Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico", ), is a self governing of the  with  status. It is located in the northeastern, east of the and west of the ; approximately 1,280 miles (2,000 km) off the coast of  (the nearest of the mainland United States). The of Puerto Rico includes the main island of Puerto Rico, the smallest of the, and a number of smaller islands and s, the largest of which are , , and. Puerto Ricans sometimes refer to their island as Borikén, or the variant Borinquen, a name for the island used by   people. The current term boricua derives from the Taíno name for the island, and is commonly used to identify oneself as.

Even though all people born in Puerto Rico are statutory U.S. citizens, the nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States is the subject of ongoing debate on the island, in the, and in the. According to a President's Task Force report, Puerto Rico is an  of the United States, subject to the s of the U.S. Congress and with the right to establish a constitution for the internal administration of government and on matters of purely local concern.

Pre-Columbian era
The history of the island of Puerto Rico (Spanish for "rich port") before the arrival of is not well understood. What is known today comes from findings and from early Spanish accounts. The first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by in 1786, 293 years after the first  arrived on the island.



The first indigenous settlers of Puerto Rico were the, an Archaic age culture. An archaeological dig in the island of Vieques in 1990 found the remains of what is believed to be an Arcaico (Archaic) man (named Puerto Ferro man) which was dated to around 2000 BCE. Between CE 120 and 400, the, a tribe from the region, arrived on the island. Between the 7th and 11th century the culture developed on the island and, by approximately CE 1000, the Taíno culture had become dominant, a trend that lasted until the Spanish arrived in 1493.

Spanish colony
When arrived at Puerto Rico during his second voyage on, , the island was inhabited by a group of   known as s. The Taínos called the island "Borikén" or "Borinquen". Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint. Later the island took the name of Puerto Rico (Rich Port) while the capital was named. It is estimated that there may have been as many as 250,000 Tainos in the Caribbean when the Spanish first arrived. In 1508, Spanish  became the island's  to take office.

The island was soon colonized by the Spanish. Taínos were forced into slavery by the Spanish crown but were decimated by diseases brought by the Spaniards and the harsh conditions in which they were forced to work. African slaves were introduced as labor to replace the decreasing populations of Taíno. Puerto Rico soon became an important stronghold and port for the in the Caribbean, gaining the title of "La Llave de las Americas" (The Key of the Americas). Colonial emphasis during the late 17th - 18th centuries, however, focused on the more prosperous mainland territories, leaving the island impoverished of settlers. By the beginning of the 18th century the Taino Indians had been reduced to less than 10,000 people primarily inhabiting the central mountainous region (Las Cordillas) of Puerto Rico comprising the areas currently consisting of the municipalities of Orocovis,, Ciales and Corozal. A prominent resident of this early period was, Bishop of Puerto Rico, who wrote Baroque poetry extolling the beauty of the New World, especially Mexico. Many of his manuscripts were burned by Dutch pirates when they sacked the island in 1625.

Because of concerns of threats from European enemies, over the centuries various forts and walls, such as, and , were built to protect the port of San Juan. The, and  made several attempts to capture Puerto Rico but failed to wrest long-term occupancy of the island.

In 1809, while occupied the majority of the Iberian peninsula, a  assembly based in  recognized Puerto Rico as an overseas province of Spain with the right to send representatives to the Spanish Court. The representative died soon after arriving in Spain. These 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 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 a small but significant uprising in 1868 known as "". The uprising was easily and quickly crushed. Leaders of this independence movement included, considered the "father" of the Puerto Rican nation, and other political figures such as. Later, another political stronghold was the autonomist movement originated by and, toward the end of the century, by. In 1897, Muñoz Rivera and others persuaded the liberal Spanish government to agree to a Charters of Autonomy for Cuba and Puerto Rico.

The following year in 1897, Puerto Rico's first, but short-lived, autonomous government was organized as an 'overseas province' of. The charter maintained a governor appointed by Spain, who held the power to annul any legislative decision he disagreed with, and a partially elected parliamentary structure. In February of 1898, Governor General Manuel Macías inaugurated the new government under the Autonomous Charter, this gave town councils complete autonomy in local matters. Subsequently, the governor had no authority to intervene in civil and political matters unless authorized to do so by the Cabinet. General elections were held in March and on July 17,1898. Puerto Rico's autonomous government began to function, but not for long.

