History and Outline of Puerto Rico

The flag of the U.S. state of Puerto Rico.
The coat of arms of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

The seal of Puerto Rico.

Nickname(s): "La Isla del Encanto" (Spanish) ('The Island of Enchantment')

Motto: "Joannes est nomen ejus" (Latin) ('John is his name')

Anthem: "La Borinqueña" (Spanish) ("The Song of Borinquen")

Abbreviation: PR

Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, literally, the 'Free Associated State of Puerto Rico'), is a U.S. state in the Caribbean region of the United States. It is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Mona, Culebra, and Vieques. It has roughly 7.475 million residents, and the state capital and most populous city is San Juan. Spanish and English are the de-facto main languages of the executive branch of government, though Spanish is the predominant language spoken in the state.

Puerto Rico is Spanish for "rich port". Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquén, a derivation of Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name, which is popularly said to mean "Land of the Valiant Lord". The terms boricua and borincano are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage, and derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively. The island is also popularly known in Spanish as La Isla del Encanto, meaning "the island of enchantment."

Puerto Rico was settled by a succession of peoples beginning 2,000 to 4,000 years ago; these included the Ortoiroid, Saladoid, and Taíno. It was then colonized by Spain following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493. Puerto Rico was contested by other European powers, but remained a Spanish possession for the next four centuries. An influx of African slaves and settlers primarily from the Canary Islands and Andalusia vastly changed the cultural and demographic landscape of the island. Within the Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico played a secondary but strategic role compared to wealthier colonies like Peru and New Spain. By the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, centered around a fusion of indigenous, African, and European elements. In 1898, following the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was acquired by the United States, and would be governed as an un-incorporated territory until a 1998 referendum, where Puerto Rico residents voted for statehood. On February 17, 1999, Puerto Rico was admitted into the Union as the 54th state, and the current constitution of the state of Puerto Rico was ratified by the Puerto Rico state legislature on September 5, 2000. Puerto Ricans, since 1917, have been U.S. citizens

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).

Pedro R. Pierluisi (PNP/D) is the current governor of Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats José Luis Dalmau and Marially González Huertas as of 2021. Puerto Rico refers to its first-order administrative subdivisions as municipalities or municipios, which are considered county-equivalents. There are 78 municipalities in the state of Puerto Rico, and the second-order administrative level are barrios, which are divided into sectors.

Puerto Rico is world-renowned for its culture, architecture, arts, cuisine, literature and music, and the most popular sports in the state are baseball, soccer, boxing, basketball, volleyball, wrestling, road running and streetball. 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 Sistema Universitario Ana G. Mendez which operates the Universidad del Turabo, Metropolitan University and Universidad del Este. Other private universities include the multi-campus Inter American University, the Pontifical Catholic University, Universidad Politécnica de Puerto Rico, and the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. Puerto Rico has four schools of Medicine and three ABA-approved Law Schools.

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