Portal:Puerto Rico Resource | Learn About, Share and Discuss Portal:Puerto Rico At Popflock.com

Arts · Biography · Geography · History · Mathematics · Philosophy · Science · Society · Technology

The Puerto Rico Portal

P:PR

Location of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico (Spanish for 'Rich Port'; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit. 'Free Associated State of Puerto Rico') and in previous centuries called Porto Rico in English, is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida.

Puerto Rico is an archipelago among the Greater Antilles located between the Dominican Republic and the US Virgin Islands, and includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Mona, Culebra, and Vieques. The capital and most populous city is San Juan. The territory's total population is approximately 3.2 million, more than 20 U.S. states. Spanish and English are the official languages of the executive branch of government, though Spanish predominates.

Originally populated by the indigenous Taíno people, Puerto Rico was colonized by Spain following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493. It was contested by various other European powers, but remained a Spanish possession for the next four centuries. The island's cultural and demographic landscapes were shaped by the displacement and assimilation of the native population, the forced migration of African slaves, and settlement primarily from the Canary Islands and Andalusia. In the Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico played a secondary but strategic role compared to wealthier colonies like Peru and New Spain. By the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, with a distinctive creole Hispanic culture and language that combined indigenous, African, and European elements. In 1898, following the Spanish-American War, the United States acquired Puerto Rico, which remains an unincorporated territorial possession, making it the world's oldest colony.

Puerto Ricans have been citizens of the United States since 1917, and can move freely between the island and the mainland. As it is not a state, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the U.S. Congress, which governs the territory with full jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. Puerto Rico's sole congressional representation is through one non-voting member of the House called a Resident Commissioner. As residents of a U.S. territory, American citizens in Puerto Rico are disenfranchised at the national level, do not vote for the president or vice president of the U.S., and in most cases do not pay federal income tax. Congress approved a local constitution in 1952, allowing U.S. citizens of the territory to elect a governor. Puerto Rico's future political status has consistently been a matter of significant debate.

More about Puerto Rico...

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

[nil edit]

Recognized content - show another

Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

The Cerro Maravilla murders, also known as the Cerro Maravilla massacre, occurred on July 25, 1978, at Cerro Maravilla, a mountain in Puerto Rico, wherein two young Puerto Rican pro-independence activists, Carlos Enrique Soto-Arriví (1959-1978) and Arnaldo Darío Rosado-Torres (1953-1978), were murdered in a Puerto Rico Police ambush. The event sparked a series of political controversies where, in the end, the police officers were found guilty of murder and several high-ranking local government officials were accused of planning and/or covering up the incident.

Originally declared a police intervention against terrorists, the local media quickly questioned the officers' testimonies as well as the only surviving witness for inconsistencies. Carlos Romero Barceló (PNP), then Governor of Puerto Rico, ordered the local Justice Department to launch various investigations, and asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Justice Department to aid in the investigations, which concluded that there was no wrongdoing on the officers' part. However, after one of the local opposing political parties^[which?] launched its own inquiries, new evidence and witness testimonies surfaced which uncovered gross negligence and murder on the officers' part, as well as the possibility of a local and federal cover-up. Trials were held and a total of 10 officers were convicted of various crimes. Read more...

List of recognized articles

Selected picture - show another

Photo credit: National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center

The Arecibo Observatory is the world's largest single-aperture telescope ever constructed. The telescope's dish has a diameter of over 1,000 ft (305m) and covers over 18 acres. The receiver array is suspended 450 ft (150m) above the dish, supported by three concrete towers each measuring between 265 ft (80m) and 365 ft (110m).

More pictures

Quality content

Featured content represents the best of what Wikipedia has to offer. The following Puerto Rico-related articles and lists have been designated as Featured (

) by the community, as a result of many collaborative efforts of users and readers just like you.

