Language: Spanish, English
Currency: US dollar
Calling Code: 1-787 and 1-939
Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, is an unincorporated US territory with self-government status.
It is located in America, northeast of the Caribbean, east of the
island of Hispaniola and west of the Virgin Islands. Its west coast
is located approximately 1536 kilometers (960 miles) southeast of
the coast of Florida, the closest to the continental United States.
The archipelago of Puerto Rico includes the main island of Puerto
Rico (8 896 km²) - the smallest of the Greater Antilles - and a
number of smaller cays and islands; of which the largest are Vieques
(135 km²), Mona (55 km²) and Culebra (30 km²). It is an island with
a tropical climate and, despite its size, it has a diversity of
ecosystems: dry and rainy forests, karstic zone, mountainous areas,
coastal and marine ecosystems, lakes, etc.
Puerto Rico was an
overseas territory of the Spanish crown from the arrival of
Christopher Columbus in 1493 until the enactment of the Autonomous
Charter of Puerto Rico in 1897, being a Spanish province from 1897
until the Spanish-American War of 1898. Four centuries of Spanish
administration They gave rise to a Hispano-American culture, with
the Spanish language and Catholicism being its most distinguishable
elements.The Spaniards built numerous forts, churches and other
buildings for public, commercial and residential use, as well as
ports, lighthouses5 and roads. For more than three centuries, Puerto
Rico was communicated with the Iberian Peninsula by means of convoys
of the Indian Fleet that united Cádiz and San Juan once a year.
Puerto Ricans have been US citizens since 1917, when the United
States Congress passed the Jones Act. Although its relationship with
the United States is similar to that of a state of the Union and it
was allowed to draft a Constitution for the handling of internal
affairs, it is subject to the full powers of the US Congress through
the Territorial Clause. that the power to exercise its sovereignty
lies with the Congress of the United States and the existing powers
on the island, as they do not enjoy protection in the US
Constitution, are revocable. Puerto Ricans can not vote in the
presidential elections of the United States, unless they have
official residence in any of the fifty states or in the District of
Columbia. If so, they can move to their place of residence and vote
in person or use the distance ballot procedure (ballot absentee). On
the other hand, despite the Puerto Rican legal status, some
international personalities have referred to Puerto Rich as a
nation.
Carribean National Forest also known as El Yunque is a protected bio reserve that surrounds an area of lush tropical rainforest.
Rio Camuy Cave Park is beautiful natural underground system in Puerto Rico surrounded by a beautiful wild jungle.
Colorful capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan, is one of the most attractive cities in the western hemisphere.
Castillo de San Felipe del Morro or Fortaleza San Felipe del Morro is part of the defenses of the Old San Juan.
Puerto Rico consists of the main island of Puerto Rico
and many smaller islands and reefs, including Mona (Isla de Mona),
Vieques (Vieques), Culebra (Culebra), Desecheo (Desecheo) and Caja de
Muertos (Caja de Muertos). Of the last five islands, only Vieques and
Culebra are inhabited throughout the year. Mona Island is inhabited only
by employees of the Puerto Rican Ministry of National Resources.
The main island is 170 km long and 60 km wide, mostly mountainous with
large coastal areas in the northern and southern parts. The main
mountain range of the island is called "La Cordillera Central", which
means "central ridge", it is also home to the highest point of Puerto
Rico - Mount Cerro de Punta, an altitude of 1338 m above sea level.
Another important peak, Mount El Yunque, 1065 m above sea level, is
located in the Caribbean National Forest in the municipality of Sierra
de Luquillo. The capital of the island, the city of San Juan, is located
on the northern coast of the island.
Puerto Rico is located in
the tropics. The climate of Puerto Rico is maritime tropical, mild, with
slight seasonal temperature fluctuations: in the southern part the
temperature is slightly higher than in the north, and in the central
mountainous it is always cooler than on the rest of the island. The
average annual temperature is + 28 °C. The Atlantic hurricane season
lasts between June and November.
Puerto Rico has 17 lakes, none
of which are natural, and more than fifty rivers, most of which flow
from the main mountain range. In the northern part of the island, the
rivers are wider and more full-flowing than in the southern.
