_2009/Tomo_II/suppdocs/baselegal/169/169.pdf |title=Ley de la Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica de Puerto Rico |website=Presupuesto.gobierno.pr |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924081627/http://www.presupuesto.gobierno.pr/PresupuestosAnteriores/af2008_2009/Tomo_II/suppdocs/baselegal/169/169.pdf |url-status=dead }} PREPA was, by law, the only entity authorized to conduct such business in Puerto Rico, effectively making it a government monopoly until 2018. The Authority is ruled by a governing board appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate of Puerto Rico, and is run by an executive director.

On 20 July 2018, Puerto Rico Law 120-2018 ({{lang|es|Ley para Transformar el Sistema Eléctrico de Puerto Rico}}) was signed. This law authorized PREPA to sell infrastructure and services to other providers. As a result, a contract was signed on 22 June 2020, making LUMA Energy the new operator of the energy distribution and transmission infrastructure, as well as other areas of PREPA's operations, in effect partially privatizing the Puerto Rican power grid. The takeover was set for 1 June 2021, amidst protests and uncertainty from the point of view of the general public and the former-PREPA workers and union members.{{Cite web|last=Pagán|first=José Karlo|date=18 May 2021|title=Empleados de la AEE se manifiestan contra LUMA en el Tribunal federal y en la sede de la Junta|trans-title=AEE Employees Protest Against LUMA at the Federal Courthouse and Fiscal Oversight Management Board Headquarters|url=https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/notas/empleados-de-la-aee-se-manifiestan-contra-luma-en-el-tribunal-federal-y-en-la-sede-de-la-junta/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610184853/https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/notas/empleados-de-la-aee-se-manifiestan-contra-luma-en-el-tribunal-federal-y-en-la-sede-de-la-junta/|archive-date=10 June 2021|access-date=10 June 2021|website=Primera Hora|language=es}}{{Cite web|last=Rivera Clemente|first=Yaritza|date=4 June 2021|title=Se organizan más protestas para exigir la salida de LUMA|trans-title=More Protests Are Organized to Demand LUMA's Departure|url=https://www.elvocero.com/gobierno/se-organizan-m-s-protestas-para-exigir-la-salida-de-luma/article_c3fa4e7c-c4f1-11eb-84b5-838499c5c700.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610185832/https://www.elvocero.com/gobierno/se-organizan-m-s-protestas-para-exigir-la-salida-de-luma/article_c3fa4e7c-c4f1-11eb-84b5-838499c5c700.html|archive-date=10 June 2021|access-date=10 June 2021|website=El Vocero|language=es}}

{{Main|Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority}}

Similarly, the Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority (PRASA, {{langx|es|Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados, AAA}})—is a water company and the government-owned corporation responsible for water quality, management, and supply in Puerto Rico.{{Cite web|title=Inicio - Acueductospr|url=https://acueductospr.com/web/guest|access-date=17 May 2021|website=acueductospr.com|archive-date=17 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517064319/https://acueductospr.com/web/guest|url-status=dead}} It is the only entity authorized to conduct such business in Puerto Rico, effectively making it a government monopoly. Its existence is designated by Law No. 40 of 1 May 1945, including the corresponding amendments.{{Cite web|last=Asamblea Legislativa de Puerto Rico|author-link=Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly|date=2 October 2020|title=Ley de Acueductos y Alcantarillados de Puerto Rico|url=https://bvirtualogp.pr.gov/ogp/Bvirtual/leyesreferencia/PDF/Agua/40-1945.pdf|access-date=17 May 2021|website=Biblioteca Virtual del Gobierno de Puerto Rico}}

{{Main|Communications in Puerto Rico}}

Telecommunications in Puerto Rico includes radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet. Broadcasting in Puerto Rico is regulated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17140680 "Puerto Rico profile"], BBC News, 23 May 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2014. {{As of|2007}}, there were 30 TV stations, 125 radio stations and roughly 1 million TV sets on the island. Cable TV subscription services are available, and the U.S. Armed Forces Radio and Television Service also broadcast on the island.[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/puerto-rico/ "Communications: Puerto Rico"], World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 9 December 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2014. Puerto Rico also has its own amateur radio prefixes, which differ from those of the contiguous United States in that there are two letter before the number. The most well-known prefix is KP4, but others separated for use on the archipelago (including Desecheo and Mona) are: KP3/KP4/NP3/NP4/WP3/WP4 (Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra) and KP5/NP5/WP5 (Desecheo Island).{{Cite web|date=28 September 2016|title=Amateur Call Sign Systems|url=https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service/amateur-call-sign-systems|access-date=17 May 2021|website=Federal Communications Commission|language=en}} Amateur radio operators (also known as ham radio operators) are a well-known group in the island and can obtain special vehicle license plates with their callsign on them.{{Cite web|title=Ley de Vehículos y Tránsito de Puerto Rico del 2000|url=https://www.lexjuris.com/lexlex/lextransito/lextransitocap02.htm|access-date=17 May 2021|website=www.lexjuris.com}} They have been a key element in disaster relief.{{Cite web|last1=Murphy|first1=Paul P.|last2=Krupa|first2=Michelle|date=27 September 2017|title=Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico one transmission at a time|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/puerto-rico-maria-ham-radio-operators-trnd/index.html|access-date=17 May 2021|website=CNN}}

{{US Census population

|1800=155426

|1860=583308

|1900=953243

|1910=1118012

|1920=1299809

|1930=1543913

|1940=1869255

|1950=2210703

|1960=2349544

|1970=2712033

|1980=3196520

|1990=3522037

|2000=3808610

|2010=3725789

|2020=3285874

|estyear=

|estimate=

|align-fn=center

|footnote=1765–2020 (*1899 shown as 1900){{cite web |url=http://welcome.topuertorico.org/reference/pophistory.shtml |title=Population History, 1765–2010 |publisher=Welcome to Puerto Rico! |access-date=7 September 2014 |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417091032/https://welcome.topuertorico.org/reference/pophistory.shtml |url-status=live }}}}

{{Main|Demographics of Puerto Rico|Cultural diversity in Puerto Rico}}

The population of Puerto Rico reflects influences from initial Amerindian settlement, European colonization, slavery, economic migration, and the archipelago's status as unincorporated territory of the United States. Puerto Ricans are characterized by a high degree of ethnic and cultural diversity, as well as a long history of intermarriage and acculturation among different demographics; racial and ethnic identity is subsequently complex and often nebulous, shaped by the broader attitudes and policies of the Spanish colonial period, 20th century American racial politics, and modern trends in cultural and identity in the 21st century United States.{{Cite web |date=2021-10-15 |title=Puerto Rico ponders race amid surprising census results |url=https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-census-2020-puerto-rico-e2cb57f6e4ea5f6eb0ebdacd9ed266e5 |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=AP News |language=en}}

According to the most recent 2020 United States census, Puerto Rico had 3,285,874 residents, an 11.8% decrease since 2010. The commonwealth's population peaked in 2000, when it was 3,808,610, before declining (for the first time in census history) to 3,725,789 in 2010.{{cite web |date=14 December 2012 |title=Wall Street eyes PR population loss |url=http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news/wall-street-eyes-pr-population-loss-79553.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105165520/http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news/wall-street-eyes-pr-population-loss-79553.html |archive-date=5 November 2013 |access-date=14 December 2012 |url-status=usurped |work=Caribbean Business}} Emigration due to economic difficulties and natural disasters, coupled with a low birth rate, have resulted in continued population decline into the 21st century.{{cite web |last1=Cheatham |first1=Amelia |last2=Roy |first2=Diana |date=29 September 2022 |title=Puerto Rico: A U.S. Territory in Crisis |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/puerto-rico-us-territory-crisis |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103042405/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/puerto-rico-us-territory-crisis |archive-date=3 November 2023 |access-date=27 March 2023 |work=Council on Foreign Relations}}

{{Main|List of cities in Puerto Rico}}

The most populous municipality is the capital, San Juan, with 342,259 people based on the 2020 Census.{{Cite web |publisher=United States Census Bureau |title=Puerto Rico Population Declined 11.8% From 2010 to 2020 |url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/puerto-rico-population-change-between-census-decade.html |access-date=29 November 2022 |website=Census.gov |archive-date=1 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201231936/https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/puerto-rico-population-change-between-census-decade.html |url-status=live }} Other major cities include Bayamón, Carolina, Ponce, and Caguas. Of the ten most populous cities on the island, eight are located within what is considered San Juan's metropolitan area, while the other two are located in the south (Ponce) and west (Mayagüez) of the island.

