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125-805: Inspired by Puerto Rico 's status with the United States, as well as the sovereignty-association of the Parti Québécois with Canada has been cited as a reference. A debate on the plan was rejected by the Spanish Parliament and subsequently replaced by Ibarretxe's proposed Basque referendum, 2008 . The plan was announced by the former lehendakari (the President of the Basque region) Juan Jose Ibarretxe in September 2001 in

250-412: A U.S. state or Washington, D.C. can vote in presidential elections. Puerto Rico has eight senatorial districts , 40 representative districts , and 78 municipalities ; there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the U.S. government. Municipalities are subdivided into wards or barrios , and those into sectors. Each municipality has a mayor and a municipal legislature elected for

375-472: A UNEP report, the Caribbean coral reefs might get extinct in next 20 years due to population explosion along the coast lines, overfishing, the pollution of coastal areas and global warming. Some Caribbean islands have terrain that Europeans found suitable for cultivation for agriculture. Tobacco was an important early crop during the colonial era, but was eventually overtaken by sugarcane production as

500-503: 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

625-655: 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

750-436: A binding referendum. The bill does not decide PR's fate, it simply prepares the United States to respond the outcome of referendum. In the 5 November 2024 elections, there was three choices in a non-binding referendum which included Statehood, Independence, or Independence with Free Association on the ballot; Statehood won with 59%. In addition, on November 5, 2024, Jennifer Gonzalez won the office of Governor of Puerto Rico in

875-578: A devastating impact on the population, so starting in 1503, slaves from Africa were imported to the colony. While early slave traders were Portuguese and Spanish, known as the First Atlantic System, by the 17th century the trade became dominated by British, French, and Dutch merchants. This was known as the Second Atlantic System. 5 million African slaves would be taken to the Caribbean, and around half would be traded to

1000-541: A few still are, colonies of European nations; a few are overseas or dependent territories : The British West Indies were united by the United Kingdom into a West Indies Federation between 1958 and 1962. The independent countries formerly part of the B.W.I. still have a joint cricket team that competes in Test matches , One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals . The West Indian cricket team includes

1125-467: A four-year term. The municipality of San Juan is the oldest, founded in 1521; the next earliest settlements are San Germán in 1570, Coamo in 1579, Arecibo in 1614, Aguada in 1692 and Ponce in 1692. Increased settlement in the 18th century saw 30 more communities established, following 34 in the 19th century. Six were founded in the 20th century, the most recent being Florida in 1971. Since 1952, Puerto Rico has had three main political parties:

1250-767: A long history of service in the U.S. Armed Forces and, since 1917, they have been included in the U.S. compulsory draft when it has been in effect. Though the Commonwealth government has its own tax laws, residents of Puerto Rico, contrary to a popular misconception, do pay U.S. federal taxes: customs taxes (which are subsequently returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury), import/export taxes, federal commodity taxes, social security taxes, etc. Residents pay federal payroll taxes , such as Social Security and Medicare , as well as Commonwealth of Puerto Rico income taxes. All federal employees, those who do business with

1375-553: A plenary of the Basque parliament but the actual contents of the proposal were not made public until July 2003, when leaked to the press. It was officially presented on October 25, 2003. The Basque Parliament' plenary approved it on 30 December 2004 by 39 votes with 35 against. The plan would have affected the Spanish Constitution , so the proposal was sent to the Spanish Parliament in January 2005 for debate ahead of

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1500-648: A significant degree of federal control involved in its establishment and operations. In particular, the authority to establish the control board derives from the federal government's constitutional power to "make all needful rules and regulations" regarding U.S. territories; The president would appoint all seven voting members of the board; and the board would have broad sovereign powers to effectively overrule decisions by Puerto Rico's legislature, governor, and other public authorities. There would be another referendum in 2017 in Puerto Rico, in favor of statehood although it

1625-502: A territory of the United States, exercising substantial internal self-government, but subordinated to the U.S. Constitution in areas such as foreign affairs or defense. For this reason, it is not considered to be a full-fledged associated state under either international or U.S. domestic law. The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people before 430 BC. At the time of Christopher Columbus 's arrival in

1750-1064: A vote. The two main Spanish parties, the Socialists and the Conservatives , attempted to block the Basque parliament's decision by challenging it in the Constitutional Court , which approved the draft project for Spanish parliamentary consideration by a narrow margin. Despite its majority support within the Region, the Ibarretxe Plan was not allowed to be considered for discussion in Congress on February 1, 2005, with 313 voting against debating it ( PSOE , PP , IU , Canarian Coalition and CHA ), while 29 voted for it ( PNV , ERC , CiU , EA , Na-Bai and BNG ), and 2 abstentions ( IC-V ). Basque nationalist parties, as

1875-667: A whole, do not accept the legitimacy of the 1978 Spanish Constitution regarding the Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre ( Southern Basque Country ), which received no input from the Basques . Despite numerically winning the poll, abstention and spoiled ballots outnumbered the "Yes" ballots in the territory. Under the plan, the two million people in this northern region would remain Spanish citizens but divided into two overlapping categories of Basques, defined as "citizens" and "nationals". The plan provided for

2000-581: Is headed by the governor , currently Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia . The legislative branch consists of the bicameral Legislative Assembly , made up of a Senate as its upper chamber and a House of Representatives as its lower chamber; the Senate is headed by a president , currently José Luis Dalmau , while the House is headed by the speaker of the House , currently Tatito Hernández . The governor and legislators are elected by popular vote every four years, with