Selected anniversaries for May

May 1, 1900 - Charles Herbert Allen becomes the first civil governor of Puerto Rico (appointed) since the end of the Spanish-American War.
May 5, 2007 - Death of José Aponte de la Torre, long-time mayor of Carolina (b. 1941)
May 6, 1975 - Birth of Germán Figueroa, professional wrestler
May 8, 1926 - Birth of Felipe Rodriguez, singer of boleros (d. 1999)
May 9, 2004 - Twenty-two passengers, two stoweaways and crew are injured when an American Eagle ATR 42, flight 1450, crash-lands in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
May 10, 1885 - Birth of Antonio Fernós-Isern, the first Puerto Rican cardiologist and its longest serving resident commissioner (d. 1974)
May 10, 1898 - In one of the first conflicts of the Spanish-American War, Spanish forces at Fort San Cristóbal exchange fire with the USS Yale.
May 12, 1898 - 12 American ships bombard parts of San Juan.
May 12, 1980 - Birth of Felipe López, Mayor League Baseball shortstop
May 12, 1981 - Birth of Manuel Narvaez, professional basketball player
May 13, 1829 - Birth of Segundo Ruiz Belvis, dedicated abolitionist who also fought for Puerto Rico's right to independence (d. 1867)
May 14, 1876 - Birth of Luis Lloréns Torres, poet, journalist, playwright, and politician (d. 1944)
May 17, 1917 - Death of Francisco Oller, artist (b. 1833)
May 21, 1962 - El Gran Combo debuts on Puerto Rican radio.
May 22, 1772 - The Municipality of Bayamón is founded.
May 22, 1772 - The Municipality of Orocovis is founded.
May 22, 1772 - The Municipality of Quebradillas is founded.
May 23, 1919 - Birth of Ruth Fernández, singer
May 23, 1985 - Birth of Peter John Ramos, professional basketball player
May 24, 1962 - Birth of Héctor Camacho, former professional boxing champion
May 25, 1838 - The Municipality of Aguas Buenas is founded.
May 25, 1975 - Birth of Gilbert Cosme, professional wrestler
May 26, 1999 - Death of Felipe Rodriguez, singer of boleros (b. 1926)
May 29, 1984 - Birth of Carmelo Anthony, professional basketball player
May 30, 1981 - Death of Ana María O'Neill, advocate of women's rights (b. 1894)
May 30, 2001 - Death of Jaime Benítez, author, academic, politician (b. 1908)

More anniversaries...

WikiProjects

**WikiProject Puerto Rico**
Parent Projects:	Sister Projects:
Geography
Caribbean	Cuba o Dominican Republic
Latin America	Mexico o Mesoamerica
United States	Puerto Rican Highways
Ethnic groups
Latinos
	What are WikiProjects?

[nil edit]

Selected article - show another

Ponce Creole is an architectural style created in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the late 19th and early 20th century. This style of Puerto Rican buildings is found predominantly in residential homes in Ponce that developed between 1895 and 1920. Ponce Creole architecture borrows heavily from the traditions of the French, the Spaniards, and the Caribbean to create houses that were especially built to withstand the hot and dry climate of the region, and to take advantage of the sun and sea breezes characteristic of the southern Puerto Rico's Caribbean Sea coast. It is a blend of wood and masonry, incorporating architectural elements of other styles, from Neoclassical and Spanish Revival to Victorian. Read more...

List of selected articles

[nil edit]

Selected biography - show another

Sylvia Mendez (born June 7, 1936) is an American civil rights activist of Mexican-Puerto Rican heritage. At age eight, she played an instrumental role in the Mendez v. Westminster case, the landmark desegregation case of 1946. The case successfully ended de jure segregation in California and paved the way for integration and the American civil rights movement.

Mendez grew up during a time when most southern and southwestern schools were segregated. In the case of California, Hispanics were not allowed to attend schools that were designated for "Whites" only and were sent to the so-called "Mexican schools." Mendez was denied enrollment to a "Whites" only school, an event which prompted her parents to take action and together organized various sectors of the Hispanic community who filed a lawsuit in the local federal court. The success of their action, of which Sylvia was the principal catalyst, would eventually bring to an end the era of segregated education. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, on February 15, 2011. Read more...