{{clear}}

{{Largest cities

|country = Puerto Rico

|stat_ref = 2020 Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/puerto-rico-population-change-between-census-decade.html|title=Puerto Rico Population Declined 11.8% from 2010 to 2020|access-date=29 November 2022|archive-date=1 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201231936/https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/puerto-rico-population-change-between-census-decade.html|url-status=live}}

|list_by_pop = List of cities in Puerto Rico

|div_name = Metropolitan Statistical Area

|div_link = Metropolitan Statistical Area

|city_1 = San Juan, Puerto Rico{{!}}San Juan | div_1 = San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area{{!}}San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo | pop_1 = 342,259 | img_1 = Puerto Rico 07.jpg

|city_2 = Bayamón | div_2 = San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area{{!}}San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo | pop_2 = 185,187 | img_2 = Bayamon Puerto Rico aerial view.jpg

| city_3 = Carolina, Puerto Rico{{!}}Carolina | div_3 = San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area{{!}}San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo | pop_3 = 154,815 | img_3 = Islaverdeskyline.jpg

| city_4 = Ponce, Puerto Rico{{!}}Ponce | div_4 = Ponce metropolitan area{{!}}Ponce | pop_4 = 137,491 | img_4 = Partial view of the City of Ponce, looking SSW from Cerro El Vigía, Barrio Portugués Urbano, Ponce, Puerto Rico.jpg

| city_5 = Caguas | div_5 = San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area{{!}}San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo | pop_5 = 127,244

| city_6 = Guaynabo | div_6 = San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area{{!}}San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo | pop_6 = 89,780

| city_7 = Arecibo | div_7 = San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area{{!}}San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo | pop_7 = 87,754

| city_8 = Toa Baja | div_8 = San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area{{!}}San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo | pop_8 = 75,293

| city_9 = Mayagüez | div_9 = Mayagüez metropolitan area{{!}}Mayagüez | pop_9 = 73,077

| city_10 = Trujillo Alto | div_10 = San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area{{!}}San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo | pop_10 = 67,740

}}

{{clear}}

{{Main|Puerto Ricans}}

{{bar box

|title=Racial and Ethnic Composition in Puerto Rico (2020 Census)

|title bar=#fff

|left1=Ethnicity

|float=left

|bars=

{{bar percent|White|AntiqueWhite|17.1}}

{{bar percent|Black|Black|7.0}}

{{bar percent|Asian|Yellow|0.1}}

{{bar percent|Two or more races|Tan|49.8}}

{{bar percent|American Indian|Red|0.5}}

{{bar percent|Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander|Orange|0.0}}

{{bar percent|Other races|#9999FF|25.5}}

}}As of 2020, Hispanic or Latinos made up 98.9 percent of the population, of which 95.5 percent were Puerto Rican and 3.4% were Hispanic of non-Puerto Rican origins; only 1.1 percent of the population was non-Hispanic.{{cite web |author=((U.S. Census Bureau)) |date=2020 |title=Profile of general population and housing characteristics |url=https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALDP2020.DP1?text=Decennial+census&t=Race+and+Ethnicity&g=040XX00US72 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004045500/https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALDP2020.DP1?text=Decennial+census&t=Race+and+Ethnicity&g=040XX00US72 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |access-date=5 November 2023 |work=Decennial Census, DEC Demographic Profile, Table DP1, 2020 |type=data table}} Fewer than one-fifth of people (17.1 percent) identified as "White", a decline of almost 80 percent; by contrast, nearly half of Puerto Ricans (49.8 percent) reported being multiracial—compared to just 3 percent in 2010—while roughly one-quarter chose "some other race alone" (25.5 percent).

Censuses of Puerto Rico were completed by Spain in 1765, 1775, 1800, 1815, 1832, 1846 and 1857, yet some of the data remained untabulated and were considered reliable in a 1943 report by Irene Barnes Taeuber, an American demographer at the Office of Population Research at Princeton University.{{cite book |last=Taeuber |first=Irene B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rvHgRN6N_aMC&pg=PA147 |title=General Censuses and Vital Statistics in the Americas |publisher=United States Bureau of the Census |year=1943 |isbn=978-0-87917-036-3 |page=147 |access-date=24 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324133921/https://books.google.com/books?id=rvHgRN6N_aMC&pg=PA147 |archive-date=24 March 2023 |url-status=live}}

Continuous European immigration and high natural increase helped the population of Puerto Rico grow from 155,426 in 1800 to almost a million by the end of the 19th century. A census conducted by royal decree on 30 September 1858 gave the following totals of the Puerto Rican population at that time: 341,015 were free colored; 300,430 were white; and 41,736 were slaves.{{cite book |last=Van Middeldyk |first=R. A |title=The History of Puerto Rico |url=http://www.fullbooks.com/The-History-of-Puerto-Rico.html |access-date=29 May 2008 |chapter=Part 4 |chapter-url=http://www.fullbooks.com/The-History-of-Puerto-Rico4.html |isbn=978-0-405-06241-4 |year=1975 |publisher=Arno Press |archive-date=7 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507104158/http://www.fullbooks.com/The-History-of-Puerto-Rico.html |url-status=live }} A census in 1887 found a population of around 800,000, of which 320,000 were black.{{cite news | title=Puerto Rico | newspaper=Kalgoorlie Western Argus (WA : 1896 - 1916) | date=28 April 1898 | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32192140 | access-date=29 October 2019 | archive-date=28 July 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728043247/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32192140 | url-status=live }}

File:Puerto Rico single age population pyramid 2020.png of Puerto Rico in 2020]]

During the 19th century, hundreds of families arrived in Puerto Rico, primarily from the Canary Islands and Andalusia, but also from other parts of Spain such as Catalonia, Asturias, Galicia and the Balearic Islands; they were later joined by numerous Spanish loyalists from Spain's former colonies in South America. There were also smaller numbers of settlers from outside Spain, including from Corsica, France, Lebanon, Portugal, Ireland, Scotland, Germany and Italy; this immigration from non-Hispanic countries was largely the result of the Real Cédula de Gracias de 1815 (Royal Decree of Graces of 1815), which provided European Catholics with land allotments in the sparsely inhabited interior of the island, provided they paid taxes and continued to support the Catholic Church.

Between 1960 and 1990, the census questionnaire in Puerto Rico did not ask about race or ethnicity. The 2000 United States Census included a racial self-identification question in Puerto Rico, according to which most Puerto Ricans identified as white and Latino and few identified as black or some other race.

Although less than one percent of the population identifies as Indigenous, a large proportion of Puerto Ricans have Native ancestry: A 2003 study by the University of Puerto Rico,{{Cite web |title=Juan C. Martínez-Cruzado {{!}} Caribbean Research Institute {{!}} The University of Winnipeg |url=https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/caribbeanri/faculty-pages/juan-carlos.html |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=www.uwinnipeg.ca |language=en}} which took genetic samples from 800 randomly selected subjects throughout the island, found that 61.1 percent of those surveyed had mitochondrial DNA of Indigenous origin; additionally, 26.4 percent had African markers and 12.5 percent showed European descent.{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Poole |first2=Robert M. |title=Who Were the Taíno, the Original Inhabitants of Columbus' Island Colonies? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-were-taino-original-inhabitants-columbus-island-73824867/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGEt29leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHbPFu5hv-S1be2B2uK8Js3M-aZf78-h5IFiSAoNYndL-l56CCFQiF-Y-Sg_aem_FsjMZkOAjA0o8Yqt6S70Kw |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}} The study reportedly resulted in a resurgence of Indigenous and Taíno identity among Puerto Ricans; in the 2010 census, 19,839 respondents identified as "American Indian or Alaskan Native", an increase of almost 49 percent from 2000 count.