Rio
Camai National Cave Park is a karst region in northwestern Puerto Rico.
This area is famous for its completely surreal limestone formations and
is rightfully considered one of the best places in the world for caving.
More than 200 caves have been discovered in this region, some of them
have a colossal internal volume, and the Kamai River is one of the
largest underground rivers in the world.
Geology
The
geological structure of the island consists of volcanic and igneous
rocks formed between the Cretaceous period and the Eocene epoch of the
Paleogene period, topped with later rocks of the Oligocene epoch, and
even later with carbonates and sedimentary rocks. The age of the oldest
rocks is estimated at approximately 190 million years (Jurassic period)
and are located in the municipality of Sierra Bermeja in the
southwestern part of the island. These rocks may represent parts of the
oceanic crust and appear to have come from the Pacific Ocean.
Puerto Rico is located on the border of the Caribbean and North American
plates and is currently being tectonically deformed by the action of
these plates. Such a transformation can cause earthquakes and tsunamis,
which, together with landslides, pose the greatest geological hazard on
the island and the northeast of the Caribbean. The last major earthquake
in Puerto Rico occurred on October 11, 1918, estimated at approximately
7.5 on the Richter scale; The epicenter of the earthquake was at the
bottom of the sea off the coast of the municipality of Aguadilla
(Aguadilla), which caused a tsunami.
The Puerto Rico Trench,
located 120 km north of the island, is the largest and deepest oceanic
trench in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located on the border of the
Caribbean and North American plates. The length of the trench is 1754
km, the width is about 97 km, the maximum depth is 8380 m.
As of 1998, Puerto Rico's flora included 239
endemic plant species, 16 endemic bird species, and 39 endemic
amphibian and reptile species. The Rico frogs living here, known as
"coquis" (Eleutherdactylus coqui), are a favorite symbol of the
island, although their presence can only be felt by sound and few
tourists can see them - the largest "coqui" is no more than 5
centimeters in length . These small creatures manage to make such
loud “ko-kii” sounds (hence their name) that even a small colony of
“croaking” frogs can deafen a person. The locals even have their own
term for this - "hellish chant". The Caribbean National Forest
National Park (about 11,000 hectares), also known as El Yunque (El
Yunque), is the main habitat of these frogs. El Yunque is one of the
few tropical rainforests in the Caribbean, and Puerto Rico in
particular, that has survived to this day. Forest landscapes are
decorated with picturesque waterfalls. Here is the real kingdom of
ferns. The forests of El Yunque are home to endangered species such
as the coqui and the Puerto Rican Amazon. About 225 species of
trees, 100 species of ferns and about 50 species of orchids grow
here. Due to the huge diversity of flora, El Yunque has received the
status of a biosphere reserve under the auspices of the UN.
A
few hours drive from El Yunque is another biosphere reserve -
Guanica, which belongs to tropical dry forests. This reserve also
contains species that are found only in Puerto Rico. Here you can
find up to 750 plant species, seven of which are on the verge of
extinction.
Of great value to Puerto Rico are mangrove
forests and coral reefs almost unaffected by poachers.
Pre-Columbian period
The history of Puerto Rico in
the period preceding the arrival of Christopher Columbus on this land
has not been fully studied. All that is known about him comes from
archeological excavations and oral histories of early Spanish travelers.
The first book to comprehensively describe the history of Puerto Rico
was written by Fray Iñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786, 293 years after the
Spaniards first visited the island.
The first settlers of Puerto
Rico were the Ortoiroids, representatives of an ancient culture.
Excavations carried out in 1990 found the remains of a primitive man,
whose age dates back to approximately 2000 BC (4000 years ago). The
remains were called the Puerto Ferro man. Between 120 and 400 AD,
representatives of the Igneri Indian tribe from the Orinoco River region
in South America arrived on the island. Between the 7th and 11th
centuries, the island began to be inhabited by the Arawakan tribes, who
founded the Taino culture, and by about 1000 AD, this culture began to
dominate the island, until the arrival of Columbus in 1493.
