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Puerto Rico
Unincorporated and organized U.S. territory
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico[b] Free Associated State of Puerto Rico Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico (Spanish)
Flag Coat of arms Seal of Puerto Rico
Nickname(s):  "La Isla del Encanto" (Spanish) ('The Island of Enchantment')
Motto:  "Joannes est nomen ejus" (Latin) ('John is his name')
Anthem: "La Borinqueña" (Spanish) ("The Song of Borinquen")
Location of Puerto Rico
Sovereign state	United States[a]
Before annexation	Captaincy General of Puerto Rico
Cession from Spain	10 December 1898
Current constitution	25 July 1952
Capital and largest city	San Juan 18°27′N 66°6′W / 18.450°N 66.100°W / 18.450; -66.100
Common languages	94.3% Spanish 5.5% English 0.2% other[2]
Official languages	Spanish English[3]
Ethnic groups (2020)[4]	By race: 49.8% Multiracial 17.1% White 7.0% Black 0.5% Native American 0.1% Asian 25.5% Other By origin: 98.9% Hispanic or Latino 1.1% non-Hispanic or Latino
Demonym(s)	Puerto Rican (Spanish: puertorriqueño -a) boricua (neutral)[c] borinqueño -a borincano -a[5] puertorro -a[d][6]
Government	Devolved presidential constitutional dependency
• President	Joe Biden (D)
• Governor	Pedro Pierluisi (PNP/D)
Legislature	Legislative Assembly
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
United States Congress
• Resident Commissioner	Jenniffer González (PNP/R)
Area
• Total	13,792 km2 (5,325 sq mi)[e][7]
• Land	8,868 km2 (3,424 sq mi)
• Water	4,924 km2 (1,901 sq mi)
• Water (%)	35.6
Dimensions [f][8]
• Length	178 km (111 mi)
• Width	65 km (40 mi)
Highest elevation	1,338 m (4,390[g] ft)
Population
• 2023 estimate	3,205,691[h][9] (136th)
• 2020 census	3,285,874[10]
• Density	361.4/km2 (936.0/sq mi) (41st)
GDP (PPP)	2023 estimate
• Total	$132.052 billion[11] (85th)
• Per capita	$41,682[11] (40th)
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	$117.515 billion[11] (62nd)
• Per capita	$37,093[11] (28th)
Gini (2011)	53.1[12] high
HDI (2015)	0.845[13] very high · 40th
Currency	United States dollar (US$) (USD)
Time zone	UTC-04:00 (AST)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy mm/dd/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+1 (787), +1 (939)
USPS abbreviation	PR
ISO 3166 code	PR US-PR
Internet TLD	.pr

Puerto Rico^[i] (Spanish for 'rich port'; abbreviated PR),^[15] officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,^[b][j] is a Caribbean island, Commonwealth, and unincorporated territory of the United States. It is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Mona, Culebra, and Vieques. With roughly 3.2 million residents, it is divided into 78 municipalities, of which the most populous is the capital municipality of San Juan.^[15] Spanish and English are the official languages of the executive branch of government,^[17] though Spanish predominates.^[18]

Puerto Rico was settled by a succession of peoples beginning 2,000 to 4,000 years ago;^[19] these included the Ortoiroid, Saladoid, and Taíno. It was then colonized by Spain in 1493 following the arrival of Christopher Columbus.^[15] Puerto Rico was contested by other European powers, but remained a Spanish possession for the next four centuries. An influx of African slaves and settlers primarily from the Canary Islands and Andalusia vastly changed the cultural and demographic landscape of the island. Within the Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico played a secondary but strategic role compared to wealthier colonies like Peru and New Spain.^[20][21] By the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, centered around a fusion of indigenous, African, and European elements.^[22][23] In 1898, following the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was acquired by the United States.^[15][24]

Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917, and can move freely between the island and the mainland.^[25] However, when resident in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans are disenfranchised at the national level, do not vote for the president or vice president,^[26] and generally do not pay federal income tax.^[27][28][k] 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 Congress, which governs it under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. Congress approved a local constitution in 1952, allowing U.S. citizens residing on the island to elect a governor. Puerto Rico's current and future political status has consistently been a matter of significant debate.^[29][30]

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;^[31] it ranks 40th 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).^[32]

Etymology

Puerto Rico is Spanish for "rich port".^[15] Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen, a derivation of Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name, which is popularly said to mean "Land of the Valiant Lord".^[33][34][35] The terms boricua, borinqueño, and borincano are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage,^[36][37] and derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively.^[38] The island is also popularly known in Spanish as La Isla del Encanto, meaning "the island of enchantment".^[39]

Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, while the capital city was named Ciudad de Puerto Rico ("Rich Port City").^[15] Eventually traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, while San Juan became the name used for the main trading/shipping port and the capital city.^[l]

The island's name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898.^[41] The anglicized name was used by the U.S. government and private enterprises. The name was changed back to Puerto Rico in 1931 by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila.^{[42][m][47][48][49]}

The official name of the entity in Spanish is Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico ("Free Associated State of Puerto Rico"), while its official English name is Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.^[15]

History

The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people before 430 BC. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taínos. The Taíno people's numbers went dangerously low during the later half of the 16th century because of new infectious diseases carried by Europeans, exploitation by Spanish settlers, and warfare.^[51]

Located in the northeastern Caribbean, Puerto Rico formed a key part of the Spanish Empire from the early years of the exploration, conquest and colonization of the New World. The island was a major military post during many wars between Spain and other European powers for control of the region in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

In 1593, Portuguese soldiers, sent from Lisbon by order of Phillip II, composed the first garrison of the San Felipe del Morro fortress in Puerto Rico. Some brought their wives, while others married Puerto Rican women, and today there are many Puerto Rican families with Portuguese last names. The smallest of the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico was a stepping-stone in the passage from Europe to Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northern territories of South America. Throughout most of the 19th century until the conclusion of the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico and Cuba were the last two Spanish colonies in the New World; they served as Spain's final outposts in a strategy to regain control of the American continents. Realizing that it was in danger of losing its two remaining Caribbean territories, the Spanish Crown revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. The decree was printed in Spanish, English and French in order to attract Europeans, with the hope that the independence movements would lose their popularity and strength with the arrival of new settlers. Free land was offered to those who wanted to populate the islands on the condition that they swear their loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church.^[52]

In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was invaded and subsequently became a possession of the United States. The first years of the 20th century were marked by the struggle to obtain greater democratic rights from the United States.

The Foraker Act of 1900 established a civil government, ending rule by American generals and the Department of War. A United States Supreme Court ruling Ortega v. Lara, 202 U.S. 339, 342 (1906),^[n] involving the Foraker Act and referring to the island as "the acquired country", soon affirmed that the Constitution of the United States applied within its territory and that any domestic Puerto Rican laws which did not conflict with the United States Constitution remained in force.^[53]

The Jones Act of 1917, which made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens, paved the way for the drafting of Puerto Rico's Constitution and its approval by Congress and Puerto Rican voters in 1952. However, the political status of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth controlled by the United States, remains an anomaly.

21st century

In 2009, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization approved a draft resolution calling on the government of the United States to expedite a process that would allow the Puerto Rican people to exercise fully their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.^[54] In November 2012, a two-question referendum took place, simultaneous with the general elections.^[55][56] The first question, voted on in August, asked voters whether they wanted to maintain the current status under the territorial clause of the U.S. Constitution. 54% voted against the status quo, effectively approving the second question to be voted on in November. The second question posed three alternate status options: statehood, independence, or free association.^[57] 61.16% voted for statehood, 33.34% for a sovereign free-associated state, and 5.49% for independence.^{[58][failed verification]}

In 2016, President Barack Obama signed into law H.R. 5278: PROMESA, establishing a Control Board over the Puerto Rican government. This board will have a significant degree of federal control involved in its establishment and operations. In particular, the authority to establish the control board derives from the federal government's constitutional power to "make all needful rules and regulations" regarding U.S. territories; The president would appoint all seven voting members of the board; and the board would have broad sovereign powers to effectively overrule decisions by Puerto Rico's legislature, governor, and other public authorities.^[59]

Puerto Rico held its statehood referendum during the 3 November 2020 general elections; the ballot asked one question: "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?" The results showed that 52 percent of Puerto Rico voters answered yes.^[60]

Geography

Puerto Rico consists of the main island of Puerto Rico and various smaller islands, including Vieques, Culebra, Mona, Desecheo, and Caja de Muertos. Of these five, only Culebra and Vieques are inhabited year-round. Mona, which has played a key role in maritime history, is uninhabited most of the year except for employees of the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources.^[61] There are many other even smaller islets, like Monito, located near Mona,^[62] and Isla de Cabras and La Isleta de San Juan, both located on the San Juan Bay. The latter is the only inhabited islet with communities like Old San Juan and Puerta de Tierra, which are connected to the main island by bridges.^[63][64]

