ORIGIN OF NAME: Spanish for "rich port."

NICKNAME: Island of Enchantment.

CAPITAL: San Juan.

BECAME A COMMONWEALTH: 25 July 1952.

SONG: "La Borinquena."

MOTTO: Joannes est nomen ejus. (John is his name.)

FLAG: From the hoist extends a blue triangle, with one white star; five horizontal stripes--three red, two white--make up the balance.

OFFICIAL SEAL: In the center of a green circular shield, a lamb holding a white banner reclines on the book of the Apocalypse. Above are a yoke, a cluster of arrows, and the letters "F" and "I," signifying King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, rulers of Spain at the time of discovery; below is the commonwealth motto. Surrounding the shield, on a white border, are the towers of Castile and lions symbolizing Spain, crosses representing the conquest of Jerusalem, and Spanish banners.

ANIMAL: Coqui.

BIRD: Reinita.

FLOWER: Maga.

TREE: Ceiba.

TIME: 8 AM Atlantic Standard Time = noon GMT.

Source Database: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the States

Table of Contents
AGRICULTURE | ARTS | CLIMATE | COMMERCE | COMMUNICATIONS | DOMESTICATED ANIMALS | ECONOMY | EDUCATION | ENERGY AND POWER | ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION | ETHNIC GROUPS | FAMOUS PUERTO RICANS | FISHING | FORESTRY | FURTHER READINGS | HEALTH | HISTORY | HOUSING | INCOME | INDUSTRY | JUDICIAL SYSTEM | LABOR | LANGUAGES | LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS | LOCAL GOVERNMENT | LOCATION AND SIZE | MIGRATION | MINING | PLANTS AND ANIMALS | POLITICAL PARTIES | POPULATION | PRESS | PUBLIC FINANCE | RELIGIONS | SOURCE CITATION | SPORTS | STATE GOVERNMENT | TAXATION | TOPOGRAPHY | TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION | TRANSPORTATION | VIEW MULTIMEDIA FILE(S)

LOCATION AND SIZE

Situated on the northeast periphery of the Caribbean Sea, about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) southeast of Miami, Puerto Rico is the easternmost and smallest island of the Greater Antilles group. Its total area is 3,515 square miles (9,104 square kilometers), including 3,459 square miles (8,959 square kilometers) of land and 56 square miles (145 square kilometers) of inland water. The main island measures 111 miles (179 kilometers) east-west and 36 (58 kilometers) north-south. Offshore and to the east are two major islands, Vieques and Culebra. Puerto Rico's total boundary length is 378 miles (608 kilometers).

TOPOGRAPHY

About 75% of Puerto Rico's land area consists of hills or mountains too steep for intensive commercial cultivation. The Cordillera Central range, separating the northern coast from the semiarid south, has the island's highest peak, Cerro de Punta (4,389 feet--1,338 meters). Puerto Rico's best-known peak, El Yunque (3,496 feet--1,066 meters), stands to the east, in the Luquillo Mountains ( Sierra de Luquillo). The north coast consists of a level strip about 100 miles (160 kilometers) long and 5 miles (8 kilometers) wide. Principal valleys are located along the east coast, from Fajardo to Cape Mala Pascua, and around Caguas, in the east-central region. Off the eastern shore are two small islands: Vieques, with an area of 51 square miles (132 square kilometers), and Culebra, covering 24 square miles (62 square kilometers).

The longest river is the Rio de la Plata, extending 46 miles (74 kilometers) from Cayey to Dorado, where it empties into the Atlantic. There are few natural lakes but numerous artificial ones, of which Dos Bocas, south of Arecibo, is one of the most beautiful.

Like many other Caribbean islands, Puerto Rico is the crest of an extinct submarine volcano. About 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of the island lies the Puerto Rico Trench, at over 28,000 feet (8,500 meters) one of the world's deepest chasms.

CLIMATE

Tradewinds from the northeast keep Puerto Rico's climate steady, although tropical. San Juan has a normal daily mean temperature of 80°F (27°C), ranging from 77°F (25°C) in January to 82°F (28°C) in July; the normal daily minimum is 73°F (23°C), the maximum 86°F (30°C). The lowest temperature ever recorded on the island is 39°F (4°C); the highest was 103°F (39°C). The recorded temperature in San Juan has never been lower than 60°F (16°C) or higher than 98°F (37°C).

Rainfall varies by region. Ponce, on the south coast, averages only 32 inches (81 centimeters) a year, while the highlands average 108 inches (274 centimeters); the rain forest on El Yunque receives an annual average of 183 inches (465 centimeters). San Juan's average annual rainfall is 54 inches (137 centimeters), with its rainiest months being May through November.

The word "hurricane" derives from hurakán, a term the Spanish learned from Puerto Rico's Taino Indians. Several hurricanes have struck Puerto Rico in this century, most recently in 1998.

