Puerto Rico
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PUERTO RICO,
officially Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Span. Estado
Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico), freely associated commonwealth
of the U.S. Composed of one large island and several small islands,
Puerto Rico is bordered on the N by the Atlantic Ocean, on the E
by the Virgin Passage (which separates it from the Virgin Islands),
on the S by the Caribbean Sea, and on the W by the Mona Passage
(which separates it from the Dominican Republic).
Puerto Rico became a U.S. commonwealth on July 25, 1952. It
was claimed by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and was subsequently
a Spanish possession before the U.S. gained control in 1898. Its
name, Spanish for “rich port,” was first applied
to its capital, known as San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico in the
16th century. Gradually, the city came to be called San Juan and
the island Puerto Rico. The name formerly was spelled Porto Rico.
Puerto Rico is sometimes called the Island of Enchantment.
| PUERTO RICO FACTS |
| BECAME A COMMONWEALTH: |
July 25, 1952 |
| CAPITAL: |
San Juan |
| MOTTO: |
Joannes est nomen ejus (John is thy name) |
| ANTHEM: |
“La Borinqueña” (music by Felix Astol y Artés) |
| POPULATION (2000): |
3,808,610 |
| AREA: |
9104 sq km (3515 sq mi), includes 145 sq km (56 sq mi) of inland water |
| COASTLINE: |
501 km (311 mi) |
| HIGHEST POINT: |
Cerro de Punta, 1338 m (4389 ft) |
| LOWEST POINT: |
Sea level |
| COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE: |
27 members of the senate; 53 members of the house of representatives |
| GOVERNOR: |
Anibal Acevedo-Vila (PDP)
Took office January 2005 |
Puerto Rico is one of the larger islands of the West Indies, and the commonwealth also includes several small islands, such as
Culebra, Mona, and Vieques. It is located about 1610 km (about 1000
mi) SE of Florida and is almost twice as far from the mainland of
North America as it is from South America. Puerto Rico is roughly rectangular
in shape; its greatest E to W distance is about 180 km (about 110
mi), and its extreme N to S distance is about 65 km (about 40 mi).
The highest point is 1338 m (4389 ft), atop Cerro de Punta. Puerto Rico
has an area of 9104 sq km (3515 sq mi), which makes it larger than
Delaware or Rhode Island. Its coastline measures some 501 km (some
311 mi).
Puerto Rico is mountainous. The Central Mountains form an
E to W backbone that extends almost the entire length of the island.
The average elevation of these mountains, which include the Cordillera
Central and the Sierra de Luquillo, is about 915 m (about 3000 ft).
Although the mountains and adjacent foothills cover most of Puerto
Rico, on the N side of the island lies a coastal plain up to about
19 km (about 12 mi) wide, and a narrower coastal plain up to about
13 km (about 8 mi) wide extends along the S coast. For most of its
length the mountain system is nearer the S coast than the N coast, and
the slopes are generally steeper on the S side. At the E end of
the island, however, the mountains curve toward the NE corner.
Puerto Rico has many relatively short rivers and streams.
Some of the rivers are dammed for hydroelectric power and thus have
small lakes along their courses. One such body of water is Lago
de Yauco, on the Yauco R. The longest river is the Grand de Arecibo,
which flows to the N coast. Other rivers include the Grand de Añasco,
Bayamón, Cibuco, Culebrinas, and La Plata. None of the rivers
is navigable by large vessels.
Puerto Rico is a mountainous, tropical island directly in
the path of the trade winds. These conditions account for its tropical
rain forest and tropical wet and dry climates. Except at night,
in the highest areas, the air is always warm. There is little difference
from season to season in the energy received from the sun, and the
length of the day remains fairly constant throughout the year. In
addition, the average temperature of the seawater surrounding the
island is about 27° C (about 81° F), with little
variation during the course of the year. Trade winds reaching Puerto
Rico from the E blow over this warm water and carry the warmth over
the land. This air also contains much water vapor, and as the air
is forced to rise over the mountains, it becomes cooler, and part
of its water vapor condenses and falls as rain. The mountain areas receive
more rain than almost any other part of the U.S. The SW coastal
area generally receives the least rain in Puerto Rico and has a
distinct dry season. The mean annual temperature at San Juan, in
the N, is about 26° C (about 79° F), and the city
receives some 1500 mm (some 59 in) of precipitation each year. The
recorded temperature in the commonwealth has ranged from 4.4° C
(40° F) in 1911 at Aibonito to 39.4° C (103° F)
in 1906 at San Lorenzo. Puerto Rico is sometimes struck by hurricanes
traveling from the E, especially from August to October.