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has an area of 5,320 square miles (13,800 km²), of which 3,420 sq mi (8,900 km²) is land and 1,900 sq mi (4,900 km²) is water.^[66] Puerto Rico is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island but smaller than Connecticut. The maximum length of the main island from east to west is 110 mi (180 km), and the maximum width from north to south is 40 mi (64 km).^[67] Puerto Rico is the smallest of the Greater Antilles. It is 80% of the size of Jamaica,^[68] just over 18% of the size of Hispaniola and 8% of the size of Cuba, the largest of the Greater Antilles.^[69]

The topography of the island is mostly mountainous with large flat areas in the northern and southern coasts. The main mountain range that crosses the island from east to west is called the Cordillera Central (also known as the Central Mountain Range in English). The highest elevation in Puerto Rico, Cerro de Punta 4,390 feet (1,340 m),^[66] is located in this range. Another important peak is El Yunque, one of the highest in the Sierra de Luquillo at the El Yunque National Forest, with an elevation of 3,494 ft (1,065 m).^[70]

Puerto Rico has 17 lakes, all man-made, and more than 50 rivers, most of which originate in the Cordillera Central.^[71] Rivers in the northern region of the island are typically longer and of higher water flow rates than those of the south, since the south receives less rain than the central and northern regions.

Puerto Rico is composed of Cretaceous to Eocene volcanic and plutonic rocks, overlain by younger Oligocene and more recent carbonates and other sedimentary rocks.^[72] Most of the caverns and karst topography on the island occurs in the northern region. The oldest rocks are approximately 190 million years old (Jurassic) and are located at Sierra Bermeja in the southwest part of the island. They may represent part of the oceanic crust and are believed to come from the Pacific Ocean realm.

Puerto Rico lies at the boundary between the Caribbean and North American Plates and is being deformed by the tectonic stresses caused by their interaction. These stresses may cause earthquakes and tsunamis. These seismic events, along with landslides, represent some of the most dangerous geologic hazards in the island and in the northeastern Caribbean. The 1918 San Fermín earthquake occurred on 11 October, 1918 and had an estimated magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale.^[73] It originated off the coast of Aguadilla, several kilometers off the northern coast, and was accompanied by a tsunami. It caused extensive property damage and widespread losses, damaging infrastructure, especially bridges. It resulted in an estimated 116 deaths and $4 million in property damage. The failure of the government to move rapidly to provide for the general welfare contributed to political activism by opponents and eventually to the rise of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. On 7 January 2020,^[74] the country experienced its largest earthquake since 1918,^[75] estimated at magnitude 6.4.^[76] Economic losses were estimated to be more than $3.1 billion.^[77]

The Puerto Rico Trench, the largest and deepest trench in the Atlantic, is located about 71 mi (114 km) north of Puerto Rico at the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates.^[78] It is 170 mi (270 km) long.^[79] At its deepest point, named the Milwaukee Deep, it is almost 27,600 ft (8,400 m) deep.^[78] The Mona Canyon, located in the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, is another prominent oceanic landform with steep walls measuring between 1.25 and 2.17 miles (2.01 and 3.49 km) in height from bottom to top.^[80]

Climate

The climate of Puerto Rico in the Köppen climate classification is mostly tropical rainforest. Temperatures are warm to hot year round, averaging near 85 °F (29 °C) in lower elevations and 70 °F (21 °C) in the mountains. Easterly trade winds pass across the island year round. Puerto Rico has a rainy season, which stretches from April into November, and a dry season stretching from December to March. The mountains of the Cordillera Central create a rain shadow and are the main cause of the variations in the temperature and rainfall that occur over very short distances. The mountains can also cause wide variation in local wind speed and direction due to their sheltering and channeling effects, adding to the climatic variation. Daily temperature changes seasonally are quite small in the lowlands and coastal areas.

Between the dry and wet seasons, there is a temperature change of around 6 °F (3.3 °C). This change is due mainly to the warm waters of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, which significantly modify cooler air moving in from the north and northwest. Coastal water temperatures during the year are about 75 °F (24 °C) in February and 85 °F (29 °C) in August. The highest temperature ever recorded was 110 °F (43 °C) at Arecibo,^[81] while the lowest temperature ever recorded was 40 °F (4 °C) in the mountains at Adjuntas, Aibonito, and Corozal.^[82] The average yearly precipitation is 66 in (1,676 mm).^[83]

Hurricanes

Puerto Rico experiences the Atlantic hurricane season, similar to the rest of the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean. On average, a quarter of its annual rainfall is contributed from tropical cyclones, which are more prevalent during periods of La Niña than El Niño.^[84] A cyclone of tropical storm strength passes near Puerto Rico, on average, every five years. A hurricane passes in the vicinity of the island, on average, every seven years. Since 1851, the Lake Okeechobee Hurricane (also known as the San Felipe Segundo hurricane in Puerto Rico) of September 1928 is the only hurricane to make landfall as a Category 5 hurricane.^[85]