Period of Spanish colonization
When Christopher Columbus landed on
the island on November 19, 1493, during his second voyage to the shores
of America, the island was inhabited by Indians who called themselves
the Taino. The Taíno called the island "Borikén" (Spanish: Borikén),
which was later interpreted by the Spaniards as "Borinken" (Spanish:
Borinquen). Columbus named the island San Juan de Bautista, after Saint
John the Baptist. The colonization of the island by the Spaniards began
in 1508, when Juan Ponce de León (Spanish: Juan Ponce de León) arrived
from Santo Domingo (Haiti) with a detachment of conquistadors, who
founded the city of Caparra and became the first governor of the island.
Caparra, the administrative center of the island, was moved in 1521 to a
new, more convenient place - a small island off the coast, receiving a
new name - Puerto Rico ("rich port", translated from Spanish).
A
geographical curiosity is connected with the name of the state and its
capital. Due to confusion with the names of the island and the capital,
from the 1520s, sailors and merchants began to call the rest of the
(main) island - "Isla de Puerto Rico" ("Puerto Rico Island"). The name
San Juan passed to the capital of the territory and to the small island
of "Old San Juan" - the former settlement of "Puerto Rico", now part of
the capital. These names are fixed on European maps.
The island
was soon colonized by the Spanish. African slaves were brought into the
island as free labor to replace the rapidly declining Indian population
forced to work for the Spanish crown. Within a few decades, the Taino
almost completely died out as a result of the diseases that the
Spaniards and Africans brought with them, as well as from the difficult
living conditions in which they found themselves. From about 30,000
Indians who lived on the island at the beginning of its colonization in
1508, by 1530 there were just over 1,000. The remnants of the Indian
population, which had lost its former culture, mixed with Spanish
settlers and African slaves (there were practically no women among the
Spanish conquistadors therefore, for the first decades, they married
women among the indigenous population, which was the common practice of
the conquistadors), see Puerto Ricans. San Juan quickly became an
important stronghold and port of the Spanish Empire in the Caribbean.
However, in the XVII-XVIII centuries, the more prosperous territories of
the mainland, which had deposits of silver and gold, turned out to be
the center of colonization, the Spaniards lost commercial interest in
the development of the island. The neighboring islands of Cuba and
Hispaniola were also better suited for sugarcane plantations, so the
main flow of African slaves went there, and therefore Puerto Rico
remained sparsely populated until the end of the 18th century. The
population was mainly located in coastal settlements. To protect against
the threat from the European enemies of Spain, various forts and
fortresses gradually arose on the coast of the island, such as La
Fortaleza (Spanish: La Fortaleza), Fuerte San Filipe del Morro (Spanish:
Fuerte San Felipe del Morro) and San Cristobal (Spanish: La Fortaleza).
Fuerte San Cristobal). The French, Dutch and British repeatedly made
attempts to capture Puerto Rico, but were defeated in their attempts to
occupy the island for a long time.
In 1809, at a time when the troops of Napoleon I
occupied most of the Iberian Peninsula, and the First Spanish Revolution
was in full swing, an assembly of populists from the Spanish city of
Cadiz declared Puerto Rico an overseas province of Spain with the right
to represent at the Spanish court. The first representative of the
island in the Cadiz Cortes Ramon Power and Giralt (Spanish: Ramón Power
y Giralt) died shortly after arriving in Spain. With the adoption of the
Constitution of Cadiz in 1812, when the Spanish territories were divided
into provinces, Puerto Ricans were granted conditional citizenship.
On August 10, 1815, a royal decree was issued in Spain encouraging
Spaniards and other non-Spanish Europeans loyal to the Spanish crown and
the Roman Catholic Church to settle on the island, opening the way for
Puerto Rico to trade with other countries. This was the beginning of the
growth of the island's agrarian economy, with sugar, tobacco and coffee
becoming the main exports. The island began to be settled by immigrants
from Germany, Corsica, Ireland, France, Portugal and the Canary Islands,
fleeing severe economic upheavals in Europe and attracted by the
possibility of free entry to the island. However, these small
indulgences and rights were soon abolished. After the overthrow of
Napoleon I, an absolute monarchy returned to Spain, which abolished the
Cadiz constitution and returned the status of a colony to Puerto Rico, a
symbol of the unlimited power of the Spanish monarchy.
