Puerto Rico:

Among all the Caribbean territories Puerto Rico has the closest association
with the United States. In 1952 a new constitution made Puerto Rico an
autonomous part of the United States called the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, or Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. This subtropical island has
developed into the only Caribbean island where industry and commerce
exceed primary agricultural production. The island and its approximately
3.3 million citizens are self-governed as a free associated state of the
United States.
The people of Puerto Rico have a love of their country, or patria, that
accepts the free association with the mainland but emphasizes loyalty to
their own culture, way of life, spirit, folklore, hospitality, and ways of
getting along with others. Many Puerto Ricans move between the island and
United States mainland to get the best of both worlds culture,
identity, anda familiar environment in the former; material wealth,
education, acquisition of skills, and opportunities for their children from
temporary residence in the United States. Many return to the Caribbean;
many stay in the United States; and theconstant circulation of Puerto
Ricans between homes is now an enduring feature of the island's
experience.
Economically Puerto Rico has a greater variety of industrial, commercial,
and financial service activities and a better developed transportation
network than other Caribbean islands.Statistics show that it has some of
the most favorable economicand demographic conditions in Latin America
and the Caribbean. In comparison to the United States, however, Puerto
Rico's position is still below that of the poorest state of the Union,
Mississippi.
Next:
Land and Climate
Puerto Rico lies at the eastern end of the major island chain of the
Caribbean, the Greater Antilles. The other islands in the chainCuba,
Jamaica, and Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic)are larger
and geographically more diverse. Puerto Rico's total area, including the
neighboring islands it administers, is about 3,515 square miles (9,104
square kilometers). The two largest island dependenciesVieques and

Culebralie east of Puerto Rico proper. In the west are three smaller
island dependenciesMona, Monito, and Desecheo. Therelatively smooth
coastline is fringed by many small islands and cays, especially in the south
and east. The island is roughly rectangular in shape and stretches for 110
miles (180 kilometers) from east to west between Punta Jiguero and Punta
Puerca, with a width from north to south averaging 35 miles (56
kilometers).
Relatively deep oceanic waters fringe Puerto Rico. The Mona Passage, which
separates the island from Hispaniola to the west, is about 75 miles (120
kilometers) wide and more than 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) deep. Off the
northern coast is the 28,000-foot- (8,500-meter-) deep Puerto Rico
Trench, and to the south the sea bottom descends to the 16,400-foot(5,000-meter-) deep Venezuelan Basin of the Caribbean. Only tothe east is
there a broad continental shelf where the islands of Vieques and Culebra
are structural continuations of the nearby Virgin Islands.
Puerto Rico is topographically rugged; its surface consists largely of hills,
slopes, and mountains. The mountainous core is formed by the Cordillera
Central and the Sierra de Luquillo, continuations of the Cordillera Central
on neighboring Hispaniola. Both mountain ranges represent uplifted old
surfaces strongly dissected by river erosion. Hill regions of equal
irregularity and unevenness extend north and south of these mountains.
Only 30 percent of the island can be classifiedas level or undulating, mostly
in the form of an encircling narrowcoastal plain.
The topographical structure affects Puerto Rico's climate and soils. The
soil lacks depth and plant nutrients, with less than a thirdthat of the
coastal plainhaving average to good qualities for agriculture. Overuse of
low-quality and inadequate soil, especially in the hilly regions and
mountainous interior, hascontributed to damaging erosion of hillsides and
gullies. Intensive conservation practices are encouraged in order to limit
land use to pasture or forest development and to conserve water resources
for the generation of hydroelectric energy.
The island is situated firmly within the zone of the trade winds, which blow
from the east and northeast most of the year, and it has equitable
temperature ranges differentiated only by altitude: tierra caliente (hot,
tropical) on the plains and low hills and tierra templada (moderate,
subtropical) in the mountains. Extreme temperatures are rare, the average
minimum and maximum being 63?F (17?C) in February and 88?F

(31?C) in August. Great variability in precipitation, however, is the norm.