In the busy 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Puerto Rico avoided a direct hit by the Category 5 Hurricane Irma on 6 September 2017, as it passed about 60 mi (97 km) north of Puerto Rico, but high winds caused a loss of electrical power to some one million residents. Almost 50% of hospitals were operating with power provided by generators.^[86] The Category 4 Hurricane Jose, as expected, veered away from Puerto Rico.^[87] A short time later, the devastating Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico on Wednesday, 20 September, near the Yabucoa municipality at 10:15 UTC (6:15 am local time) as a high-end Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 155 mph (249 km/h), powerful rains and widespread flooding causing tremendous destruction, including the electrical grid, which would remain out for 4–6 months in many portions of the island.^[88][89][90]

In 2019, Hurricane Dorian became the third hurricane in three years to hit Puerto Rico. The recovering infrastructure from the 2017 hurricanes, as well as new governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, were put to the test against a potential humanitarian crisis.^[91][92] Tropical Storm Karen also caused impacts to Puerto Rico during 2019.^[93]

Climate change

Biodiversity

Puerto Rico is home to three terrestrial ecoregions: Puerto Rican moist forests, Puerto Rican dry forests, and Greater Antilles mangroves.^[100] Puerto Rico has two biosphere reserves recognized by the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme: Luquillo Biosphere Reserve represented by El Yunque National Forest and the Guánica Biosphere Reserve.

Species endemic to the archipelago number 239 plants, 16 birds and 39 amphibians/reptiles, recognized as of 1998. Most of these (234, 12 and 33 respectively) are found on the main island.^[101] The most recognizable endemic species and a symbol of Puerto Rican pride is the coquí, a small frog easily identified by the sound of its call, from which it gets its name. Most coquí species (13 of 17) live in the El Yunque National Forest,^[102] the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. Forest Service system, located in the northeast of the island. It was previously known as the Caribbean National Forest. El Yunque is home to more than 240 plants, 26 of which are endemic to the island. It is also home to 50 bird species, including the critically endangered Puerto Rican amazon.

In addition to El Yunque National Forest, the Puerto Rican moist forest ecoregion is represented by protected areas such as the Maricao and Toro Negro state forests. These areas are home to endangered endemic species such as the Puerto Rican boa (Chilabothrus inornatus), the Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus venator), the Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus brunnescens) and the elfin woods warbler (Setophaga angelae). The Northern Karst country of Puerto Rico is also home to one of the remaining rainforest tracts in the island, with the Río Abajo State Forest being the first focus for the reintroduction of the highly endangered Puerto Rican parrot outside of the Sierra de Luquillo.^[103][104]

In the southwest, the Guánica State Forest and Biosphere Reserve contain over 600 uncommon species of plants and animals, including 48 endangered species and 16 that are endemic to Puerto Rico, and is considered a prime example of the Puerto Rican dry forest ecoregion and the best-preserved dry forest in the Caribbean.^[105] Other protected dry forests in Puerto Rico can be formed within the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge complex at the Cabo Rojo, Desecheo, Culebra and Vieques National Wildlife Refuges, and in the Caja de Muertos and Mona and Monito Islands Nature Reserves.^[106] Examples of endemic species found in this ecoregion are the higo chumbo (Harrisia portoricensis), the Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur), and the Mona ground iguana (Cyclura stejnegeri), the largest land animal native to Puerto Rico.^[107]

Puerto Rico has three of the seven year-long bioluminescent bays in the Caribbean: Laguna Grande in Fajardo, La Parguera in Lajas and Puerto Mosquito in Vieques. These are unique bodies of water surrounded by mangroves that inhabited by the dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense.^[108][109] However, tourism, pollution, and hurricanes have highly threatened these unique ecosystems.^[110]

Government and politics

Puerto Rico has a republican form of government based on the American model, with separation of powers subject to the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United States.^[111][112] All governmental powers are delegated by the United States Congress, with the head of state being president of the United States. As an unincorporated territory, Puerto Rico lacks full protection under the United States Constitution.^[113]

The government of Puerto Rico is composed of three branches. The executive is headed by the governor, currently Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia. The legislative branch consists of the bicameral Legislative Assembly, made up of a Senate as its upper chamber and a House of Representatives as its lower chamber; the Senate is headed by a president, currently José Luis Dalmau, while the House is headed by the speaker of the House, currently Tatito Hernández. The governor and legislators are elected by popular vote every four years, with the last election held in November 2020. The judicial branch is headed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, currently Maite Oronoz Rodríguez. Members of the judiciary are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Puerto Rico is represented in the U.S. Congress by a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives, the resident commissioner, currently Jenniffer González. Current congressional rules have removed the commissioner's power to vote in the Committee of the Whole, but the commissioner can vote in committee.^[114]

Puerto Rican elections are governed by the Federal Election Commission and the State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico.^[115][116] Residents of Puerto Rico, including other U.S. citizens, cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections, but can vote in primaries. Puerto Ricans who become residents of a U.S. state or Washington, D.C. can vote in presidential elections.

