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![Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006 [Zuleyka Rivera]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121017011235im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5FDkkaMleO0/0.jpg "Zuleyka is Miss Universe 2006. She is sexy and is oozing with sex appeal. A lot of people are not happy with her win but in my opinion after all her rigid training and all those plastic surgeries, she deserves it! Congratulations Zulekya!")
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- Adjuntas
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- Femina Miss India
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- Isabela, Puerto Rico
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- ITunes
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- Miss Alabama
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- Monica Pastrana
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- Orocovis
- Podcast
- Portal Puerto Rico
- Puerto Rico
- Puteri Indonesia
- Salinas, Puerto Rico
- Señorita Panamá
- Shanira Blanco
- Sharon Gómez
- Star Hellas
- Susie Castillo
- Telemundo
- Toa Alta
- Toa Baja
- Uma Blasini
- Vanessa De Roide
- Vida Samadzai
- Vieques, Puerto Rico
- Viviana Ortiz
- Wilnelia Merced
- Wilnelia Merced Cruz
- Yara Lasanta
- Yauco, Puerto Rico
- Yeidy Bosques
- Zuleyka Rivera
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Alabama
Alabama () is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland waterways. The state ranks 23rd in population with almost 4.6 million residents in 2006.
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Alaska
Alaska () is the largest state of the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Alaska's 698,473 residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. As of 2009, Alaska remains the least densely populated state of the U.S.
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Americas
The Americas, or America, (, , , , , , ) are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World, comprising the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. The plural form the Americas is often used in English, as the singular America is ambiguous: America is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America. The Americas cover 8.3% of the Earth's total surface area (28.4% of its land area) and contain about 13.5% of the human population (about 900 million people).
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Andalusia
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Anguilla
Anguilla ( ) is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean, one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles. It consists of the main island of Anguilla itself, approximately long by wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population. The island's capital is The Valley. The total land area of the territory is , with a population of approximately 13,500 (2006 estimate).
http://wn.com/Anguilla -
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda (; Spanish for "ancient" and "bearded") is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands (including Great Bird, Green, Guinea, Long, Maiden and York Islands). Separated by a few sea miles, the group is in the middle of the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, roughly at 17 degrees north of the Equator. Being a former part of the British Empire has strongly influenced the country's governance, language, and culture.
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Arecibo
http://wn.com/Arecibo -
Arecibo, Puerto Rico
Arecibo () is a municipality in the northern midwest coast of Puerto Rico and located by the Atlantic Ocean, north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta, and Florida. Arecibo is spread over 18 wards and Arecibo Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). Arecibo is located on the north coast of the island of Puerto Rico, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of San Juan, or approximately a 1-hour trip by car. It is the largest municipality by area in Puerto Rico and is part of the San Juan, Caguas and Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
http://wn.com/Arecibo_Puerto_Rico -
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquin name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River. Its diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River. The capital and most populous city is Little Rock, located in the central portion of the state.
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Aruba
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Asturias
The Principality of Asturias (, ; ) is an autonomous community within the kingdom of Spain, former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages. It is situated on the Spanish north coast (Bay of Biscay) facing the Cantabrian Sea.
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Atlanta, Georgia
http://wn.com/Atlanta_Georgia -
Barbados
Barbados ()or (Bar-bay-dos) is an island nation of the Lesser Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic Ocean and 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and north-east of Venezuela. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt.
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Bayamón, Puerto Rico
http://wn.com/Bayamón_Puerto_Rico -
Belize
Belize () (formerly British Honduras), is a democratic constitutional monarchy, and the northernmost Central American nation. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Although Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official language. Belize is bordered by Mexico to its north, by Guatemala to its south and west, and by the Caribbean Sea to the east.
http://wn.com/Belize -
Bermuda
Bermuda (; officially, the Bermudas or Somers Islands) is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida. Its capital city is Hamilton but the largest municipality is the town of Saint George's.
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Bonaire
http://wn.com/Bonaire -
Caguas, Puerto Rico
Caguas (), founded in 1775, is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey.
http://wn.com/Caguas_Puerto_Rico -
California
California (pronounced ) is the most populous state in the United States and the third-largest by land area, after Alaska and Texas. California is also the most populous sub-national entity in North America. It's on the U.S. West Coast, bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and by the states of Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, Baja California, Mexico, to the south. Its 5 largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and Long Beach, with Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose each having at least 1 million residents. Like many populous states, California's capital, Sacramento is smaller than the state's largest city, Los Angeles. The state is home to the nation's 2nd- and 6th-largest census statistical areas and 8 of the nation's 50 most populous cities. California has a varied climate and geography and a multi-cultural population.
http://wn.com/California -
Canada
Canada () is a country in North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area. Canada's common border with the United States to the south and northwest is the longest in the world.