Easterly waves, las ondas alisais, move westward within the trade-wind
zone and cause frequent intense rains that at times last two to three days
without interruption. Hurricanes rarely devastate Puerto Rico, but every
year some pass near enough to affect the island's climateparticularly
causing heavy precipitation during early fall, August to October. Cold
fronts during the winter months occasionally bring relatively cold north
winds, nortes, which drop the island's north coast temperatures to the
island minimum of about 60?F (16?C).
North of the mountainous interior it is wetbetween 80 and 120 inches
(200 and 300 centimeters) of rain annually, and in the rain shadow south of
the mountain backbone it is relatively drybetween 40 and 50 inches
(100 and 125 centimeters). The high temperatures throughout the year
result in high evaporation rates of surface moisture so that much of Puerto
Rico has semiarid conditions.
The natural vegetation of the island before it became inhabited was
forest. It ranged from low scrubby woodland, cactus scrub, and mangrove
in tidal lagoons along windswept coasts to luxuriant tropical evergreen
forests of the cordillera and sierras.Most has disappeared, as virtually all
of the island's lands have been cultivated innumerable times. Only in those
areas not amenable to agricultural exploitation of any kind was natural
vegetation allowed to stand. Sites like the forest reserves of theSierra de
Luquillo in the northeast and some swamps on private lands are the sole
remains of the once dense forest cover. Evergreen tropical rain forest and
mountain forest at higher altitudes still survive at Luquillo. Tropical palm
trees and tree ferns still grow densely right up to the mountain crests.
Elsewhere semievergreen seasonal forests are found in the southern hills,
and dry woodland scrub and cactus savannas remain in coastal areas of the
south.
By 1970 government efforts to conserve the remaining natural forest and
to create and increase forest reserves began to have an effect on the
serious rates of deforestation that had reduced the tree cover to about a
quarter of the island. Trees have been planted on lands whose agricultural
productivity declined as a result of erosion, while small groves have also
been establishedin regions of agriculture and pasture. New forests have
been planted with such fast-growing trees as eucalyptus, teak, and
Honduran pine. Perhaps as significant is Puerto Rico's policy of relying on
imports to supply lumber, paper, and their by-products. The island is large

enough to produce all of its lumber requirements if it succeeds with its

reforestation and conservation programs.

People
Puerto Rico was known as Borinqun to the indigenous Arawak Indians
who had settled the Greater Antilles as traditional hoe-and-garden
cultivators, fishermen, and gatherers. When Europeans first settled the
island in 1508, the prosperity of the Arawaks prompted the notion that
here indeed was a rich port.Imported diseases soon decimated the
Arawak population. Froma population of more than 30,000 before the
arrival of the Europeans, missionary reports of 1515 recorded only 4,000.
Deprived of their laborers, the European settlers soon abandoned their
plantations and either returned to Spain or moved on to other Spanish
settlements. A few colonists, administrators, and merchants remained in
San Juan and Ponce, while most of the nearby interior was turned over to
range for cattle. Puerto Rico remained a Spanish colony for the next three
centuries, but it never matched the prosperity of its neighbors.
Although slavery brought an African presence to Puerto Rico in the 18th
and 19th centuries, there was a rebirth of European influences.
Immigration movements first brought Biscayans, then Catalonians, and
finally Asturians, Gallegos, and Majorcans from Spain. A network of new
colonial towns developed around the coastal plains. Thriving on sugar
production, Puerto Rico prospered. Venezuelans, Dominicans, Spanish
loyalists, and French planters fleeing the revolutionary movements and
bloodshed in other Spanish-American possessions found refuge in Puerto
Rico.
The decline of king sugar began in the 19th century, and by 1898,
when Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States at the end of the
Spanish-American War, the country's demographic and economic balance
was in jeopardy. The population of nearly1 million was predominantly rural
(83 percent in 1899). Relianceon sugar as the country's export mainstay
continued with ever-declining results as world prices dropped and
Caribbean neighbors outproduced and outmarketed Puerto Rico's sugar
industry. The farmers, jibaros, had always relied on labor-intensive
cultivation and harvesting techniques. While this supported fairly high
rural population densities, the changing circumstances led to pressure on
the system when theisland's population increased.