Puerto Rico has eight senatorial districts, 40 representative districts, and 78 municipalities; there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the U.S. government. Municipalities are subdivided into wards or barrios, and those into sectors. Each municipality has a mayor and a municipal legislature elected for a four-year term. The municipality of San Juan is the oldest, founded in 1521;^[117] the next earliest settlements are San Germán in 1570, Coamo in 1579, Arecibo in 1614, Aguada in 1692 and Ponce in 1692. Increased settlement in the 18th century saw 30 more communities established, following 34 in the 19th century. Six were founded in the 20th century, the most recent being Florida in 1971.^[118]

Political parties and elections

Since 1952, Puerto Rico has had three main political parties: the Popular Democratic Party (PPD in Spanish), the New Progressive Party (PNP in Spanish) and the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP). The three parties stand for different political status. The PPD, for example, seeks to maintain the island's status with the U.S. as a commonwealth, while the PNP, on the other hand, seeks to make Puerto Rico a state of the United States. The PIP, in contrast, seeks a complete separation from the United States by seeking to make Puerto Rico a sovereign nation. In terms of party strength, the PPD and PNP usually hold about 47% of the vote each while the PIP holds about 5%.

After 2007, other parties emerged on the island. The first, the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party (PPR in Spanish) was registered that same year. The party claims that it seeks to address the islands' problems from a status-neutral platform. But it ceased to remain as a registered party when it failed to obtain the required number of votes in the 2008 general election. Four years later, the 2012 election saw the emergence of the Movimiento Unión Soberanista (MUS; English: Sovereign Union Movement) and the Partido del Pueblo Trabajador (PPT; English: Working People's Party) but none obtained more than 1% of the vote.

Other non-registered parties include the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, the Socialist Workers Movement, and the Hostosian National Independence Movement.

Political status

The nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with the U.S. is the subject of ongoing debate in Puerto Rico, the United States Congress, and the United Nations.^[119] Specifically, the basic question is whether Puerto Rico should remain an unincorporated territory of the U.S., become a U.S. state, or become an independent country.^[120]

Constitutionally, Puerto Rico is subject to the plenary powers of the United States Congress under the territorial clause of Article IV of the U.S. Constitution.^[121] Laws enacted at the federal level in the United States apply to Puerto Rico as well, regardless of its political status. Their residents do not have voting representation in the U.S. Congress. Puerto Rico lacks "the full sovereignty of an independent nation", for example, the power to manage its "external relations with other nations", which is held by the U.S. federal government. The Supreme Court of the United States has indicated that once the U.S. Constitution has been extended to an area (by Congress or the courts), its coverage is irrevocable. To hold that the political branches may switch the Constitution on or off at will would lead to a regime in which they, not this Court, say "what the law is".^[122]

Puerto Ricans "were collectively made U.S. citizens" in 1917 as a result of the Jones-Shafroth Act.^[123] U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections, though both major parties, Republican and Democratic, hold primary elections in Puerto Rico to choose delegates to vote on the parties' presidential candidates. Since Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory (see above) and not a U.S. state, the United States Constitution does not fully enfranchise U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico.^[113][124]

Only fundamental rights under the American federal constitution and adjudications are applied to Puerto Ricans. Various other U.S. Supreme Court decisions have held which rights apply in Puerto Rico and which ones do not. Puerto Ricans have a long history of service in the U.S. Armed Forces and, since 1917, they have been included in the U.S. compulsory draft whensoever it has been in effect.