On June
25, 1835, the wife of the Spanish king Ferdinand VII, Maria Cristina,
being at that moment the regent of Spain (1833-1840), abolished the
slave trade in the Spanish colonies. In 1851, the governor of the
island, Juan de la Pezuela Cevallos (Spanish: Juan de la Pezuela
Cevallos), founded the Royal Academy of Fine Arts on the island, which
educated school teachers, developed teaching methods, and organized
literary competitions that contributed to the intellectual and literary
development of the island. In 1858, Samuel Morse installed the first
telegraph machine on the island in the city of Arroyo (Spanish: Arroyo).
Life in Puerto Rico in the second half of the 19th century took
place against the backdrop of a struggle for autonomy. The 1860 census
showed the island's population as 583,308. Of these, 300,406 (51.5%)
people were white, the rest belonged to other races. Of these, the vast
majority (83.7%) belonged to the poor. The agrarian development of the
island was hampered by the lack of roads, the primitiveness of tools,
and natural disasters such as hurricanes and drought. The economy also
suffered from the high tariffs and taxes imposed by the Spanish royalty.
On September 23, 1868, an independence uprising known as "El Grito de
Lares" broke out in the city of Lares (Spanish: Lares), which was
quickly put down. The leaders of this uprising, Ramón Emeterio Betances
(Spanish: Ramón Emeterio Betances) and Segundo Ruiz Belvis (Spanish:
Segundo Ruiz Belvis) are considered the fathers of the Puerto Rican
nation in modern Puerto Rico. Later, a political independence movement
arose under the leadership of Roman Baldorioti de Castro (Spanish: Román
Baldorioty de Castro), and at the end of the century, a movement under
the leadership of Luis Muñoz Rivera (Spanish: Luis Muñoz Rivera). In
1897, Munoz Rivera and his associates spoke to the liberal Spanish
government for autonomy for Cuba and Puerto Rico. The following year,
1898, an autonomous government was declared for a short period. The
charter of autonomy was accountable to the governor of the island,
appointed by Spain. The governor had the right to annul any decision of
the local authorities and participated in parliamentary elections.
period of American rule
On July 25, 1898, during the
Spanish-American War, American troops invaded Puerto Rico, landing in
the municipality of Guánica (Spanish: Guánica). As a result of the war,
Spain was forced to cede Puerto Rico, as well as Cuba, the Philippines,
and the island of Guam, under the 1898 Treaty of Paris. Puerto Rico
entered the 20th century under United States military rule, including a
governor appointed by the President of the United States. On April 12,
1900, the "Foraker Act" was adopted, which established that a bicameral
Congress was created on the island (the lower House of Representatives
was elected, and the upper - the Executive Council - was appointed
consisting of 6 Americans and 5 Puerto Ricans). Tariffs were also
abolished on trade in goods between the US and Puerto Rico and the
maximum private landholding was capped at 500 acres.
In 1917, under the Jones-Shafroth Act, Puerto Ricans
were granted US citizenship, and this status is still valid. Since World
War I, many Puerto Ricans have served in the US military. Natural
disasters and the period of the Great Depression worsened life on the
island. Some politicians, such as the leader of the Puerto Rican
Nationalist Party, Pedro Albizu Campos (Spanish: Pedro Albizu Campos),
advocated for the island's independence. Subsequently, he was arrested
twice and imprisoned for subversive activities against the American
administration on the island. The first democratically elected governor
of Puerto Rico, Luis Munoz Marin, also initially advocated the
independence of the territory, but, observing a serious economic
downturn, accompanied by an increase in crime and popular discontent,
chose the status of an associated territory as an intermediate stage on
the path to independence.
During the Roosevelt-Truman
administrations, the nature of the internal administration of the
territory changed as a result of a compromise between various political
forces. The change culminated in the appointment in 1946 by President
Harry Truman of the first Puerto Rican-born governor, Jesús T. Piñero
(Spanish: Jesús Toribio Piñero Jiménez). In 1947, the Americans gave
Puerto Rico the right to choose its own governor. In 1948, as a result
of democratic elections, Luis Munoz Marin was elected governor of Puerto
Rico, who remained in this post for 16 years, until 1964.