Puerto Rico experienced a population explosion in the 20th century,

through both continued immigration and natural increase. This growth
undermined the island's agricultural base and increased the need for
structural and economic changes. The population rose to 1.3 million by 1920,
to 2.2 million by 1950, and to 3.3 million in 1985a growth of more than
300 percent since 1899. The ethnic composition, however, remained as it
was at the beginning of the centuryapproximately 80 percent being
Caucasian of Spanish heritage and the remainder Afro-Caribbean.
The 20th-century experience of Puerto Rico, however, is a story of two
sides. During the 1940s rural and urban Puerto Ricans undertook migration
as a way to survive and to find better circumstances. The island
experienced a rural exodus, and the capital of San Juan and other large
cities experienced very rapid growth. San Juan now has a population
exceeding 400,000, and Bayamn, the second largest city, has well over
100,000 people (see San Juan).
Emigration to the United States began in earnest after 1950 and rapidly
swelled to a mass exodus. In 1953, for example, 75,000 emigrants left the
island. New York City now has a Puerto Rican community in excess of three
quarters of a million, and other Puerto Rican concentrations are found in
several United States cities. This out-migration, however, was matched by
return migration. Since 1965 the numbers of Puerto Ricans returning home
have either equaled or exceeded those leaving. This circulation pattern and
willingness to spend some time off the island is common among
Puerto Ricans of all ages, and it serves as a continuing reinforcement of the
interdependence of the island with its mainland partner. Patria and feelings
of love for their island home are not diminished by this dual existence.
Rather, Puerto Ricans adopt a practical approach to this way of getting the
best of both worlds.
Culture
Puerto Rican culture retains a distinctly Latin flavor but is becoming
increasingly permeated by American culture and traditions. The continuous
interchange of people and ideas between the mainland and Puerto Rico is
largely responsible for this cultural blending.
Racial harmony has been commonplace in Puerto Rico since the time of the
first European settlers 400 years ago; however, there are signs of
discrimination. Puerto Ricans with darker skin color tend to occupy the

lower rungs of the job market.

Puerto Ricans are renowned for their warm-hearted and responsive natures
and their family-oriented society. The return migration of Puerto Ricans
from the United States and the modernization and Americanization as a
result of industrialization, however, have had a major influence on
traditional Puerto Rican values and norms. The extended family is slowly
being replaced by the nuclear family (see Family). The customary Puerto
Rican workday that allows a leisurely two-hour lunch break is being
replaced by the 8 AM to 5 PM office schedule.
The extended family remains a significant part of Puerto Rican society
despite these changes. The compadrazgo tradition in which godparents
have a certain responsibility for the raising of children also ensures a close
and secure social environment. Compadrazgo has its roots in the Latino
culture as does machismo, in which men show their manhood through
certain attitudes toward women and life in general. Equality of the sexes
has not developed as it has in the United States, and the man continues to
be very much the head of a Puerto Rican household.
Fiestas take up a major portion of the Puerto Rican calendar. Everytown
has its own saint or saint's day, which entails a week of music, dancing,
games, and fancy dress. On San Juan Bautista Day,celebrations culminate
in a midnight dip fully clothed in order to bring suerte, or luck, for
the coming year.
Puerto Ricans now celebrate such American holidays as July 4 and Memorial
Day. Traditionally Christmas was celebrated on Three Kings Day (Epiphany,
January 6). Since shops and television programs announce the arrival of
Santa Claus on December 25, however, both days are celebrated.
Sports played by Puerto Ricans include bisbol (baseball) and baloncesto
(basketball). There is a fierce commitment to local teams, and many Puerto
Rican players make the big leagues in theUnited States. Horse racing and
cockfighting have traditionally been enjoyed by Puerto Ricans, and these
activities retain a large following.
American food and music have infiltrated the island, and at the same time
such traditional dishes as arroz con pollo, or rice with chicken, are
still widely enjoyed. Puerto Rican music holds its own with popular music. To
counter the Americanization of the society, efforts have been made by a

number of government and nongovernment organizations to preserve Puerto

Rico's cultural heritage. There is no doubt that patria persists.

Economy
The major feature of the 20th-century development of the Puerto Rican
economy has been the rapid transition from agriculture to industry and
commerce. This transition occurred mainly from 1940to 1960. Large-scale
agriculture, primarily sugar plantations, was first introduced by the
Spanish as early as the 16th century, but a real commercial, exportoriented economy was not developed until the 19th century. Sugar
plantations were owned by a small minority of families and were located on
the flat or undulating coastal plains most suited to this type of agriculture.
Cattle ranching and subsistence agriculture prevailed in the more
mountainous interior.
With United States interests dominating from 1898, there was increased
interest in developing Puerto Rico's agricultural export potential. Between
1898 and 1930 sugar output increased by 900 percent and accounted for
40 percent of cultivated land, almost 50percent of agricultural labor, and
more than 30 percent of Puerto Rico's economic activity. Inequalities
initiated during the Spanish colonial era increased, as jibaros were forced
to leave their land and to work on sugar, tobacco, and coffee estates. In
addition to sugar, tobacco production for the United States market
increased fivefold during this period.
Despite the dramatic growth in both sugar and tobacco output between
1898 and 1930, Puerto Rico experienced increasing economic problems
because of the drop in price of these commodities on the world market and
powerful competition from Caribbean neighbors. It was decided to
transform the economy from this monoculture agricultural base to a
predominantly industrial base.
Initial moves toward industrialization were made by the government in
1942, but the launching of Operation Bootstrap in 1948 marked the real
beginning. The basis was industrialization by invitation the Puerto
Rican government provided incentives for industries in the United States
to locate in Puerto Rico. Incentives included the exemption from Puerto
Rican taxes for 10 to 30 years and the provision of infrastructure, factory
buildings, and trained workers. A law also exempted investors from paying