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Canary Islands
http://wn.com/Canary_Islands -
Caparra
http://wn.com/Caparra -
Cardona (Ponce)
http://wn.com/Cardona_(Ponce) -
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles.
http://wn.com/Caribbean_Sea -
Catalonia
http://wn.com/Catalonia -
Cataño, Puerto Rico
http://wn.com/Cataño_Puerto_Rico -
Cayey, Puerto Rico
Cayey () is a mountain town in central Puerto Rico located on the Central Mountain range, north of Salinas and Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east of Aibonito and Salinas; and west of San Lorenzo Cayey is spread over 21 wards and Cayey Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
http://wn.com/Cayey_Puerto_Rico -
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands ( or ) is a British Overseas Territory located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica. It is considered a part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone. The territory is a major offshore financial centre in the Caribbean.
http://wn.com/Cayman_Islands -
Ceiba, Puerto Rico
http://wn.com/Ceiba_Puerto_Rico -
Coamo
http://wn.com/Coamo -
Coamo, Puerto Rico
http://wn.com/Coamo_Puerto_Rico -
Colombia
Colombia (), officially the Republic of Colombia (, ), is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Colombia also shares maritime borders with Venezuela, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. With a population of over 45 million people, Colombia has the 29th largest population in the world and the second largest in South America, after Brazil. Colombia has the fourth largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico, the United States, and Spain.
http://wn.com/Colombia -
Colorado
Colorado (pronounced or, chiefly by outsiders, ) is a U.S. state that encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is part of the Western United States, the Mountain States, and the Southwestern United States.
http://wn.com/Colorado -
Connecticut
Connecticut () (state code CT) is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and New York to the west and south (because various islands of New York span Connecticut's entire coast).
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Costa Rica
:For the plant genus Costarica, see its synonym Sicyos.
http://wn.com/Costa_Rica -
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba (; , ) is an island country in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos.
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Culebra, Puerto Rico
http://wn.com/Culebra_Puerto_Rico -
Curaçao
http://wn.com/Curaçao -
Cádiz
http://wn.com/Cádiz -
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, an English nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom (what is now called) Cape Henlopen was originally named.
http://wn.com/Delaware -
Desecheo Island
http://wn.com/Desecheo_Island -
Dominica
Dominica, ( ) officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. To the north-northwest lies Guadeloupe, to the southeast Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth of Dominica has an estimated population of 72,500. The capital is Roseau.
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Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic (; , ) is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries. Both by area and population, the Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation (after Cuba), with and an estimated 10 million people.
http://wn.com/Dominican_Republic -
Dorado, Puerto Rico
Dorado () is a small tourist town in the northern coast of Puerto Rico, west of San Juan and is located in the northern region of the island, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, north of Toa Alta, east of Vega Alta, and west of Toa Baja. Dorado is spread over five barrios and Dorado Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). The town is known as a tourist destination with golf courses, hotels, and a beautiful municipal beach. It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
http://wn.com/Dorado_Puerto_Rico -
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , literally meaning "Republic of The Savior") is the smallest and also the most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as do Honduras and Nicaragua further south.
http://wn.com/El_Salvador -
Fajardo, Puerto Rico
Fajardo () is a small but popular city in Puerto Rico located in the east region of the island, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, north of Ceiba and east of Luquillo.Fajardo is spread over 7 wards and Downtown Fajardo (commonly called by the locals "Fajardo Pueblo"), which serves as the administrative center of the city. It is both a principal city of the Fajardo Metropolitan Statistical Area and the San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area.
http://wn.com/Fajardo_Puerto_Rico -
Florida
Florida () is a state of the United States. It is located in the Southeastern United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. Much of the state's land mass is a large peninsula with the Gulf of Mexico to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Caribbean to the south. Florida was admitted as the 27th U.S. state in 1845, after a three hundred year period of European colonization.
http://wn.com/Florida -
Fort San Cristóbal
http://wn.com/Fort_San_Cristóbal -
France
{{Infobox Country
http://wn.com/France -
Galicia (Spain)
:This article is about the nation in Spain. For the Polish-Ukrainian region, see Galicia (Eastern Europe).
http://wn.com/Galicia_(Spain) -
Gatas (Ponce)
http://wn.com/Gatas_(Ponce) -
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia () is a state located in the southeastern United States. Georgia was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788. It declared its secession from the Union on January 21, 1861, and was one of the original seven Confederate states. It was the last state to be restored to the Union, on July 15, 1870 and the only among the 13 that is explicitly named after a monarch; King George II of England.
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Greater Antilles
The Greater Antilles are one of three island groups in the Caribbean. Comprising Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (containing the nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic) , and Puerto Rico, the Greater Antilles constitute almost 90% of the land mass of the entire West Indies.
http://wn.com/Greater_Antilles -
Greenland
Greenland ( meaning "Land of the Kalaallit people"; ) is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Physiographically, it is a part of the continent of North America. The largest island in Greenland is also named Greenland, and makes up most of the country's land area.
http://wn.com/Greenland -
Grenada
Grenada () is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
http://wn.com/Grenada -
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; Antillean Creole: Gwadloup) is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres (629 sq. mi) and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is also one of the twenty-six regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic since 2007.