Puerto Rico under United States sovereignty
On, at the outbreak of the , Puerto Rico was invaded by the United States with a landing at. Following the outcome of the war, Spain ceded Puerto Rico, along with, the , and to the United States under the. Puerto Rico began the twentieth century under the military rule of the United States with officials, including the governor, appointed by the. The of 1900 had given Puerto Rico a certain amount of popular government including a popularly-elected House of Representatives. By 1917, the granted U.S.  to Puerto Ricans - a status they still hold today - and provided for a popularly-elected Senate to complete a bicameral elected Legislative Assembly. Until the first gubernatorial election in 1948, the Presidency of the Senate and the Resident Commissioner seat in Congress were held by Puerto Rico's top politicians. Many Puerto Ricans served in the beginning in. Natural disasters and the impoverished the island. Some political leaders demanded change; some, like, would lead a (The ) movement in favor of independence. He served many years in prison for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. Government in Puerto Rico. initially favored independence, but saw a severe decline of the Puerto Rican economy, as well as growing violence and uprisings and opted to support the "commonwealth" option instead. The "commonwealth" was supported before Luis Muñoz Marín by other political leaders. Change in the nature of the internal governance of the island came about during the later years of the – administrations, as a form of compromise spearheaded by Muñoz Marín and others, and which culminated with the appointment by President in 1946 of the first Puerto Rican-born governor,. In 1947, the United States granted the right to democratically elect the. Luis Muñoz Marín became the first elected governor of Puerto Rico in the 1948 general elections, serving as such for 16 years, until 1964.

Starting at this time, there was heavy migration from Puerto Rico to the, particularly , in search of better economic conditions. Puerto Rican migration to New York displayed an average yearly migration that is summarized as follows: 1930-1940, 1,800 per year (avg.); 1946-1950, 31,000 per year; 1951-1960, 45,000 per year, including 75,000 in the peak year of 1953. As of 2003, the estimates that there are more people of Puerto Rican birth or ancestry living in the United States than in Puerto Rico itself.

On, , Puerto Rican nationalists and   President. Subsequently, the Truman Administration allowed for a democratic in Puerto Rico to determine whether Puerto Ricans desired to draft their own local constitution. Puerto Rico adopted in,  which adopted the name of "Estado Libre Asociado" (Free Associated State), translated into English as , for the  and which continues to denote Puerto Rico's current relationship with the United States. During the 1950s Puerto Rico experienced a rapid industrialization, due in large part to Operación Manos a la Obra ("") (an offshoot of FDR's New Deal) 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. Three locally-authorized plebiscites have been held in recent decades to decide whether Puerto Rico should pursue independence, enhanced commonwealth status, or statehood. Narrow victories by commonwealth supporters over statehood advocates in the first two plebiscites and an unacceptable definition of Commonwealth by the pro statehood leadership on the ballots in the third has allowed the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States government to remain unchanged. In the latest status referendum of 1998, the "none of the above" option won over Statehood, a rejection by Commonwealthers of the definition of their status on the ballots, with 50.2% of the votes. Support for the pro-statehood party ( or PNP) and the pro-commonwealth party ( or PPD) remains about equal. The only registered independence party on the island, the or PIP, usually receives 3-5% of the electoral votes, though there are several smaller independence groups like the Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rican Nationalist Party), el Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (National Hostosian Independence Movement), and the Macheteros - Ejercito Popular Boricua (or ).

On, the conferred to. The Puerto Rico Supreme Court and the Puerto Rican Secretary of Justice determined that the Puerto Rican citizenship in fact exists and was recognized in the Constitution of Puerto Rico, as in the (Casos Insulares in Spanish) of 1901 through 1922 of the. The Puerto Rico State Department has developed, since the summer of 2007, the protocol to grant the Puerto Rican citizenship to Puerto Ricans