The vast majority of recent immigrants, both legal and illegal, come from Latin America, over half come from the Dominican Republic. Dominicans represent 53% of non-Puerto Rican Hispanics, about 1.8% of Puerto Rico's population.{{cite web |url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/49749cc7c.html |title=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Puerto Rico: Dominicans |publisher=Minority Rights Group International |year=2008 |access-date=6 September 2013 |archive-date=17 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917070025/http://www.refworld.org/docid/49749cc7c.html |url-status=live }} Some illegal immigrants, particularly from Haiti, Dominican Republic,{{cite web |url=http://latinousa.org/2014/03/28/border-puerto-ricos-seas/ |title=The Other Border: Puerto Rico's Seas |work=Latino USA |date=28 March 2014 |access-date=12 October 2014 |archive-date=24 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724041327/http://latinousa.org/2014/03/28/border-puerto-ricos-seas/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.havenscenter.org/files/Dominican%20Migration%20to%20Puerto%20Rico.pdf |title=Portadilla de Revista |access-date=17 January 2019 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525013730/http://www.havenscenter.org/files/Dominican%20Migration%20to%20Puerto%20Rico.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2017 }} and Cuba{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}, use Puerto Rico as a temporary stop-over point to get to the U.S. mainland. Other major sources of recent immigrants include Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Panama, Ecuador, Spain, and Jamaica.[https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_14_5YR_B05006PR&prodType=table PLACE OF BIRTH FOR THE FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION IN PUERTO RICO] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719105515/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_14_5YR_B05006PR&prodType=table |date=19 July 2018 }} Universe: Foreign-born population in Puerto Rico excluding population born at sea. 2010–2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates{{cite web |url=http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/dominican-people-smugglers-trafficked-cubans-to-puerto-rico |title=Dominican People Smugglers Trafficked Cubans to Puerto Rico |author=James Bargent |date=27 March 2017 |access-date=12 October 2014 |archive-date=21 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021022301/http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/dominican-people-smugglers-trafficked-cubans-to-puerto-rico |url-status=live }} Additionally, there are many non-Puerto Rican U.S. citizens settling in Puerto Rico from the U.S. mainland, majority of which are White Americans and a smaller number are Black Americans. In fact, non-Hispanic people represent 1.1% and majority of them are from the U.S. mainland. Smaller numbers of U.S. citizens come from the U.S. Virgin Islands. There are also large numbers of Nuyoricans and other stateside Puerto Ricans coming back, as many Puerto Ricans engage in 'circular migration'.{{cite news |title=Puerto Rico's population swap: The middle class for millionaires |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32344131 |access-date=3 June 2015 |work=BBC |date=5 May 2015 |archive-date=23 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623111651/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32344131 |url-status=live }} Small numbers of non-Puerto Rican Hispanics in Puerto Rico are actually American-born migrants from the mainland U.S. and not recent immigrants. Most recent immigrants settle in and around the San Juan metropolitan area.

Emigration is a major part of contemporary Puerto Rican history. Starting soon after World War II, poverty, cheap airfares, and promotion by the island government caused waves of Puerto Ricans to move to the U.S. mainland, particularly to the northeastern states and nearby Florida.{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_13_1YR_S0201&prodType=table |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212210049/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_13_1YR_S0201&prodType=table |archive-date=12 February 2020 |title=American FactFinder – Results |author=Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS) |access-date=5 April 2020 |url-status=dead }} This trend continued even as Puerto Rico's economy improved and its birth rate declined. Puerto Ricans continue to follow a pattern of "circular migration", with some migrants returning to the island. In recent years, the population has declined markedly, falling nearly 1% in 2012 and an additional 1% (36,000 people) in 2013 due to a falling birthrate and emigration.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/economy-and-crime-spur-new-puerto-rican-exodus.html |title=Economy and Crime Spur New Puerto Rican Exodus |date=9 February 2014 |work=The New York Times |access-date=12 February 2017 |archive-date=27 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627005409/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/economy-and-crime-spur-new-puerto-rican-exodus.html |url-status=live }} The impact of hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017, combined with the unincorporated territory's worsening economy, led to its greatest population decline since the U.S. acquired the archipelago.

According to the 2020 U.S. census, the number of Puerto Ricans living outside of Puerto Rico in the U.S. is almost twice as many as those living in Puerto Rico.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/2020-census-dhc-a-hispanic-population.html |title=Eight Hispanic Groups Each Had a Million or More Population in 2020 |last1=Peña |first1=Jessica |last2=Lowe |first2=Ricardo Henrique Jr. |work=United States Census Bureau |date=23 September 2023 |accessdate=11 July 2024 }} As those who leave tend to be better educated than those who remain, this accentuates the drain on Puerto Rico's economy.

Based on 1 July 2019 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of the Commonwealth had declined by 532,095 people since the 2010 Census data had been tabulated.{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/pr|title=QuickFacts Puerto Rico|work=United States Census Bureau|access-date=20 April 2019|archive-date=30 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330054937/https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/PR|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Puerto Rican Spanish|English language in Puerto Rico}}

The official languages"Official Language", Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language, Ed. Tom McArthur, Oxford University Press, 1998. of the executive branch of government of Puerto RicoPueblo 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 LOPEZ-BARALT NEGRON, "Pueblo v. Tribunal Superior: Espanol: Idioma del proceso judicial", 36 Revista Juridica de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. 396 (1967), and VIENTOS-GASTON, "Informe del Procurador General sobre el idioma", 36 Rev. Col. Ab. (P.R.) 843 (1975). are Spanish and English, with Spanish being the primary language. Spanish is, and has been, the only official language of the entire Commonwealth judiciary system, despite a 1902 English-only language law.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120426041859/http://muniz-arguelles.com/resources/The%2Bstatus%2Bof%2Blanguages%2Bin%2BPuerto%2BRico.pdf The Status of Languages in Puerto Rico.] Muniz-Arguelles, Luis. University of Puerto Rico. c. 1988. Page 466. Retrieved 4 December 2012. However, all official business of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico is conducted in English. English is the primary language of less than 10% of the population. Spanish is the dominant language of business, education and daily life on the island, spoken by nearly 95% of the population.{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US72&-context=adp&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-tree_id=307&-_lang=en&-_caller=geoselect&-format= |title=U.S. Census Annual Population Estimates 2007 |publisher=Factfinder.census.gov |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170524214928/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t |archive-date=24 May 2017 |url-status=dead }}

Out of people aged five and older, 94.3% speak only Spanish at home, 5.5% speak English, and 0.2% speak other languages. A Pew Research survey indicated an adult literacy rate of 90.4% in 2012 based on data from the United Nations.{{cite web |author= |date=January 2017 |title=Demography – Puerto Rico |url=http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/puerto-rico#/?affiliations_religion_id=0&affiliations_year=2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511221913/http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/puerto-rico#/?affiliations_religion_id=0&affiliations_year=2010 |archive-date=11 May 2019 |access-date=18 February 2017 |website=Pew Research |publisher=Pew Research, DC}}

In Puerto Rico, public school instruction is conducted almost entirely in Spanish. There have been pilot programs in about a dozen of the over 1,400 public schools aimed at conducting instruction in English only. Objections from teaching staff are common, perhaps because many of them are not fully fluent in English.[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/08/puerto-rico-governor-fortuno-bilingual_n_1501225.html Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño Proposes Plan For Island's Public Schools To Teach In English Instead Of Spanish.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831055841/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/08/puerto-rico-governor-fortuno-bilingual_n_1501225.html |date=31 August 2012 }} Danica Coto. Huffington Latino Voices. 05/08/12 (8 May 2012). Retrieved 4 December 2012. English is taught as a second language and is a compulsory subject from elementary levels to high school. The languages of the deaf community are American Sign Language and its local variant, Puerto Rican Sign Language.