PLANTS AND ANIMALS

During the 19th century, forests covered about three-fourths of Puerto Rico. Today, however, only one-fourth of the island is forested. Flowering trees still abound, and the butterfly tree, African tulip, and flamboyán (royal poinciana) add bright reds and pinks to Puerto Rico's lush green landscape. Among hardwoods, now rare, are nutmeg, satinwood, Spanish elm, and Spanish cedar.

The only mammal found by the conquistadores on the island was a kind of barkless dog, now extinct. Virtually all present-day mammals have been introduced, including horses, cattle, cats, and dogs. The only troublesome mammal is the mongoose, brought in from India to control reptiles in the cane fields and now wild in remote rural areas.

Mosquitoes and sand flies are common pests, but the only dangerous insect is the giant centipede, whose sting is painful but rarely fatal.

Perhaps the island's best-known inhabitant is the golden coqui, a tiny threatened tree frog. Marine life is extraordinarily abundant, including many tropical fish, crabs, and corals. Puerto Rico has some 200 bird species, many of which live in the rain forest. Thrushes, orioles, grosbeaks, and hummingbirds are common, and the reinita and pitirre are distinctive to the island. Several parrot species are rare, and the Puerto Rican parrot is endangered. Also on the endangered list are the yellow-shouldered blackbird and the Puerto Rican plain pigeon, Puerto Rican whippoorwill, Culebra giant anole, Puerto Rican boa, and Monita gecko. The Mona boa and Mona ground iguana are threatened.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

US environmental laws and regulations are applicable in Puerto Rico. Land-use planning, overseen by the Puerto Rico Planning Board, is an especially difficult problem, since residential, industrial, and recreational developers are all competing for about 30% of the total land area on an island that is already more densely populated than any state of the US except New Jersey. Pollution from highland latrines and septic systems and from agricultural and industrial wastes is a potential hazard. The rum industry, for example, has traditionally dumped its wastes into the ocean. Sewage discharges into the ocean remain a problem.

About 300,000 tons of hazardous waste are generated annually, and 16,000 tons of chemical substances are released into the air, water, and soil each year. As of 1996, the island had nine hazardous waste sites.

HISTORY

Archaeological finds indicate that at least three Indian cultures settled on the island now known as Puerto Rico long before its discovery by Christopher Columbus on 19 November 1493. The first group, belonging to the Archaic Culture, is believed to have come from Florida and relied on the products of the sea. The second group, the Igneri, came from northern South America and brought agriculture and pottery to the island. The third culture, the Taino, combined fishing with agriculture. A peaceful, sedentary tribe, the Taino were adept at stonework and lived in many parts of the island. To the Indians, the island was known as Boriqúen.

Columbus, accompanied by a young nobleman named Juan Ponce de León, landed at the western end of the island--which he called San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist)--and claimed it for Spain. Not until colonization was well under way would the island acquire the name Puerto Rico (literally, "rich port"), with the name San Juan Bautista applied to the capital city. The first settlers arrived on 12 August 1508, under the able leadership of Ponce de León, who sought to transplant and adapt Spanish civilization to Puerto Rico's tropical habitat. The small contingent of Spaniards compelled the Taino, numbering perhaps 30,000, to mine for gold; the rigors of forced labor and the losses from rebellion reduced the Taino population to about 4,000 by 1514, by which time the mines were nearly depleted. With the introduction of slaves from Africa, sugarcane growing became the leading economic activity. Since neither mining or sugarcane was able to provide sufficient revenue to support the struggling colony, the treasury of New Spain began a subsidy which until the early 19th century defrayed the cost of the island's government and defense.

16TH-18TH CENTURIES

From the early 16th century onward, an intense power struggle for the control of the Caribbean marked Puerto Rico as a strategic base of the first magnitude. After a French attack in 1528, construction of La Fortaleza (still in use today as the governor's palace) was begun in 1533, and work on El Morro fortress in San Juan commenced six years later. The new fortifications helped repel a British attack led by Sir Francis Drake in 1595; a second force, arriving in 1598 under George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, succeeded in capturing San Juan, but the British were forced to withdraw by tropical heat and disease. In 1625, a Dutch attack under the command of Boudewijn Hendrikszoon was repulsed, although much of San Juan was sacked and burned by the attackers. By the 18th century, Puerto Rico had become a haven for pirates, and smuggling was the major economic activity. A Spanish envoy who came to the island in 1765 was appalled, and his report to the crown inaugurated a period of economic, administrative, and military reform. The creation of a native militia helped Puerto Rico withstand a fierce British assault on San Juan in 1797, by which time the island had more than 100,000 inhabitants.

Long after most of the Spanish colonies in the New World had obtained independence, Puerto Rico and Cuba remained under Spanish rule. Despite several rebellions, most of them inspired by the Latin American liberator, Simón Bolivar, Spain's military might concentrated on these islands halted any revolution.