Since
that time, a large number of immigrants from the island have moved to
the US mainland in search of a better life. If in 1945 about 13,000
Puerto Ricans lived in New York City, by 1955 their number was already
about 700,000 people, and by the mid-1960s their number had exceeded one
million.
On November 1, 1950, Puerto Rican separatists Griselio
Torresola (Spanish: Griselio Torresola) and Oscar Collazo (Spanish:
Oscar Collazo) attempted to assassinate President Truman. The
consequence of this incident was Truman's agreement to hold a referendum
on the island about Puerto Rico's own constitution. As a result of the
approved constitution on July 25, 1952, Puerto Rico received its current
status of an associated territory. During the 1950s, the island saw a
rapid increase in industrial production, allowing the transformation of
Puerto Rico's economy from an agrarian to an industrialized one.
Since the 1960s, the independence movement of Puerto Rico has risen
again, which even turns into an armed struggle under the leadership of
Filiberto Ojeda Rios.
At present, Puerto Rico has become a major
tourist center with a developed pharmaceutical and industrial structure.
The political status is still not fully defined, in connection with
which various plebiscites have been held on the island in recent years.
In a referendum held simultaneously with the US presidential election on
November 6, 2012, 54% of Puerto Ricans were in favor of changing the
island's relationship with the US, almost 2/3 of those who took part in
the vote supported the idea of joining the US as the 51st state.
Massive protests in 2019, triggered by plans to drastically cut
social benefits, public salaries and pensions (the island is still
reeling from the devastating Hurricane Maria of 2017), led to the
resignation (Telegramgate) of the island's governor, Rossello, in July.
Territory status referendums
In 1967, 1993 and 1998, Puerto Rico
held three referendums on the status of the territory. In 2000, by order
of President Clinton, a special commission on the status of Puerto Rico
was created. In its report, the commission confirmed the current status
and recommended that the citizens of the island be granted the right to
self-determination. It was assumed that within the framework of this
procedure, Puerto Ricans would choose one of three options: securing
their current status, joining the United States as a state, or gaining
independence. A bill has been submitted to Congress for consideration.
In 2012, the fourth two-stage referendum on the status of Puerto
Rico was held. At the first stage, Puerto Ricans voted for a change in
political status - for which 54% of voters voted. On November 6, 2012,
at the second stage of the referendum, which determined the political
structure of the country, the transformation of Puerto Rico into the
51st state of the United States was supported by 65% of those who
voted, and 31% voted in favor of giving the archipelago the status of a
sovereign associated state in union with the United States. Only 4%
supported the complete independence of the territory. According to other
data, 61.15% of the population voted for joining the United States,
33.31% for giving the archipelago the status of a sovereign associated
state in alliance with the United States, and 5.53% voted for
independence.
In 2017, the fifth referendum on the political status
of Puerto Rico was held. The referendum proposed three options: joining
the United States as a state; a freely associated territory or an
unincorporated organized territory. More than 97% of Puerto Ricans were
in favor of joining the United States as the 51st state, 1.5% were in
favor of the status of a freely associated state, and 1.32% were in
favor of maintaining the current status of an unincorporated organized
territory. At the same time, the turnout in the referendum was extremely
low: the percentage of turnout was only 23%, in particular, it was
boycotted by the People's Democratic Party, which opposed the accession.
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosello said that the US should take into
account the results of the referendum and fulfill the will of the
citizens of Puerto Rico, but representatives of the US Republican Party
said they would not allow to change the status of Puerto Rico. In
addition, the US Department of Justice opposed this referendum.
On November 3, 2020, the sixth referendum on the political status of
Puerto Rico was held. The only question on the ballot was whether Puerto
Rico should be admitted to the United States. Over 52% of those who
voted were in favor of joining the United States as the 51st state. For
the final incorporation of Puerto Rico into the United States, a
decision by the US Congress is required.