federal taxes on income earned in Puerto Rico.

Rapid structural change and economic reform followed. Whereas in 1947
only 13 United States factories were operating in Puerto Rico, by 1980
more than 2,000 factories were producing goods for the United States
market. Industry overtook agriculture as the main contributor to Puerto
Rico's gross national product (GNP) in 1956. Correspondingly the
percentage of the labor force in agriculture fell from 21 percent in 1960 to
5 percent in 1985.
From the 1940s to 1960 light industry made use of the available cheap
labor in addition to the other incentives offered by the Puerto Rican
government. In the early 1960s, however, the United States minimum-wage
law caused much of this light industry to move from Puerto Rico to such
sources of cheap labor as Haiti and Mexico.
The labor-intensive industry of this early period has largely been replaced
and augmented by capital-intensive, high-technology industry. The
petrochemical industry and its satellites are central to this phase. The
pharmaceutical industry now produces 17 percent of all pharmaceuticals
marketed in the world. In 1985 chemicals accounted for 25 percent of
Puerto Rico's exports, petroleum products 14 percent, machinery 15
percent, clothing 11 percent, and fish 8 percent. The United States is the
chief trading partner, accounting for 84 percent of Puerto Rico's exports
and 64 percent of its imports.
Agriculture continues to play a role in the economy but accounts for only 4
percent of the GNP. During the early part of the 20th century, land
became concentrated in the hands of a very few wealthy landowners. More
small farms emerged as a result of the Land Law of 1941, but no
comprehensive change of agrarian socialstructure came about. In 1950, 68
percent of Puerto Rico's agricultural land was still owned by only 6 percent
of farm owners.
Most farms are now of medium size and highly mechanized. Dairy and meat
products lead in the agricultural economy, but sugar, tobacco, and coffee
are still produced, and fruitsparticularly pineapplesare grown for
export. Sixty percent of arable land lies fallow, and 90 percent of food
consumed is imported.
The tourist industry is important to Puerto Rico as it is to many Caribbean

nations. It is a sector greatly encouraged by the government. Many large

hotels and resorts have been built in coastal areas, and tourism supplies
more than 600 million dollars ayear to the Puerto Rican economy, 75
percent of this coming from United States visitors.
The economy is now firmly rooted in industry and is often quoted as a
model for Caribbean development. Despite its prosperity relative to most
Caribbean nations, problems remainmany stemming from the
industrialization program itself. Unemployment has increased at an
unprecedented rate, with capital-intensive agriculture and industry unable
to absorb the expanding, but idle, work force. Emigration has relieved some
of the pressure, but 11 percent unemployment in 1940 rose to 25 percent in
the early 1980s.
A second problem is environmental pollution. Puerto Rico is believed to be
the most polluted island in the Caribbean. Toxic wastes from industrial
processes find their way into rivers, streams, and drinking water, and huge
quantities of hazardous solid and gaseous waste are deposited with little
attention to public health or the environment. Responsibility lies both with
the politicians, who failed to regulate pollution at the onset of the drive
for industrialization, and with some of the industrialists.
A further problem is the growing trade imbalance and public debt. Debt
reached 8.2 billion dollars in the early 1980s, equaling 65 percent of the
island's GNP. Close links with the declining United States economy in the
early 1980s also weakened the Puerto Rican economy. If it were not for
these close links, Puerto Rico's debt problem would be assessed as one of
the worst in the developing world.
Transportation and Education
Puerto Rico's road network expanded rapidly to coincide with agricultural
and industrial development. More than 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) of
roads connect centers of economic activity and the island's cities and
towns. The network is most developed around the periphery and
particularly in the vicinity of San Juan, where industrial and commercial
activity is most intense. A relic of past technologies, the coastal railroad
that once encircled the island was closed in 1957.
The international airport at San Juan is essential to the tourist industry
and international trade. An internal air service connects larger towns and
cities and also services the Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico now serves as a