| PUERTO RICO AVERAGE CLIMATE |
| |
San Juan |
Santa Isabel |
| Average January temperature range |
20.6° to 27.8° C |
69° to 82° F |
18.3° to 28.3° C |
65° to 83° F |
| Average July temperature range |
23.9° to 30.6° C |
75° to 87° F |
22.2° to 30.6° C |
72° to 87° F |
| Average annual temperature |
26.1° C |
79° F |
25° C |
77° F |
| Average annual precipitation |
1499 mm |
59 in |
838 mm |
33 in |
| Average number of days per year with appreciable precipitation |
200 |
99 |
| Mean number of clear days |
58 |
105 |
Several thousand varieties of tropical plants grow in Puerto Rico,
including the kapok tree with its thick trunk, the poinciana with
its brilliant reddish blossoms, the breadfruit, and the coconut
palm. A tropical rain forest in the NE section of the island has
tree ferns, orchids, and mahogany trees; part of this tropical area
is included in the Caribbean National Forest. In the dry SW corner
of Puerto Rico are cactus and bunch grass.
Puerto Rico has no large wild mammals. The mongoose was brought
in to control rats on sugarcane plantations. Iguanas and many small
lizards abound, and bats are present. The island has one animal
found almost nowhere else in the world—the coquí,
a small tree frog that produces a loud, clear “song” from
the branches of trees at night. Barracuda, kingfish, mullet, Spanish
mackerel, tuna, lobster, and oysters are among the marine life inhabiting
coastal waters.
Puerto Rico’s mineral deposits include limestone,
glass sand, clay, copper, cobalt, chromium, nickel, iron ore, and
peat. Great deposits of copper are in the central region near Adjuntas and Utuado.
According to the 2000 census, Puerto Rico had 3,808,610 inhabitants,
an increase of about 8.1% over 1990. The average population
density in 2000 was 418.3 persons per sq km (1083.5 per sq mi).
The great majority of Puerto Rico’s inhabitants are of
Hispanic or Latino background; Spanish and English are the joint
official languages of the commonwealth. The people are primarily
Roman Catholic. The largest communities in Puerto Rico included
San Juan, the capital; Bayamón; Carolina; Ponce; Caguas; and Guaynabo.
| POPULATION OF PUERTO RICO SINCE 1899 |
| Census |
Population |
% growth from previous census |
| 1899 |
953,243 |
– |
| 1910 |
1,118,012 |
17.3% |
| 1920 |
1,299,809 |
16.3% |
| 1930 |
1,543,913 |
18.8% |
| 1940 |
1,869,255 |
21.1% |
| 1950 |
2,210,703 |
18.3% |
| 1960 |
2,349,544 |
6.3% |
| 1980 |
3,196,520 |
17.9% |
| 1990 |
3,522,037 |
10.2% |
| 2000 |
3,808,610 |
8.1% |
| POPULATION OF TEN LARGEST COMMUNITIES IN PUERTO RICO |
| |
2000 Census |
1990 Census |
1980 Census |
| San Juan |
421,958 |
426,832 |
424,600 |
| Bayamón |
203,499 |
202,103 |
185,087 |
| Carolina |
168,164 |
162,404 |
147,835 |
| Ponce |
155,038 |
159,151 |
161,739 |
| Caguas |
88,680 |
92,429 |
87,214 |
| Guaynabo |
78,806 |
73,385 |
65,075 |
| Mayagüez |
78,647 |
83,010 |
82,968 |
| Trujillo Alto |
50,841 |
44,336 |
41,141 |
| Arecibo |
49,318 |
49,545 |
48,779 |
| Fajardo |
33,286 |
31,659 |
N/A |
In the 20th century Puerto Rico greatly improved its educational
institutions, and by the early 1980s nearly 90% of the
adult population was literate, compared with some 67% in
1940. The commonwealth also contains a number of notable cultural
institutions and historical sites.