Geography
Puerto Rico consists of a main island of Puerto Rico and various smaller islands, including, , , , and. Of the latter five, only Culebra and Vieques are inhabited year-round. Mona is uninhabited through large parts of the year except for employees of the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources. There are also many other even smaller islands including and "La Isleta de San Juan" known as. Puerto Rico has an area of 5,324 sq mi (13,790 km²), and is slightly smaller than Connecticut. It is mostly mountainous with large coastal areas in the north and south regions of the island. The main mountainous range is called "" (The Central Range). The highest elevation point of Puerto Rico, (4,390 ; 1,338 ), is located in this range. Another important peak is, located in the  at the El Yunque National Forest, with a maximum elevation of 3,494 feet (1,065 m). The, , is located on the main island's north coast. Located in the, Puerto Rico enjoys an average temperature of 82.4 °F (28 °C) throughout the year. The seasons do not change very drastically. The temperature in the south is usually a few degrees higher than the north and temperatures in the central interior mountains are always cooler than the rest of the island. spans between June and November. Puerto Rico has 17 s, all of which are man-made s, and more than, most born in the Cordillera Central. The rivers in the northern region of the island are typically larger and with higher than those of the south region, given that the south receives less rain than the central and north regions. As of 1998, 239 s, sixteen s and 39 s/s have been discovered that are to the archipelago of Puerto Rico. The majority 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 is the, a small frog easily recognized by the sound from which it gets its name. The in the north east, previously known as the, a  is home to the majority (13 of 16) of species of coquí. It is also home to more than 240 plants, 26 of which are endemic and 50 bird species, including one of the top 10 birds in the world, the. The Guánica Dry Forest Reserve in the south west, 10000 acre of dry land inhabited by over 600 uncommon types of plants and animals, including 48 endangered species and 16 that are endemic to Puerto Rico.

Geology
Puerto Rico is composed of to   and  rocks, which are overlain by younger  and more recent  and other. Most of the and  topography on the island occurs in the northern region in the carbonates. The oldest rocks are approximately 190 million years old and are located at Sierra Bermeja in the southwest part of the island. These rocks may represent part of the and are believed to come from the  realm.

Puerto Rico lies at the boundary between the Caribbean and North American s and is currently being deformed by the stresses caused by the interaction of these plates. These stresses may cause and s. These  events, along with s, represent some of the most dangerous  in the island and in the northeastern Caribbean. The occurred on,  and had an estimated magnitude of 7.5 on the. It originated off the coast of and was accompanied by a.

The, the largest and deepest trench in the Atlantic, is located about 75 s (120 ) north of Puerto Rico in the at the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates. The trench is 1,090 miles (1,754 km) long and about 60 miles (97 km) wide. At its deepest point, named the, it is 27,493 feet (8,380 m) deep, or about 5.2 miles (8.38 km).

Demographics
During the 1800s, hundreds of n,, , , and families, along with large numbers of immigrants from Spain (mainly from , , , the , , and the ) and numerous Spanish loyalists from Spain's former colonies in South America, arrived in Puerto Rico. Other settlers have included, , , , and thousands others who were granted land from Spain during the Real Cedula de Gracias de 1815 , which allowed European Catholics to settle in the island with a certain amount of free land. This mass immigration during the 19th century helped the population grow from 155,000 in 1800 to almost a million at the close of the century. A census conducted by royal decree on ,, gives the following totals of the Puerto Rican population at this time, with 300,430 identified as ; 341,015 as Free ; and 41,736 as. More recently, Puerto Rico has become the permanent home of over 100,000 legal residents who immigrated from not only Spain, but from as well. Argentines, ns, Dominicans, ns and ns can also be counted as settlers.

has been a major part of Puerto Rico's recent history as well. Starting in the Post- period, due to poverty, cheap airfare, and promotion by the island government, waves of Puerto Ricans moved to the continental United States, particularly to, , , and , ; ;  and ; ,  and , ; , ;  ; , and. This continued even as Puerto Rico's economy improved and its birth rate declined. Emigration continues at the present time, and this, combined with Puerto Rico's greatly lowered birth rate, suggests that the island's population will age rapidly and start to decline sometime within the next couple of decades.

In the Puerto Ricans were asked to indicate in which racial categories they consider themselves to belong. The breakdown is as follows: 80% described themselves as "white"; 8% described themselves as ""; 12% described themselves as "" and only 0.4% described themselves as " or " (the US Census does not consider Hispanic to be a race, and asks if a person considers himself Hispanic in a separate question).

A recent study of (mtDNA) from 800 individuals found 61.1% as having Amerindian maternal mtDNA, 26.4% as having African maternal mtDNA, and 12.5% as having Caucasian maternal mtDNA. Conversely, patrilineal input, as indicated by the, showed that 70% of all Puerto Rican males have inherited Y chromosome DNA from a male European ancestor, 20% have inherited Y chromosome DNA from a male African ancestor, and fewer than 10% have inherited Y chromosome DNA from a male Amerindian ancestor. In summary, the results suggest that the three largest components of the Puerto Rican genetic pool are European/Caucasian, Amerindian, and African, in descending order.

