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Portal:Puerto Rico

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The Puerto Rico Portal

Location of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico (Spanish for 'rich port'; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a self-governing Caribbean archipelago and island organized as an unincorporated territory of the United States under the designation of commonwealth. Located about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic in the Greater Antilles and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Lesser Antilles, it consists of the eponymous main island and numerous smaller islands, including Vieques, Culebra, and Mona. With approximately 3.2 million residents, it is divided into 78 municipalities, of which the most populous is the capital municipality of San Juan, followed by those within the San Juan metropolitan area. Spanish and English are the official languages of the government, though Spanish predominates.

Puerto Rico was settled by a succession of Amerindian peoples beginning 2,000 to 4,000 years ago; these included the Ortoiroid, Saladoid, and Taíno. It was claimed by Spain following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493 and subsequently colonized by Juan Ponce de León in 1508. Puerto Rico was contested by other European powers into the 18th century but remained a Spanish possession for the next 400 years. The decline of the indigenous population, followed by an influx of Spanish settlers, primarily from the Canary Islands and Andalusia, and African slaves vastly changed the cultural and demographic landscape of the archipelago. Within the Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico played a secondary but strategically significant role compared to larger and wealthier colonies like Peru and New Spain. By the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, centered around a fusion of European, African, and indigenous elements. In 1898, following the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was acquired by the United States.

Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917 and can move freely between the archipelago and the mainland. However, residents of Puerto Rico are disenfranchised from federal elections and generally do not pay federal income tax. In common with four other territories, Puerto Rico sends a nonvoting representative to the U.S. Congress, called a Resident Commissioner, and participates in presidential primaries; as it is not a state, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the U.S. Congress, which oversees it under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. Congress approved a territorial constitution in 1952, allowing residents of the archipelago to elect a governor in addition to a senate and house of representatives. The political status of Puerto Rico is an ongoing debate.

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

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Photo credit: National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center

The Arecibo Observatory is the world's largest single-aperture telescope ever constructed. The telescope's dish has a diameter of over 1,000 ft (305m) and covers over 18 acres. The receiver array is suspended 450 ft (150m) above the dish, supported by three concrete towers each measuring between 265 ft (80m) and 365 ft (110m).

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Cañas River in Ponce, Puerto Rico, crossing through Hacienda Buena Vista

Cañas River, also known as Río Cañas (English: Canas River), is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is also known as Río Magueyes in the area where it flows through Barrio Magueyes, also in the municipality of Ponce. This river is one of the 14 rivers in the municipality. (Full article...)

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The flag being removed from a building
  • ... that after the Spanish–American War and up to 1904, Puerto Ricans were considered as "aliens" in the United States?[2]
  • ... that the public display of the Puerto Rican Flag was once considered a felony (from 1892 to 1954) and that anyone who did so could end up in jail?
  • ... that in 1906, Theodore Roosevelt, the first US President to travel outside the United States, made a stop in Puerto Rico (thus, becoming the first president to visit the island) and that he stayed overnight in Ponce?[3]
  • ... that in 1914, the Revenue Cutter USS Algonquin (1897), which was stationed in the Caribbean, set sail with a crew of fifteen Hispanic-Americans (a fourth of the cutter's complement) to San Juan, Puerto Rico to assist the Puerto Ricans battling fires that threatened to destroy parts of that city? In 1915, the City of San Juan, Puerto Rico, paid tribute to the crew of the cutter Algonquin and presented them with an Official Resolution of Thanks.[4]
  • ... that Fort San Felipe del Morro was designated a World Heritage Site (a list that includes sites such as the Taj Mahal) by the United Nations in 1983, and a National Historical site by the United States?
  • ... that Puerto Rico has never had a civil war?
  • ... that even though Puerto Rico has never been an independent country, there is a Puerto Rican citizenship? Puerto Rican citizenship was first legislated by the U.S. Congress in Article 7 of the Foraker Act of 1900 and later recognized by the Puerto Rican constitution.[5][6]
  • ... that on October 29, 1950, the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party revolted against US rule in Puerto Rico and that uprisings were held in various cities and towns in the island in what is known as the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party revolts of the 1950s?[7]
  • ... that in 1948, Luis Muñoz Marín presided over the Puerto Rican legislature which was controlled by the PPD and that they approved the infamous "Ley de la Mordaza" known as Puerto Rico's Gag Law and that it became law with the signature of the United States-appointed governor Jesús T. Piñero? Did you also know that the law made it a crime to own or display a Puerto Rican flag, to sing a patriotic tune, to speak or write of independence, or to meet with anyone, or hold any assembly, with regard to the political status of Puerto Rico, violating the First Amendment of the US Constitution?[8]
  • ... that according to the United States Supreme Court, Puerto Rico belongs to but is not part of the United States?[9]

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Sources

  1. ^ "American album certifications – Ivy Queen". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  2. ^ Journal of American Ethnic History[dead link]
  3. ^ Roosevelt travels to Panama
  4. ^ "Hispanic-Americans & The U.S. Coast Guard". U.S. Department of Homeland Security: United States Coast Guard. Retrieved Sept. 21, 2010
  5. ^ (Spanish) Ley Orgánica Foraker del 12 de Abril de 1900. LexJuris
  6. ^ Race, Racism and the Law
  7. ^ Law Library Microform Consortium[dead link]
  8. ^ La Gobernación de Jesús T. Piñero y la Guerra Fría
  9. ^ https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6444&context=faculty_scholarship
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