2125-482: Is land and 1,900 sq mi (4,900 km ) is water. Puerto Rico is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island but smaller than Connecticut . The maximum length of the main island from east to west is 110 mi (180 km), and the maximum width from north to south is 40 mi (64 km). Puerto Rico is the smallest of the Greater Antilles . It is 80% of the size of Jamaica , just over 18% of

2250-630: Is located in this range. Another important peak is El Yunque , one of the highest in the Sierra de Luquillo at the El Yunque National Forest , with an elevation of 3,494 ft (1,065 m). Puerto Rico has 17 lakes, all man-made, and more than 50 rivers , most of which originate in the Cordillera Central. Rivers in the northern region of the island are typically longer and of higher water flow rates than those of

2375-522: Is often used to describe a pirate operating in this region. The Caribbean region was war-torn throughout much of its colonial history, but the wars were often based in Europe, with only minor battles fought in the Caribbean. Some wars, however, were born of political turmoil in the Caribbean itself. In 1791, a slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint-Domingue led to the establishment in 1804 of Haiti ,

2500-482: Is organized into 33 political entities , including 13 sovereign states , 12 dependencies , 7 overseas territories , and various disputed territories . From 15 December 1954 to 10 October 2010, there was a territory known as the Netherlands Antilles composed of five islands, all of which were Dutch dependencies. From 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962, there was also a short-lived political union called

2625-667: Is questioned. Consistent dates of 3100 BC appear in Cuba . The earliest dates in the Lesser Antilles are from 2000 BC in Antigua . A lack of pre-ceramic sites in the Windward Islands and differences in technology suggest that these Archaic settlers may have Central American origins. Whether an Ortoiroid colonization of the islands took place is uncertain, but there is little evidence of one. DNA studies changed some of

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2750-492: Is the coquí , a small frog easily identified by the sound of its call, from which it gets its name. Most coquí species (13 of 17) live in the El Yunque National Forest , the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. Forest Service system, located in the northeast of the island. It was previously known as the Caribbean National Forest. El Yunque is home to more than 240 plants, 26 of which are endemic to

2875-689: Is warm year round, in the 70s, 80s and 90s, and only varies from winter to summer about 2–5 degrees on the southern islands and about a 10–20 degrees difference on the northern islands of the Caribbean. The northern islands, like the Bahamas, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, may be influenced by continental masses during winter months, such as cold fronts. Aruba: Latitude 12°N Puerto Rico: Latitude 18°N Cuba: at Latitude 22°N Lucayan Archipelago Greater Antilles Lesser Antilles All islands at some point were, and

3000-469: The 2004 Haitian coup d'état , the US were accused by CARICOM of arranging it to remove elected Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In 1965, 23,000 US troops were sent to the Dominican Republic to quash a local uprising against military rule (see Dominican Civil War ). President Lyndon Johnson had ordered the invasion to stem what he deemed to be a "Communist threat." However, the mission appeared ambiguous and

3125-559: The American model , with separation of powers subject to the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United States. All governmental powers are delegated by the United States Congress , with the head of state being the president of the United States . As an unincorporated territory , Puerto Rico lacks full protection under the U.S. Constitution. The government of Puerto Rico is composed of three branches. The executive

3250-850: The Antilles , including the Lucayan Archipelago, form the West Indies , a term often interchangeable with the Caribbean . The archipelago of Bermuda is not part of the Caribbean, as it lies in the Sargasso Sea to the north, but it is an associate member of the Caribbean Community . On the continental mainland of the Americas , the Caribbean coasts of Mexico , Central America, and South America, including

3375-659: The Cabo Rojo , Desecheo , Culebra and Vieques National Wildlife Refuges , and in the Caja de Muertos and Mona and Monito Islands Nature Reserves . Examples of endemic species found in this ecoregion are the higo chumbo ( Harrisia portoricensis ), the Puerto Rican crested toad ( Peltophryne lemur ), and the Mona ground iguana ( Cyclura stejnegeri ), the largest land animal native to Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has three of

3500-652: 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

3625-711: The Cuban Revolution of 1959, relations deteriorated rapidly leading to the Bay of Pigs Invasion , the Cuban Missile Crisis , and successive US attempts to destabilize the island, based upon Cold War fears of the Soviet threat. The US invaded and occupied Hispaniola for 19 years (1915–34), subsequently dominating the Haitian economy through aid and loan repayments. The US invaded Haiti again in 1994 . After

3750-552: The Department of War . A U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Ortega v. Lara , 202 U.S. 339, 342 (1906), involving the Foraker Act and referring to the island as "the acquired country", soon affirmed that the U.S. Constitution applied within its territory and that any domestic Puerto Rican laws which did not conflict with it remained in force. The Jones Act of 1917, which made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens , paved

3875-400: The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico , while the more seasonal dry tropical savanna climates are found in Cuba , northern Colombia and Venezuela , and southern Yucatán, Mexico . Arid climates are found along the extreme northern coast of Venezuela out to the islands including Aruba and Curacao , as well as the northwestern tip of Yucatán. While the region generally is sunny much of

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4000-518: The Greater Antilles , Puerto Rico was a stepping-stone in the passage from Europe to Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northern territories of South America. Throughout most of the 19th century until the conclusion of the Spanish–American War , Puerto Rico and Cuba were the last two Spanish colonies in the New World; they served as Spain's final outposts in a strategy to regain control of