Languages
The official languages of the island are and. Spanish is the primary language of Puerto Ricans, though English is taught as a second language in public and private schools from elementary levels to high school. The is well known for some interesting linguistic features.

In 1991, Governor signed a law declaring Spanish as the sole official language of the island's government. While some applauded the governor's decision (mainly members of the political parties supporting commonwealth-status and independence), others opposed it, including statehood supporters. As a result of his actions, the People of Puerto Rico won the Literature's in 1991, which is awarded annually to those who defend and contribute to the growth of the Spanish language. Upon his election as governor in 1993, pro-statehood former Governor overturned the law enacted by his predecessor and once again established both English and Spanish as official languages. This move by the pro-statehood governor was seen by many as another attempt to move the island closer to statehood, however, despite many attempts and plebiscites, it never came about during his two consecutive terms.

Religion
The has been historically the most dominant religion of the majority of Puerto Ricans, although the presence of various Protestant denominations has increased under American sovereignty, making modern Puerto Rico an interconfessional country. Protestantism was suppressed under the Spanish regime, but encouraged under American rule of the island.

Taíno religious practices have to a degree been rediscovered/reinvented by a handful of advocates. Various African religious practices have been present since the arrival of enslaved Africans. In particular, the beliefs of  and/or, and the  derived  (sometimes called an African belief system, but rather a way of  lifestyle of  origin) find adherence among very few individuals who practice some form of.

Government of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico's head of state is the President of the United States. The government of Puerto Rico is based on the formal composed of three branches: the  headed by the, currently , the  consisting of a   (a  and a ), headed by the President of the Senate, currently  and the House Speaker, currently , and the , headed by the Chief Justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, currently , that form the formal government. The legal system is based on a mix of the and the  systems. The governor as well as legislators are elected by popular vote every four years. Members of the Judicial branch are appointed by the governor with the "advice and consent" of the Senate.

Puerto Rico has limited representation in the U.S. Congress in the form of a, currently Luis Fortuño, a nonvoting delegate, and the current Congress had returned the Commissioner's power to vote in the Committee of the Whole, but not on matters where the vote would represent a decisive participation. Because no federal elections are held in any of the unincorporated territories, Puerto Rico does not have electors in the.

Administrative divisions
As an unincorporated territory of the United States, Puerto Rico does not have any first-order administrative divisions as defined by the U.S. Government, but there are 78 at the second level ( is not a municipality, but part of the municipality of ). Municipalities are subdivided into wards or s, and those into sectors. Each municipality has a and a municipal legislature elected for a 4 year term.

The first municipality (previously called "town") of Puerto Rico, San Juan, was founded in 1521. In the 16th century two more municipalities were established, (1570), and  (1579). Three more municipalities were established in the 17th century. These were (1614),  (1692) and  (1692). The 18th and 19th century saw an increase in settlement in Puerto Rico. 30 municipalities were established in the 18th century and 34 more were established in the 19th century. Only six municipalities were founded in the 20th century. The last municipality was, founded in 1971.

Political history
In 1950, the gave Puerto Ricans the right to organize a constitutional convention, contingent on the results of a referendum, where the electorate would determine if they wished to organize their own government pursuant to a constitution of their own choosing. Puerto Ricans expressed their support for this measure in a 1951 referendum, which gave voters a yes-or-no choice for the commonwealth status, defined as a 'permanent association with a federal union' but which did not offer independence or statehood as ballot options. A second referendum was held to approve the constitution, which was adopted in 1952.

Prior to approving the new constitution, the Constitutional Convention specified the name by which the would be known. On, the convention approved Resolution 22 which chose in English the word “ ”, meaning a “politically organized community” or “,” which is simultaneously connected by a compact or treaty to another political system. The convention adopted a translation into Spanish of the term, inspired by the Irish saorstát of “Estado Libre Asociado” (ELA) to represent the compact between the people of Puerto Rico and the United States. Literally translated into English, the phrase means “Associated Free State.”

