Puerto Rico

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico") is a self-governing unincorporated organized territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic.

Puerto Rico, the smallest of the Greater Antilles, includes the main island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller islands and keys, which include Mona, Vieques, and Culebra. Only Culebra and Vieques are inhabited.

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
(Estado Libre Asociado
de Puerto Rico)
Flag of Puerto Rico	Puerto Rican Coat of Arms
Flag of Puerto Rico	Coat of Arms
Motto: Joannes Est Nomen Eius (John is his name)
Official languages	Spanish, English
Capital	San Juan
Largest City	San Juan
Governor	Sila M. Calderón (PPD)
Area - Total - % water	(Not ranked) 9,104 km² 1.6%
Population - Total (2002) - Density	(Not ranked) 3,957,988 434/km²
Independence	None
Currency	U.S. Dollar (USD)
Time zone	UTC -4/ (No DST)
National Anthem	La Borinqueña
Internet TLD	.pr
Calling code	+1 787 and +1 939

History

Main article: History of Puerto Rico

When Europeans first arrived, the island of Puerto Rico was inhabited by a group of Arawak Indians known as Taínos. The Tainos called the island "Borikén". The first European contact was made by Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage to the Antilles, on November 19, 1493. Originally named San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, the island ultimately took the name of Puerto Rico (Rich Port); while the name San Juan is now delegated to its capital and largest city. Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon became the island's first governor of Puerto Rico to take office, while Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was the first appointed governor, though he never arrived at the island.

The island was soon colonized and became briefly an important stronghold and port for the Spanish empire in the Caribbean. However, colonial emphasis during the late 17th-18th centuries, focused on the more prosperous mainland territories, leaving the island impoverished of settlers. Concerned about threats from its European enemies, over the centuries various forts and walls were built to protect the port of San Juan. Fortresses such as La Fortaleza, Fort San Felipe del Morro and Fort San Cristobal would be built. The French, Dutch and English made attempts to capture Puerto Rico, but failed to wrest long-term occupancy of the island.

In 1809, while Napoleon occupied the majority of the Spanish peninsula, a populist assembly based in Cadiz recognized Puerto Rico as an overseas province of Spain with the right to send representatives to the Spanish Court. The representative Ramon Power died soon after arriving in Spain; and constitutional reforms were reversed when autocratic monarchy was restored. Nineteenth century reforms augmented the population and economy, and expanded the local character of the island. After the rapid gains of independence by the South and Central American states in the first part of the century, Puerto Rico and Cuba became the sole New World remnants of the large Spanish empire.

Toward the end of the 19th century, poverty and political estrangement with Spain led to an small but significant uprising in 1868 known as "El Grito de Lares". The Puerto Rican goal was to achieve personal freedom, the abolition of slavery, and full self-government. The uprising was easily and quickly crushed. Leaders of this independence movement included Ramón Emeterio Betances, considered a "father" of the Puerto Rican nation, and other political figures such as Segundo Ruiz Belvis. Later other political stornghold was an autonomist movement originated by Ramon Baldorioty de Castro, and towards the end of the century, byLuis Muñoz Rivera. In 1897, Muñoz Rivera and others persuaded a liberal Spanish government to agree to an Charters of Autonomy for Cuba and Puerto Rico. The following year Puerto Rico's first, but short-lived autonomous government was organized. The charter maintained a governor appointed by Spain, with partially elected parliamentary structure.

On July 25, 1898 at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was invaded by the United States of America with a landing at Guánica. Spain was forced to cede Puerto Rico to the United States under the Treaty of Paris (1898). The twentieth century began under the military regime of the United States with officials including the governor appointed by the President of the United States. In 1917, the Jones Act approved by the United States Congress granted Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship. Natural disasters and the Great Depression impoverished the island. Some political leaders demanded change, some like Pedro Albizu Campos would lead a nationalist movement in favor of independence. Others, including Muñoz Rivera and Celso Barbosa favored closer integration into the US.