The Spanish of Puerto Rico has evolved into having many idiosyncrasies in vocabulary and syntax that differentiate it from the Spanish spoken elsewhere. Puerto Rican Spanish utilizes many Taíno words, as well as English words. The largest influence on the Spanish spoken in Puerto Rico is that of the Canary Islands. Taíno loanwords are most often used in the context of vegetation, natural phenomena, and native musical instruments. Similarly, words attributed to primarily West African languages were adopted in the contexts of foods, music, and dances, particularly in coastal towns with concentrations of descendants of Sub-Saharan Africans.{{cite web |url=http://www.languageeducationpolicy.org/lepbyworldregion/caribbeanpuertorico.html |title=Language Education Policy in Puerto Rico |author= |date=2013 |website=Language Education Policy Studies |publisher=International Association for Language Education Policy Studies |access-date=21 February 2017 |archive-date=22 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222112048/http://www.languageeducationpolicy.org/lepbyworldregion/caribbeanpuertorico.html |url-status=live }}

{{Pie chart

|thumb = right

|caption = Religious affiliation in Puerto Rico (2014){{cite web |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/29/key-findings-about-puerto-rico/ |title=Key findings about Puerto Rico |date=29 March 2017 |access-date=12 September 2017 |archive-date=27 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327063019/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/29/key-findings-about-puerto-rico/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/religion-in-latin-america/#religious-affiliations-of-latin-americans-and-u-s-hispanics |title=Religion in Latin America |date=13 November 2014 |access-date=12 September 2017 |archive-date=30 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330015000/https://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/religion-in-latin-america/#religious-affiliations-of-latin-americans-and-u-s-hispanics |url-status=live }}

|label1 = Catholicism

|value1 = 56

|color1 = Blue

|label2 = Protestantism

|value2 = 33

|color2 = DeepSkyBlue

|label3 = Other

|value3 = 3

|color3 = Red

|label4 = Irreligious

|value4 = 8

|color4 = Black

}}

Christianity is the dominant religion in Puerto Rico. Catholicism was brought by Spanish colonists and gradually became the prevailing faith. The first dioceses in the Americas, including that of Puerto Rico, were authorized by Pope Julius II in 1511.{{CathEncy|wstitle=Porto Rico}} In 1512, priests were established for the parochial churches. By 1759, there was a priest for each church.{{cite book | author=Puerto Rico. Office of Historian | title=Tesauro de datos historicos: indice compendioso de la literatura histórica de Puerto Rico, incluyendo algunos datos inéditos, periodísticos y cartográficos | publisher=Impr. del Gobierno de Puerto Rico | issue=v. 2 | year=1949 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVRnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA306 | language=es | access-date=4 January 2020 | page=306 | archive-date=11 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111012634/https://books.google.com/books?id=IVRnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA306#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status=live }} One Pope, John Paul II, visited Puerto Rico in October 1984. All municipalities in Puerto Rico have at least one Catholic church, most of which are located at the town center, or plaza.

Protestantism, which was suppressed under the Spanish Catholic regime, reemerged under U.S. rule, making contemporary Puerto Rico more interconfessional than in previous centuries, although Catholicism continues to be the dominant religion. The first Protestant church, Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad, was established in Ponce by the Anglican Diocese of Antigua in 1872.{{cite web |url=http://episcopalpr.org/sobre_nosotros/sobre_nosotros.html |title=Sobre Nosotros |publisher=Episcopalpr.org |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317153425/http://www.episcopalpr.org/sobre_nosotros/sobre_nosotros.html |archive-date=17 March 2010 |url-status=dead }} It was the first non-Catholic church in the entire Spanish Empire in the Americas.Luis Fortuño Janeiro. Album Histórico de Ponce (1692–1963). Page 165. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963.{{cite web |url=http://www.preb.com/articulos/aleman2.htm |title=La presencia Germanica en Puerto Rico |publisher=Preb.com |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-date=17 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717075107/http://www.preb.com/articulos/aleman2.htm |url-status=live }}

Sources differ on the denominational breakdown of the population. Pollster Pablo Ramos stated in 1998 that the population was 38 percent Catholic, 28 percent Pentecostal, and 18 percent independent churches; the total number of Protestants collectively added up to almost two million people, or 46 percent of the population. Another researcher gave a more conservative assessment of the proportion of Protestants in 1997, finding a Protestant population of approximately 33 to 38 percent, the majority of whom are Pentecostal; however, it estimated that Puerto Rico would become 75 percent evangelical by 2022.Ana Adams: "Brincando el Charco..." in Power, Politics and Pentecostals in Latin America, Edward Cleary, ed., 1997. p. 164

A 2014 Pew Research report found that only 56% of Puerto Ricans were Catholic, while 33% were Protestant and 8% were unaffiliated;{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/religion-in-latin-america/ |title=Religion in Latin America |author= |date=13 November 2014 |website=Pew Research |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=21 February 2017 |archive-date=30 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330015000/https://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/religion-in-latin-america/ |url-status=live }} these figures are shared by the CIA World Factbook, which further notes that Protestants are "largely Pentecostal", while other religions make up 2 percent and atheists only one percent.{{Citation |title=Puerto Rico |date=2024-10-16 |work=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/puerto-rico/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en}} Pew Research from the year before, which surveyed Puerto Ricans living in the mainland United States, found that only about 45% of Puerto Rican adults identified themselves as Catholic, 29% as Protestant and 20% as unaffiliated with a religion.{{cite web |last=López |first=Gustavo |date=15 September 2015 |title=Hispanics of Puerto Rican Origin in the United States, 2013 |url=http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/09/15/hispanics-of-puerto-rican-origin-in-the-united-states-2013/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010153809/http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/09/15/hispanics-of-puerto-rican-origin-in-the-united-states-2013/ |archive-date=10 October 2018 |access-date=17 February 2017 |website=Pew Research |publisher=Pew Research Center, DC |quote=Puerto Ricans in this statistical profile are people who self-identified as Hispanics of Puerto Rican origin; this means either they themselves were born in Puerto Rico1 or they were born in the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia or elsewhere, but trace their family ancestry to Puerto Rico.}} By contrast, an Associated Press article in March 2014 stated that "more than 70 percent" of Puerto Ricans identified as Catholic.{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/catholic-church-and-puerto-rico-officials-at-odds-in-widening-sex-abuse-investigation |title=Catholic Church and Puerto Rico officials at odds in widening sex abuse investigation |agency=Associated Press |date=12 March 2014 |website=Fox News |access-date=17 February 2017 |archive-date=18 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218145958/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/03/12/catholic-church-and-puerto-rico-officials-at-odds-in-widening-sex-abuse.html |url-status=live }} File:Catedral de San Juan Bautista a.jpg, built between 1535 and 1802|alt=]]

There is a small Eastern Orthodox community, centered mostly around two Eastern Orthodox Churches in the territory: the Russian Orthodox mission of Saint John Climacus in San German and the Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Carolina; both have services in English and Spanish.{{cite web |url=https://misionsanjuanclimaco.org/ |title=¡Bienvenidos! |publisher=Misión Ortodoxa San Juan Clímaco |language=es |access-date=9 August 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://iglesia-ortodoxa-patriarcado-de-antioquia.business.site/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230911012457/https://iglesia-ortodoxa-patriarcado-de-antioquia.business.site/|archive-date=11 September 2023 |title=Iglesia Ortodoxa Patriarcado de Antioquia |url-status=dead}} There is a small Syriac Orthodox church in Aguada, which represents the only Oriental Orthodox denomination in the Island. Orthodox Christians accounted for one percent of the population in 2010.{{cite web |title=Welcome |url=http://parish.orthodoxtheologicalinstitute.org/Dormition_of_the_Theotokos/Welcome.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304223521/http://parish.orthodoxtheologicalinstitute.org/Dormition_of_the_Theotokos/Welcome.html |archive-date=4 March 2011 |access-date=25 November 2012 |publisher=Parish.orthodoxtheologicalinstitute.org}} In 2017, the first Eastern Catholic Church was established in Puerto Rico.{{Cite web |title=Orthodox Church PR |url=https://www.orthodoxchurchpr.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107101903/https://www.orthodoxchurchpr.org/ |archive-date=7 November 2020 |access-date=1 November 2020 |website=www.orthodoxchurchpr.org}}{{cite web |last=Barillas |first=Martin |date=10 September 2017 |title=Puerto Rico Welcomes First-Ever Eastern Catholic Parish |url=https://parma.org/news/puerto-rico-welcomes-first-ever-eastern-catholic-parish |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406163941/https://parma.org/news/puerto-rico-welcomes-first-ever-eastern-catholic-parish |archive-date=6 April 2023 |access-date=1 November 2020 |work=Horizons}} In 2023, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated a temple in San Juan,{{cite web |title=San Juan Puerto Rico Temple {{!}} ChurchofJesusChristTemples.org |url=https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/san-juan-puerto-rico-temple/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403182924/https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/san-juan-puerto-rico-temple/ |archive-date=3 April 2023 |access-date=4 May 2023 |website=Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints}} and reported having a membership of approximately 23,000 in the commonwealth.{{cite web |title=Statistics and Church Facts {{!}} Total Church Membership |url=https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/puerto-rico |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517132219/https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/puerto-rico |archive-date=17 May 2023 |access-date=4 May 2023 |website=newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org |language=en}} In 2015, the 25,832 Jehovah's Witnesses represented about 0.70% of the population, with 324 congregations.2016 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, pp. 184–85