In May 2022, members of
Congress backing competing bills on how to resolve Puerto Rico's
territorial status and its relationship with the US came together to
pass a new law that combines the two. The proposed legislation combines
elements of a statehood bill introduced by Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., and
Rep. Jennifer Gonzalez, a non-voting member of Congress of Puerto Rico
and a Republican, along with the Puerto Rico Representative
Self-Determination Act. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velasquez,
both New York Democrats. The bill states that a plebiscite must be held
on November 5, 2023 to determine the political status of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico is sometimes said to have a European
(Spanish) majority, a nearly extinct American Indian population, a mixed
race population, Africans, and a small Asian minority. Genetic analysis
has shown that, on average, the population of Puerto Rico is 61%
Caucasian, 27% African, and 11% Amerindian. A later analysis of
mitochondrial DNA taken from 800 people found Amerindian mtDNA in 61.1%
of residents, African mtDNA in 26.4% of residents, and White race mtDNA
in 12.5% of Puerto Ricans.
In the 1800s, hundreds of Corsicans,
French, Lebanese, Chinese, and Portuguese, along with large numbers of
immigrants from Spain, the Canary Islands, and other Spanish colonies in
South America, moved to Puerto Rico. After the Decree of 1815, which
allowed foreigners to settle in Puerto Rico, thousands of immigrants
from all over Europe arrived in the country. Massive immigration in the
19th century saw the island's population rise from 155,000 in 1800 to
almost a million at the end of the century. The population census,
conducted in accordance with the royal decree on September 30, 1858,
gives the following picture of the population of that time: white
population - 300,430 people, free people of color - 341,015, slaves -
41,736, undetermined - 127 people. Later, Puerto Rico became a permanent
home for more than 100 thousand immigrants who came not only from Spain,
but also from Latin America. People from Argentina, Cuba, the Dominican
Republic, Colombia and Venezuela entered the country. The wide variety
of surnames also gives an idea of the different origins.
Emigration from the country has also become an integral part of Puerto
Rico's recent history. After the end of World War II, due to poverty,
cheap airfare, and support from the island government, waves of
emigration moved to the United States, especially New York, Chicago,
Boston, Orlando, Tampa, and Hartford. Emigration continued even after
the economy improved and the birth rate fell. It continues at the
present time, and in combination with a drop in the birth rate, in the
next 20 years it can lead to a rapid aging of the population and its
decrease.
In 2000, a census was held in which Puerto Ricans were
asked what race they identified themselves as. 95.8% named only one
race: 80.5% identified themselves as white, 8% as black, and 0.4%
identified themselves as representatives of the Indian race.
The official languages in Puerto Rico are Spanish
and English. Spanish is the main language in public institutions,
although English is a compulsory subject from elementary school to the
second year of college. According to 2006 data, approximately 3,860,120
people use Spanish as their main language and 82,000 use English.
Although a relatively small proportion of the islanders consider English
their primary language, the majority of the population in the larger
cities speaks both languages, or at least understands English and uses
it in certain circumstances.
In 1991, the governor of the island,
Rafael Hernández Colón (Spanish: Rafael Hernández Colón), signed a law
making Spanish the sole official language of public institutions in
Puerto Rico. Although many politicians supported this decision,
supporters of joining the US as a state saw it as a threat to their
aspirations. The law was also welcomed by the people of Puerto Rico, as
a result of the 1991 receipt by the people of Puerto Rico of the
prestigious Prince of Asturias Prize (Spanish: Premio Principe de
Asturias) for literature, given annually for contributions to literature
in Spanish. In 1993, the new governor, Pedro Rosselló (Spanish: Pedro
Rosselló), signed another law, returning the status of the state to
English. This was seen by many as a step towards rapprochement with the
US.
The Roman Catholic Church has historically dominated
the island's religious communities, although with the transition to US
sovereignty, followers of various Protestant communities have emerged.
Protestantism was persecuted during the Spanish rule. For example, the
first non-Catholic Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity in Ponce only
rang its bells in 1898, with the landing of American troops on the
island. Protestants are represented by Pentecostals (including the
Assemblies of God movement), Baptists, Methodists, Adventists, and
others. Jehovah's Witnesses - 1.6% of the population in 2011 (0.7% -
publishers).
There is also a small Jewish community in and around
the city of San Juan representing all branches of Judaism. In 2007,
there were about 1,462 Muslims in Puerto Rico, which is about 0.2% of
the island's population. In total, there are eight mosques that are
located throughout the island, most Muslims live in Rio Piedras.
Thanks to a few supporters, Taíno religious practices were rediscovered.