4125-491: 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. Puerto Rico is Spanish for "rich port". Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen , a derivation of Borikén , its Indigenous Taíno name, which is popularly said to mean "Land of

4250-471: The Köppen climate classification is mostly tropical rainforest . Temperatures are warm to hot year round, averaging near 85 °F (29 °C) in lower elevations and 70 °F (21 °C) in the mountains. Easterly trade winds pass across the island year round. Puerto Rico has a rainy season , which stretches from April into November, and a dry season stretching from December to March. The mountains of

4375-721: The Monroe Doctrine , the United States gained a major influence on most Caribbean nations. In the early part of the 20th century this influence was extended by participation in the Banana Wars . Victory in the Spanish–American War and the signing of the Platt Amendment in 1901 ensured that the United States would have the right to interfere in Cuban political and economic affairs, militarily if necessary. After

4500-612: The New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taínos . The Taíno people's numbers went dangerously low during the later half of the 16th century because of new infectious diseases carried by Europeans, exploitation by Spanish settlers, and warfare. Located in the northeastern Caribbean, Puerto Rico formed a key part of the Spanish Empire from the early years of the exploration, conquest and colonization of

4625-545: The New World . The island was a major military post during many wars between Spain and other European powers for control of the region in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. In 1593, Portuguese soldiers, sent from Lisbon by order of Phillip II, composed the first garrison of the San Felipe del Morro fortress in Puerto Rico. Some brought their wives, while others married Puerto Rican women, and today there are many Puerto Rican families with Portuguese last names. The smallest of

4750-868: The North Atlantic Ocean . Bordered by North America to the north, Central America to the west, and South America to the south, it comprises numerous islands , cays, islets, reefs, and banks. It includes the Lucayan Archipelago , Greater Antilles , and Lesser Antilles of the West Indies ; the Quintana Roo islands and Belizean islands of the Yucatán Peninsula ; and the Bay Islands , Miskito Cays , Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina , and Corn Islands of Central America. It also includes

4875-856: The Popular Democratic Party (PPD in Spanish), the New Progressive Party (PNP in Spanish) and the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP). The three parties stand for different political status. The PPD, for example, seeks to maintain the island's status with the U.S. as a commonwealth , while the PNP seeks to make Puerto Rico a U.S. state . Meanwhile, the PIP seeks to make Puerto Rico a sovereign nation free from U.S. authority. In terms of party strength,

5000-638: The Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources . There are many other even smaller islets , like Monito , located near Mona, and Isla de Cabras and La Isleta de San Juan , both located on the San Juan Bay . The latter is the only inhabited islet with communities like Old San Juan and Puerta de Tierra , which are connected to the main island by bridges. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has an area of 5,320 square miles (13,800 km ), of which 3,420 sq mi (8,900 km )

5125-589: The U.S. Treasury . Residents of Puerto Rico pay into Social Security, and are thus eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement. They are excluded from the Supplemental Security Income , and the island receives a smaller fraction of the Medicaid funding it would receive if it were a U.S. state. Also, Medicare providers receive less-than-full state-like reimbursements for services rendered to beneficiaries in Puerto Rico, even though

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5250-631: The UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme : Luquillo Biosphere Reserve represented by El Yunque National Forest and the Guánica Biosphere Reserve . Species endemic to the archipelago number 239 plants, 16 birds and 39 amphibians / reptiles , recognized as of 1998. Most of these (234, 12 and 33 respectively) are found on the main island. The most recognizable endemic species and a symbol of Puerto Rican pride

5375-435: The Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Bay Islands Department of Honduras, the North and South Caribbean Autonomous Regions of Nicaragua, the Limón Province of Costa Rica, Cartagena and Barranquilla in Colombia, Maracaibo and Cumaná in Venezuela, are considered part of Caribbean. As with the coastal areas of the mainland, Belize , Panama , Guyana , Suriname , and French Guiana are often completely included within

5500-442: 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

5625-425: The plantation system . [REDACTED] The oldest evidence of humans in the Caribbean is in southern Trinidad at Banwari Trace , where remains have been found from 7,000 years ago. These pre-ceramic sites, which belong to the Archaic (pre-ceramic) age, have been termed Ortoiroid . The earliest archaeological evidence of human settlement in Hispaniola dates to about 3600 BC, but the reliability of these finds

5750-497: The 2008 general election. Four years later, the 2012 election saw the emergence of the Movimiento Unión Soberanista (English: Sovereign Union Movement) and the Partido del Pueblo Trabajador (English: Working People's Party) but none obtained more than 1% of the vote. Other non-registered parties include the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party , the Socialist Workers Movement , and the Hostosian National Independence Movement . The nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with

5875-416: The 2024 general election, with nearly 40% of the vote, who is pro-statehood. Puerto Rico consists of the main island of Puerto Rico and various smaller islands, including Vieques , Culebra , Mona , Desecheo , and Caja de Muertos . Of these five, only Culebra and Vieques are inhabited year-round. Mona, which has played a key role in maritime history, is uninhabited most of the year except for employees of

6000-429: The 3 November 2020 general elections; the ballot asked one question: "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State ?" The results showed that 52 percent of Puerto Rico voters answered yes. In the United States in the early 2020s, the Puerto Rico Status Act was being worked on by Congress, and H.R. 8393 passed the House in 2022- though it has not passed the Senate; this bill would support PR making