Puerto Rico’s first free primary school was founded
in the early 19th century in San Juan. By the late 1980s public
schools annually enrolled about 486,200 elementary pupils and about
165,000 secondary students.
The University of Puerto Rico, founded in 1903, is the oldest
institution of higher education in Puerto Rico; it has branches
in Arecibo, Bayamón, Cayey, Humacao, Mayagüez,
Ponce, Río Piedras, and San Juan. In the late 1980s the
commonwealth had a total of 55 institutions of higher education
with a combined enrollment of about 153,000 students. Besides the
University of Puerto Rico, these institutions included Bayamón
Central University (1970), in Bayamón; Inter-American University
of Puerto Rico (1912), with major campuses in Hato Rey and San Germán;
Catholic University of Puerto Rico (1948), in Ponce; and the University
of the Sacred Heart (1935), in Santurce.
A number of Puerto Rico’s major cultural institutions
are in San Juan. These include the Museum of Puerto Rican Art, housing
works from pre-Columbian times to the present; the Museum of Military
and Naval History; and the Museum of Natural History. In addition,
metropolitan
San Juan is the home of the Symphony Orchestra of Puerto Rico, the
Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico (1959), and ballet and dance
companies. It also is the site of the annual Festival Casals, which
includes
programs of orchestra and chamber music. Of note, too, is the Ponce
Art Museum, which has exhibits of paintings by European and Puerto
Rican artists.
Puerto Rico’s Spanish heritage is preserved in many
sites in San Juan, especially in the insular part of the city known
as Old San Juan. Among these sites are El Morro and San Cristóbal
fortresses, both part of San Juan National Historic Site; La Fortaleza,
once a fortress and now the governor’s palace, its oldest
section completed in 1540; Old Santo Domingo Convent, built between
1523 and 1528; and Fort San Geronimo (completed late 18th cent.).
Puerto Rico’s mild climate and sandy beaches make
it a popular recreation area, especially for swimming, fishing,
boating, tennis, and golf. Both horse racing and cockfighting attract
many spectators. Baseball, basketball, and boxing also are popular
sports in Puerto Rico.
In the early 1990s Puerto Rico had 62 AM and 37 FM radiobroadcasting
stations and 34 television stations. The commonwealth’s
first radio station, WKAQ in San Juan, began operations in 1922.
WKAQ-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico’s initial television station,
first went on the air in 1954. La Gaceta de Puerto Rico,
the island’s first newspaper, was initially published in
1807. Influential newspapers in Puerto Rico now include the Spanish-language El
Nuevo Día and El Vocero de Puerto Rico and
the English-language San Juan Star, all published
in San Juan.
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is governed under a constitution
of 1952, as amended. An amendment to the constitution may be proposed
by the commonwealth’s legislature or by a constitutional
convention. To become effective an amendment must be approved by
a majority of persons voting on an issue in an election. Puerto
Ricans share most rights and obligations of other U.S. citizens;
residents of the commonwealth may not vote in U.S. presidential
elections, however, and, except for federal employees and members
of the U.S. armed forces, are not required to pay federal income
taxes.
The chief executive of Puerto Rico is a governor, who is popularly
elected to a 4-year term and who may be reelected any number of
times. The secretary of state succeeds the governor should the latter
resign, die, or be removed from office. The governor, with the consent
of the legislature, appoints the heads of the commonwealth’s
executive departments.
The bicameral Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly is made up
of a senate and a house of representatives. In the early 1990s the
senate had 27 members, and the house had 53 members. Legislators
are popularly elected to 4-year terms.