major hub forflights to the northern Caribbean from the United States.
The increase in volume and variety of goods with the onset of
industrialization called for modernization of the island's ports. The
majority of shipping is now handled at San Juan, Ponce, and Mayagez,
and all these ports are now entirely mechanized. Puerto Rican ports are
used increasingly in thetransshipment of goods between Pacific and
Atlantic ports of the United States. Such ports as Ponce process and
reexport to the United States fish from both the Pacific and the
Caribbean.
During the 1950s and 1960s up to 26 percent of the annual budget was
allocated to education. Whereas only 50 percent of school-age children
attended school in 1940, 85 percent did so by 1956. Eighty-nine percent of
the population were said to be literate in the mid-1980s. Much emphasis
has been placed on vocational training to provideskilled workers for new
jobs in industry. Higher education is available at the University of Puerto
Rico, the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, the University of the
Sacred Heart, and the Catholic University of Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans also
migrate to the United States to take advantage of educational
opportunities there.

History and Government

Christopher Columbus claimed Puerto Rico for Spain in 1493, but the arrival
of the first governorJuan Ponce de Lenand the first Spanish
settlers did not occur until 1508.The island remained Spanish despite
harassment and conquest attempts by buccaneers and pirates and English
and Dutch expeditions. To defend the island against these threats, two
fortsEl Morro and San Cristbalwere built to guard the approaches
to San Juan harbor. Defense of these forts foiled attempts by Sir Francis
Drake in 1595, by another English fleet in 1598, and by the Dutch in 1625
to capture Puerto Rico for their respective empires. The defeatof the
British in 1797 finally thwarted that country's designson the island, and
the Spanish realm was kept intact.
Puerto Rico was characterized primarily by peasant agriculture until the
early 19th century, when Spanish law was changed to allow unrestricted
trade. Concentration of land into the hands of a small elite followed, and
export-oriented agriculture became prominent.

Puerto Ricans revolted against Spanish domination in 1868, and in 1897

home rule was established. Puerto Rico was given the status of a Spanish
dominion. This autonomy was short lived, however, as the United States
defeated Spain inthe Spanish-American War and was ceded Puerto Rico in
1898.
By the Jones act of 1917, Puerto Ricans became American citizens, and
Puerto Rico became an unincorporated territory of the United States.
Partial self-government was granted in 1947, enabling citizens to elect
their own governor. Further autonomy was granted in 1951, when Puerto
Ricans wrote their own constitution and elected a nonvoting commissioner
to represent them in Washington.
Puerto Ricans now have most of the benefits of American citizenship.
These include federal welfare aid, which is of major benefit to the island.
The largest portion of federal aidthe food stamp programbenefits
approximately 50 percent of the population. Puerto Ricans are unable to
vote in United States presidential elections despite being subject to
service in the armed forces. Domination of PuertoRico by the United
States is a major political issue. The independistas call for total
independence as a nation-state;others support the present commonwealth
status; and some advocate statehood, hoping to see Puerto Rico become the
51st state. In March 1991 the governor, Rafael Hernndez Coln, signed
into law a bill making Spanish the only official language.
In September of 1989 Hurricane Hugo tore through Puerto Rico, where it
left six people dead and 50,000 homeless and caused an estimated 700
million dollars in insured losses. The eastern coast and Culebra and Vieques
islands were hardest hit, and much of the island's agriculture was wiped
out.
Additional references about Puerto Rico
Carrin, Arturo. Puerto Rico: A Political and Cultural History (Norton,
1983).Foran, T.J. Puerto Rico (McGraw, 1976).Gonzlez, J.L. Puerto Rico:
The Four-Storeyed Country (Waterfront, 1990).Macpherson, John.
Caribbean Lands, 4th ed. (Longman, 1980).Monge, J.T. Puerto Rico: The
Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World (Yale Univ. Press, 1997).Newton,
Clarke. Famous Puerto Ricans (Dodd, 1975).Robinson, Kathryn. The Other
Puerto Rico (Hunter, 1988).White, Trumbull. Puerto Rico and Its People
(Ayer, 1975). Previous