http://wn.com/Guadeloupe -
Guam
http://wn.com/Guam -
Guatemala
http://wn.com/Guatemala -
Gurabo, Puerto Rico
Gurabo () is a municipality (municipio) in eastern Puerto Rico located in the central eastern region, north of San Lorenzo; south of Trujillo Alto; east of Caguas; and west of Carolina and Juncos. Gurabo is spread over 9 wards and Gurabo Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
http://wn.com/Gurabo_Puerto_Rico -
Haiti
Haiti (; French , ; Haitian Creole: Ayiti, ), officially the Republic of Haiti ( ;
http://wn.com/Haiti -
Hawaii
: For geographic details see Geography and environment or Hawaiian Islands.
http://wn.com/Hawaii -
Hispaniola
http://wn.com/Hispaniola -
Honduras
Honduras (, , ) is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras (now Belize). The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea.
http://wn.com/Honduras -
Humacao, Puerto Rico
Humacao () is a city in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 10 wards and Humacao Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
http://wn.com/Humacao_Puerto_Rico -
Iceland
:
http://wn.com/Iceland -
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the United States of America. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890 as the 43rd state.
http://wn.com/Idaho -
Illinois
Illinois ( {{respell|-i-), is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. It is the most populous state in the Midwest region, however with 65% of its residents concentrated in the Chicago metropolitan area, most of the state has either a rural or a small town character. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and western Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a broad economic base. Illinois is an important transportation hub; the Port of Chicago connects the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River via the Illinois River. As the "most average state", Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics, though the latter has not really been true since the early 1970s.
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Insular area
An insular area is a United States territory, that is neither a part of one of the fifty U.S. states nor the District of Columbia, the federal district of the United States. They are called "insular" from the Latin word insula ("island") and because they were once administered by the War Department's Bureau of Insular Affairs, now the Office of Insular Affairs at the Interior Department. The term insular possession is also sometimes used, but has fallen out of favor.
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Iowa
Iowa () is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New France. After the Louisiana Purchase, settlers laid the foundation for an agriculture-based economy in the heart of the Corn Belt. Iowa is often known as the "Food Capital of the World", however Iowa's economy, culture, and landscape are diverse. In the mid and late 20th century, Iowa's agricultural economy transitioned to a diversified economy of advanced manufacturing, processing, financial services, biotechnology, and green energy production. Iowa has been listed as one of the safest states in which to live. Des Moines is Iowa's capital and largest city.
http://wn.com/Iowa -
Isla de Jueyes
http://wn.com/Isla_de_Jueyes -
Isla de la Juventud
Isla de la Juventud
http://wn.com/Isla_de_la_Juventud -
Isla de Ratones
Isla de Ratones (Mice Island) is a small island located near the Joyuda Lagoon in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. The island is a popular spot for snorkeling.
http://wn.com/Isla_de_Ratones -
Isleta de San Juan
The Isleta de San Juan is a island off the coast of Puerto Rico, connected to the mainland by bridges and a causeway. It is the site of Old San Juan, the historic quadrant of the territory's capital, San Juan. It is the site the neighborhood of Puerta de Tierra, location of many of Puerto Rico's government buildings.
http://wn.com/Isleta_de_San_Juan -
Italy
http://wn.com/Italy -
Jamaica
http://wn.com/Jamaica -
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown, located, on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony, was founded on May 14, 1607. It is the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States of America, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke. It was founded by the London Company (later to become the Virginia Company), headquartered in London. Within a year of Jamestown's foundation, the Company brought Polish and Dutch colonists to help improve the settlement. Located in James City County when it was formed in 1634 as one of the original eight shires of Virginia, Jamestown was the capital of the Colony for 83 years, from 1616 until 1699. At that time, the capital was relocated to Middle Plantation, about distant. (That small community, which had also become home to the new College of William and Mary in 1693, was renamed Williamsburg in 1699). The London Company's second settlement, Bermuda, claims the oldest town in the English New World, as St. George's, Bermuda was officially established (as New London) in 1612, where James Fort, in Virginia, is said not to have been converted into Jamestown until 1619. Jamestown ceased to exist as a settlement after the transfer of Virginia's capital to Williamsburg in 1699, existing, today, only as archaeological remains, whereas St. George's has continued in use throughout.
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Johnston Atoll
Johnston Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean about 1,400 km (750 nmi) west of Hawaii. There are four islands located on the coral reef platform, two natural islands, Johnston Island and Sand Island, which have been expanded by coral dredging, as well as North Island (Akau) and East Island (Hikina), an additional two artificial islands formed by coral dredging.
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Kansas
http://wn.com/Kansas -
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky () is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth (the others being Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts). Originally a part of Virginia, in 1792 it became the 15th state to join the Union. Kentucky is the 37th largest state in terms of total area, the 36th largest in land area, and ranks 26th in population.
http://wn.com/Kentucky -
La Concha Resort
La Concha Resort is a modern chic luxury resort located at the Condado oceanfront within the district of Santurce in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
http://wn.com/La_Concha_Resort -
Lajas, Puerto Rico
http://wn.com/Lajas_Puerto_Rico -
Lares, Puerto Rico
http://wn.com/Lares_Puerto_Rico -
Latvia
Latvia (; ), officially the Republic of Latvia () is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia (343 km), to the south by Lithuania (588 km), to the east by the Russian Federation (276 km), and to the southeast by Belarus (141 km). Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden. The territory of Latvia covers and it has a temperate seasonal climate.
