Puerto Rico (Spanish for 'Rich Port'; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a self-governing Caribbean archipelago and island organized as an unincorporated territory of the United States under the designation of commonwealth. Located about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic in the Greater Antilles and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Lesser Antilles, it consists of the eponymous main island and numerous smaller islands, including Vieques, Culebra, and Mona. With approximately 3.2 million residents, it is divided into 78 municipalities, of which the most populous is the capital municipality of San Juan, followed by those within the San Juan metropolitan area. Spanish and English are the official languages of the government, though Spanish predominates.
Puerto Rico | |
|---|---|
| Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (English) Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico (Spanish) transl. Free Associated State of Puerto Rico | |
 Seal of Puerto Rico | |
| Nickname(s): | |
| Motto: | |
| Anthem: "La Borinqueña" (Spanish) ("The Song of Borinquen") (official) "The Star-Spangled Banner" (official) | |
.svg)   | |
| Sovereign state |  United States |
| Before annexation by the United States | Captaincy General of Puerto Rico |
| Cession from Spain | December 10, 1898 |
| Current constitution | July 25, 1952 |
| Capital and largest municipality | San Juan 18°27′N 66°6′W / 18.450°N 66.100°W |
| Largest metropolitan area | San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area |
| Official languages | |
| Ethnic groups (2020) | By race:
By origin:
|
| Demonym(s) | Puerto Rican (Spanish: puertorriqueño -a) boricua (neutral) borinqueño -a borincano -a puertorro -a |
| Government | Devolved presidential constitutional dependency |
| Donald Trump (R) | |
• Governor | Jenniffer González-Colón (PNP) (R) |
| Rosachely Rivera Santana (PNP) (D) | |
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly |
| Senate | |
| House of Representatives | |
| Judiciary | Supreme Court of Puerto Rico |
| United States Congress | |
| Pablo Hernández Rivera (PPD) (D) | |
| Area | |
• Total | 13,792 km2 (5,325 sq mi) |
• Land | 8,868 km2 (3,424 sq mi) |
• Water | 4,924 km2 (1,901 sq mi) |
• Water (%) | 35.6 |
| Dimensions | |
• Length | 177 km (110 mi) |
• Width | 65 km (40 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 1,338 m (4,390 ft) |
| Population | |
• 2024 estimate |  3,203,295 (33rd), (136th) |
• 2020 census | 3,285,874 |
• Density | 361.4/km2 (936.0/sq mi) (36th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
• Total |  $158.019 billion (92nd) |
• Per capita | $49,590 (39th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | $120.970 billion (64th) |
• Per capita | $37,930 (27th) |
| Gini (2024) | 58 high |
| HDI (2022) | 0.868 very high · 47th |
| Currency | United States dollar (US$) (USD) |
| Time zone | UTC−04:00 (AST) |
| Date format | dd/mm/yyyy mm/dd/yyyy |
| Driving side | Right |
| Calling code | +1 |
| USPS abbreviation | PR |
| ISO 3166 code | |
| Internet TLD | .pr |
| Website | pr.gov |
Puerto Rico was settled by a succession of Amerindian peoples beginning 2,000 to 4,000 years ago; these included the Ortoiroid, Saladoid, and Taíno. It was claimed by Spain following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493 and subsequently colonized by Juan Ponce de León in 1508. Puerto Rico was contested by other European powers into the 18th century but remained a Spanish possession for the next 400 years. The decline of the Indigenous population, followed by an influx of Spanish settlers, primarily from the Canary Islands and Andalusia, and African slaves vastly changed the cultural and demographic landscape of the archipelago. Within the Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico played a secondary but strategically significant role compared to larger and wealthier colonies like Peru and New Spain. By the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, centered on a fusion of European, African, and Indigenous elements. In 1898, following the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was acquired by the United States.
Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917 and can move freely between the archipelago and the mainland. However, residents of Puerto Rico are disenfranchised from federal elections and generally do not pay federal income tax. In common with four other territories, Puerto Rico sends a nonvoting representative to the U.S. Congress, called a Resident Commissioner, and participates in presidential primaries; as it is not a state, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the U.S. Congress, which oversees it under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. Congress approved a territorial constitution in 1952, allowing residents of the archipelago to elect a governor in addition to a senate and house of representatives. The political status of Puerto Rico is an ongoing debate.
Beginning in the mid-20th century, the U.S. government, together with the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, launched a series of economic projects to develop Puerto Rico into an industrial high-income economy. It is classified by the International Monetary Fund as a developed jurisdiction with an advanced, high-income economy; it ranks 47th on the Human Development Index. The major sectors of Puerto Rico's economy are manufacturing, primarily pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and electronics, followed by services, namely tourism and hospitality.