6125-431: The American continents. Realizing that it was in danger of losing its two remaining Caribbean territories, the Spanish Crown revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 . The decree was printed in Spanish, English and French in order to attract Europeans, with the hope that the independence movements would lose their popularity and strength with the arrival of new settlers. Free land was offered to those who wanted to populate

6250-558: The Atlantic, is located about 71 mi (114 km) north of Puerto Rico at the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates. It is 170 mi (270 km) long. At its deepest point, named the Milwaukee Deep , it is almost 27,600 ft (8,400 m) deep. The Mona Canyon , located in the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, is another prominent oceanic landform with steep walls measuring between 1.25 and 2.17 miles (2.01 and 3.49 km) in height from bottom to top. The climate of Puerto Rico in

6375-587: The Bahamas and the Leeward Islands ; the Island Caribs and Galibi in the Windward Islands; and the Ciboney in western Cuba. The Taínos are subdivided into Classic Taínos, who occupied Puerto Rico and part of Hispaniola; Western Taínos, who occupied the Bahamian archipelago, Cuba, Jamaica , and part of Hispaniola; and the Eastern Taínos, who occupied the northern Lesser Antilles . The southern Lesser Antilles, including Guadeloupe , Dominica , and Trinidad, were inhabited by both Carib-speaking and Arawak-speaking groups. Soon after Christopher Columbus came to

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6500-413: The Baptist , while the capital city was named Ciudad de Puerto Rico ("Rich Port City"). Eventually traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, while San Juan became the name used for the main trading/shipping port and the capital city. The island's name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898 . The anglicized name

6625-441: The Basque regional government's right to call referendums, opening the door to a possible future vote on independence, while removing a Spanish government right to suspend the regional government's powers. The Spanish Government, led by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero , and leading Spanish academics viewed the Ibarretxe Plan as contrary to the Spanish Constitution, this view being shared by

6750-465: The British West Indies Federation composed of ten English-speaking Caribbean territories, all of which were then British dependencies. The modern Caribbean is one of the most ethnically diverse regions on the planet, as a result of colonization by the Spanish , English , Dutch , and French ; the Atlantic slave trade from Sub-Saharan Africa ; indentured servitude from the Indian subcontinent and Asia ; as well as modern immigration from around

6875-464: The British Caribbean islands. Slavery was abolished first in the Dutch Empire in 1814. Spain abolished slavery in its empire in 1811, with the exceptions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo. Slavery was not abolished in Cuba until 1886. Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807 , and slavery proper in 1833 . France abolished slavery in its colonies in 1848. The Caribbean was known for pirates , especially between 1640 and 1680. The term " buccaneer "

7000-431: The Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean. On average, a quarter of its annual rainfall is contributed from tropical cyclones , which are more prevalent during periods of La Niña than El Niño . A cyclone of tropical storm strength passes near Puerto Rico, on average, every five years. A hurricane passes in the vicinity of the island, on average, every seven years. Since 1851, the Lake Okeechobee Hurricane (also known as

7125-406: The Caribbean due to their strong political and cultural ties with the region. Geopolitically, the islands of the Caribbean are often regarded as a subregion of North America , though sometimes they are included in Middle America , or regarded as its own subregion as the Caribbean . The Caribbean is sometimes considered alongside Latin America as a region. Generally, the Caribbean region

7250-483: The Caribbean itself, but according to the Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage , the most common pronunciation in Caribbean English stresses the first syllable instead, / ˈ k ær ɪ b i æ n / ( KARR -ih-bee-an ). The word "Caribbean" has multiple uses. Its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to Africa, slavery , European colonisation and

7375-629: The Caribbean region varies: Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin. These islands include Aruba (which has minor volcanic features), Curaçao , Barbados , Bonaire , the Cayman Islands , Saint Croix , the Bahamas , and Antigua . Others possess rugged towering mountain-ranges like the islands of Saint Martin , Cuba , Hispaniola , Puerto Rico , Jamaica , Dominica , Montserrat , Saba , Sint Eustatius , Saint Kitts , Saint Lucia , Saint Thomas , Saint John , Tortola , Grenada , Saint Vincent , Guadeloupe , Martinique and Trinidad and Tobago . Definitions of

7500-421: The Caribbean, both Portuguese and Spanish explorers began claiming territories in Central and South America. These early colonies brought gold to Europe; most specifically England, the Netherlands, and France. These nations hoped to establish profitable colonies in the Caribbean. Colonial rivalries made the Caribbean a cockpit for European wars for centuries. Columbus, and the early colonists of Hispaniola, treated

7625-414: The Cordillera Central create a rain shadow and are the main cause of the variations in the temperature and rainfall that occur over very short distances. The mountains can also cause wide variation in local wind speed and direction due to their sheltering and channeling effects, adding to the climatic variation. Daily temperature changes seasonally are quite small in the lowlands and coastal areas. Between

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7750-425: The Dutch. Sea water was pumped into shallow ponds, producing coarse salt when the water evaporated. The natural environmental diversity of the Caribbean islands has led to recent growth in eco-tourism . This type of tourism is growing on islands lacking sandy beaches and dense human populations. Life expectancy in some countries of the Caribbean in 2022, according to estimation of the World Bank Group : At