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Lebanon
Lebanon ( or ; ; ), officially the Republic of Lebanon (Arabic: ; French: ), is a country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has dictated its rich history, and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity.
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Louisiana
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Loíza, Puerto Rico
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Madrid
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Maine
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Martinique
Martinique () is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados. As with the other overseas departments, Martinique is one of the twenty-six regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic. The Island was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502.
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Maryland
Maryland () is an American state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Maryland has the highest median household income of any state, with a median income of $70,545. Maryland was the seventh state to ratify the United States Constitution, and three nicknames for it, the Old Line State, the Free State, and the Chesapeake Bay State are occasionally used.
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Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts () is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of 6.6 million lives in the Boston metropolitan area. The eastern half of the state consists of urban, suburban, and rural areas, while Western Massachusetts is mostly rural. Massachusetts is the most populous of the six New England states and ranks third among U.S. states in GDP per capita.
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Mayagüez
http://wn.com/Mayagüez -
Mercedita Airport
Mercedita Airport is a commercial airport located three miles (5 km) east of the central business district of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The airport covers and has one runway. Passenger movement at the airport in FY 2008 was 278,911, an astounding 1,228% increase over fiscal year 2003 and the highest of all the regional airports for that 5-year period. As of November 15, 2009, negotiations were underway to transfer control of the airport from the Puerto Rico Ports Authority to the Ponce municipal government. It was inaugurated as an international airport on November 1, 1990.
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Mexico
Mexico, (pronounced ; ), officially known as the United Mexican States (), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost 2 million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the fifth-largest country in the Americas by total area and the 14th largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of 111 million, it is the 11th most populous country and the most populous Hispanophone country on Earth. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
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Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is a French corruption of the Ojibwe word mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake".
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Minnesota
Minnesota () is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.27 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state on May 11, 1858. Known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the state's name comes from a Dakota word for "sky-tinted water". Those waters, together with forests, parks, and wilderness areas, offer residents and tourists a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities.
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Mississippi
Mississippi () is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, which namesake is from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi ("Great River"). The state is heavily forested outside of the Mississippi Delta area, and its catfish aquaculture farms produce the majority of farm-raised catfish consumed in the United States. The state symbol is the magnolia grandiflora tree.
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Missouri
Missouri () (abbreviated MO) is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2009 estimated population of 5,987,580, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It comprises 114 counties and one independent city. Missouri's capital is Jefferson City. The four largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. Missouri was originally acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became defined as the Missouri Territory. Part of the Missouri Territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state on August 10, 1821.
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Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( ) is the third most populous city in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 198,915 during the 2000 census. It is the largest municipality on the Gulf Coast between New Orleans, Louisiana and St. Petersburg, Florida. Mobile is the principal municipality of the Mobile Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), a region of 399,843 residents which is composed solely of Mobile County and is the second largest MSA in the state. Mobile is included in the Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope Combined Statistical Area with a total population of 540,258, the second largest combined statistical area in the state behind Birmingham.
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Mona Island
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Mona, Puerto Rico
:"Mona Island" redirects here. Mona is also an ancient or poetic name for the island of Anglesey or the Isle of Man.
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Monito Island
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Montana
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Montserrat
Montserrat () is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. It measures approximately 16 km (10 miles) long and 11 km (7 miles) wide, giving of coastline. Christopher Columbus gave Montserrat its name on his second voyage to the New World in 1493, after Montserrat mountain located in Catalonia. Montserrat is nicknamed the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean, both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish descent of its inhabitants.
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Morrillito
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Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha.
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Netherlands
{{Infobox country
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Nevada
Nevada is a state located in the western and southwestern region of the United States. Nevada is also part of the Mountain States. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas. The state's nickname is Silver State, due to the large number of silver deposits that were discovered and mined there. "Sagebrush State" and "Battle Born State" are its alternative nicknames. In 1864, Nevada became the 36th state to enter the union, and the phrase "Battle Born" on the state flag reflects the state's entry on the Union side during the American Civil War. Its first nonnative settlement was called Mormon Station.
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New Hampshire
New Hampshire () is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. New Hampshire ranks 44th in land area, 46th in total area of the 50 states, and 41st in population.
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New Jersey
New Jersey (, ) is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered on the northeast by New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware. New Jersey lies largely within the sprawling metropolitan areas of New York City and Philadelphia. It is the most densely populated state in the United States.
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New Mexico
New Mexico() is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also part of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth- most sparsely inhabited U.S. state.
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New York
New York (; locally or ) is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border with Rhode Island east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Ontario to the north and west, and Quebec to the north. New York is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City.
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Nicaragua
Nicaragua ( ) officially the Republic of Nicaragua (, ), is a representative democratic republic. It is the largest country in Central America with an area of 130,373 km2. The country is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west of the country, the Caribbean Sea to the east. The country's Caribbean coast is part of the Western Caribbean Zone. Falling within the tropics, Nicaragua sits between 11 degrees and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere. Nicaragua's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contribute to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot. The capital city of Nicaragua is Managua. Roughly one quarter of the nation's population lives in the Nicaraguan capital, making it the second largest city and metropolitan area in Central America (following Guatemala City).
