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Portal:Puerto Rico

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The Puerto Rico Portal

Location of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico (Spanish for 'rich port'; abbreviated PR), officially 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 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 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 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 the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, centered on 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 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 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 47th on the Human Development Index. The major sectors of Puerto Rico's economy are manufacturing, primarily pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and electronics, followed by services, namely tourism and hospitality. (Full article...)

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The word Jíbaro, is commonly used in Puerto Rico to refer to mountain dwelling peasant, which has come to represent the Puerto Rican people in all their historic, ethnic and cultural complexity. The image of a jíbaro is used in all forms of Puerto Rican art, including this monument in Cayey.

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Cañas River in Ponce, Puerto Rico, crossing through Hacienda Buena Vista

Cañas River, also known as Río Cañas (English: Canas River), is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is also known as Río Magueyes in the area where it flows through Barrio Magueyes, also in the municipality of Ponce. This river is one of the 14 rivers in the municipality. (Full article...)

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Military-related topics
Augusto Rodríguez
  • ... that Sergeants José and Francisco Díaz, members of the Toa Alta Militia who helped defeat Sir Ralph Abercromby and defend Puerto Rico from a British invasion in 1797, were cousins?[1]
  • ... that Captain Iván Castro is the only blind officer serving in the United States Special Forces?[2]
  • ... that Captain Félix Arenas Gaspar was a Puerto Rican Captain in the Spanish Army who was posthumously awarded the Cruz Laureada de San Fernando (Spain's version of the Medal of Honor) for his actions in the Rif War?[3]
  • ... that Lieutenant Augusto Rodríguez, a Puerto Rican native who joined the 15th Connecticut Regiment (a.k.a. Lyon Regiment) of the United States Union Army, served in the defenses of Washington D.C. and led his men in the Battles of Fredericksburg and Wyse Fork in the American Civil War?[4]
  • ... that Pedro Albizu Campos, who later became the leader of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, held the rank of lieutenant in the United States Army?
  • ... that CWO2 Joseph B. Áviles, Sr. was the first Hispanic promoted Chief Petty Officer and later the first Hispanic Chief Warrant Officer in the United States Coast Guard?[5]
  • ... that Private First Class Fernando Luis García was the first Puerto Rican, from a total of nine, to be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously and that his remains were never recovered? There is a headstone with García's name in the Puerto Rico National Cemetery in the city of Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
  • ... that On January 6, 1914, First Lieutenant Bernard L. Smith established the Marine Section of the Navy Flying School in the island municipality of Culebra?[6] As the number of Marine Aviators grew so did the avid desire to separate from Naval Aviation.[7] By doing so, the Marine Aviation was designated as separate from the United States Naval Aviation. The creation of a "Marine Corps Aviation Company" in Puerto Rico consisted of ten officers and forty enlisted men.[8]
  • ... that when the United States entered World War II, the military was in need of nurses and that Puerto Rican nurses wanted to volunteer for service, however they were not accepted into the Army or Navy Nurse Corps?[9] In 1944, the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) decided to accept Puerto Rican nurses.
  • ... that in World War II, Private First Class Joseph (José) R. Martínez , born in San Germán, Puerto Rico, became the first Puerto Rican to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor, when he destroyed a German Infantry unit and tank by providing heavy artillery fire, saving his platoon from being attacked in the process?[10][11]

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Sources

  1. ^ Abercromby's Siege
  2. ^ Special Forces Soldier, Blinded in Battle, Determined to Keep Serving; Fox News
  3. ^ Felix Arenas Gaspar
  4. ^ "The Puerto Rican diaspora: historical perspectives"; By Carmen Teresa Whalen, Víctor Vázquez-Hernandez; page 176; Publisher: Temple University Press; ISBN-13: 9781592134137; ISBN: 1592134130
  5. ^ site United States Coast Guard
  6. ^ Condon, John Pomeroy (1993). "U.S. Marine Corps Aviation". 75th Year of Naval Aviation – Volume Five of a Commemorative Collection. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. p. 3. Retrieved August 24, 2009.[dead link]
  7. ^ Corum (2003), p.23.
  8. ^ Sherrod (1952), p.4–5.
  9. ^ Puerto Rican Woman in Defense of our country
  10. ^ The Puerto Rican Diaspora: Historical; By Carmen Teresa Whalen and Víctor Vázquez; Pg. 78; Published 2005 by Temple University Press; ISBN:1592134130
  11. ^ Irizarry's DSC Citation[dead link], Retrieved June 6, 2008
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