Though the Commonwealth government has its own tax laws, residents of Puerto Rico, contrary to a popular misconception, do pay U.S. federal taxes: customs taxes (which are subsequently returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury), import/export taxes, federal commodity taxes, social security taxes, etc. Residents pay federal payroll taxes, such as Social Security and Medicare, as well as Commonwealth of Puerto Rico income taxes. All federal employees, those who do business with the federal government, Puerto Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S., and some others, such as Puerto Rican residents that are members of the U.S. military, and Puerto Rico residents who earned income from sources outside Puerto Rico also pay federal income taxes. In addition, because the cutoff point for income taxation is lower than that of the U.S. IRS code, and because the per-capita income in Puerto Rico is much lower than the average per-capita income on the mainland, more Puerto Rico residents pay income taxes to the local taxation authority than if the IRS code were applied to the island. This occurs because "the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government has a wider set of responsibilities than do U.S. State and local governments."^{[125][126][127][128][129][130][131]}

In 2009, Puerto Rico paid $3.742 billion into the U.S. Treasury.^[132] Residents of Puerto Rico pay into Social Security, and are thus eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement. They are excluded from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and the island actually receives a smaller fraction of the Medicaid funding it would receive if it were a U.S. state.^[133] Also, Medicare providers receive less-than-full state-like reimbursements for services rendered to beneficiaries in Puerto Rico, even though the latter paid fully into the system.^[134]

Puerto Rico's authority to enact a criminal code derives from Congress and not from local sovereignty as with the states. Thus, individuals committing a crime can only be tried in federal or territorial court, otherwise it would constitute double jeopardy and is constitutionally impermissible.^[135]

In 1992, President George H. W. Bush issued a memorandum to heads of executive departments and agencies establishing the current administrative relationship between the federal government and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This memorandum directs all federal departments, agencies, and officials to treat Puerto Rico administratively as if it were a state, insofar as doing so would not disrupt federal programs or operations.

Many federal executive branch agencies have significant presence in Puerto Rico, just as in any state, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, Social Security Administration, and others. While Puerto Rico has its own Commonwealth judicial system similar to that of a U.S. state, there is also a U.S. federal district court in Puerto Rico, and Puerto Ricans have served as judges in that Court and in other federal courts on the U.S. mainland regardless of their residency status at the time of their appointment. Sonia Sotomayor, a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Puerto Ricans have also been frequently appointed to high-level federal positions, including serving as United States ambassadors to other nations.

Administrative divisions

Unlike the vast majority of U.S. states, Puerto Rico has no first-order administrative divisions akin to counties, but has 78 municipalities or municipios as the secondary unit of administration; for U.S. Census purposes, the municipalities are considered county equivalents. Municipalities are subdivided into barrios, and those into sectors. Each municipality has a mayor and a municipal legislature elected for four-year terms, per the Autonomous Municipalities Act of 1991.

Foreign and intergovernmental relations

Puerto Rico is subject to the Commerce and Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution and is thus restricted on how it can engage with other nations, sharing the opportunities and limitations that state governments have albeit not being one. As is the case with state governments, it has established several trade agreements with other nations, particularly with Latin American countries such as Colombia and Panamá.^[136][137]

It has also established trade promotion offices in many foreign countries, all Spanish-speaking, and within the United States itself, which now include Spain, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Colombia, Washington, D.C., New York City and Florida, and has included in the past offices in Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Such agreements require permission from the U.S. Department of State; most are simply allowed by existing laws or trade treaties between the United States and other nations which supersede trade agreements pursued by Puerto Rico and different U.S. states. Puerto Rico hosts consulates from 41 countries, mainly from the Americas and Europe, with most located in San Juan.^[117]

At the local level, Puerto Rico established by law that the international relations which states and territories are allowed to engage must be handled by the Department of State of Puerto Rico, an executive department, headed by the secretary of state of Puerto Rico, who also serves as the unincorporated territory's lieutenant governor. It is also charged to liaise with general consuls and honorary consuls based in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, along with the Office of the Resident Commissioner, manages all its intergovernmental affairs before entities of or in the United States (including the federal government of the United States, local and state governments of the United States, and public or private entities in the United States).^{[citation needed]}

Both entities frequently assist the Department of State of Puerto Rico in engaging with Washington, D.C.-based ambassadors and federal agencies that handle Puerto Rico's foreign affairs, such as the U.S. Department of State, the Agency for International Development, and others. The current secretary of state is Larry Seilhamer Rodríguez from the New Progressive Party, while the current director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration is Jennifer M. Stopiran also from the NPP and a member of the Republican Party of the United States.^{[citation needed]}

The resident commissioner of Puerto Rico, the delegate elected by Puerto Ricans to represent them before the federal government, including the U.S. Congress, sits in the United States House of Representatives, serves and votes on congressional committees, and functions in every respect as a legislator except being denied a vote on the final disposition of legislation on the House floor. The current resident commissioner is Jenniffer González-Colón, a Republican, elected in 2016. She received more votes than any other official elected in Puerto Rico that year.^[138]

Many Puerto Ricans have served as United States ambassadors to different nations and international organizations, such as the Organization of American States, mostly but not exclusively in Latin America. For example, Maricarmen Aponte, a Puerto Rican and now an acting assistant secretary of state, previously served as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador.^[139]

Military

As it is an unincorporated territory of the United States, the defense of Puerto Rico is provided by the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris with the president of the United States as its commander-in-chief. Puerto Rico has its own National Guard, and its own state defense force, the Puerto Rico State Guard, which by local law is under the authority of the Puerto Rico National Guard.