Puerto Rico’s highest tribunal, the supreme court,
is composed of a chief justice and six associate justices, who serve
until the age of 70. The major trial court of the commonwealth is the
superior court, made up of 108 judges who serve 12-year terms. Judges
of both courts are appointed by the governor, with the consent of
the senate.
Puerto Rico is not divided into counties but has 78 municipios (municipalities).
Each is governed by a popularly elected mayor and municipal assembly.
The mayor appoints a secretary-auditor and a treasurer.
Puerto Rico is represented by a nonvoting resident delegate
in the U.S. Congress. The delegate is elected by Puerto Ricans to
a 4-year term.
As the 1990s ended, Puerto Rico’s leading political
parties were the New Progressive (NP) party (founded 1967), which
advocates Puerto Rico’s becoming a U.S. state, and the
Popular Democratic (PD) party (1938), which advocates the maintenance
of commonwealth status. The small Puerto Rico Independence (PRI)
party (1946) favors independence for the island.
Economic development in Puerto Rico has historically lagged
well behind that of most mainland states of the U.S. Significant
improvements have been made in economic conditions since the late
1940s, however, after the development program known as Operation
Bootstrap was begun by the government. Growth has occurred largely
through stimulation of the manufacturing sector. Much development
has been concentrated in the San Juan metropolitan area. In the
early 1990s manufacturing was the leading economic activity, and government,
commerce, and tourism also were important sources of income.
| PUERTO RICO ECONOMY (early 1990s) |
| COMMONWEALTH BUDGET |
|
| General revenue |
$5.7 billion |
| General expenditure |
$5.6 billion |
| Accumulated debt |
$12.6 billion |
 |
| GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT |
$32.5 billion |
| MANUFACTURING |
39% |
| COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES |
38% |
| GOVERNMENT |
11% |
| AGRICULTURE |
1% |
| MERCHANDISE TRADE |
imports $15.0 billion
exports $17.5 billion |
| PERSONAL INCOME, PER CAPITA |
$5653 |
| ASSETS, INSURED, COMMERCIAL BANKS (15) |
$15.1 billion |
| LABOR FORCE (CIVILIAN NONFARM) |
1,063,000 |
|
| MAJOR INDUSTRIES |
% CONTRIBUTED TO GSP* |
| Employed in government |
20% |
| Employed in trade |
17% |
| Employed in manufacturing |
15% |
| Employed in agriculture |
3% |
* Gross Domestic Product = total value of goods and services produced in a year.
Sources: U.S. government publications |
| PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS OF PUERTO RICO (early 1990s) |
| |
Annual Payroll |
| MANUFACTURING |
$2.2 billion |
| Chemicals and allied products |
$555 million |
| Food and kindred products |
$287 million |
| Electronic equipment |
$285 million |
| Apparel and textile mill products |
$273 million |
| Instruments and related products |
$142 million |
| Industrial machinery and equipment |
$121 million |
| Rubber and plastics products |
$101 million |
| Stone, clay, and glass products |
$56 million |
| Leather and leather products |
$55 million |
| Fabricated metal products |
$54 million |
| Printing and publishing |
$51 million |
Puerto Rico has two substantially different
agricultural systems:
one of very small farms mainly producing subsistence commodities, and
another of much larger farms principally producing goods for
export. Nearly half the commonwealth’s approximately 20,000
farms encompass less than 4 ha (10 acres) each. Only about 1700
farms exceed 40 ha (100 acres) in size, but they account for the
dominant
share of the annual value of agricultural products sold. Coffee
is the most valuable crop, followed by vegetables, sugarcane, bananas,
pineapples, and rice. Dairy products, poultry, and beef cattle and
calves are also important sources of income.
Much of Puerto Rico’s forest cover had been cut by
about 1900, and despite concerted efforts after 1935 to replant
trees, the forestry industry remains small. Commercial fishing plays
a relatively minor role in Puerto Rico’s economy. Tuna
species caught include yellowfin, skipjack, and bluefin. Small-scale
freshwater fish farming is a growing economic activity; fish raised
include bass, bluegill, and catfish.