Puerto Rico has the largest Jewish community in the Caribbean, at roughly 3,000,{{cite news |title=The Jewish Palate: The Jews of Puerto Rico |url=http://www.jpost.com/Food-Index/The-Jewish-Palate-The-Jews-of-Puerto-Rico |author=Dennis Wasko |date=11 July 2011 |access-date=18 February 2017 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |archive-date=23 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223130050/http://www.jpost.com/Food-Index/The-Jewish-Palate-The-Jews-of-Puerto-Rico |url-status=live }} and is the only Caribbean island where Conservative, Reform and Orthodox Jewish movements are all represented.{{cite web |url=http://www.luxner.com/cgi-bin/view_article.cgi?articleID=1237 |title=Luxner News |publisher=Luxner.com |date=3 August 2004 |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051107203700/http://www.luxner.com/cgi-bin/view_article.cgi?articleID=1237 |archive-date=7 November 2005 }} The island's first synagogue, Sha'are Zedeck, was established in 1952 by American Jews.Eduardo Giorgetti Y Su Mundo: La Aparente Paradoja De Un Millonario Genio Empresarial Y Su Noble Humanismo; by Delma S. Arrigoitia; Publisher: Ediciones Puerto; {{ISBN|978-0-942347-52-4}}{{cite web |url=http://www.prairieschooltraveler.com/html/world/pr/Korber.html |title=Korber House |publisher=Prairieschooltraveler.com |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511203424/http://www.prairieschooltraveler.com/html/world/pr/Korber.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Puerto_Rico.html |title=The Virtual Jewish History Tour Puerto Rico |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-date=26 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226202626/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Puerto_Rico.html |url-status=live }}

In 2007, there were about 5,000 Muslims in Puerto Rico, representing about 0.13% of the population.{{cite web |url=http://www.iiie.net/index.php?q=node/65 |title=Number of Muslims and Percentage in Puero Rico |publisher=Institute of Islamic Information and Education |date=8 February 2006 |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=27 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927003145/http://www.iiie.net/index.php?q=node/65 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/country/?CountryID=29 |title=Percent Puerto Rican population that are Muslims |access-date=14 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194154/http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/country/?CountryID=29 |archive-date=27 September 2007 }} Retrieved {{Nowrap|8 June}}, 2009. Eight mosques are located throughout the island, with most Muslims living in Río Piedras and Caguas; most Muslims are of Palestinian and Jordanian descent.{{cite web |url=http://www.pupr.edu/msa/mosques.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002214355/http://www.pupr.edu/msa/mosques.html |archive-date=2 October 2011 |title=Muslim mosques in Pto. Rico |publisher=Pupr.edu |access-date=30 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198706/muslims.in.the.caribbean.htm |title=Muslims concentrated in Rio Piedras |publisher=Saudiaramcoworld.com |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505090834/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198706/muslims.in.the.caribbean.htm |archive-date=5 May 2012 |url-status=dead }} There is also a Baháʼí community.{{cite web|url=https://bahaipr.org/index.php/en/|title=Home|website=Bahá'ís of Puerto Rico|access-date=8 May 2018|archive-date=7 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707012751/https://bahaipr.org/index.php/en/|url-status=dead}}

Buddhism in Puerto Rico is represented with Nichiren, Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, with the New York Padmasambhava Buddhist Center for example having a branch in San Juan.{{cite web |url=http://www.buddhanet.net/l_tibet.htm |title=BuddhaNet |publisher=Buddhanet.net |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-date=12 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312005910/http://www.buddhanet.net/l_tibet.htm |url-status=live }} There are several atheist activist and educational organizations, and an atheistic parody religion called the Pastafarian Church of Puerto Rico.{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/IglesiaPastafarianaPuertoRico |title=Iglesia Pastafariana de Puerto Rico |publisher=Facebook |access-date=29 June 2018 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728043318/https://www.facebook.com/IglesiaPastafarianaPuertoRico |url-status=live }} An ISKCON temple in Gurabo is devoted to Krishna, with two preaching centers in the San Juan metropolitan area.

Taíno religious practices have been rediscovered and reinvented to some degree by a handful of advocates.[https://globalpressjournal.com/americas/puerto-rico/puerto-rican-indigenous-communities-seek-recognition-return-ancestral-lands/en/ Puerto Rican Indigenous Communities Seek Recognition, Return of Their Ancestral Lands: The Jíbaro and Taíno indigenous communities are not recognized by the Puerto Rican government. But two organizations dedicated to preserving their respective history and traditions are working to gain recognition as indigenous groups, as well as unrestricted access to their ancestral lands.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023151251/https://globalpressjournal.com/americas/puerto-rico/puerto-rican-indigenous-communities-seek-recognition-return-ancestral-lands/en/|date=23 October 2020}} Coraly Cruz Mejias. Global Press Journal. Washington, DC. 14 October 2019. Accessed 23 October 2020. Similarly, some aspects of African religious traditions have persisted, as African slaves maintained various ethnic African religious practices associated with different peoples; in particular, the Yoruba beliefs of Santería or Ifá, and the Kongo-derived Palo Mayombe. Some Indigenous and African practices and beliefs are syncretized with Christianity. In 1940, Juanita García Peraza founded the Mita Congregation, the first religion of Puerto Rican origin.{{cite web |title=Latin American issues Vol. 3 |url=http://webpub.allegheny.edu/group/LAS/LatinAmIssues/Articles/Vol13/LAI_vol_13_section_I.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202221418/http://webpub.allegheny.edu/group/LAS/LatinAmIssues/Articles/Vol13/LAI_vol_13_section_I.html |archive-date=2 December 2010 |access-date=6 February 2011 |publisher=Webpub.allegheny.edu}}

{{Main|Education in Puerto Rico}}

The first school in Puerto Rico was the {{lang|es|Escuela de Gramática}} (Grammar School). It was established by Bishop Alonso Manso in 1513, in the area where the Cathedral of San Juan was to be constructed. The school was free of charge and the courses taught were Latin language, literature, history, science, art, philosophy and theology.Nicolas Kanellos, "Hispanic Firsts", Visible Ink Press ({{ISBN|0-7876-0519-0}}), p. 40.

Education in Puerto Rico is divided in three levels—Primary (elementary school grades 1–6), Secondary (intermediate and high school grades 7–12), and Higher Level (undergraduate and graduate studies). As of 2002, the literacy rate of the Puerto Rican population was 94.1%; by gender, it was 93.9% for males and 94.4% for females.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/puerto-rico/ |title=CIA FactBook |publisher=Cia.gov |access-date=6 February 2011}} According to the 2000 Census, 60.0% of the population attained a high school degree or higher level of education, and 18.3% has a bachelor's degree or higher.

Instruction at the primary school level is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 18. {{As of|2010}}, there are 1539 public schools and 806 private schools.{{cite web |title=Perfil del Sistema Educativo – Año Escolar 2010–2011 |url=http://www.estadisticas.gobierno.pr/iepr/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=JmyeNRFU1ZI%3d&tabid=186 |website=estadisticas.gobierno.pr |access-date=8 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091542/http://www.estadisticas.gobierno.pr/iepr/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=JmyeNRFU1ZI%3D&tabid=186 |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}

The largest and oldest university system is the public University of Puerto Rico (UPR) with 11 campuses. The largest private university systems on the island are the {{lang|es|Sistema Universitario Ana G. Mendez|italic=no}} which operates the {{lang|es|Universidad del Turabo|italic=no}}, Metropolitan University and {{lang|es|Universidad del Este|italic=no}}. Other private universities include the multi-campus Inter American University, the Pontifical Catholic University, {{lang|es|Universidad Politécnica de Puerto Rico|italic=no}}, and the {{lang|es|Universidad del Sagrado Corazón|italic=no}}. Puerto Rico has four schools of Medicine and three ABA-approved Law Schools.