Change in the nature of governance and the island came about during the latter years of the Roosevelt-Truman administration, as a form of compromise spearheaded under by Luis Muñoz Marin and others, and culminated with the appointment by President Harry S. Truman in 1946 of the first Puerto Rican-born governor, Jesus T. Piñero. In 1948, the United States granted the right to democratically elect the governor of Puerto Rico. Luis Muñoz Marín would become the first elected governor of Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico adopted its own constitution in 1952 adopting a commonwealth relation with the United States. During the 1950s Puerto Rico experienced a rapid industrialization, with such projects as Operation Bootstrap which aimed to industrialize Puerto Rico's economy from agriculture-based into manufacturing-based.

Present-day Puerto Rico has become a major tourist destination and a leading pharmaceutical and manufacturing center. Still, Puerto Rico continues to struggle to define its political status. A number of plebiscites have been held over the last decades to decide whether Puerto Rico should request independence, enhanced commonwealth status, or statehood. Narrow victories by commonwealth supporters over statehood advocates have not yielded substantial changes in the relationship between the island and United States.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Puerto Rico

The archipelago of Puerto Rico consists of the main island of Puerto Rico and various smaller islands, including Vieques, Culebra, Mona, Desecheo and Caja de Muertos. The mainland measures some 170 km by 60 km (105 miles by 35 miles). It has a population of approximately 4 million. The capital city, San Juan, is located on the main island's north coast and has a population of approximately 430,000.

Geology

Puerto Rico is composed of Cretaceous to Eocene volcanic and plutonic rocks, which are overlain by younger Oligocene to recent carbonates and other sedimentary rocks. Most of the caverns and karst topography on the island occurs in the northern Oligocene to recent carbonates. The oldest rocks are approximately 190 million years old (Jurassic) and are located at Sierra Bermeja in the southwest part of the island. These rocks 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 America plates. This means that it is currently being deformed by the tectonic stresses caused by the interaction of these plates. 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.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Puerto Rico

The island government is based on the U.S. Republic system composed of 3 branches: the Executive branch headed by the Governor, the Legislative branch consisting of a bicameral Legislative Assembly (a Senate and a House of Representatives) and the Judicial branch. The legal system is based on the Spanish civil code. The governor as well as legislators are elected by popular vote every four years. Members of the Judicial branch are appointed by the governor and approved by the legislature. The island is divided into 78 municipalities, which elect a mayor and municipal assembly.

The current Constitution of Puerto Rico was approved through refendum in 1952, and ratified by the US Congress, which maintains ultimate sovereignty over Puerto Rico. Under the 1952 constitution, Puerto Rico is a territorial commonwealth of the United States and is permitted a high degree of autonomy. Still, Puerto Rico does not have voting representation in the U.S. Congress; neither does it have any delegates to the U.S. Electoral College. A non-voting Resident Commissioner is elected by the residents of Puerto Rico to the U.S. Congress. Residents of the island do not pay federal income tax on income from island sources.

Puerto Rico's three major political parties are ideologically based depending on their preferred U.S.-Puerto Rico political status. The Popular Democratic Party seeks to maintain or improve the current Commonwealth status, the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico seeks to fully incorporate Puerto Rico as a U.S. state, and the Puerto Rican Independence Party seeks national independence.

Three Puerto Rico status referenda have been held since the ratification of the 1952 constitution. In all, most Puerto Ricans have elected to maintain the current commonwealth status. Although, in the most recent referendum held in 1998 the commonwealth status prevailed by a slight margin over statehood. Supporters for independence constitute less than 5% of the vote in referenda.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Puerto Rico

The economic conditions in Puerto Rico have improved dramatically since the Great Depression due to external investment in capital-intensive industry such as petrochemicals pharmaceuticals and technology. Once the beneficiary of special tax treatment from the US government, today local industries must compete with those in more economically depressed parts of the world where wages are not subject to US minimum wage legislation. In recent years, some U.S. and foreign owned factories have moved to lower wage countries in Latin America and Asia. Puerto Rico is subject to U.S. trade laws and restrictions.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Puerto Rico

It has been stated that everyone in Puerto Rico originated somewhere else as they are a people comprised primarily of Taino, African and European origin.