Puerto Rico became a shelter for refugees from Santo Domingo, Haiti, and Venezuela who were faithful to Spain, fearful of disturbances in their own countries, or both. As in Cuba, the sugar industry developed in Puerto Rico during this period under policies that favored the institution of slavery in the island.

19TH CENTURY

The 19th century also gave birth, however, to a new Puerto Rican civil and political consciousness. Puerto Rican participation in the short-lived constitutional experiments in Spain (1812-14 and 1820-23) fostered the rise of a spirit of liberalism. The Spanish constitution of 1812 declared that the people of Puerto Rico were no longer colonial subjects but were full-fledged citizens of Spain. Nevertheless, the Spanish crown maintained an alert, centralized, absolutist government in Puerto Rico with all basic powers concentrated in the captain general.

Toward the middle of the 19th century, a criollo generation with strong liberal roots began a new era in Puerto Rican history. This group, which called for the abolition of slavery and the introduction of far-reaching economic and political reforms, at the same time developed and strengthened Puerto Rican literary tradition. The more radical reformers espoused the cause of separation from Spain and joined in a propaganda campaign in New York on behalf of Cuban independence. An aborted revolution began in the town of Lares in September 1868 (and coincided with an insurrection in Spain that deposed Queen Isabella II). Though it was soon quelled, this rebellion awakened among Puerto Ricans a dormant sense of national identity.

The major reform efforts after 1868 revolved around abolitionism and autonomia, or self-government. Slavery was abolished in 1873 by the First Spanish Republic, which also granted new political rights to the islanders. The restoration of the Spanish monarchy two years later, however, was a check to Puerto Rican aspirations. During the last quarter of the century, leaders such as Luis Muñoz Rivera sought unsuccessfully to secure vast new powers of self-government.

The imminence of war with the US over Cuba, coupled with autonomist agitation within Puerto Rico, led Spain in November 1897 to grant to the island a charter with broad powers of self-rule. No sooner had an elected government begun to function in July 1898 than US forces, overcoming Spanish resistance, took over the island. A ceasefire was proclaimed on 13 August, and sovereignty was formally transferred to the US with the signing in December of the Treaty of Paris, ending the Spanish-American War. The US government swept aside the self-governing charter granted by Spain and established military rule from 1898 to 1900. Civilian government was restored in 1900 under a colonial law, the Foraker Act, that gave the federal government full control of the executive and legislative branches, leaving some local representation in the lower chamber, or house of delegates. Under the Jones Act, Congress extended US citizenship to the islanders and granted an elective senate, but still reserved vast powers over Puerto Rico to the federal bureaucracy.

20TH CENTURY

The early period of US rule saw an effort to Americanize local institutions, and even tried to substitute English for the Spanish language. In the meantime, American corporate capital took over the sugar industry, developing a plantation economy so pervasive that, by 1920, 75% of the population relied on the cane crop for its livelihood. Glaring irregularities of wealth resulted, sharpening social and political divisions. This period also saw the development of three main trends in Puerto Rican political thinking. One group favored the incorporation of Puerto Rico into the US as a state; a second group, fearful of cultural assimilation, favored self-government; while a third group spoke for independence.

The Depression hit Puerto Rico especially hard. With a population approaching two million by the late 1930s, and with few occupational opportunities outside the sugar industry, the island's economy deteriorated. Mass unemployment and near-starvation were the results. Controlling the Puerto Rican legislature from 1932 to 1940 was a coalition of the Socialist Party, led by Santiago Iglesias, a Spanish labor leader who became a protégé of the American Federation of Labor; and the Republican Party, which had traditionally espoused statehood and had been founded in Puerto Rico by José Celso Barbosa, a black physician who had studied in the US. The coalition was unable to produce any significant improvement, although under the New Deal a US government effort was made to supply emergency relief for the "stricken island."

Agitation for full political and economic reform or independence gained ground during this period. Great pressure was put on Washington for a change in the island's political status, while social and economic reform was carried to the fullest extent possible within the limitations of the Jones Act. Intensive efforts were made to centralize economic planning, attract new industries through local tax exemptions (Puerto Rico was already exempt from federal taxation), reduce inequalities of income, and improve housing, schools, and health conditions. By 1955, income from manufacturing surpassed that from agriculture and was five times as great by 1970.

The Popular Democratic Party (PDP), the dominant force in Puerto Rican politics from 1940 to 1968, favored a new self-governing relationship with the US, distinct from statehood or independence. The party succeeded not only in bringing about significant social and economic change but also in obtaining from Congress, in 1950, a law allowing Puerto Ricans to draft their own constitution with full local self-government. This new constitution, approved in a general referendum on 3 March 1952, led to the establishment on 25 July of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico), which was constituted as an autonomous political entity in voluntary association with the United States.