7875-416: The Orinoco around 650 AD and another group, the Arauquinoid, expanded into these areas and up the Caribbean chain. Around 1300 AD a new group, the Mayoid, entered Trinidad and remained the dominant culture until Spanish settlement. At the time of the European discovery of most of the islands of the Caribbean, three major Amerindian indigenous peoples lived on the islands: the Taíno in the Greater Antilles ,

8000-419: The PPD and PNP usually hold about 47% of the vote each while the PIP holds about 5%. After 2007, other parties emerged on the island. The first, the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party was registered that same year. The party claims that it seeks to address the islands' problems from a status-neutral platform. But it ceased to remain as a registered party when it failed to obtain the required number of votes in

8125-401: The Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk ( Buteo platypterus brunnescens ) and the elfin woods warbler ( Setophaga angelae ). The Northern Karst country of Puerto Rico is also home to one of the remaining rainforest tracts in the island, with the Río Abajo State Forest being the first focus for the reintroduction of the highly endangered Puerto Rican parrot outside of the Sierra de Luquillo. In

8250-420: The Puerto Rican people to exercise fully their inalienable right to self-determination and independence. In November 2012, a two-question referendum took place, simultaneous with the general elections. The first question, voted on in August, asked voters whether they wanted to maintain the current status under the territorial clause of the U.S. Constitution. 54% voted against the status quo, effectively approving

8375-517: The San Felipe Segundo hurricane in Puerto Rico) of September 1928 is the only hurricane to make landfall as a Category 5 hurricane. In 2017, Puerto Rico was affected by Category 5 Hurricane Irma and Category 4 Hurricane Maria , causing widespread and devastating impacts , particularly to the electric grid. Puerto Rico is home to three terrestrial ecoregions: Puerto Rican moist forests , Puerto Rican dry forests , and Greater Antilles mangroves . Puerto Rico has two biosphere reserves recognized by

8500-432: The South American nation of Guyana , the only former British colony on the mainland of that continent. In addition, these countries share the University of the West Indies as a regional entity. The university consists of three main campuses in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, a smaller campus in the Bahamas and Resident Tutors in other contributing territories such as Trinidad. The Caribbean islands have one of

8625-450: The U.S. Constitution . Laws enacted at the federal level in the U.S. apply to Puerto Rico as well, regardless of its political status. Their residents do not have voting representation in the U.S. Congress . Puerto Rico lacks "the full sovereignty of an independent nation", for example, the power to manage its "external relations with other nations", which is held by the U.S. federal government. The U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that once

8750-578: The U.S. Constitution has been extended to an area (by Congress or the courts), its coverage is irrevocable. To hold that the political branches may switch the Constitution on or off at will would lead to a regime in which they, not this Court, say "what the law is". Puerto Ricans "were collectively made U.S. citizens" in 1917 as a result of the Jones–Shafroth Act . U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections, though both major parties, Republican and Democratic, hold primary elections in Puerto Rico to choose delegates to vote on

8875-409: The U.S. is the subject of ongoing debate in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Congress, and the United Nations . Specifically, the basic question is whether Puerto Rico should remain an unincorporated territory of the U.S., become a U.S. state, or become an independent country. Constitutionally, Puerto Rico is subject to the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress under the territorial clause of Article IV of

9000-496: The United States, Britain, France and the Netherlands still have some Caribbean possessions . The decline of the export industries meant a need to diversify the economies of the Caribbean territories. The tourism industry started developing in the early 20th century, rapidly developing in the 1960s when regular international flights made vacations affordable and is now a $ 50 billion industry. Another industry that developed in

9125-469: The United States. Between the 1960s and 80s, most of the British holdings in the Caribbean achieved political independence, starting with Jamaica in 1962 , then Trinidad and Tobago (1962), British Guiana (1966), Barbados (1966), the Bahamas (1973), Grenada (1974), Dominica (1978), St. Lucia (1979), St. Vincent (1979), Antigua and Barbuda (1981), and St. Kitts and Nevis (1983). Presently,

9250-460: The Valiant Lord". The terms boricua , borinqueño , 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". Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista , in honor of Saint John

9375-839: The coastal areas on the continental mainland of the Americas bordering the region from the Yucatán Peninsula in North America through Central America to the Guianas in South America. Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate , the region has thousands of islands, islets , reefs , and cays . Island arcs delineate the northern and eastern edges of the Caribbean Sea : the Greater Antilles in

9500-675: The commissioner's power to vote in the Committee of the Whole , but the commissioner can vote in committee. Puerto Rican elections are governed by the Federal Election Commission and the State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico . Residents of Puerto Rico, including other U.S. citizens, cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections, but can vote in primaries . Puerto Ricans who become residents of

9625-521: The dry and wet seasons, there is a temperature change of around 6 °F (3.3 °C). This change is due mainly to the warm waters of the tropical Atlantic Ocean , which significantly modify cooler air moving in from the north and northwest. Coastal water temperatures during the year are about 75 °F (24 °C) in February and 85 °F (29 °C) in August. The highest temperature ever recorded

9750-623: The earlier foraging inhabitants—presumably through disease or violence—as they settled new islands." Between 400 BC and 200 BC, the first ceramic-using agriculturalists, the Saladoid culture , entered Trinidad from South America. They expanded up the Orinoco River to Trinidad, and then spread rapidly up the islands of the Caribbean. Some time after 250 AD another group, the Barancoid, entered Trinidad. The Barancoid society collapsed along