Recent genetic research revealed a surprising picture about Puerto Rican heritage. On the one hand, Mitochondrial DNA analysis, showed that at least 61% of Puerto Ricans have American Indian maternal heritage. This means that if you could trace back in time from daughter to mother, you would eventually reach women who lived in Puerto Rico in Pre-Columbian time. The rest divides between 27% with female African ancestors and 12% with female European ancestors. On the other hand, Y-chromosome analysis, which corresponds to paternal heritage, showed over 70% of Puerto Ricans could trace male European ancestry, 20% could trace male African ancestry, but less than 10% could trace male Native American ancestors.

This high frequency of matrilineal Native American and patrilineal European markers, moderate frequency of matrilineal and patrilineal African markers, and low frequency of patrilineal Native American and matrilineal European markers, correlate perfectly to the colonial history of the island. European settlers were almost exclusively men seeking fortune. These men fathered children with native women, and some African women. Native and African men on the other hand, had smaller input into the genetic pool since native men were wiped out from introduced European diseases and indentured native labour and the percentage of the population comprising imported African slaves in the impoverished island of Puerto Rico was small. Men of European origin also likely had greater status in socio-racial hierarchy increasing the competiveness to sire children.

Although pure Taíno numbers had dwindled due to disease, warfare and forced intermarriages, many, if not most, of the marriages between Spanish men and Amerindian women were actually quite amicable. The "Limpeza de Sangre" documents on the island (used until the 1870's) sheds light on this reality. This document was used by Mestizos and Amerindians to move up in their society ---becoming "whiter" was the only way they could achieve that status. Later, waves of Corsican, French and Portuguese Europeans, along with a large amount of immigrants from the Canary Islands, arrived in Puerto Rico. Many other persons from Spain's other colonies migrated into the island as well. The mestizos (Taino mixed with European) were fully absorbed into the general population. Other settlers have included Irish, Scottish, Germans and many others who were granted lands from Spain during the Cedula de Gracias of 1815. This decree allowed "white" European Catholics from anywhere in Europe to settle in the island with a certain amount of free land and enslaved persons.

A noticeable Asian minority also settled in Puerto Rico. Most Asians are Chinese, who were brought as railroad workers. Another group of Chinese also settled Puerto Rico, most of them are victims of World War II, Mao Zedong's republic, and return of Hong Kong and Macau to mainland Chinese control. They came from other places in mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. Some Chinese from other Latin American countries also came to Puerto Rico. Other Asians also settled in Puerto Rico — mostly ethnic Japanese and Koreans.

According to the 2000 census, 95% of the population consider themselves of Puerto Rican descent (regardless of race or skin color), making Puerto Rico one of the most culturally unified societies in the world. Since its colonization, Puerto Rico has become the permanent home of over 100,000 legal residents who immigrated from not only Spain, but from other Latino Nations as well. Cubans, Dominicans, Colombians, Panamanians, Curacaoans, and Santomeños can also be accounted for as settlers. The variety of surnames which exist in Puerto Rico suggests widespread immigration to the island from many regions.

The Roman Catholic religion is dominant and the religion followed by most Puerto Ricans, although there the prescence of Protestant, Mormon, and Jehovah's Witnesses sects have increased while under American sovereignity. Taino religious practices have to a degree been rediscovered/reinvented by a few handfuls of advocates. Kongo belief, known as Mayombe or Palo, has been around since the days of the arrival of enslaved Africans. Although, Santeria (stronger and more organized in Cuba) is practiced by some, Mayombe, a fusion of African-Catholic beliefs, find some adherence among mainly individuals in the Northeast coast of the island.

Puerto Rico currently has its own Olympic team, as well as international representation in many other sporting events including the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics, the Pan-American Games, the Central American Games, and the Caribbean World Series. Boxing, basketball, and baseball are popular.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Puerto Rico

Municipalities

Main article: List of municipalities in Puerto Rico As a commonwealth associated with the United States, Puerto Rico does not have any first-order administrative divisions as defined by the U.S. Government, but there are 78 municipalities (as well as Isla Mona, a non-municipality that belongs to Puerto Rico) at the second order. Each municipality has a mayor and a municipal legislature elected for a 4 year term.

External links

Official sites

Others

References

Central Intelligence Agency (USA). The World Factbook (2003). United States of America.
United Nations. General Assembly Resolutions 8th Session (1953). United States of America.

Notes

[1] See http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/8/ares8.htm

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