More advanced than most Caribbean countries in education, health, and social development, Puerto Rico suffered from growing political tensions in the early 1980s, with occasional terrorist attacks on US military installations and personnel. These tensions may have been exacerbated by the national recession of 1980-81, which had a particularly severe impact on Puerto Rico. At the same time, the island's economy experienced a structural shift. Whereas 50% of jobs in Puerto Rico had been in agriculture in 1940, by 1989 that figure had dropped to 20%. Manufacturing jobs, in contrast, rose from 5 to 15% of total employment between 1940 and 1989.

THE 51ST STATE?

Puerto Rico's political status remains a source of controversy. Statehood would give Puerto Rico representation in the US Congress and would make the island eligible for billions of dollars more a year in food stamps, medical insurance, and income support payments, which are currently set at levels far below those of states. However, statehood would also incur the loss of tax benefits. Under current federal tax law for the commonwealth, individuals pay no federal income tax. More importantly, corporations pay no federal tax on profits, which has persuaded many companies, particularly manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, chemicals and electronics, to build plants in Puerto Rico. In a 1993 plebiscite, a slight majority of Puerto Rican voters chose to maintain the island's status as an American commonwealth. The vote was conditioned, however, by a request that Congress modify the terms of the island's commonwealth status. Specifically, Puerto Ricans asked for such "enhancements" as removing the federal ceiling on food stamps and extending Supplemental Security Income, a federal aid program, to elderly and handicapped Puerto Ricans. They also requested that federal tax law, recently amended to reduce by 60% the exemptions corporations could claim from taxes on profits, be restored to its original form.

MIGRATION

Although migration from Puerto Rico to the US mainland is not an entirely new phenomenon--several Puerto Rican merchants were living in New York City as early as 1830--there were no more than 70,000 islanders in the US in 1940. Mass migration, spurred by the booming postwar job market in the US, began in 1947. The out-migration was particularly large from 1951 through 1959, when the net outflow of migrants from the island averaged more than 47,000 a year. According to the 1990 census, 1,955,323 ethnic Puerto Ricans were living in the 50 states, including 1,190,533 native-born Puerto Ricans. At least 32 cities had Puerto Rican communities of 5,000 or more. Puerto Ricans are found in significant numbers not only in New York State but also in New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. In 1996, Puerto Rico admitted 8,560 immigrants from countries other than the United States.

STATE GOVERNMENT

Since 1952, Puerto Rico has been a commonwealth of the US, governed under the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act and under a constitution based on the US model.

The commonwealth legislature comprises a senate (Senado) of 29 members, 2 from each of 8 senatorial districts and 11 elected at large, and a house of representatives (Cámara de Representantes) of 52 members, 1 from each of 40 districts and 11 at large. Each senate district consists of five house districts. If a single party wins two-thirds or more of the seats in either house, the number of seats can be expanded (up to a limit of 9 in the senate and 17 in the house) to assure representation for minority parties. The governor, who may serve an unlimited number of four-year terms, is the only elected executive.

Residents of Puerto Rico may not vote in US presidential elections. A Puerto Rican who settles in one of the 50 states automatically becomes eligible to vote for president; conversely, a state resident who migrates to Puerto Rico forfeits such eligibility. Puerto Rico has no vote in the US Senate or House of Representatives, but a nonvoting resident delegate, elected every four years, may speak on the floor of the House, introduce legislation, and vote in House committees.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico had 78 municipios (municipalities) in 1997, each governed by a mayor and municipal assembly elected every four years. In fact, these governments resemble US county governments in that they perform services for both urban and rural areas. Many of the functions normally performed by municipal governments in the US--for instance, fire protection, education, water supply, and law enforcement--are performed by the commonwealth government directly.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Puerto Rico's highest court, the Supreme Court, consists of a chief justice and six associate justices. They are appointed, like all other judges, by the governor with the consent of the senate and serve until compulsory retirement at age 70. The court may sit in separate panels for some purposes, but not in cases dealing with the constitutionality of commonwealth law, for which the entire body convenes. Decisions of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico regarding US constitutional questions may be appealed to the US Supreme Court.

The nine superior courts are the main trial courts; superior court judges are appointed to 12-year terms. There are 111 superior court justices in 12 districts. Superior courts hear appeals from the 38 district courts, which have 111 judges. These courts have original jurisdiction in civil cases not exceeding $10,000 and in minor criminal cases. District courts also hear preliminary motions in more serious criminal cases. Municipal judges, serving for five years, and justices of the peace, in rural areas, decide cases involving local ordinances.

San Juan is the seat of the US District Court for Puerto Rico, which has the same jurisdiction as federal district courts on the US mainland.

LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

In 1997, Puerto Rico's public libraries contained about 609,391 volumes. The University of Puerto Rico Library at Rio Piedras held 587,270 books; the library of the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, in San Juan, has a collection of music written by Puerto Rican and Latin American composers. Among the 21 museums in 1997, the Museo de Arte de Ponce (Luis A. Ferre Foundation) had paintings, sculptures, and archae­ological artifacts, as well as a library. The Marine Station Museum in Mayagüez exhibits Caribbean marine specimens and sponsors research and field trips.

POLITICAL PARTIES

The Popular Democratic (PDP), founded in 1938, favors the strengthening and development of commonwealth status. The New Progressive Party (NPP), created in 1968 as the successor to the Puerto Rican Republican Party, is pro-statehood. Two smaller parties, each favoring independence for the island, are the Puerto Rican Independence Party, founded in the mid-1940s and committed to democratic socialism, and the more radical Puerto Rican Socialist Party, which has close ties with Cuba. A breakaway group, the Renewal Party, led by the mayor of San Juan, Hernán Padilla, left the NPP and took part in the 1984 elections.

In 1980, Governor Carlos Romero Barceló of the NPP, who had pledged to seek actively Puerto Rico's admission to the Union if elected by a large margin, retained the governorship by a plurality of fewer than 3,500 votes. Former governor Rafael Hernández Colón defeated Romero Barceló's bid for reelection in 1984 by more than 54,000 votes. Colon was reelected in 1988 and was succeeded in 1992 by Pedro Rossello, a New Progressive and a supporter of statehood.

Although Puerto Ricans have no vote in US presidential elections, the island does send voting delegates to the national conventions of the Democratic and Republican parties.

TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION

Only government and manufacturing exceed tourism in impor­tance to the Puerto Rican economy. The industry has grown rapidly, from 65,000 tourists in 1950 to 1.1 million in 1970 and 3.7 million in 1992. Tourism accounts for about 4.7% of the island's gross national product.

Most tourists come for sunning, swimming, deep-sea fishing, and the fashionable shops, night clubs, and casinos of San Juan's Condado Strip. Attractions of old San Juan include two fortresses, El Morro and San Cristobal, San Jose Church (one of the oldest in the New World), and La Fortaleza, the governor's palace. The government has been encouraging tourists to journey outside of San Juan to destinations such as the rain forest of El Yunque, and the bird sanctuary and mangrove forest on the shores of Torrecilla Lagoon.

ETHNIC GROUPS

Three main ethnic strands are the heritage of Puerto Rico: the Taino Indians, most of whom fled or perished after the Spanish conquest; black Africans, imported as slaves under Spanish rule; and the Spanish themselves. With an admixture of Dutch, English, Corsicans, and other Europeans, Puerto Ricans today enjoy a distinct Hispanic-Afro-Antillean heritage.

Less than two thirds of all ethnic Puerto Ricans live on the island. Virtually all the remainder reside on the US mainland. In 1990, there were 1.96 million people who identified themselves as Puerto Rican in the 50 states. The State of New York has almost half the US ethnic Puerto Rican population.

LANGUAGES

Spanish is the official language of Puerto Rico; English is required in schools as a second language. From 1898 through the 1920s, US authorities unsuccessfully sought to make English the island's primary language.

Taino Indian terms that survive in Puerto Rican Spanish include such place-names as Arecibo, Guayama, and Mayagüez, as well as hamaca (hammock) and canoa (canoe). Among many African borrowings are food terms like quimbombó (okra), guince (banana), and mondongo (a spicy stew).

RELIGIONS

During the first three centuries of Spanish rule, Roman Catholicism was the only religion permitted in Puerto Rico. More than 80% of the population was still Roman Catholic at the end of 1992, and the Church maintains numerous hospitals and schools on the island. Most of the remaining Puerto Ricans belong to other Christian denominations, which have been allowed on the island since the 1850s. By 2010, Protestants may outnumber Roman Catholics in Puerto Rico, according to some projections. Pentecostal churches have attracted a significant following, particularly among the urban poor of the barrios.

TRANSPORTATION

Rivers are not navigable, and the only function of narrow-gauge rural railroads is to haul sugarcane to the mills during the harvesting season. Other goods are transported by truck. A few public bus systems provide intercity passenger transport, the largest being the Metropolitan Bus Authority (MBA), a government-owned company serving San Juan and nearby cities. The predominant form of public transportation outside the San Juan metropolitan area is the público, or privately owned jitney, a small bus that carries passengers between fixed destinations. In many rural areas, this is the only form of public transit.

In 1996, Puerto Rico had 14,535 miles (23,387 kilometers) of streets and roads, 77% of which were small local roads. Of the total mileage, 52% was rural, and 250 miles (402 kilometers) were classified as interstate highways. Motor vehicle registrations in 1996 totaled 1.5 million. The commonwealth had 1.6 million licensed drivers.