Administrative division
Puerto Rico is divided into 78
municipalities, which, in turn, are divided into districts, and those
into sectors (Mona Island is part of the municipality of Mayagüez
(Spanish: Mayagüez)) Each municipality has its own mayor, who is elected
for a 4-year period. The first municipality (formerly known as "the
city"), San Juan, was formed in 1521. In the 16th century, two more
municipalities were formed, Coamo and San Germán, both in 1570. In the
17th century, three more municipalities appeared - Arecibo, 1614; Aguada
(Aguada), 1692 and Ponce (Ponce). In the 18th and 19th centuries, the
population of the island increased rapidly, leading to the creation of
30 municipalities in the 18th and 34 more in the 19th century. In the
20th century, only 6 municipalities were founded, the last of which was
Florida (Florida), formed in 1971.
In the early 1900s, Puerto Rico's economy was
predominantly agrarian, with sugar being its main commodity. In the late
1940s, several projects called "Operation Bootstrap" were launched, the
essence of which was to exempt taxes and build factories. As a result,
industrial production became the main industry of the island.
During the Great Depression, economic conditions in Puerto Rico improved
markedly due to outside investment in capital-intensive industries such
as petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.
Thanks to US tax breaks,
local industries are now able to compete with countries where wages are
far below US standards. In recent years, many American and foreign
manufacturers have moved to Latin America and Asia, where labor costs
are much lower. Puerto Rico follows US labor law and its restrictions.
Tourism is an important component of the Puerto Rican economy and
generates approximately $1.8 billion a year. In 1999, about 5 million
tourists visited the island, mostly from the United States. About a
third of them are cruise ship passengers. The number of hotel
registrations is constantly increasing (statistics since 1998), new
hotels and other tourism centers are being built, which indicates a good
state of the tourism industry.
The gross domestic product (GDP)
of the island in 2004 amounted to $17,700 per year per capita, which
shows a significant increase compared to 2002 ($14,412). However, if we
compare this value with the main territory of the United States, then
according to American statistics, the poorest state in the United States
Mississippi in 2002-04 had an income of $21,587 a year per capita, which
is much higher than Puerto Rican figures. Since 1952, the difference in
GDP per capita between Puerto Rico and the US mainland has remained
unchanged - the island is about a third of the US average.
On May
1, 2006, Puerto Rico's budget ran into a severe cash shortage, resulting
in the closure of the local Department of Education and 42 other
government agencies. All 1536 state. schools were closed and 95,762
people faced a partial shutdown of government for the first time in the
history of the island; On May 10, 2006, the budget crisis was resolved
with the conclusion of a new tax agreement, so that all civil servants
were able to return to work.
On August 3, 2015, the country was
supposed to pay $58 million to creditors, but only transferred $628,000
to them; thus the country allowed a technical default.
As of
August 2015, Puerto Rico's debt to creditors exceeded $72 billion. "The
future of debt causes concern among financial analysts and experts,"
Vedomosti newspaper writes, citing the New York Times. The governor of
the island nation, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, said that the country will
not be able to pay off all its debts.
On April 6, 2016, the
governor of Puerto Rico signed into law a bill that would allow him to
stop paying debts. On July 1, the government of Puerto Rico, despite a
bailout package, failed to pay $779 million in liabilities; thus, the
state defaulted.
As of 2015, health care in Puerto Rico has been hit
hard by physicians emigrating to the mainland and underfunded Medicare
and Medicaid programs, which serve 60% of the island's population.
Because Puerto Ricans do not pay income tax, they are not eligible for
health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
The
city of San Juan operates a triage system for inpatient and preventive
care. The municipal government sponsors regular health fairs in various
areas of the city with a focus on healthcare for the elderly and the
disabled.
In 2017, there were 69 hospitals in Puerto Rico. San
Juan has twenty hospitals, half of which are run by the government. The
largest hospital is the Centro Médico de Río Piedras (Rio Piedras
Medical Center). Founded in 1956, it is administered by the Puerto Rico
Department of Health's Office of Health Services and is a network of
eight hospitals.