List of selected biographies

Did you know - show different entries

Biographical topics

Elsa Miranda in 1950

... that both Rafael Carrión, Sr., the founder of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, the largest bank in Puerto Rico and the largest Hispanic bank in the United States,^[1] and Angel Ramos, the founder of Telemundo, the second largest Spanish-language television network in the United States, were orphans born to poor families and neither had college degrees?
... that Juan Emilio Viguié, a pioneer in Puerto Rico's film industry, produced "Romance Tropical" the first Puerto Rican film with sound which in itself was also the second Spanish movie in the world with sound?
... that Nine Puerto Ricans have been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award bestowed by the President of the United States and which is the highest civilian award in the United States?
... that Former governor Luis A. Ferré and his sister Isolina Ferré are the only pair of Puerto Rican brothers and sisters to have been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
... that Three Puerto Ricans have been awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal, an award bestowed by the President of the United States and which is the second highest civilian award in the United States?
... that In 2013, the Guinness World Records certified that Guillermo José Torres broke the record of being the anchorman with the longest career in the same station after forty-three years?^[2]
... Felícitas Méndez, a native of Juncos, was an American civil rights pioneer?
In 1946, Méndez and her Mexican husband took it upon themselves the task of leading a community battle that changed California and set an important legal precedent for ending de jure segregation in the United States. The landmark desegregation case, known as the Mendez v. Westminster case^[3] paved the way for integration and the American civil rights movement.^[4]
... that Elsa Miranda, a native of Ponce, was a popular vocalist and that she participated in the first "Chiquita Banana" commercial where she sang the jingle? Puls, the she is considered to be the most famous Miss Chiquita?^[5]
... that Carlos Contreras Aponte, born in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, is the first legally blind person to serve as the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works of Puerto Rico?^[6]^[7]

More did you know

[nil edit]

General images

The following are images from various Puerto Rico-related articles on Wikipedia.

Map of the departments of Puerto Rico during Spanish provincial times (1886).
"El desastre es la colonia" (the disaster is the colony), words seen on light meter six months after Hurricane Maria
Royal Decree of Graces, 1815, which allowed foreigners to enter Puerto Rico.
'La escuela del Maestro Cordero' by Puerto Rican artist Francisco Oller.
Angry rooster
View across the Bay of San Juan of Fort San Felipe del Morro.
Flag flown by Fidel Vélez and his men during the "Intentona de Yauco" revolt.
Juan Ponce de León (Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, Spain), was the first governor of Puerto Rico. His grandson Juan Ponce de Leon II was the first indigenous governor of Puerto Rico.
From 1948 to 1952 it was a felony to display the Puerto Rican flag in public; the only flag permitted to be flown on the island was the flag of the United States.
Picture by journalist Carlos Torres Morales of the Ponce massacre, March 21, 1937.
Taíno village at Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
El Imparcial headline: "Aviation (US) bombs Utuado" during Nationalist revolts.
Aftermath in Mayaguez, of the 1918 earthquake.
Sugar cane workers resting at the noon hour, Rio Piedras. Photograph by Jack Delano, a photographer for the Farm Security Administration. Ca. 1941.
The Revolutionary flag of Lares.
"The first Puerto Rican Flag" used in the unsuccessful Grito de Lares (Lares Uprising).
The first Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, established in 1900 CE.
The 45-star flag, used by the United States during the invasion of Puerto Rico, was also the official flag of Puerto Rico from 1899 to 1908.
Raising the US Flag over San Juan, October 18, 1898.
US and Puerto Rico flags on a building in Puerto Rico
Hacienda La Fortuna. A sugar mill complex in Puerto Rico painted by Francisco Oller in 1885. Brooklyn Museum.
Hurricanes Irma and Maria sharply reduced the availability of electricity throughout the island
Christopher Columbus, the explorer credited with the discovery of Puerto Rico.

Selected quote - show another

"

...industry is not a collection of machines and tools and buildings. It is a social entity that has the responsibility of realizing the happiness of those who work in it.

"

-- Luis A. Ferré, third elected Governor of Puerto Rico, quoted by TIME Magazine on May 11, 1962.

More quotes

Puerto Rico-related topics

Related Portals


Geography	North America	Latin America	Caribbean


Cuba	Dominican Republic	Haiti	Jamaica	Mexico	United States

How you can help

On Wikipedia, anyone can edit. So if you're interested in Puerto Rico and its related subjects and articles, feel free to add and edit current content or start a new article. After all, the popflock.com resource community encourages all readers and users to be bold in updating pages. If you're unsure on where to start, you can choose any of the open tasks listed below. The Puerto Rico WikiProject thanks you!