File:Old Dr. Pila Hospital in Barrio Primero, Ponce, Puerto Rico (IMG 2923).jpg city]]

In 2017, there were 69 hospitals in Puerto Rico.{{cite news |first=Oren |last=Dorell |title=Puerto Rico's health system 'on life support' after blow |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/05/puerto-rico-health-system-life-support-two-weeks-after-hurricane-maria/734130001/ |newspaper=USA Today |location=Melbourne, Florida |pages=1B, 2B |date=5 October 2017 |access-date=6 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814141555/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/05/puerto-rico-health-system-life-support-two-weeks-after-hurricane-maria/734130001/ |archive-date=14 August 2021}} As of 2021, average life expectancy is approximately 82.1 years according to the CIA World Factbook, an improvement from 78.7 years in 2010.{{cite web |title=The World Factbook: Central America: Puerto Rico |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/puerto-rico/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105163943/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/puerto-rico/ |archive-date=5 January 2021 |access-date=28 December 2019 |website=Central Intelligence Agency}}

{{lang|es|Reforma de Salud de Puerto Rico}} (Puerto Rico Health Reform) – locally referred to as {{lang|es|La Reforma}} ('The Reform') – is a government-run program which provides medical and health care services to the indigent and impoverished, by means of contracting private health insurance companies, rather than employing government-owned hospitals and emergency centers. The Reform is administered by the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration.[https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1171662/000095014406002885/g00487e10vk.htm Triple-S Management Corporation Annual Report (Form 10-K)] for the fiscal year ended on 31 December 2005, pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, accessed on 4 November 2006.

{{clear}}

{{Main|Culture of Puerto Rico}}

Modern Puerto Rican culture is a unique mix of cultural antecedents: including European (predominantly Spanish, Italian, French, German and Irish), African, and, more recently, some North American and many South Americans. Many Cubans and Dominicans have relocated to the island in the past few decades.

From the Spanish, Puerto Rico received the Spanish language, the Catholic religion and the vast majority of their cultural and moral values and traditions. The United States added English-language influence, the university system and the adoption of some holidays and practices. On 12 March 1903, the University of Puerto Rico was officially founded, branching out from the "Escuela Normal Industrial", a smaller organization that was founded in Fajardo three years earlier.

Much of Puerto Rican culture centers on the influence of music and has been shaped by other cultures combining with local and traditional rhythms. Early in the history of Puerto Rican music, the influences of Spanish and African traditions were most noticeable. The cultural movements across the Caribbean and North America have played a vital role in the more recent musical influences which have reached Puerto Rico.Giovannetti, Jorge L. "Popular Music and Culture in Puerto Rico: Jamaican and Rap Music as Cross-Cultural Symbols", in Musical Migrations: Transnationalism and Cultural Hybridity in the Americas, ed. Frances R. Aparicio and Cándida F. Jáquez, 81–98.{{cite web |url=http://www.puertoricanmusictv.com/ |title=Puerto Rican Music TV |publisher=Puerto Rican Music TV |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-date=22 July 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722043541/http://www.puertoricanmusictv.com/ }}

Puerto Rico has many symbols, but only the Flor de Maga has been made official by the Government of Puerto Rico.{{cite web | title= Entre leyes y múltiples indultos |author-last=López Maldonado | author-first=Cesiach | publisher=Primera Hora | url=https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/gobierno-politica/notas/entre-leyes-y-multiples-indultos/ | date=21 August 2019 | access-date=16 March 2021 | language=es |trans-title=Between laws and multiple pardons}} Other popular, traditional, or unofficial symbols of Puerto Rico are the Puerto Rican spindalis, the kapok tree, the coquí frog, the jíbaro, the Taíno Indian, and Cerro Las Tetas with its jíbaro culture monument.{{cite web | title= Debate por el Ave Nacional (primera parte) |author-last=Pérez Rivera | author-first=Raúl | publisher=CienciaPR | url=https://www.cienciapr.org/es/external-news/debate-por-el-ave-nacional-primera-parte | date=2 December 2015 | access-date=16 March 2021 | language=es |trans-title=Debate for the National Bird (first part)}}

{{cite web | title=¿Tenemos o no un ave nacional? | author-last=Sánchez Martínez | author-first=Héctor | publisher=La Perla del Sur | url=https://www.periodicolaperla.com/tenemos-no-ave-nacional/ | date=20 January 2017 | access-date=16 March 2021 | language=es | trans-title=Do we or do we not have a national bird? | archive-date=5 May 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505231620/https://www.periodicolaperla.com/tenemos-no-ave-nacional/ | url-status=dead }}

{{Main|Architecture of Puerto Rico}}

The architecture of Puerto Rico demonstrates a broad variety of traditions, styles and national influences accumulated over four centuries of Spanish rule, and a century of American rule. Spanish colonial architecture, Ibero-Islamic, art deco, post-modern, and many other architectural forms are visible throughout the island. From town to town, there are also many regional distinctions.

File:The Colors of Old San Juan (28488284470).jpg]]

Old San Juan is one of the two barrios, in addition to Santurce, that made up the municipality of San Juan from 1864 to 1951, at which time the former independent municipality of Río Piedras was annexed. With its abundance of shops, historic places, museums, open air cafés, restaurants, gracious homes, tree-shaded plazas, and its old beauty and architectonical peculiarity, Old San Juan is a main spot for local and internal tourism. The district is also characterized by numerous public plazas and churches including San José Church and the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista, which contains the tomb of the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. It also houses the oldest Catholic school for elementary education in Puerto Rico, the Colegio de Párvulos, built in 1865.

The oldest parts of the district of Old San Juan remain partly enclosed by massive walls. Several defensive structures and notable forts, such as the emblematic Fort San Felipe del Morro, Fort San Cristóbal, and El Palacio de Santa Catalina, also known as La Fortaleza, acted as the primary defenses of the settlement which was subjected to numerous attacks. La Fortaleza continues to serve also as the executive mansion for the governor of Puerto Rico. Many of the historic fortifications are part of San Juan National Historic Site.

During the 1940s, sections of Old San Juan fell into disrepair, and many renovation plans were suggested. There was even a strong push to develop Old San Juan as a "small Manhattan". Strict remodeling codes were implemented to prevent new constructions from affecting the common colonial Spanish architectural themes of the old city. When a project proposal suggested that the old Carmelite Convent in San Juan be demolished to erect a new hotel, the Institute had the building declared as a historic building, and then asked that it be converted to a hotel in a renewed facility. This was what became the Hotel El Convento in Old San Juan. The paradigm to reconstruct and renovate the old city and revitalize it has been followed by other cities in the Americas, particularly Havana, Lima and Cartagena de Indias.

File:Parque de Bombas - Ponce Puerto Rico.jpg, a landmark of Ponce, a former fire station built in 1882]]

Ponce Creole is a unique architectural style created in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This style of Puerto Rican buildings is found predominantly in residential homes in Ponce that developed between 1895 and 1920. Ponce Creole architecture borrows heavily from the traditions of France, Spain and the Caribbean vernacular to create houses that were especially built to withstand the hot and dry climate of the region, and to take advantage of the sun and sea breezes characteristic of the southern Puerto Rico's Caribbean Sea coast.{{cite book|author=Randall Peffer|title=Puerto Rico, a Travel Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MjXG2vg5YFsC&pg=PA225|year=2002|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74059-274-1|page=225}} It is a blend of wood and masonry, incorporating architectural elements of other styles, from Classical revival and Spanish Revival to Victorian.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/articles/1056puerto_rico.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302194306/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/articles/1056puerto_rico.html|title=National Geographic Traveler Article: Puerto Rico|archive-date=2 March 2010|website=www.nationalgeographic.com}}

{{Main|Puerto Rican art}}

File:José Campeche (Puerto Rican, 1751-1809). Doña María de los Dolores Gutiérrez del Mazo y Pérez, ca. 1796..jpg. Painting currently housed in the Brooklyn Museum.{{cite web|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/209953|title=Doña María de los Dolores Gutiérrez del Mazo y Pérez|author=José Campeche|year=1796|website=Brooklyn Museum website|location=New York}}]]

Puerto Rican art reflects many influences, much from its ethnically diverse background. A form of folk art, called santos evolved from the Catholic Church's use of sculptures to convert Indigenous Puerto Ricans to Christianity. Santos depict figures of saints and other religious icons and are made from native wood, clay, and stone. After shaping simple, they are often finished by painting them in vivid colors. Santos vary in size, with the smallest examples around eight inches tall and the largest about twenty inches tall. Traditionally, santos were seen as messengers between the earth and Heaven. As such, they occupied a special place on household altars, where people prayed to them, asked for help, or tried to summon their protection.

Also popular, caretas or vejigantes are masks worn during carnivals. Similar masks signifying evil spirits were used in both Spain and Africa, though for different purposes. The Spanish used their masks to frighten lapsed Christians into returning to the church, while tribal Africans used them as protection from the evil spirits they represented. True to their historic origins, Puerto Rican caretas always bear at least several horns and fangs. While usually constructed of papier-mâché, coconut shells and fine metal screening are sometimes used as well. Red and black were the typical colors for caretas but their palette has expanded to include a wide variety of bright hues and patterns.

