Geography and Industry

Puerto Rico isn't a state, but it's under the authority of the United States. Officially, it's a commonwealth, and its head of state (which in a state would be a governor) is the U.S. president. It does have a governor who is elected by Puerto Rico's voters.

Puerto Rico is an island in the eastern end of the West Indies. It is bordered on the south by the Caribbean Sea and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Located closer to the equator than the continental United States, the island is semitropical, with a long growing season and no discernable winter.

Puerto Rico is crossed by mountains such as the Cordillera Central. Its rivers are short and too shallow for river travel. The commonwealth of Puerto Rico includes several smaller off-shore islands, the largest of which is Vieques (VYA-kays).

Puerto Rico's capital and largest city is San Juan. Other important cities include Caguas, Mayaguez, and Ponce.

Manufacturing of items such as clothing, electronics, and pharmaceuticals is Puerto Rico's main industry. Agriculture such as the raising of livestock, coffee, sugar cane, and tobacco are also very important to Puerto Rico's economy.

With its semitropical climate, lush scenery, and gorgeous white-sand beaches, Puerto Rico profits highly from year-round tourism. People from all over the world visit Puerto Rico for the beaches alone.

History

There were members of the Arawak tribe of native people living on Puerto Rico when Christopher Columbus visited it in 1493. In 1508, Juan Ponce de Leon led a force of conquistadors ashore on the island he named Puerto Rico (Spanish for “rich harbor”) and conquered for Spain.

The Spaniards enslaved the local natives and forced them to work on the sugar plantations they built once they had conquered the island. As the Arawaks died out from overwork and disease, the Spaniards replaced them with black slaves brought from Africa.

Puerto Rico's capital city of San Juan quickly became a jewel in the crown of the Spanish Empire, with gorgeous buildings and a thriving economy. The rest of the island languished in a slow-moving sugar-based economic rut, which was made worse over the decades by repeated raids on the island by English, French, and Dutch buccaneers.

By the nineteenth century, Puerto Rico's native population had become dissatisfied with Spanish colonial rule, and there were several rebellions on the island. The Spanish brutally put down each one.

The situation changed in 1898, when the United States defeated Spain in the short and nearly bloodless Spanish American War. As part of the treaty that ended the war, Spain ceded control of Puerto Rico to the United States.

In 1917 Puerto Ricans received both U.S. citizenship and the right to vote in their local elections. In the years since, they have had the choice to become independent, to stay a self-ruling commonwealth of the United States, or to become a state. The citizens of the island have chosen to remain a commonwealth.