The value of the minerals extracted in Puerto Rico exceeds $160
million annually. Almost all of Puerto Rico’s mineral production
consists of construction materials, notably cement, sand, gravel, and stone. Other minerals are clay, graphite, lime, and salt.
Manufacturing activity in Puerto Rico has been
encouraged
by government incentives such as tax exemptions, loans, and research
assistance. The island has benefited from importing capital,
technology, and entrepreneurship from the conterminous U.S. Apparel
making is
Puerto Rico’s leading manufacturing industry in terms of
employment, followed by the production of electronic goods, processed
foods, and chemicals. The modern apparel industry evolved from a
small-scale labor-intensive needlework industry of the 1940s, and
most apparel plants are branches of mainland U.S. firms. San Juan and
Mayagüez are the leading centers for making clothing.
Other major manufactures include pharmaceuticals, industrial machinery,
printed materials, rubber and plastics, metal items, precision
instruments,
timepieces, footwear, and alcoholic beverages. Many federal tax
incentives for investment in Puerto Rico were reduced or eliminated
by the U.S. Congress in the mid-1990s.
The warm year-round climate in Puerto Rico and its abundant
sunshine and coastal beaches attract about 3.5 million tourists
each year; spending by visitors exceeds $1.4 billion annually.
Their primary destination is the San Juan area, where numerous luxury
hotels are located.
San Juan dominates the transportation system of Puerto Rico.
It is the leading port and also has the busiest airport, Puerto
Rico International Airport. Transportation facilities in the rest
of the island are generally much poorer than on the mainland of
the U.S. Altogether, Puerto Rico is served by about 19,340 km (about
12,020 mi) of roads, the great majority of which are paved. The
island’s limited railroad trackage is used to haul sugarcane,
especially in the Ponce area of the S.
Puerto Rico’s installed electricity generating capacity
is about 4.2 million kw, and yearly production in the mid-1980s
was approximately 12.3 billion kwh. Approximately 98% of
the commonwealth’s electricity was generated in thermal
plants, most of which burned refined petroleum. Most of the rest
was produced in hydroelectric installations.
Christopher Columbus reached the island and claimed it for
Spain on Nov. 19, 1493. He named it San Juan Bautista. It became
known as Puerto Rico after 1521, when the city of San Juan had been
founded and given the island’s original name.
Puerto Rico was conquered for Spain in 1509 by Juan Ponce
de León, who became the first governor. The island was
originally peopled by the Borinqueno Indians, an agricultural people
who were enslaved and largely exterminated as the result of harsh
treatment. As the Indians were decimated, they were replaced by
black African slaves who worked the plantations and sugar mills.
Privateers and pirates harassed the island’s residents
during the early colonial years. The Spanish constructed strong
fortifications and in 1595 defeated the English navigators Sir Francis
Drake and Sir John Hawkins when they attempted to capture Puerto
Rico; Hawkins was mortally wounded. Raids, however, continued for
a long time. San Juan was burned during a Dutch attack in 1625, and the English sacked Arecibo in 1702.
Puerto Rico was opened to foreign trade in 1804, and in 1808
it was accorded representation in the Spanish Parliament. Short-lived
uprisings against Spanish rule occurred a few times during the 19th
century (the most serious uprising, known as El Grito de Lares,
took place in 1868), but all were quickly suppressed. Slavery was
abolished in 1873. The island was granted autonomy in 1897.
As a result of the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was ceded
to the U.S. by the Treaty of Paris, Dec. 10, 1898. In 1900 the U.S.
Congress established a civil government on the island. U.S. citizenship
was granted to Puerto Ricans in 1917, and the U.S. instituted measures
designed to solve various economic and social problems of the overpopulated island.
From 1940 to 1948 a hydroelectric-power expansion program was instituted
to attract U.S. industry and to provide more employment for Puerto
Ricans. Irrigation projects were also initiated. During World War II
the island became a key U.S. military base. Naval bases were constructed
in San Juan harbor and on Culebra.
Under the leadership of Luis Muñoz Marín,
head of the Popular Democratic party, a development program known
as Operation Bootstrap was launched in 1942, resulting in greatly
increased manufacturing and a large rise in the general living standard.