San Juan, the island's principal port handled 15.1 million tons of cargo in 1996. Crude oil and gasoline were the leading items. Ponce handled 1.14 million tons, and Mayagüez 407,000 tons. Ferries link the main island with Vieques and Culebra.

Puerto Rico receives flights from the US mainland and from the Virgin Islands, the British West Indies, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic, as well as from Great Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands. Puerto Rico had 14 airports in 1996. Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Juan served 4.55 million passengers and handled 114,800 tons of freight in 1996.

FAMOUS PUERTO RICANS

Elected to represent Puerto Rico before the Spanish Cortes in 1812, Ramón Power y Giralt (1775-1813), a liberal reformer, was the leading Puerto Rican political figure of the early 19th century. Power, appointed vice president of the Cortes, participated in the drafting of the new Spanish constitution of 1812. Ramón Emeterio Betances (1827-98) became well known not only for his efforts to alleviate a cholera epidemic in 1855, but also for his crusade to abolish slavery in Puerto Rico and for his leadership in a racial separatist movement.

The dominant political figure in 20th-century Puerto Rico was Luis Muñoz Marin (1898-1980), founder of the Popular Democratic Party in 1938 and president of Puerto Rico's senate from 1940 to 1948. Muñoz, the first native-born elected governor of the island (1948-64), devised the commonwealth relationship that has governed the island since 1952.

Women have participated actively in Puerto Rican politics. Ana Roqué de Duprey (1853-1933) led the Asociación Puertorriquena de Mujeres Sufragistas, organized in late 1926, while Milagros Benet de Mewton (1868-1945) presided over the Liga Social Sufragista, founded in 1917. Both groups actively lobbied for the extension of the right to vote to Puerto Rican women, not only in Puerto Rico but in the US and other countries as well.

Manuel A. Alonso (1822-89) blazed the trail for a distinctly Puerto Rican literature with the publication, in 1849, of El Gibaro, the first major effort to depict the traditions and mores of the island's rural society.

In the world of entertainment, Academy Award winners José Ferrer (b.1912-1992) and Rita Moreno (b.1931) are among the most famous. Notable in classical music is cellist-conductor Pablo Casals (b.Spain, 1876-1973), a long-time resident of Puerto Rico. Well-known popular musicians include Tito Puente (b.New York, 1923) and José Feliciano (b.1945).

Roberto Clemente (1934-72), one of baseball's most admired performers and a member of the Hall of Fame, played on 12 National League All-Star teams and was named Most Valuable Player in 1966.

EDUCATION

Education is compulsory for children between 6 and 16 years of age, and nearly two out of ten commonwealth budget dollars goes to education.

In the 1995/96 academic year there were 621,370 students attending public school. Instruction is carried out in Spanish, but English is taught at all levels.

Puerto Rico had 14 public institutions of higher learning in 1995/96, including 10 four-year instiutitions. The main state supported institution of higher learning is the University of Puerto Rico with its main campus at Rico Piedras. Total enrollment at higher education institutions was 156,439 in 1994/95.

HEALTH

Infant mortality declined from 113 per 1,000 live births in 1940 to 9.4 in 1996. Compared with the United States, the commonwealth's infant mortality rate in 1996 was lower than in the District of Columbia, Mississippi, and North Carolina.

In 1997, Puerto Rico enjoyed one of the lowest death rates in the world--only 692 per 100,000 population. The only states with a lower death rate that year were Alaska and Utah. The leading causes of death were similar to those in most industri­alized countries (heart disease, cancer, diabetes mellitus). Alcoholism and drug addiction are among the major public health problems, although suicide occurs less often than it does in most of the states.

In 1991, Puerto Rico had 56 hospitals, with 9,688 beds; average daily occupancy was 6,792, or 70.1% of beds filled. Medical personnel included 7,942 non-federal physicians in 1992.

HOUSING

In 1990, there were a total of 1,184,382 housing units with 2.97 persons per unit, versus 867,697 units in 1980 when there were 3.66 persons per occupied unit. Local authorities, however, estimated that from 1990 to 1995, Puerto Rico needed to build about 16,000 units per year in order to satisfy the local housing demand.

POPULATION

Puerto Rico's population amounted to nearly 3.83 million in 1997, up from 3.52 million in 1990. The population projection for 2010 is 4.09 million. With a population density of 1,025 per square mile (465 per square kilometer), Puerto Rico is one of the most densely populated areas of the world.

According to the 1990 census, the population was 71% urban and 29% rural. About 33% of the population was 19 years of age or younger in 1998, and 10.3% was 65 or older. San Juan is Puerto Rico's capital and largest city, with a 1997 population estimate of 436,334, followed by Bayamon, 233,784; Ponce, 189,900; Carolina, 189,853; Guaynabo, 104,901; Arecibo, 102,773; and Mayagüez, 100,001.