9875-555: The early 20th century was offshore banking and financial services , particularly in The Bahamas and the Cayman Islands , as the proximity of the Caribbean islands to North America made them an attractive location for branches of foreign banks seeking to avail themselves of less complicated regulations and lower tax rates. The United States has conducted military operations in the Caribbean for at least 100 years. Since

10000-399: The federal government, Puerto Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S., and some others, such as Puerto Rican residents that are members of the U.S. military, and Puerto Rico residents who earned income from sources outside Puerto Rico also pay federal income taxes. In addition, because the cutoff point for income taxation is lower than that of the U.S. IRS code, and because

10125-903: The first humans is correlated with extinction of giant owls and dwarf ground sloths . The hotspot contains dozens of highly threatened animals (ranging from birds, to mammals and reptiles), fungi and plants. Examples of threatened animals include the Puerto Rican amazon , two species of solenodon (giant shrews) in Cuba and the Hispaniola island, and the Cuban crocodile . The region's coral reefs, which contain about 70 species of hard corals and from 500 to 700 species of reef-associated fishes have undergone rapid decline in ecosystem integrity in recent years, and are considered particularly vulnerable to global warming and ocean acidification. According to

10250-523: The first republic in the Caribbean. Neighboring Santo Domingo (now Dominican Republic ) would attain its independence on three separate occasions in 1821, 1844 and 1865. Cuba became independent in 1898 following American intervention in the War of Independence during the Spanish-American war . Following the war, Spain's last colony in the Americas, Puerto Rico , became an unincorporated territory of

10375-731: The fringe of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea just to the north of the island of Puerto Rico, is the deepest point in all of the Atlantic Ocean. The region sits in the line of several major shipping routes with the Panama Canal connecting the western Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The climate of the area is tropical , varying from tropical rainforest in some areas to tropical monsoon and tropical savanna in others. There are also some locations that are arid climates with considerable drought in some years, and

10500-499: The government to move rapidly to provide for the general welfare contributed to political activism by opponents and eventually to the rise of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party . On 7 January 2020, the country experienced its largest earthquake since 1918, estimated at magnitude 6.4. Economic losses were estimated to be more than $ 3.1 billion. The Puerto Rico Trench , the largest and deepest trench in

10625-573: The indigenous peoples brutally, even enslaving children. In 1512, after pressure from Dominican friars, the Laws of Burgos were introduced by the Spanish Crown to better protect the rights of the New World natives. The Spanish used a form of slavery called the Encomienda , where slaves would be awarded to the conquistadors, who were charged with protecting and converting their slaves. This had

10750-514: The island. It is also home to 50 bird species, including the critically endangered Puerto Rican amazon . In addition to El Yunque National Forest, the Puerto Rican moist forest ecoregion is represented by protected areas such as the Maricao and Toro Negro state forests . These areas are home to endangered endemic species such as the Puerto Rican boa ( Chilabothrus inornatus ), the Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk ( Accipiter striatus venator ),

10875-518: The islands on the condition that they swear their loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Catholic Church . In 1898, during the Spanish–American War , Puerto Rico was invaded and subsequently became a possession of the U.S. The first years of the 20th century were marked by the struggle to obtain greater democratic rights from the U.S. The Foraker Act of 1900 established a civil government, ending rule by American generals and

11000-597: The last election held in November 2020 . The judicial branch is headed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico , currently Maite Oronoz Rodríguez . Members of the judiciary are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. Puerto Rico is represented in the U.S. Congress by a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives, the resident commissioner , currently Jenniffer González . Current congressional rules have removed

11125-561: 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

11250-414: The latter paid fully into the system. Caribbean The Caribbean ( / ˌ k ær ɪ ˈ b iː ən , k ə ˈ r ɪ b i ən / KARR -ib- EE -ən, kə- RIB -ee-ən , locally / ˈ k ær ɪ b i æ n / KARR -ib-ee-an ; Spanish : el Caribe ; French : les Caraïbes ; Dutch : de Caraïben ), is a subregion in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in

11375-632: The main opposition party Partido Popular . The European Parliament refused to have anything to do with the plan, saying that it was a Spanish internal issue. Two years after the proposal was discarded, Ibarretxe proposed a similar initiative under a referendum-like vote . http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewfeature&id=686&language=English Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine Puerto Rico Puerto Rico ( Spanish for 'rich port'; abbreviated PR ), officially

11500-588: The most dangerous geologic hazards in the island and in the northeastern Caribbean. The 1918 San Fermín earthquake occurred on 11 October , 1918 and had an estimated magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale . It originated off the coast of Aguadilla , several kilometers off the northern coast, and was accompanied by a tsunami . It caused extensive property damage and widespread losses, damaging infrastructure, especially bridges. It resulted in an estimated 116 deaths and $ 4 million in property damage. The failure of

11625-486: The most diverse eco systems in the world. The animals, fungi and plants, and have been classified as one of Conservation International 's biodiversity hotspots because of their exceptionally diverse terrestrial and marine ecosystems, ranging from montane cloud forests , to tropical rainforest , to cactus scrublands . The region also contains about 8% (by surface area) of the world's coral reefs along with extensive seagrass meadows, both of which are frequently found in

11750-555: 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

11875-720: The north and the Lesser Antilles , which includes the Leeward Islands , Windward Islands , and the Leeward Antilles , to the east and south. The nearby northwestern Lucayan Archipelago , comprising The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands , and the island of Barbados in the Lesser Antilles, are considered to be a part of the Caribbean despite not bordering the Caribbean Sea. All the islands in