The commander-in-chief of both local forces is the governor of Puerto Rico who delegates his authority to the Puerto Rico adjutant general, currently Major General José J. Reyes. The Adjutant General, in turn, delegates the authority over the State Guard to another officer but retains the authority over the Puerto Rico National Guard as a whole. U.S. military installations in Puerto Rico were part of the U.S. Atlantic Command (LANTCOM after 1993 USACOM), which had authority over all U.S. military operations that took place throughout the Atlantic. Puerto Rico had been seen as crucial in supporting LANTCOM's mission until 1999, when U.S. Atlantic Command was renamed and given a new mission as United States Joint Forces Command. Puerto Rico is currently under the responsibility of United States Northern Command.

Both the Naval Forces Caribbean (NFC) and the Fleet Air Caribbean (FAIR) were formerly based at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. The NFC had authority over all U.S. Naval activity in the waters of the Caribbean while FAIR had authority over all U.S. military flights and air operations over the Caribbean. With the closing of the Roosevelt Roads and Vieques Island training facilities, the U.S. Navy has basically exited from Puerto Rico, except for the ships that steam by, and the only significant military presence in the island is the U.S. Army at Ft Buchanan, the Puerto Rican Army and Air National Guards, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Protests over the noise of bombing practice forced the closure of the naval base. This resulted in a loss of 6,000 jobs and an annual decrease in local income of $300 million.^[140]

A branch of the U.S. Army National Guard is stationed in Puerto Rico – known as the Puerto Rico Army National Guard – which performs missions equivalent to those of the Army National Guards of the different states of the United States, including ground defense, disaster relief, and control of civil unrest. The local National Guard also incorporates a branch of the U.S. Air National Guard – known as the Puerto Rico Air National Guard – which performs missions equivalent to those of the Air National Guards of each one of the U.S. states.

At different times in the 20th century, the U.S. had about 25 military or naval installations in Puerto Rico, some very small ones,^[141] as well as large installations. The largest of these installations were the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility (AFWTF) on Vieques, the National Guard training facility at Camp Santiago in Salinas, Fort Allen in Juana Diaz, the Army's Fort Buchanan in San Juan, the former U.S. Air Force's Ramey Air Force Base in Aguadilla, and the Puerto Rico Air National Guard's Muñiz Air National Guard Base in San Juan.^[142]

The former U.S. Navy facilities at Roosevelt Roads, Vieques, and Sabana Seca have been deactivated and partially turned over to the local government. Other than U.S. Coast Guard and Puerto Rico National Guard facilities, there are only two remaining military installations in Puerto Rico: the U.S. Army's small Ft. Buchanan (supporting local veterans and reserve units) and the PRANG (Puerto Rico Air National Guard) Muñiz Air Base (the C-130 Fleet). In recent years, the U.S. Congress has considered their deactivations, but these have been opposed by diverse public and private entities in Puerto Rico – such as retired military who rely on Ft. Buchanan for the services available there.

Puerto Ricans have participated in many United States military conflicts, including the American Revolution, when volunteers from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico fought the British in 1779 under the command of General Bernardo de Gálvez (1746–1786).^[143] They continue to be disproportionately represented in present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.^[144] The most notable example is the 65th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army, nicknamed The Borinqueneers, from the original Taíno name of the island (Borinquen). The all-Puerto Rican regiment participated in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the War on Terror; in 2014, it was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for its heroism during the Korean War.

A significant number of Puerto Ricans serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, largely as National Guard members and civilian employees. The size of the overall military-related community is estimated to be 100,000, including retired personnel.^[142] Fort Buchanan has about 4,000 military and civilian personnel. In addition, approximately 17,000 people are members of the Puerto Rico Army and Air National Guards, or the U.S. Reserve forces.^[145]

Law

The insular legal system is a blend of civil law and the common law systems.