ARTS

The Tapia Theater in Old San Juan is the island's major showcase for local and visiting performers, including the Taller de Histri­ones group and zarzuela (comic opera) troupes from Spain. The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture produces an annual theatrical festival. The Fine Arts Center features entertainment ranging from ballet, opera, and symphonies to drama, jazz, and popular music.

Puerto Rico has its own symphony orchestra and conservatory of music. The Opera de Camara tours several houses. Puerto Rico supports both a classical ballet company (the Ballets de San Juan), and the Areyto Folkloric Group, which performs traditional folk dances. Salsa, a popular style pioneered by such Puerto Rican musicians as Tito Puente, influenced the development of pop music on the US mainland during the 1970s.

COMMUNICATIONS

The Puerto Rico Telephone Company was founded in 1914 by the creators of International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT). In 1974, the Puerto Rican government bought the phone company from ITT. In 1997, there were an estimated 1.3 million telephone lines on the island. Two cellular companies provide service to 33,000 customers.

As of 1993, there were 65 AM and 41 FM radio stations and 33 television stations. Cable televi­sion service was provided by six companies in 1997.

PRESS

Puerto Rico has three major Spanish-language dailies: 1997 circulation for El Nuevo Dia was 223,112 mornings, 239,999 Sundays; and for El Vocero, 198,897 mornings. The English-language San Juan Star, with a circulation of 35,015 mornings and 33,429 Sundays, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961. El Reportero is an evening Spanish-language newspaper.

SPORTS

Baseball is very popular in Puerto Rico. There is a 15-team professional winter league, in which many ball players from American and National league teams participate. Horse racing, cockfighting, boxing, and basketball are also popular. Other annual sporting events include the Copa Velasco Regatta, the first leg of the Caribbean Ocean Racing Triangle, and the International Billfish Tournament in San Juan.

AGRICULTURE

Total farm income in 1996 was $663 million. In 1940, agriculture employed 43% of the work force; by 1996, about 3.5% of Puerto Rican labor force had agricultural jobs. Nowhere is this decline more evident than in the sugar industry. Production peaked at 1.3 million tons in 1952. The hilly terrain makes mechanization difficult, and manual cutting contributes to production costs that are much higher than those of Hawaii and Louisiana. Despite incentives and subsidies, tobacco is no longer profitable, and coffee production--well adapted to the highlands--falls far short of domestic consumption, although about half of the crop is exported. In 1996, some 26.5 million pounds (12 million kilograms) of coffee were produced by Puerto Rican farmers, with a value of $56 million. Plantains are also an important crop, with 76 tons produced in 1995. Ornamental plants, tropical fruits, mangoes, vegetables, and bananas are also grown.

DOMESTICATED ANIMALS

In early 1996, there were 429,000 cattle and 196,000 hogs on Puerto Rico farms and ranches. Production of meat animals in 1995 included 39.7 million pounds (18 million kilograms) of beef, and 33 million pounds (15 million kilograms) of pork.

Leading dairy and poultry products in 1995 were 822.5 million pounds (373 million kilograms) of milk, 39,690 pounds (18,000 kilograms) of eggs, and 136.7 million pounds (62 million kilograms) of broiler chickens. In 1995, there were about 14 million chickens on Puerto Rican poultry farms.

ENERGY AND POWER

Puerto Rico is almost totally dependent on imported crude oil for its energy needs. The island has not yet developed any fossil fuel resources of its own, and its one experimental nuclear reactor, built on the south coast at Rincon in 1964, was shut down after a few years. Solar-powered hot-water heaters have been installed in a few private homes and at La Fortaleza. Inefficiency in the public transport system has encouraged commonwealth residents to rely on private vehicles, thereby increasing the demands for imported petroleum. Of Puerto Rico's total energy requirements, about 90% is supplied by liquid fuels. Puerto Rico imported 5.29 million barrels of refined petroleum products in 1996.

FISHING

Although sport fishing, especially for blue marlin, is an important tourist attraction, the waters surrounding Puerto Rico are too deep to lend themselves to commercial fishery. Tuna brought in from African and South American waters is processed on the western shore that together provide much of the canned tuna sold in eastern US markets. Five aquacultural projects covering some 550 acres (220 hectares) operate, including the largest freshwater prawn farm in the Americas. Other species produced by Puerto Rican aquaculture include saltwater shrimp, red tilapia fish, and ornamental species. The total catch in 1994 was 2,240 metric tons, 86% of which came from marine fishing.

FORESTRY

Puerto Rico lost its self-sufficiency in timber production by the mid-19th century, as population expansion and increasing de­mand for food led to massive deforestation. Today, Puerto Rico must import nearly all of its wood and paper products. The Caribbean National Forest covers 55,665 acres (22,527 hectares), of which 27,846 acres (11,269 hectares) constituted national Forest System lands.

