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Portal:Puerto Rico

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The Puerto Rico Portal

Location of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico (Spanish for 'rich port'; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 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. Spanish and English are the official languages of the executive branch of government, though Spanish predominates.

Puerto Rico was settled by a succession of peoples beginning 2,000 to 4,000 years ago; these included the Ortoiroid, Saladoid, and Taíno. It was then colonized by Spain in 1493 following the arrival of Christopher Columbus. 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. By the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, centered around a fusion of indigenous, African, and European 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 island and the mainland. 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, 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 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.

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 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). (Full article...)

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The Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro, previously known as Cementerio Antiguo de Ponce (looking north)

The Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro (English: Román Baldorioty de Castro National Pantheon) is a tract of land in Barrio Segundo of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, originally designed as the city's cemetery, but later converted into what has come to be a famous burial place. Established in 1842, it is Puerto Rico's first (and only) national pantheon. It is the only cemetery dedicated as a museum in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Prior to being dedicated as a Panteón Nacional, it was known as Cementerio Viejo or as Cementerio Antiguo de Ponce, and is listed under that name on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The Pantheon is named after Román Baldorioty de Castro, a prolific Puerto Rican politician, and firm believer of Puerto Rican autonomy and independence. His remains are located here. The Pantheon also houses a small museum about the history of autonomism in the Island, and it is currently used both as a park and a venue for the expression of culture and the arts. It is called the Museo del Autonomismo Puertorriqueño.

Prior to being turned into a National Pantheon in 1991, it was known as Antiguo Cementerio de Ponce (Ponce's Old Cemetery), to differentiate it from the newer (though now also over 100 years old) Cementerio Civil de Ponce (Ponce Civil Cemetery). Built in 1842, after the design of Antonio Torruella, the cemetery was enlarged in 1864, following the design of Nieto Blajol Iglesia. It closed in 1918. (Full article...)
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Ivy Queen in 2010

Martha Ivelisse Pesante Rodríguez (born March 4, 1972), known professionally as Ivy Queen, is a Puerto Rican singer, rapper, songwriter, and actress. She is considered one of the pioneers of the reggaeton genre, commonly referred to as the Queen of Reggaeton.

Ivy Queen began her career as a member of the otherwise all-male collective The Noise in San Juan, Puerto Rico. There, she performed her first song "Somos Raperos Pero No Delincuentes" (We are Rappers, Not Delinquents). Ivy Queen went solo in 1996, and released her debut studio album En Mi Imperio (In My Empire) which was quickly picked up by Sony Discos for distribution in 1997. (Full article...)

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Sonia Sotomayor – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
  • ... that Sonia Sotomayor - is the first Puerto Rican woman and Hispanic to serve as a U.S. Circuit Court judge and to be nominated and confirmed as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice?
  • ... that Telemundo, the second largest Spanish-language television station in the United States, was founded by Ángel Ramos in Puerto Rico?
  • ... that Puerto Rico met the requirements to be defined as a nation well before the Pilgrims came to the United States?
  • ... that the first shot fired by the United States in World War I was in Puerto Rico and not in Europe? The first shot was made by Sergeant Encarnación Correa, upon orders of Lt. Teófilo Marxuach, against the "Odenwald", an armed German supply ship which tried to force its way out of San Juan Bay and deliver supplies to the German submarines waiting in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • ... that on June 10, 2014, the Borinqueneers Congressional Gold Medal Bill was signed by President Barack Obama, thus making the 65th Infantry Regiment] the first military unit composed almost entirely of Puerto Ricans to receive such an honor?[1]
  • ... that the world's highest concentrations of Bioluminescent waters are in Puerto Rico?
  • ... that Francisco Oller is considered to be the only Latin American painter to play a role in the development of Impressionism?.[2]
  • ... that in 1937, Óscar García Rivera, Sr. became the first Puerto Rican to be elected to public office in the continental United States and in 1956 he also became the first Puerto Rican to be nominated as the Republican candidate for Justice of the City Court?[3]
  • ... that the song "Te Regalo Amores" by R.K.M & Ken-Y reached #1 on both the Billboard Latin Rhythm Airplay and Latin Tropical Airplay charts?[4][5]
  • ... that the Cathedral of San Juan, Puerto Rico, built in the 1520s, is one of the oldest Cathedrals in the Western Hemisphere, and that it contains the marble tomb of the island's first governor and discoverer of Florida Juan Ponce de León?

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Sources

  1. ^ Borinqueneers Congressional Gold Medal
  2. ^ [1][dead link] (in Spanish) "Oller en Europa": Haydée Venegas' interview by La Voz del Centro
  3. ^ East Harlem News
  4. ^ "Latin Rhythm Airplay 2008-11-22". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2012-11-06.[dead link]
  5. ^ "Latin Tropical Airplay 2009-01-03". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2012-11-06.[dead link]
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