{{Main|Puerto Rican literature}}

File:Retrato de EMdeHostos por Francisco Oller.jpg]]

Puerto Rican literature evolved from the art of oral story telling to its present-day status. Written works by the native islanders of Puerto Rico were prohibited and repressed by the Spanish colonial government. Only those who were commissioned by the Spanish Crown to document the chronological history of the island were allowed to write. Diego de Torres Vargas was allowed to circumvent this strict prohibition and in 1647 wrote {{lang|es|Descripción de la Ciudad e Isla de Puerto Rico}} ("Description of the Island and City of Puerto Rico"). This historical book was the first to make a detailed geographic description of the island.{{cite web |url=http://newdeal.feri.org/pr/pr03.htm |title=Puerto Rico in the Great Depression |publisher=Newdeal.feri.org |access-date=18 April 2014}}

Some of Puerto Rico's earliest writers were influenced by the teachings of Rafael Cordero. Among these was Manuel A. Alonso, the first Puerto Rican writer of notable importance. In 1849 he published {{lang|es|El Gíbaro}}, a collection of verses whose main themes were the poor Puerto Rican country farmer. Eugenio María de Hostos wrote {{lang|es|La peregrinación de Bayoán}} in 1863, which used Bartolomé de las Casas as a springboard to reflect on Caribbean identity. After this first novel, Hostos abandoned fiction in favor of the essay which he saw as offering greater possibilities for inspiring social change.

In the late 19th century, with the arrival of the first printing press and the founding of the Royal Academy of Belles Letters, Puerto Rican literature began to flourish. The first writers to express their political views in regard to Spanish colonial rule of the island were journalists. Alejandro Tapia y Rivera, also known as the Father of Puerto Rican Literature, ushered in a new age of historiography with the publication of The Historical Library of Puerto Rico. Cayetano Coll y Toste was another Puerto Rican historian and writer. His work The Indo-Antillano Vocabulary is valuable in understanding the way the Taínos lived. Manuel Zeno Gandía in 1894 wrote {{lang|es|La Charca}} and talked about the harsh life in the remote and mountainous coffee regions in Puerto Rico. Antonio S. Pedreira, described in his work {{lang|es|Insularismo}} the cultural survival of the Puerto Rican identity after the American invasion.

With the Puerto Rican diaspora of the 1940s, Puerto Rican literature was greatly influenced by a phenomenon known as the Nuyorican Movement. Puerto Rican literature continued to flourish, and many Puerto Ricans have since distinguished themselves as authors, journalists, poets, novelists, playwrights, essayists, and screenwriters. The influence of Puerto Rican literature has transcended the boundaries of the island to the U.S. and the rest of the world. Over the past fifty years, significant writers include Ed Vega (Omaha Bigelow), Miguel Piñero (Short Eyes), Piri Thomas (Down These Mean Streets), Giannina Braschi (Yo-Yo Boing!), Rosario Ferrer (Eccentric Neighborhoods). and Esmeralda Santiago (When I was Puerto Rican).{{Cite book|last=Acosta Cruz|first=María|title=Dream Nation: Puerto Rican Culture and the Fictions of Independence|year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4619-5820-8|location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |publisher=Rutgers University Press |oclc=871424250}}{{Cite book|last=Zimmerman|first=Marc|title=Defending Their Own in the Cold: The Cultural Turns of U.S. Puerto Ricans|date=2020|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-08558-1|oclc=1142708953}}

{{Main|Media in Puerto Rico}}

The mass media in Puerto Rico includes local radio stations, television stations and newspapers, the majority of which are conducted in Spanish. There are also three stations of the U.S. Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. Newspapers with daily distribution are {{lang|es|El Nuevo Día}}, {{lang|es|El Vocero}} and {{lang|es|Índice}}, {{lang|es|Metro}}, and {{lang|es|Primera Hora}}. {{lang|es|El Vocero}} is distributed free of charge, as are {{lang|es|Índice}} and {{lang|es|Metro}}.

Newspapers distributed on a weekly or regional basis include {{lang|es|Claridad}}, {{lang|es|La Perla del Sur}}, {{lang|es|La Opinión}}, {{lang|es|Visión}}, and {{lang|es|La Estrella del Norte}}, among others. Several television channels provide local content in the island. These include WIPR-TV, {{lang|es|Telemundo}}, Univision affiliate WLII-DT ({{lang|es|Teleonce}}), WAPA-TV, and WKAQ-TV.

{{Main|Music of Puerto Rico}}

File:Bomba-1.ogv choreography.]]

The music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources. The most conspicuous musical sources have been Spain and West Africa, although many aspects of Puerto Rican music reflect origins elsewhere in Europe and the Caribbean and, over the last century, from the U.S. Puerto Rican music culture today comprises a wide and rich variety of genres, ranging from Indigenous genres like bomba, plena, aguinaldo, danza and the popular salsa to recent hybrids like reggaeton.

Puerto Rico has some national instruments, like the cuatro (Spanish for "four"). The cuatro is a local instrument that was made by the "Jibaro" or people from the mountains. Originally, the Cuatro consisted of four steel strings, hence its name, but currently the Cuatro consists of five double steel strings. It is easily confused with a guitar, even by locals. When held upright, from right to left, the strings are G, D, A, E, B.

In the realm of classical music, the island hosts two main orchestras, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Puerto Rico. The Casals Festival takes place annually in San Juan, drawing in classical musicians from around the world.

With respect to opera, the legendary Puerto Rican tenor Antonio Paoli was so celebrated, that he performed private recitals for Pope Pius X and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. In 1907, Paoli was the first operatic artist in world history to record an entire opera – when he participated in a performance of Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo in Milan, Italy.

Musical artists with great international success include Menudo, Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny and others.

{{Main|Puerto Rico on stamps}}

File:San Juan 1971 U.S. stamp.1.jpg of El Morro]]

Puerto Rico has been commemorated on four U.S. postal stamps. Insular Territories were commemorated in 1937, the third stamp honored Puerto Rico featuring 'La Fortaleza', the Spanish Governor's Palace.[http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&img=&mode=1&pg=1&tid=2033211 3-cent Puerto Rico Issue] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317194928/http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&img=&mode=1&pg=1&tid=2033211 |date=17 March 2014 }} Arago: people, postage & the post. Viewed 4 March 2014. The first free election for governor of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico was honored on 27 April 1949, at San Juan, Puerto Rico. 'Inauguration' on the 3-cent stamp refers to the election of Luis Muñoz Marín, the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico.Rod, Steven J. [http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&img=&mode=1&pg=1&tid=2028823 Puerto Rico Election Issue] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728043302/https://postalmuseum.si.edu/search-the-collection |date=28 July 2020 }} Arago: people, postage & the post. Viewed 4 March 2014. San Juan, Puerto Rico was commemorated with an 8-cent stamp on its 450th anniversary issued 12 September 1971, featuring a sentry box from Castillo San Felipe del Morro.[http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2038993 San Juan Issue] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317211951/http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2038993 |date=17 March 2014 }} Arago: people, postage & the post. Viewed 17 March 2014. In the "Flags of our nation series" 2008–2012, of the fifty-five, five territorial flags were featured. Forever stamps included the Puerto Rico Flag illustrated by a bird issued 2011."Flags of our nation series 2008–2012, Arago: people, postage & the post", National Postal Museum. Viewed 7 March 2014.

{{Main|Puerto Rican cuisine}}

File:Arrozcongandules2.jpg, widely regarded as "Puerto Rico's national dish"{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/york-daily-record-reports-notebook/158359504/ |first=Joseph |last=Maldono |title=Reporter's Notebook |work=York Daily Record |location=York, Pennsylvania |date=15 December 2003 |page=35 |access-date=3 November 2024}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/el-nuevo-herald-el-gusto-boricua-en-el-s/158359723/ |title=El Gusto Boricua en el Sur de la Florida |first=Yined |last=Ramírez-Hendrix |work=El Nuevo Herald |location=Miami, Florida |date=27 July 2011 |page=D12 |access-date=3 November 2024}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/el-nuevo-herald-sofrito-imprescindible/158359877/ |title=Sofrito, imprescindible para latinos |first=Viviana |last=Caraballo |work=El Nuevo Herald |location=Miami, Florida |date=6 January 1999 |page=19 |access-date=3 November 2024}}]]

Puerto Rican cuisine has its roots in the cooking traditions and practices of Europe (Spain), Africa and the Native Taínos. Basic ingredients include grains and legumes, herbs and spices, starchy tropical tubers, vegetables, meat and poultry, seafood and shellfish, and fruits. Main dishes include mofongo, arroz con gandules, pasteles, and pig roast (or lechón). Beverages include maví and piña colada. Desserts include flan, arroz con dulce (sweet rice pudding), piraguas, brazo gitanos, tembleque, polvorones, and dulce de leche.