In 1948, Muñoz became the first elected governor of the
island.
On June 4, 1951, Puerto Rican voters approved in a referendum
a U.S. law that granted them the right to draft their own constitution.
The constituent assembly began its deliberations in the following
September. In March 1952 the electorate approved the new constitution, and on July 25 Gov. Muñoz proclaimed the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico. The commonwealth held its first general election under
the new statute on November 4; Muñoz and the Popular Democratic
party received an overwhelming majority. The Nationalist party,
which advocated independence, did not participate.
The attainment of commonwealth status did not halt agitation
for total independence. Proindependence sentiment, which had led
to an attempt on the life of U.S. President Harry S. Truman in 1950,
again erupted in 1954, when four nationalists fired shots into the
House of Representatives, wounding five members. The reelection
of Gov. Muñoz in 1956 and 1960 was regarded as a popular
endorsement not only of his economic and social policies but also
of commonwealth status. Roberto Sánchez Vilella (1913–97),
a Muñoz protégé, was elected to the governorship
in 1964. In a July 1967 referendum, Puerto Ricans once more voted to
remain a commonwealth.
In the election of 1968, Luis Alberto Ferré (1904–2003), candidate
of the New Progressive party, was elected governor. He favored statehood
for Puerto Rico, but not until the island’s economy was
stronger. In 1972 the Popular Democratic party returned to power
with Rafael Hernández Colón (1936– ),
a supporter of commonwealth status, as governor. The electorate
shifted again in 1976, as the New Progressives regained control
of the legislature and Carlos Romero Barceló (1932– ) was
elected governor.
Romero Barceló, a firm advocate of statehood, chose
to play down the issue after the 1980 elections, in which he retained
his office by only a narrow margin, and the Popular Democratic party
scored impressive victories in legislative and mayoral contests.
Meanwhile, extreme nationalist groups such as the U.S.-based Armed
Forces of National Liberation (Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación
Nacional, or FALN) used terrorist tactics in the late 1970s and
early ’80s to press the cause of independence. In 1984
Hernández Colón won the governorship as his Popular
Democratic party established commanding majorities in both legislative
houses; he was reelected in 1988. The legislature voted in 1991
to make Spanish the sole official language of Puerto Rico.
After losing a symbolic plebiscite on the commonwealth
question
in December 1991, Hernández Colón decided not
to run for another term. In 1992 Pedro Rosselló
(1944– )
of the New Progressive party was elected governor on a pro-statehood
platform. He pressed the issue in a 1993 plebiscite, but 48 percent
of the voters elected to petition the U.S. Congress to retain the
commonwealth, with enhanced status; 46 percent chose statehood; and 4
percent voted for independence. Pledging to seek a new plebiscite,
Rosselló won reelection in 1996. In a 1998 referendum,
statehood again failed to command a majority of Puerto Ricans: about
50 percent voted for “none of the above,” the
choice favored by the pro-commonwealth forces, compared with 46.5
percent for statehood, 2.5 percent for independence, and 1 percent
for other options.
In September 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton granted conditional
clemency to 14 convicted Faln members, who agreed to renounce the
use of violence; the action, which had been urged on humanitarian grounds
by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, among others, provoked heated
controversy on the mainland. Protests mounted in the late 1990s
over the U.S. Navy’s long-standing use of parts of Vieques
Island for live ammunition training; a settlement involving $40
million in U.S. compensation for the islanders was announced in
early 2000. The agreement was opposed by Sila María Calderón
(1942–; ), the gubernatorial candidate of the Popular
Democratic party, who won the November 2000 election and took office
two months later as Puerto Rico’s first female governor. Continued strong opposition to use of Vieques for U.S. military exercises led the U.S. to announce in June 2001 that it would end bombing exercises in May 2003. As of the official end of the U.S. military’s use of the island for training exercises on May 1, 2003, the island was turned over to the Department of the Interior for cleanup; according to the U.S. Navy $2.3 million had been set aside for the site for the remainder of the year.