12000-466: The number of fungal species endemic to some Caribbean islands. For Cuba, 2200 species of fungi have been tentatively identified as possible endemics of the island; for Puerto Rico , the number is 789 species; for the Dominican Republic , the number is 699 species; for Trinidad and Tobago, the number is 407 species. Many of the ecosystems of the Caribbean islands have been devastated by deforestation , pollution, and human encroachment. The arrival of

12125-501: The parties' presidential candidates. Since Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory and not a U.S. state, the U.S. Constitution does not fully enfranchise U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico. Only fundamental rights under the American federal constitution and adjudications are applied to Puerto Ricans. Various other U.S. Supreme Court decisions have held which rights apply in Puerto Rico and which ones do not. Puerto Ricans have

12250-486: The peaks of mountains tend to have cooler temperate climates . Rainfall varies with elevation, size and water currents, such as the cool upwellings that keep the ABC islands arid. Warm, moist trade winds blow consistently from the east, creating both rain forest and semi arid climates across the region. The tropical rainforest climates include lowland areas near the Caribbean Sea from Costa Rica north to Belize , as well as

12375-476: The per-capita income in Puerto Rico is much lower than the average per-capita income on the mainland, more Puerto Rico residents pay income taxes to the local taxation authority than if the IRS code were applied to the island. This occurs because "the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government has a wider set of responsibilities than do U.S. State and local governments." In 2009, Puerto Rico paid $ 3.742 billion into

12500-507: The population applying for assistance after the storms. See also Effects of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico It is thought that a combination of the debt crisis and two major hurricanes in the late 2010s, caused further departures from the island. Overall the population has decreased by about half a million in the 21st century, with many seeking better opportunities on the mainland. Puerto Rico held its statehood referendum during

12625-551: The region's staple crop. Sugar was produced from sugarcane for export to Europe. Cuba and Barbados were historically the largest producers of sugar . The tropical plantation system thus came to dominate Caribbean settlement. Other islands were found to have terrain unsuited for agriculture , for example Dominica , which remains heavily forested. The islands in the southern Lesser Antilles , Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao , are extremely arid, making them unsuitable for agriculture. However, they have salt pans that were exploited by

12750-418: The second question to be voted on in November. The second question posed three alternate status options: statehood, independence, or free association . 61.16% voted for statehood, 33.34% for a sovereign free-associated state, and 5.49% for independence. In 2016, President Barack Obama signed into law H.R. 5278: PROMESA , establishing a Control Board over the Puerto Rican government. This board will have

12875-670: The seven year-long bioluminescent bays in the Caribbean: Laguna Grande in Fajardo , La Parguera in Lajas and Puerto Mosquito in Vieques . These are unique bodies of water surrounded by mangroves that are inhabited by the dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense . However, tourism, pollution, and hurricanes have highly threatened these unique ecosystems. Puerto Rico has a republican form of government based on

13000-413: The shallow marine waters bordering the island and continental coasts of the region. For the fungi, there is a modern checklist based on nearly 90,000 records derived from specimens in reference collections, published accounts and field observations. That checklist includes more than 11,250 species of fungi recorded from the region. As its authors note, the work is far from exhaustive, and it is likely that

13125-706: The size of Hispaniola and 8% of the size of Cuba, the largest of the Greater Antilles. The topography of the island is mostly mountainous with large flat areas in the northern and southern coasts. The main mountain range that crosses the island from east to west is called the Cordillera Central (also known as the Central Mountain Range in English). The highest elevation in Puerto Rico, Cerro de Punta 4,390 feet (1,340 m),

13250-465: The south, since the south receives less rain than the central and northern regions. Puerto Rico is composed of Cretaceous to Eocene volcanic and plutonic rocks, overlain by younger Oligocene and more recent carbonates and other sedimentary rocks . Most of the caverns and karst topography on the island occurs in the northern region. The oldest rocks are approximately 190 million years old ( Jurassic ) and are located at Sierra Bermeja in

13375-422: The southwest part of the island. They 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 American Plates and is being deformed by the tectonic stresses caused by their interaction. These stresses may cause earthquakes and tsunamis . These seismic events, along with landslides , represent some of

13500-614: The southwest, the Guánica State Forest and Biosphere Reserve contain over 600 uncommon species of plants and animals, including 48 endangered species and 16 that are endemic to Puerto Rico, and is considered a prime example of the Puerto Rican dry forest ecoregion and the best-preserved dry forest in the Caribbean. Other protected dry forests in Puerto Rico can be formed within the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge complex at

13625-528: The stress on the second. Most authorities of the last century preferred the stress on the third syllable. This is the older of the two pronunciations, but the stressed-second-syllable variant has been established for over 75 years. It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer / ˌ k ær ɪ ˈ b iː ə n / ( KARR -ə- BEE -ən ) while North American speakers more typically use / k ə ˈ r ɪ b i ə n / ( kə- RIB -ee-ən ), but major American dictionaries and other sources list

13750-533: The stress on the third syllable as more common in American English too. According to the American version of Oxford Online Dictionaries, the stress on the second syllable is becoming more common in UK English and is increasingly considered "by some" to be more up to date and more "correct". The Oxford Online Dictionaries claim the stress on the second syllable is the most common pronunciation in