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North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the Southern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte. North Carolina is now ranked as one of the top 3 leading States for Green Technology, Bio-Chemical Engineering, Medical Sciences, and Computer Engineering through the long-range research and development programs of Research Triangle Park (RTP), UNC Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State .
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North Dakota
North Dakota () is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border, about halfway between the Pacific Ocean and the Great Lakes. North Dakota is the 19th largest state by area in the U.S. It is also the third least populous, with only about 646,850 residents as of 2009. North Dakota was carved out of the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889, simultaneously with South Dakota.
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Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,
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Oklahoma
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Oregon
Oregon ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern boundaries, respectively. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers, and settlers who formed an autonomous government in Oregon Country in 1843; the Oregon Territory was created in 1848, and Oregon became the 33rd state on February 14, 1859. Salem is the state's capital and third-most-populous city; Portland is the most populous. Portland is the 30th-largest U.S. city, with a population of 582,130 (2009 estimate) and a metro population of 2,241,841 (2009 estimate), the 23rd-largest U.S. metro area.
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Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll () is an essentially unoccupied equatorial Northern Pacific atoll administered as a unorganized incorporated territory by the United States federal government. The variable temporary population of 4–20 'non-occupants' are essentially staff and scientists employed by various departments of the U.S. federal government and The Nature Conservancy, as well as a rotating mix of Palymra Atoll Research Consortium scholars pursuing research.
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Panama
Panama (), officially the Republic of Panama (; ), is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital is Panama City.
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Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania () is a U.S. state and Commonwealth located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to the east. The state's four most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie. The state capital is Harrisburg.
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Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, U.S. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2006, the estimated population was 53,248.
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Philippines
The Philippines ( ), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (), is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila.
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Ponce Massacre
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Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce (; ) is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.
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Portugal
Portugal (, ), officially the Portuguese Republic (; ), is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are also part of Portugal.
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Puerta de Tierra
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Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico Trench
The Puerto Rico Trench is an oceanic trench located on the boundary between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The trench is associated with a complex transition between the subduction zone to the south along the Lesser Antilles island arc and the major transform fault zone or plate boundary that extends west between Cuba and Hispaniola through the Cayman Trench to the coast of Central America. Scientific studies have concluded that an earthquake occurring along this fault zone could generate a significant tsunami.
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Ratones
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Rhode Island
The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island ( or ), is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area. Rhode Island borders Connecticut to the west and Massachusetts to the north and east, and it shares a water boundary with New York's Long Island to the southwest.
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Rio Piedras
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Saba
Saba () is a Caribbean island and the smallest special municipality of the Netherlands, located at . It consists largely of the potentially active volcano Mount Scenery (877 m), the highest point of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Netherlands proper.
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Saint Barthélemy
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Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia (; ) is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 (238 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 160,000. Its capital is Castries. The island nation has been the home of two Nobel laureates, Arthur Lewis and Derek Walcott. It is the nation with the second most such honorees per capita after Faroe Islands.
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Salinas, Puerto Rico
Salinas () is a small municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico located in the southern coast of the island, south of Aibonito and Cayey; southeast of Coamo, east of Santa Isabel; and west of Guayama. Salinas is spread over 7 wards and Salinas Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city).
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Scotland
Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland includes over 790 islands including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.
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Sint Eustatius
Sint Eustatius ( ), also known affectionately to the locals as Statia () or Statius, is a Caribbean island and a special municipality of the Netherlands. It lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, southeast of the Virgin Islands and immediately to the northwest of Saint Kitts and Nevis and to the southeast of Saba, at . The island is named after the legendary Christian martyr Saint Eustace. The regional capital is Oranjestad.
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South Carolina
South Carolina () is a state in the United States that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was originally named by British King Charles II in honor of his father Charles I of England, as Carolus is Latin for Charles. South Carolina was the first state to vote to secede from the Union and was the founding state of the Confederate States of America. According to an estimate by the United States Census Bureau, the state's population in 2009 was 4,561,242 and ranked 24th among the U.S. states. South Carolina contains 46 counties and its capital is Columbia.
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South Dakota
South Dakota () is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over 800,000. Pierre is the state capital and Sioux Falls, with a population of nearly 160,000, is South Dakota's largest city.
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Spain
Spain ( ; , ), officially the Kingdom of Spain (), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
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Spanish Empire
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St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis ( or ; French: Saint-Louis or St-Louis, ) is an independent city and the second largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. The city itself has an estimated population of 354,361 and is the principal municipality of Greater St. Louis, population 2,879,934, the largest urban area in Missouri and 16th-largest in the United States.
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Tennessee
Tennessee () is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,214,888, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area. Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi River forms the state's western border. Tennessee's capital and second largest city is Nashville, which has a population of 626,144. Memphis is the state's largest city, with a population of 670,902. Nashville has the state's largest metropolitan area, at 1,521,437 people.
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Texas
Texas () is the second-largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.