In 1967, the Legislative Assembly tested political interests of the Puerto Rican people by passing a Act that allowed a vote on the status of Puerto Rico. This constituted the first plebiscite by the Legislature for a choice on three status options. Puerto Rican leaders had lobbied for such an opportunity repeatedly, in 1898, 1912, 1914, 1919, 1923, 1929, 1932, 1939, 1943, 1944, 1948, 1956, and 1960. The Commonwealth option, represented by the PDP, won with an overwhelming majority of 60.4 percent of the votes. The Statehood Republican Party, as well as the Puerto Rico Independence Party boycotted the vote. Following the plebiscite, efforts in the 1970s to enact legislation to address the status issue died in Congressional committees. In the 1993 plebiscite, in which Congress played a more substantial role, Commonwealth status was again upheld. In the 1998 plebiscite, all the options were rejected when an absolute majority of the voters (50.3%) voted in favor of the "none of the above" option, again favoring the commonwealth status quo by default.

International status
On, , shortly after the establishment of the Commonwealth, the General Assembly of the approved , removing Puerto Rico’s classification as a  under article 73(e) of the Charter from United Nations. However, the UN General Assembly did not apply its full list of criteria to Puerto Rico for determining whether or not self-governing status had been achieved. In fact, in a 1996 report on a Puerto Rico status political bill, the U.S. stated that Puerto Rico’s current status “does not meet the criteria for any of the options for full self-government.” The House Committee concluded that Puerto Rico is still an unincorporated territory of the United States under the territorial clause, that the establishment of local self-government with the consent of the people can be unilaterally revoked by the U.S. Congress, and that U.S. Congress can also withdraw the U.S. citizenship presently enjoyed by the residents of Puerto Rico at any time, as long as it achieves a legitimate Federal purpose. The application of the Constitution to Puerto Rico is limited by the. Even though Puerto Rico has no established embassies, it hosts from 42 countries, mainly from the  and. Most consulates are located in the vicinity of San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico.

Political status within the United States
Under its, Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth and enjoys an similar to that of a state of the Union. Puerto Ricans are statutory U.S. Citizens but, because Puerto Rico is an and not a, the  does not  U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico does participate in the internal political process of both the Democratic and Republican Parties in the United States (although not accorded equal-proportional representation in both parties), and delegates from the island vote in each party's national convention. Puerto Rico is classified by the U.S. government as an independent taxation authority by mutual agreement with the U.S. Congress. A common misconception is that residents of Puerto Rico do not have to pay federal taxes. Residents of the island pay federal taxes (import/export taxes, federal commodity taxes, social security taxes, etc.) and some even pay federal income taxes (Puerto Rico residents who are federal employees, or who do business with the federal government, Puerto Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S., etc). While most residents of the island do not pay, they do pay federal es ( and Medicare), as well as Puerto Rico income taxes. In addition, because the cutoff point for income taxation is lower than that of the IRS code, and because 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. Puerto Rico residents are eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement. Puerto Rico is excluded from (SSI). Puerto Rico receives less than 15% of the funding it would be allotted as a state.

As statutory U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans may enlist in the U.S. military. Puerto Ricans have been included in the compulsory draft, when it has been in effect. Puerto Ricans have fully participated in all U.S. wars since 1898, most notably, in the and  wars, and the current Middle-Eastern conflicts.

Recent developments on status
According to a December 2005 report by the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status, it is not possible “to bind future (U.S.) Congresses to any particular arrangement for Puerto Rico as a Commonwealth”. This determination was based on articles in the regarding territories. The Gov. has since challenged the task force report, while his party, the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), denounced the task force as a political fraud that represents a threat to democracy and is a violation of the basic agreements held between the people of Puerto Rico and the United States since 1952. It also announced a commitment to challenge the task force's report and validate the current status in all international forums including the United Nations. It also rejects any colonial or territorial status as a status option, and vows to keep working for the enhanced Commonwealth status that was approved by the PPD in 1998 which included sovereignty, an association based on "respect and dignity between both nations", and common citizenship.

The Legislative Branch, controlled by the opposing New Progressive Party (PNP), supported the White House Report's conclusions and has supported bills introduced by Reps. (D-NY) and (R-PR) and Sens. (D-CO) and (R-FL) to provide for a democratic referendum process among Puerto Rico voters.