13875-519: The terms Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles often vary. The Virgin Islands as part of the Puerto Rican bank are sometimes included with the Greater Antilles. The term Lesser Antilles is often used to define an island arc that includes Grenada but excludes Trinidad and Tobago and the Leeward Antilles. The waters of the Caribbean Sea host large, migratory schools of fish, turtles, and coral reef formations. The Puerto Rico Trench , located on

14000-833: The time of European contact , the dominant ethnic groups in the Caribbean included the Taíno of the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles , the Island Caribs of the southern Lesser Antilles, and smaller distinct groups such as the Guanajatabey of western Cuba and the Ciguayo of eastern Hispaniola. The population of the Caribbean is estimated to have been around 750,000 immediately before European contact, although lower and higher figures are given. After contact, social disruption and epidemic diseases such as smallpox and measles (to which they had no natural immunity) led to

14125-538: The traditional beliefs about pre-Columbian indigenous history. According to National Geographic , "studies confirm that a wave of pottery-making farmers—known as Ceramic Age people—set out in canoes from the northeastern coast of South America starting some 2,500 years ago and island-hopped across the Caribbean. They were not, however, the first colonizers. On many islands they encountered a foraging people who arrived some 6,000 or 7,000 years ago...The ceramicists, who are related to today's Arawak -speaking peoples, supplanted

14250-411: The true total number of fungal species already known from the Caribbean is higher. The true total number of fungal species occurring in the Caribbean, including species not yet recorded, is likely far higher given the generally accepted estimate that only about 7% of all fungi worldwide have been discovered. Though the amount of available information is still small, a first effort has been made to estimate

14375-618: The way for the drafting of Puerto Rico's Constitution and its approval by Congress and Puerto Rican voters in 1952. Puerto Rico is one of five territories with less representation in the Federal government, along with the Federal District. In 2009, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization approved a draft resolution calling on the U.S. government to expedite a process that would allow

14500-506: The west of Barbados. The principal hurricane belt arcs to northwest of the island of Barbados in the Eastern Caribbean. A great example being recent events of Hurricane Irma devastating the island of Saint Martin during the 2017 hurricane season. Sea surface temperatures change little annually, normally running from 30 °C (87 °F) in the warmest months to 26 °C (76 °F) in the coolest months. The air temperature

14625-435: The wet and dry seasons. Seasonally, monthly mean temperatures vary from only about 5 C (7 F) in the northern most regions, to less than 3 C in the southernmost areas of the Caribbean. Hurricane season is from June to November, but they occur more frequently in August and September and more common in the northern islands of the Caribbean. Hurricanes that sometimes batter the region usually strike northwards of Grenada and to

14750-569: The world. The region takes its name from the Caribs , an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Americas . The two most prevalent pronunciations of "Caribbean" outside the Caribbean are / ˌ k ær ɪ ˈ b iː ə n / ( KARR -ə- BEE -ən ), with the primary stress on the third syllable , and / k ə ˈ r ɪ b i ə n / ( kə- RIB -ee-ən ), with

14875-419: The year, the wet season from May through November sees more frequent cloud cover (both broken and overcast), while the dry season from December through April is more often clear to mostly sunny. Seasonal rainfall is divided into 'dry' and 'wet' seasons, with the latter six months of the year being wetter than the first half. The air temperature is hot much of the year, varying from 25 to 33 C (77 F to 90 F) between

15000-465: Was 110 °F (43 °C) at Arecibo , while the lowest temperature ever recorded was 40 °F (4 °C) in the mountains at Adjuntas , Aibonito , and Corozal . The average yearly precipitation is 66 in (1,676 mm). Climate change in Puerto Rico has had a large impact on the ecosystems and landscapes. Puerto Rico experiences the Atlantic hurricane season , similar to the rest of

15125-601: Was boycotted by some political opponents of it. (see 2017 Puerto Rican status referendum ) In 2017, Puerto Rico suffered back-to-back large hurricanes: the Category 5 Hurricane Irma (September 7, 2017) and the Category 4 Hurricane Maria (September 20, 2017). The storms caused an extreme amount of damage to the island, causing the following effects: all power was knocked out, 95% cell service, 43% of waste water treatment plants, 40 thousand land slides, 97% of roads blocked, 28% of health facilities damaged, leading to over 90% of

15250-533: Was roundly condemned throughout the hemisphere as a return to gunboat diplomacy . In 1983, the US invaded Grenada to remove populist left-wing leader Maurice Bishop. The US maintains a naval military base in Cuba at Guantanamo Bay . The base is one of five unified commands whose "area of responsibility" is Latin America and the Caribbean. The command is headquartered in Miami, Florida. The geography and climate in

15375-405: 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

15500-457: Was suggested by its architect Luis Muñoz Marín and adopted by a constitutional assembly on July 25 1952. Some authorities have called it a euphemism and have charged that the official name in English of "Commonwealth" constitutes a fig leaf , i.e., associated with the covering up of an act that is actually embarrassing or distasteful with something of innocuous appearance. Puerto Rico remains

15625-514: Was used by the U.S. government and private enterprises (also Porto in Italian, French, and Portuguese). The name was changed back to Puerto Rico in 1931 by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila . The official name of the entity in Spanish is Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico ("Free Associated State of Puerto Rico"), while its official English name is Commonwealth of Puerto Rico . The Spanish official name

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