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The Americas
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The Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is a country consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets (rocks). It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States (nearest to the state of Florida). Its total land area is ; slightly larger than the US states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined), with an estimated population of 330,000. Its capital is Nassau. Geographically, the Bahamas lie in the same island chain as Cuba, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands, the designation of the Bahamas refers normally to the commonwealth and not the geographic chain.
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Tren Urbano
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Trinidad and Tobago
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago () is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west.
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U.S. Virgin Islands
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United States
The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
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US Treasury
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Utah
Utah ( or ) is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,784,572 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the sixth most urbanized in the U.S. The name "Utah" is derived from the name of the Ute tribe and means "people of the mountains" in the Ute language. Utah is bordered by Arizona on the south, Colorado on the east, Wyoming on the northeast, Idaho on the north and Nevada on the west. It also touches a corner of New Mexico.
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Venezuela
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Vermont
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Vieques, Puerto Rico
Vieques (; ), in full Isla de Vieques, is an island-municipality of Puerto Rico in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Although Puerto Rico is a U.S. Commonwealth, Vieques, like the rest of Puerto Rico, retains strong Spanish influences from 400 years of Spanish ownership.
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Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia () is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond; Virginia Beach is the most populous city and Fairfax County the most populous political subdivision. The state population is nearly eight million.
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Washington (state)
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Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. (), formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. Article One of the United States Constitution provides for a federal district, distinct from the states, to serve as the permanent national capital. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the federal territory until an act of Congress in 1871 established a single, unified municipal government for the whole District. It is for this reason that the city, while legally named the District of Columbia, is known as Washington, D.C. The city shares its name with the U.S. state of Washington, which is located on the country's Pacific coast.
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West Florida
:For information about the region as part of the U.S. territory and state of Florida from 1821 to the present, see Florida Panhandle
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West Indies
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West Virginia
West Virginia () is a state in the Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast. The capital and largest city is Charleston.
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Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Upper Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee. As of 2009 the state has an estimated 5.6 million residents. The state contains 72 counties.
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Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is mostly covered by the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High Plains. While the tenth largest U.S. state by area, Wyoming is the least populous, with a U.S. Census estimated population of 544,270 in 2009. This is a 5.9% increase since 2000. The capital and the most populous city of Wyoming is Cheyenne.
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Yabucoa, Puerto Rico
Yabucoa () is a small town in the south eastern tip of Puerto Rico located in the southeastern region, north of Maunabo; south of San Lorenzo, Las Piedras and Humacao; and east of Patillas and about one hour from San Juan. Yabucoa is spread over 9 wards and Yabucoa Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
http://wn.com/Yabucoa_Puerto_Rico
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Abraham Lincoln
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Alfred Thayer Mahan
http://wn.com/Alfred_Thayer_Mahan -
Amerindian
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Arthur Garfield Hays
Arthur Garfield Hays (1881-1954) was born in Rochester, New York, on December 12, 1881. His father and mother, both of German descent, belonged to prospering families in the clothing manufacturing industry. After graduating from Columbia College in 1902 and Columbia Law School in 1905, Hays formed a law firm with two of his former classmates that gained prominence representing German interests in World War I.
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Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a demonym for people from Asia. However, the use of the term varies by country and person, often referring to people from a particular region or subregion of Asia. Though usage may be based on residence, it is usually considered an ethnicity or race.
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Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned after his election to the presidency in November 2008.
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Bernardo de Gálvez
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Christopher Columbus
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Colored
:This article is about a term used for black people like African-Americans. For other uses, see Coloured people or Color (disambiguation). For the dc Talk song, see Colored People (song).
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Félix Trinidad
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George H. W. Bush
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Griselio Torresola
Griselio Torresola (1925 - November 1, 1950) born in Jayuya, Puerto Rico, was one of two Puerto Rican Nationalists who attempted to assassinate United States President Harry Truman. During the attack on the president, Torresola mortally wounded White House policeman Private Leslie Coffelt and wounded two other law enforcement officers. Torresola was killed by a shot to the head from the mortally-wounded Coffelt.
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Harry S Truman
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Harry S. Truman
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Héctor Ferrer
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Igneri
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Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are people, communities, and nations who claim a historical continuity and cultural affinity with societies endemic to their original territories that developed prior to exposure to the larger connected civilization associated with Western culture. These societies therefore consider themselves distinct from societies of the majority culture/s that have contested their cultural sovereignty and self-determination.
http://wn.com/Indigenous_peoples -
Italian people
The Italian people () are a people that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence (though the principle of Jus Sanguinis is used extensively and arguably more favorably in the Italian nationality law), and are distinguished from people of Italian descent and, historically, from ethnic Italians living in the unredeemed territories adjacent to the Italian peninsula.