MINING

The estimated value of nonfuel mineral commodities produced in Puerto Rico was $217 million in 1997. Portland cement and crushed stone are the most valuable commodities. The latter accounts for approximately 24% of the Commonwealth's mineral value and is the island's second leading mineral commodity. In 1997, 13.2 million metric tons of crushed stone were produced, for a value of $52.5 million. Even with crushed stone being excluded, Puerto Rico's mineral value was greater than that of eleven mainland States.

At least 11 different types of metallic mineral deposits, including copper, iron, gold, manganese, silver, molybdenum, zinc, lead, and other minerals, are found on the island. Also produced are industrial minerals (cement, stone, clay, and sand and gravel).

COMMERCE

Wholesale trade in Puerto Rico in 1992 included some 2,651 establish­ments and major distributors, with sales of $10.19 billion. Retail trade consists mainly of food and apparel stores. Two large shopping centers, Plaza las Americas and Plaza Carolina, are in the San Juan area.

Foreign trade is a significant factor in Puerto Rico's economy. Trade between the US and Puerto Rico is unrestricted. In 1996, the island's imports were $19.1 billion, and exports were $22.9 billion. During 1995, the US received 88% of Puerto Rico's exports and supplied about 62% of its imports.

ECONOMY

Puerto Rico's gross product in 1995 was $28.4 billion. In 1995, agriculture contributed 1% to the total economic output; manufacturing, 41%; construction and mining, 2%; transportation and public utilities, 8%; trade, 14%; finance, insurance, and real estate, 13%; services, 11%; and government, 10%.

The island's most important industrial products are apparel, textiles, pharmaceuticals, petroleum products, rum, refined sugar, computers, instruments, and office machines. Tourism is the backbone of a large service industry, and the government sector has also grown. Tourist revenues and remittances from Puerto Rican workers on the US mainland largely counterbalance the island's chronic trade deficit.

PUBLIC FINANCE

Puerto Rico's annual budget is prepared by the Bureau of Budget and Management and submitted by the governor to the legisla­tor, which has unlimited power to amend it. The fiscal year extends from July 1 to 30 June. In the 1996 fiscal year, revenues totaled $9.53 billion and expenditures amounted to $9.18 billion.

INCOME

Per capita (per person) income in Puerto Rico, $7,882 in 1996, was far lower than in any of the 50 states during that year, but still greatly exceeded that of its Caribbean neighbors. Total income increased from $1.3 billion in 1960 to $5 billion in 1972, $9 billion in 1980, and $24.5 billion in 1996. Average family income on the island in 1996 was $27,587.

INDUSTRY

In 1992, the value of manufactured shipments was $31 billion. Chemicals accounted for 43%; food and related products, 17%; and electronic equipment, 9%. In 1995, 172,000 Puerto Ricans were employed by manufacturing. The leading employment categories are apparel and textiles, chemicals and allied products, food and food-related products, electric and electronic equipment, and instruments. The growth areas were electric and electronic equipment, up 47% from 1977, and instruments and related products, up 60%.

There are more than 90 pharmaceutical plants representing 20 of the world's leading drug and health companies. The largest included Johnson & Johnson (Rio Piedras), Abbott Chemicals (Barceloneta), Bristol-Myers Squibb (Humacao), Warner-Lambert (Vega Baja), and Schering-Plough (Manati). Baxter International (medical devices) is one of the commonwealth's largest non-locally based manufacturers, with 10 plants; Westinghouse Electric (electric components) has 15; and Motorola (radio equipment), 4. The Coca-Cola Company operates the world's largest soft drink concentrate and base manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico.

LABOR

Puerto Rico's civilian labor force in mid-1998 numbered 1.3 million, of whom 165,900 were employed, yielding an unemploy­ment rate of 12.8%.

In 1997, agriculture, forestry, and fishing accounted for about 3.1% of employment; mining, 0.1%; construction, 5.5%; manufacturing, 15.3%; wholesale and retail trade, 19.5%; finance, insurance, and real estate, 3%; transportation, communication, and public utilities, 5.5%; services, 25.5%; and government, 22.5%.

Approximately 7% of the labor force belonged to trade unions in 1997. Wages tend to adhere closely to the US statutory minimum, which applies to Puerto Rico.

TAXATION

The Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act stipulates that the Commonwealth is exempt from US internal revenue laws. The federal income tax is not levied on permanent residents of Puerto Rico, but federal Social Security and unemployment taxes are deducted from payrolls, and the commonwealth government collects an income tax. Corporations in Puerto Rico are also taxed, though some companies fall into a special category--Section 936 of the federal tax code virtually exempts subsidiaries of US corporations operating in Puerto Rico from paying US corporate federal income taxes.

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