{{Main|Sports in Puerto Rico}}

File:DR_vs_PR._World_Baseball_Classic.jpg between Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, 20 March 2013]]

Baseball was one of the first sports to gain widespread popularity in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Baseball League serves as the only active professional league, operating as a winter league. No Major League Baseball franchise or affiliate plays in Puerto Rico; however, San Juan hosted the Montreal Expos for several series in 2003 and 2004 before they moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals.

The Puerto Rico national baseball team has participated in the World Cup of Baseball winning one gold (1951), four silver and four bronze medals, the Caribbean Series (winning fourteen times) and the World Baseball Classic. In {{Nowrap|March 2006}}, San Juan's Hiram Bithorn Stadium hosted the opening round as well as the second round of the newly formed World Baseball Classic. Puerto Rican baseball players include Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda and Roberto Alomar, enshrined in 1973, 1999, and 2011 respectively.{{cite web |url=http://baseballhall.org/hof/clemente-roberto |title=Baseball Hall of Fame entry for Roberto Clemente |publisher=Baseballhall.org |access-date=30 October 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://baseballhall.org/hof/cepeda-orlando |title=Baseball Hall of Fame entry for Orlando Cepeda |publisher=Baseballhall.org |access-date=30 October 2011}}{{cite news |url=http://baseballhall.org/hof/alomar-roberto |title=Baseball Hall of Fame entry for Roberto Alomar |newspaper=Baseball Hall of Fame |publisher=Baseballhall.org |access-date=30 October 2011}}

Boxing, basketball, and volleyball are considered popular sports as well. Wilfredo Gómez and McWilliams Arroyo have won their respective divisions at the World Amateur Boxing Championships. Other medalists include José Pedraza, who holds a silver medal, and three boxers who finished in third place, José Luis Vellón, Nelson Dieppa and McJoe Arroyo. In the professional circuit, Puerto Rico has the third-most boxing world champions and it is the global leader in champions per capita. These include Miguel Cotto, Félix Trinidad, Wilfred Benítez and Gómez among others.

The Puerto Rico national basketball team joined the International Basketball Federation in 1957. Since then, it has won more than 30 medals in international competitions, including gold in three FIBA Americas Championships and the 1994 Goodwill Games 8 August 2004, became a landmark date for the team when it became the first team to defeat the United States in an Olympic tournament since the integration of National Basketball Association players. Winning the inaugural game with scores of 92–73 as part of the 2004 Summer Olympics organized in Athens, Greece.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics_2004/basketball/3567344.stm |title=Olympics 2004 – Basketball – Shock defeat for USA |work=BBC News |date=15 August 2004 |access-date=30 October 2011}} Baloncesto Superior Nacional acts as the top-level professional basketball league in Puerto Rico and has experienced success since its beginning in 1930.

File:Orangestarsultra.jpg fans at a soccer game|alt=|left]]

Puerto Rico is also a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. In 2008, the archipelago's first unified league, the Puerto Rico Soccer League, was established.

Other sports include professional wrestling and road running. The World Wrestling Council and International Wrestling Association are the largest wrestling promotions in the main island. The World's Best 10K, held annually in San Juan, has been ranked among the 20 most competitive races globally. The "Puerto Rico All Stars" team, which has won twelve world championships in unicycle basketball.{{cite news |url=http://www.primerahora.com/boricuasluciosenunarueda-boricuazo-especial-nota-243205.html |title=Boricuas lucíos en una rueda |author=Jesús Omar Rivera |newspaper=Primera Hora |language=es |date=29 October 2008 |access-date=16 October 2010 |archive-date=14 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514223446/http://www.primerahora.com/boricuasluciosenunarueda-boricuazo-especial-nota-243205.html |url-status=dead }}

Organized Streetball has gathered some exposition, with teams like "Puerto Rico Street Ball" competing against established organizations including the Capitanes de Arecibo and AND1's Mixtape Tour Team. Six years after the first visit, AND1 returned as part of their renamed Live Tour, losing to the Puerto Rico Streetballers.{{cite web |url=http://www.boricuasballers.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2542:and1-and-pr-streetball-put-on-a-show |title=AND1 & PR Streetball Put on a Show! |author=Raul Sosa |publisher=BoricuaBallers.com |date=27 July 2012 |access-date=31 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016022449/http://www.boricuasballers.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2542%3Aand1-and-pr-streetball-put-on-a-show |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=dead }} Consequently, practitioners of this style have earned participation in international teams, including Orlando "El Gato" Meléndez, who became the first Puerto Rican born athlete to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/espn/hispanicheritage2008/news/story?id=3641638 |title=Melendez adds a new country to Globetrotters' resume |author=Joshua Hammann |publisher=ESPN |date=14 October 2008 |access-date=7 November 2008}}

Puerto Rico has representation in all international competitions including the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Pan American Games, the Caribbean World Series, and the Central American and Caribbean Games. Puerto Rico hosted the Pan Am Games in 1979 (officially in San Juan), and The Central American and Caribbean Games were hosted in 1993 in Ponce and in 2010 in Mayagüez.

Puerto Rican athletes have won ten medals in Olympic competition (two gold, two silver, six bronze), the first one in 1948 by boxer Juan Evangelista Venegas. Monica Puig won the first gold medal for Puerto Rico in the Olympic Games by winning the Women's Tennis singles title in Rio 2016.{{cite web |url=https://www.rio2016.com/en/news/who-is-monica-puig-the-puerto-rico-puerto-rican-tennis-player-at-rio-2016-olympic-games |title=Who is Mónica Puig the Puerto Rico player who won the gold medal in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games women's tennis final? |date=14 August 2016 |website=Rio2016.com |publisher=Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games |access-date=14 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826095633/https://www.rio2016.com/en/news/who-is-monica-puig-the-puerto-rico-puerto-rican-tennis-player-at-rio-2016-olympic-games |archive-date=26 August 2016 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/sports/tennis/monica-puig-puerto-rico-olympics-gold-medalist.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826101224/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/sports/tennis/monica-puig-puerto-rico-olympics-gold-medalist.html |archive-date=26 August 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Monica Puig, Puerto Rico's Favorite Daughter (and Only Gold Medalist) |first=David |last=Waldstein |date=25 August 2016 |website=The New York Times}}

• Index of Puerto Rico-related articles
• Outline of Puerto Rico
• Stateside Puerto Ricans, living on mainland
• List of islands of Puerto Rico

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{official website|https://www.pr.gov/}} {{in lang|es}}
• {{official website|http://www.businessinpuertorico.com/|Investment}}
• {{official website|http://www.seepuertorico.com/|Tourism}}
• [http://www.ddec.pr.gov/ Department of Economic Development and Commerce]
• {{gnis|1848460}}
• {{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/3593469.stm |title=Puerto Rico |publisher=BBC |work=Country profiles}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/482879/Puerto-Rico |title=Puerto Rico |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=24 August 2023 }}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.tendenciaspr.com/ |title=Datos y Estadisticas de Puerto Rico y sus Municipios |trans-title=Data and Statistics about Puerto Rico and Its Municipalities |language=es |website=Tendencias PR |access-date=1 May 2010 |archive-date=9 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209040354/http://www.tendenciaspr.com/ |url-status=dead }}

• {{wikiatlas|Puerto Rico}}
• {{osmrelation|4422604}}

• {{cite web |url=http://www.gao.gov/archive/1998/og98005.pdf |title=Application of the U.S. Constitution in U.S. Insular Areas |date=November 1997 |access-date=28 March 2008 |archive-date=29 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229153648/https://www.gao.gov/archive/1998/og98005.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/states/puertorico/index.html |title=Puerto Rico: Resource Guide |publisher=LOC}}

• {{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/gacol3160.doc.htm |archive-date= 26 December 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071226070939/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/gacol3160.doc.htm |title=Special Committee on Decolonization Calls Upon United States to Expedite Puerto Rico's Self-Determination Process |publisher=U.N. General Assembly |work=Special Committee on Decolonization |series=Press release |date=14 June 2007}}

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