http://wn.com/Italian_people -
Jesús T. Piñero
http://wn.com/Jesús_T_Piñero -
John Paul II
http://wn.com/John_Paul_II -
John the Baptist
http://wn.com/John_the_Baptist -
José Pedraza (boxer)
http://wn.com/José_Pedraza_(boxer) -
Juan Ponce de León
http://wn.com/Juan_Ponce_de_León -
Jíbaro
http://wn.com/Jíbaro -
Korean War
http://wn.com/Korean_War -
Luis Fortuño
http://wn.com/Luis_Fortuño -
Luis Muñoz Marín
http://wn.com/Luis_Muñoz_Marín -
Luis Muñoz Rivera
http://wn.com/Luis_Muñoz_Rivera -
McJoe Arroyo
McJoe Arroyo (born December 5, 1985) is a Puerto Rican amateur boxer best known for winning a bronze medal at the
http://wn.com/McJoe_Arroyo -
McWilliams Arroyo
McWilliams Arroyo (born December 5, 1985) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He was introduced to boxing in his childhood, becoming involved at the age of 12. As an amateur, Arroyo represented Puerto Rico in numerous international events.
http://wn.com/McWilliams_Arroyo -
Miguel Cotto
http://wn.com/Miguel_Cotto -
Miguel de la Torre
Miguel de la Torre y Pando, conde de Torrepando (born in Bernales, Spain on 13 December 1786 - died in Madrid, 1843) was a Spanish General, Governor and Captain General, who served in Spain, Venezuela, Colombia and Puerto Rico during the Spanish American wars of independence and after.
http://wn.com/Miguel_de_la_Torre -
Orlando Cepeda
Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes (born September 17, 1937) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman.
http://wn.com/Orlando_Cepeda -
Ortoiroid people
The Ortoiroid people were the first human settlers of the Caribbean. They are believed to have originated in the Orinoco valley in South America, migrating to the Antilles from Trinidad and Tobago to Puerto Rico. Rouse theorizes that the Ortoiroid developed for a large amount of time in South America before moving to the West Indies. The earliest radiocarbon date for the Ortoiroid is 5230 BC from Trinidad; the latest date is 190 AD from Puerto Rico.
http://wn.com/Ortoiroid_people -
Oscar Collazo
Oscar Collazo (January 20, 1914 – February 21, 1994), was one of two Puerto Ricans who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman.
http://wn.com/Oscar_Collazo -
Pedro Albizu Campos
Don Pedro Albizu Campos (June 29, 1893 or September 12, 1891 – April 21, 1965) was a Puerto Rican politician and one of the leading figures in the Puerto Rican independence movement. He was the leader and president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 until his death. He was imprisoned for many years, on several occasions, in both United States and Puerto Rico, on charges that included seditious conspiracy. He died shortly after his release from federal prison. Because of his oratorical skills he was known as El Maestro ("The Teacher").
http://wn.com/Pedro_Albizu_Campos -
Pedro Pierluisi
Pedro R. Pierluisi Urrutia (born April 26, 1959) is a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (PNP) and the United States Democratic Party. He is the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States Congress, having won the November 4, 2008 general election.
http://wn.com/Pedro_Pierluisi -
Pope Julius II
Julius II (c. 5 December 1443 – 21 February 1513), nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" (Il Papa Terribile) and "The Warrior Pope" (Il Papa Guerriero),, born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513. His papacy was marked by an active foreign policy, ambitious building projects, and patronage for the arts.
http://wn.com/Pope_Julius_II -
Puerto Rican people
http://wn.com/Puerto_Rican_people -
Ricky Martin
http://wn.com/Ricky_Martin -
Roberto Alomar
http://wn.com/Roberto_Alomar -
Roberto Clemente
http://wn.com/Roberto_Clemente -
Rubén Berríos
Date of birth
http://wn.com/Rubén_Berríos -
Samuel Morse
http://wn.com/Samuel_Morse -
Segundo Ruiz Belvis
Segundo Ruiz Belvis (May 13, 1829 – November 3, 1867), was a dedicated abolitionist who also fought for Puerto Rico's right to independence.
http://wn.com/Segundo_Ruiz_Belvis -
Simón Bolívar
http://wn.com/Simón_Bolívar -
Smith Act
The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act () of 1940 is a United States federal statute that makes it a federal criminal offense for
http://wn.com/Smith_Act -
Spanish people
Spanish people or Spaniards constitute the European nation and ethnic group native of Spain, in the Iberian Peninsula, which forms the southwest of Europe. The Spanish nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the complex history of Spain. Spain, in its current boundaries, was formed out of a number of predecessor kingdoms in the late 15th century as a result of the Reconquista and the War of the Castilian Succession.
http://wn.com/Spanish_people -
Taíno people
http://wn.com/Taíno_people -
Theodore Roosevelt
http://wn.com/Theodore_Roosevelt -
Ulysses Grant
http://wn.com/Ulysses_Grant -
Vicente Yañez Pinzón
http://wn.com/Vicente_Yañez_Pinzón -
Vito Marcantonio
http://wn.com/Vito_Marcantonio -
Wilfred Benítez
http://wn.com/Wilfred_Benítez -
Wilfredo Gómez
http://wn.com/Wilfredo_Gómez -
William H. Seward
:''This article is about the New York Governor and Secretary of State. For his son, see William H. Seward, Jr.