Political parties
As unincorporated territory dependent on the U.S. since 1952, the ideology of Puerto Ricans is represented by its political parties, which stand for three distinct future political scenarios that are non-conformist regarding Puerto Rico's territorial or colonial status: (1) those who favor an autonomous, sovereign bilateral relationship with the United States (so-called "improved"/"enhanced" U.S. Commonwealth outside the U.S. Constitution's "Territorial Clause" or Free Associated Republic status); (2) those that favor that Puerto Rico's national independence should be recognized by the United States, as a full-fledged sovereign republic within the concert of the international community at-large; and, (3) those who favor Puerto Rico's entry into the United States as a full-fledged state of the federated union, by becoming the 51st state of the aforementioned country. The (PPD) seeks to maintain the island's "association" status as a commonwealth, improved commonwealth and/or seek a true free sovereign-association status or Free Associated Republic, and has won a plurality vote in referendums on the island's status held over six decades after the island was invaded by the United States (that said, most referendums' fairness have been impugned by one or two of the opposition parties). The (PNP) seeks  for Puerto Rico. The and the  both seek, albeit through different means. The Nationalist Party, for example, does not participate in elections held every four years. Although they maintain close relations and are considered allies within an otherwise rather divided, the , on the other hand, does participate in nation-wide gubernatorial elections held every four years since 1948.

Economy
In the early 1900s the greatest contributor to Puerto Rico's economy was agriculture, its main crop being sugar. In the late 1940s a series of projects codenamed Operation Bootstrap encouraged, using tax exemptions, the establishment of factories. Thus manufacturing replaced agriculture as the main industry. Puerto Rico is currently classified as a by the.

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 U.S. government, today local industries must compete with those in more economically depressed parts of the world where wages are not subject to U.S. 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.

is an important component of the Puerto Rican economy supplying an approximate $1.8 billion. In 1999, an estimated 5 million tourists visited the island, most from the United States. Nearly a third of these are passengers. A steady increase in hotel registrations, which has been observed since 1998, and the construction of new hotels and new tourism projects, such as the, are indicators of the current strength of the tourism industry.

Puerto Ricans had a per capita (GDP) estimate of $22,058 for 2006, which demonstrates a growth over the $14,412 level measured in the 2002 Current Population Survey by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. In that survey, Puerto Ricans had a 48.2% poverty rate. By comparison, the poorest State of the Union,, had a median level of $21,587, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, 2002 to 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplements. Since 1952, the gap between Puerto Rico's per capita income and U.S. national levels has essentially remained unchanged — one third the U.S. national average and roughly half that of the poorest state. The United Nation's Human Development Index ranking is not regularly available for Puerto Rico, though the UN Development Program assigned it a .942 score in 1998, which would place it among the top 15 countries in the HDI rankings.

On, , the Puerto Rican government faced significant shortages in cash flows, which forced the closure of the local Department of Education and 42 other government agencies. All 1,536 public schools closed, and 95,762 people were furloughed in the first-ever partial shutdown of the government in the island's history. On, 2006, the was resolved with a new tax reform agreement, with plans to apply a temporary 1% tax input so that all government employees could return to work. On November 15, 2006 a 5.5% sales tax was implemented. Municipalities have the option of applying a municipal sales tax of 1.5% bringing the total sales tax to 7%.

Culture


Puerto Rican culture is a mix of four cultures, African (from the slaves), (Amerindians), Spanish, and, more recently, North American. From Africans, the Puerto Ricans have obtained the " and ", a type of music and dance including percussions and s. From the Amerindians (Tainos), Puerto Ricans have kept many names for their municipalities, foods, musical instruments like the and s. Many words and other objects have originated from their localized language. From the Spanish they got the Spanish language, the Catholic religion and the vast majority of their cultural and moral values and traditions. From the United States they received the English language, the university system -- the was founded in 1903, --five years after the island became part of the United States -- and a variety of hybrid cultural forms that developed between the United States mainland and the island of Puerto Rico.

The official symbols of Puerto Rico are the bird, Reinita mora ('), the flower, Flor de Maga ('), and  the tree, Ceiba or Kapok (). The unofficial favorite amphibian is the Coquí (). Another popular unofficial symbol of Puerto Rico is the "", the "countryman".

Sports
Puerto Rico sports Olympic teams for both the and the, as well as having international representation in many other sporting events including the , the , and the , of which,  will host the upcoming 2010 event. Puerto Rican athletes have won 6 medals (1 silver, 5 bronze) in Olympic competition, the first one in 1948 by boxer. Puerto Rican professional tennis player won two gold medals in Olympic tennis doubles competitions representing the United States Olympic Team. , played for the Puerto Rico National Chess Team in four straight  and, while representing Puerto Rico in 1967, he became  putting him at the top of the World for chess competition among those under-20.