Puerto Rico is the only current U.S. jurisdiction whose legal system operates primarily in a language other than American English: namely, Spanish. Because the U.S. federal government operates primarily in English, all Puerto Rican attorneys must be bilingual in order to litigate in English in U.S. federal courts, and litigate federal preemption issues in Puerto Rican courts.^{[146][original research?]}

Title 48 of the United States Code outlines the role of the United States Code to United States territories and insular areas such as Puerto Rico. After the U.S. government assumed control of Puerto Rico in 1901, it initiated legal reforms resulting in the adoption of codes of criminal law, criminal procedure, and civil procedure modeled after those then in effect in California. Although Puerto Rico has since followed the federal example of transferring criminal and civil procedure from statutory law to rules promulgated by the judiciary, several portions of its criminal law still reflect the influence of the California Penal Code.

The judicial branch is headed by the chief justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, which is the only appellate court required by the Constitution. All other courts are created by the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico.^[147] There is also a Federal District Court for Puerto Rico, and someone accused of a criminal act at the federal level may not be accused for the same act in a Commonwealth court, and vice versa, since Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory lacks sovereignty separate from Congress as a state does.^[135] Such a parallel accusation would constitute double jeopardy.

Crime

The homicide rate of 19.2 per 100,000 inhabitants was significantly higher than any U.S. state in 2014.^[148][149] Most homicide victims are gang members and drug traffickers with about 80% of homicides in Puerto Rico being drug related.^[150]

In 1992, the FBI made armed carjacking a federal crime and rates decreased per statistics,^[151] but as of 2019, the problem continued in municipalities like Guaynabo and others.^{[152][153][154][155][156]} From 1 January 2019 to 14 March 2019, thirty carjackings had occurred on the island.^[157]

Economy

Puerto Rico is classified as a high income economy by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.^[31] It is considered the most competitive economy in Latin America by the World Economic Forum and ranks highly on the Human Development Index. According to World Bank, gross national income per capita in Puerto Rico in 2020 was $21,740.^[158] Puerto Rico's economy is mainly driven by manufacturing (primarily pharmaceuticals, textiles, petrochemicals and electronics) followed by services (primarily finance, insurance, real estate and tourism); agriculture represents less than 1% of GNP.^[159][o][p] In recent years, it has also become a popular destination for MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions), with a modern convention center district overlooking the Port of San Juan.^[160]

Responsibility for San Juan port inspections lies with PPQ.^[161] So high is the volume of cargo traffic that between 1984–2000 the San Juan PPQ station recorded 7.74% of all interceptions, #4 in the country, #2 for insects and #3 for pathogens.^[161] Most species are originally from South America or elsewhere in the Caribbean due to PR's position as an intermediary on the way to the mainland.^[161] This is one of the worst locations for cut flowers and other plant parts – both in terms of number of problems and diversity of species – for insects in plant parts in baggage, and for pathogens in plant parts in baggage and cargo.^[161] Pathogen interceptions were dramatically (17%) higher 1999–2000 than in 1985–1986.^[161]

Puerto Rico's geography and political status are both determining factors for its economic prosperity, primarily due to its relatively small size; lack of natural resources and subsequent dependence on imports; and vulnerability to U.S. foreign policy and trading restrictions, particularly concerning its shipping industry.

Puerto Rico experienced a recession from 2006 to 2011, interrupted by four quarters of economic growth, and entered into recession again in 2013, following growing fiscal imbalance and the expiration of the IRS Section 936 corporate incentives that the U.S. Internal Revenue Code had applied to Puerto Rico. This IRS section was critical to the economy, as it established tax exemptions for U.S. corporations that settled in Puerto Rico and allowed their insular subsidiaries to send their earnings to the parent corporation at any time, without paying federal tax on corporate income. Puerto Rico has been able to maintain a relatively low inflation in the past decade while maintaining a purchasing power parity per capita higher than 80% of the rest of the world.^[162]

Academically, most of Puerto Rico's economic woes stem from federal regulations that expired, have been repealed, or no longer apply to Puerto Rico; its inability to become self-sufficient and self-sustainable throughout history;^[q] its highly politicized public policy which tends to change whenever a political party gains power;^[r] as well as its highly inefficient local government^[s][t] which has accrued a public debt equal to 68% of its gross domestic product throughout time.^[u][v] Puerto Rico currently has a public debt of $72.204 billion (equivalent to 103% of GNP), and a government deficit of $2.5 billion.^[168][169]

By American standards, Puerto Rico is underdeveloped: It is poorer than Mississippi, the poorest state of the U.S., with 41% of its population below the poverty line.^[w] However, it has the highest GDP per capita in Latin America. Puerto Rico's main trading partners are the United States, Ireland, and Japan, with most products coming from East Asia, mainly China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Puerto Rico's dependency on oil for transportation and electricity generation, as well as its dependency on food imports and raw materials, makes Puerto Rico volatile and highly reactive to changes in the world economy and climate.

Tourism