The island has a well-developed network of roads,
including expressways, which are under the control of the local Roads
and Transportation Authority. The metropolitan area has a bus service,
as well as the San Juan Metro, called here "Tren Urbano". From 1880 to
1946, streetcars were also operated in San José.
The island's
main airport is Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (Spanish:
Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín). It is located in the
municipality of Carolina.
Puerto Rico's main seaport is San Juan
Port.
There is no rail transport on the island, with the
exception of the metro line introduced in 2004 in the center of the
capital.
Intercity bus service is very poorly developed. The only
connection between the capital and the west coast is provided by the
small bus company Linea Sultana. Locals prefer to move around the island
exclusively on their own transport.
The national symbols of Puerto Rico are the small bird
of the tanager family Spindalis portoricensis, the Thespesia flower
(Thespesia grandiflora) and the Cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra). The
unofficial national animal is the Tiny Frog (Eleutherdactylus coqui).
Puerto Rico has quite rich cultural traditions for a small island
nation, including such manifestations as folklore (dances, music, songs,
colorful religious processions and performances), painting, literature,
theater, amateur cinema, etc.
The first written mention of a
theatrical performance on the island dates back to 1644, when Bishop
Damian de Haro, appointed by the Vatican, mentioned in his letter that
upon arrival from Spain he was greeted by the locals, who prepared
dances, a bullfight and a theatrical comedy for him.
The first
printing press was brought to the island in 1806, which gave a powerful
impetus to local printing and literature.
Stars such as Ricky
Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Hector (Hector) Lavoe, Daddy Yankee, Don Omar,
Angel y Khriz, Wisin y Yandel, Rosalyn Sanchez, Marc Anthony, Luis
Fonsi, José Feliciano come from the island. It is generally accepted
that it was in Puerto Rico that the musical style of reggaeton was born.
Representatives of Puerto Rico constantly participate in the Miss
World and Miss Universe beauty pageants. Puerto Ricans won the Miss
Universe contest 5 times (1970, 1985, 1993, 2001, 2006), second only to
the United States in the number of nominations, and once won the Miss
World contest (1975). At this competition in 2005, the representative of
Puerto Rico took second place.
Education in Puerto Rico is four levels and includes
elementary, middle, high school and higher education. The school can be
either public or private. According to a 2000 survey, 60% of the
population have a high school diploma (similar to complete secondary
education in the CIS), and 18.3% have at least a bachelor's degree.
These figures are sixth from the bottom compared to the mainland US,
where the national average is 80.4% and 24.4%, respectively. As of 2002,
the literacy rate of the population on the island is 94.1%, and the
literacy rate of the female part of the population is slightly higher
than that of men.
Private schools are run by various
non-governmental organizations, mostly the Roman Catholic Church. The
two major public institutions of higher education are the University of
Puerto Rico (Spanish: Universidad de Puerto Rico) and the University of
San Juan (Spanish: Colegio Universitario de San Juan). Major private
universities on the island are Ana G. Mendes University (Spanish:
Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez), Interamerican University (Spanish:
Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico), Catholic University
(Spanish: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico) and Sacred
Heart University (Spanish: Universidad del Sagrado Corazón).
Approximately 100,000 students attend 1,500 schools every year. The
Ministry of Education, with 45,000 teachers, is the largest employer on
the island. The Federation of Teachers of Puerto Rico (Spanish:
Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico) is the largest union of all
full-time teachers in the public sector.
Puerto Rico has its own Olympic team at the Summer and
Winter Olympic Games, and also competes in other major international
competitions such as the Pan American Games, the Central American and
Caribbean Games, and the Caribbean Baseball Cup (English Caribbean World
Series). In the Olympics, Puerto Rican athletes have won 7 medals (1
gold, 1 silver and 5 bronze) since 1948 when Juan Evangelista Venegas
won the bronze medal in boxing.
Although boxing, basketball,
volleyball and baseball are known on the island, the latter has
traditionally been considered the most popular sport on the island,
until the number of basketball players increased in recent years. The
island has its own professional baseball league. Puerto Rico
participates in the World Baseball Championship and has 1 gold (1951), 4
silver and 4 bronze awards in its piggy bank.
August 8, 2004
marked a milestone for the Puerto Rican Olympic team when the national
basketball team defeated the United States at the Athens Olympics.