Although, , and are popular, traditionally  is the most popular sport. Puerto Rico has its own professional baseball league which operates as a winter league. No major league franchise or affiliate plays in Puerto Rico; however, San Juan hosted the for several series in 2003 and 2004 before they moved to  and became the. Puerto Rico has participated in the winning 1 gold (1951), 4 silver and 4 bronze medals. Famous Puerto Rican baseball players include and, enshrined in the  in 1973 and 1999, respectively. Famous Puerto Rican boxers include, , ,  and. Puerto Rico despite being a little island have a long compared with other countries and world powers.

, was one of Puerto Rico's most distinguished amateur basketball players, becoming the first Puerto Rican to receive the distinction of becoming the world's most distinguished player in a team sport, when he was named "Best Basketball Player in the World" in the 1959 World Championship in. Basketball players that played in the National Basketball Association include Ramon Rivas, Ramon Ramos, and.

,, became a landmark date for Puerto Rico's national Olympic team when the basketball team of Puerto Rico defeated the U.S. basketball team in , the defending gold medalist and basketball powerhouse in. On, , (MLB) announced that San Juan's  would be one of the sites of the opening round as well as the second round of the newly formed , a 16-country tournament featuring top players, which was held in San Juan in March 2006. Puerto Rico fielded its own team in that event, composed mostly of MLB players, which survived the opening round but was eliminated in the second round.

has enjoyed much popularity in Puerto Rico for a long time. Matches have been televised since the 1960s, and multiple, non-televised matches are held each week across the island. The is the main wrestling promoter in Puerto Rico. Famous Puerto Rican wrestlers have included, and his son, , Los Invaders, , , and Los Super Médicos. Many stars, such as  and  have fought in Puerto Rico. Women's wrestling has been gaining popularity in Puerto Rico since the 1990s.

The  team, founded in 2003, plays in the, which constitutes the second tier of soccer in. is also a member of and  but the national team has so far failed to qualify for the  final tournament.

is a very popular sport and recreative activity across the island. Almost each weekend several road running events are held across the island. The most successful Puerto Rican road runner is, who won several gold medals at the and.

Land Transportation
Puerto Rico is connected by a system of s, s, and s, all maintained by the and patrolled by the. The island's is served by a public bus transit system and a  called  (in English: Urban Train). Other forms of public transportation include sea-born ferries (that serve Puerto Rico's archipielago, composed of various substantially-populated islands) as well as “Carros Públicos”, similar to jitney service on the United States. The island's main airport,, is located in , and serves the rest of the island as well as the Virgin Islands. The most recently renovated airport in the west of Puerto Rico is that of the former Ramey Military airbase in Aguadilla,, which has made it easier to explore the towns of the newly created tourism area known as "Porta del Sol." The main of the island.

Ocean Transportation


In what regards water-based transportation of any merchandise or persons shipped entirely or even partly by water between U.S. points—either directly or indirectly via one or any number of foreign points—U.S. Federal Law requires that said items or persons must travel in U.S.-built, U.S.-crewed, U.S.-citizen owned vessels that are U.S.-documented by the Coast Guard for such maritime “” carriage. This transportation/trade restriction is imposed on Puerto Rico per the Jones Act of 1920. The and various other United States laws that govern the domestic and domestic-foreign-domestic transportation of merchandise and passengers by water between two points in the United States have been extended to that island-territory since the initial years of United States’ claim over the sovereignty of the island.

Strictly construed, the refers only to Section 27 of the  (46 U.S.C. 883; 19 CFR 4.80 and 4.80(b)), which has come to bear the name of its original sponsor, Sen. . Another law that was enacted in 1886 requires essentially the same standards for the transport of passengers between U.S. points, directly or indirectly transported through foreign ports or foreign points (46 App. U.S.C. 289; 19 CFR 4.80(a)). However, since the mid-1980s, as part of a joint effort between the industry that serves Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican politicians such as then, U.S. non-voting Representative , obtained a limited-exception since no U.S. cruise ships that were Jones Act-eligible were participating in said market.

The application of these and their imposition on Puerto Rico consist in a serious restriction of  and have been under scrutiny and controversy due to the apparent contradictory rhetoric involving the United States Government's sponsorship of free trade policies around the world, while its own national  policy ( Law) is essentially  and based on notions foreign to free-trade principles.