http://wn.com/William_H_Seward
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Miss Universe Puerto Rico Tribute 1952-2011 Part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 13:24
- Published: 12 Nov 2010
- Updated: 20 Sep 2012
The "Miss Puerto Rico" beauty pageant has been almost held every year since the 1950s. The winner of the contest represents Puerto Rico at the Miss Universe pageant each year. The Miss Puerto Rico finals, traditionally held at a San Juan area hotel. The winner is crowned at the conclusion of the final competition. There have been three changes in the organization that led to modifications in the pageant's name. "Miss Puerto Rico" was held from 1952 until 1998 under the direction of Anna Santisteban, in 1996 the pageant lost the franchise for Miss Universe. From 1996 to 1998 Telemundo organized the event, under the name "Miss Universe Puerto Rico". From 1999 to 2002 TeleOnce (now Univision Puerto Rico) obtained the franchise and renamed it "Miss Puerto Rico Universe". Magali Febles organized the pageant between 2003 and 2009 and the pageant title has remained the same. In 2009, Desireé Lowry and Luisito Vigoreaux obtained the Miss Universe franchise and renamed the pageant "Miss Universe Puerto Rico".
http://wn.com/Miss_Universe_Puerto_Rico_Tribute_1952-2011_Part_1
MISS PUERTO RICO 1978
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:02
- Published: 05 Dec 2010
- Updated: 04 Mar 2012
AUTOPRESENTACION
http://wn.com/MISS_PUERTO_RICO_1978
Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2012 - Bodine Koehler
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:24
- Published: 08 Nov 2011
- Updated: 27 Sep 2012
Bodine Koeher Peña from Rio Grande wins the Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2012 Competition held on November 7, 2011.
http://wn.com/Miss_Universe_Puerto_Rico_2012_Bodine_Koehler
Miss Universe - Puerto Rico
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:32
- Published: 15 Aug 2010
- Updated: 10 Oct 2012
Get to know Mariana Paola Vicente
http://wn.com/Miss_Universe_Puerto_Rico
Miss Universe Puerto Rico Tribute 1952-2011 Part 2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:03
- Published: 12 Nov 2010
- Updated: 02 Oct 2012
The "Miss Puerto Rico" beauty pageant has been almost held every year since the 1950s. The winner of the contest represents Puerto Rico at the Miss Universe pageant each year. The Miss Puerto Rico finals, traditionally held at a San Juan area hotel. The winner is crowned at the conclusion of the final competition. There have been three changes in the organization that led to modifications in the pageant's name. "Miss Puerto Rico" was held from 1952 until 1998 under the direction of Anna Santisteban, in 1996 the pageant lost the franchise for Miss Universe. From 1996 to 1998 Telemundo organized the event, under the name "Miss Universe Puerto Rico". From 1999 to 2002 TeleOnce (now Univision Puerto Rico) obtained the franchise and renamed it "Miss Puerto Rico Universe". Magali Febles organized the pageant between 2003 and 2009 and the pageant title has remained the same. In 2009, Desireé Lowry and Luisito Vigoreaux obtained the Miss Universe franchise and renamed the pageant "Miss Universe Puerto Rico".
http://wn.com/Miss_Universe_Puerto_Rico_Tribute_1952-2011_Part_2
MISS PUERTO RICO UNIVERSE 2010
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:07
- Published: 26 Jan 2010
- Updated: 27 Jul 2012
MARIANA VICENTE Miss Universe 2010
http://wn.com/MISS_PUERTO_RICO_UNIVERSE_2010
MISS PUERTO RICO 1989
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:45
- Published: 09 Nov 2009
- Updated: 10 Sep 2012
AUTOPRESENTACION DE LAS CANDIDATAS
http://wn.com/MISS_PUERTO_RICO_1989
Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006 [Zuleyka Rivera]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:18
- Published: 26 Jul 2006
- Updated: 15 Oct 2012
Zuleyka is Miss Universe 2006. She is sexy and is oozing with sex appeal. A lot of people are not happy with her win but in my opinion after all her rigid training and all those plastic surgeries, she deserves it! Congratulations Zulekya!
http://wn.com/Miss_Puerto_Rico_Universe_2006_Zuleyka_Rivera_
Cynthia Olavarria - Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2005
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:03
- Published: 06 Feb 2011
- Updated: 24 Aug 2012
Cynthia Enid Olavarría Rivera Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2005 1st runner-up Miss Universe 2005
http://wn.com/Cynthia_Olavarria_Miss_Puerto_Rico_Universe_2005
Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2013 en traje de Gala, Evening Gown and Prizes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:42
- Published: 31 Aug 2012
- Updated: 15 Oct 2012
Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2009 - Final Question
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:31
- Published: 23 Oct 2008
- Updated: 12 Aug 2012
Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2009 - Final Question
http://wn.com/Miss_Puerto_Rico_Universe_2009_Final_Question
Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006 Top 5
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:39
- Published: 17 May 2012
- Updated: 30 Jun 2012
Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006 Top 5 Watch the full video at dvd.UniversalQueen.com
http://wn.com/Miss_Puerto_Rico_Universe_2006_Top_5
Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2013 - Evening Gown Competition
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:57
- Published: 11 Sep 2012
- Updated: 02 Oct 2012
TOP 10 - Evening Gown Competition: Miss Arecibo Miss Arroyo Miss Cayey Miss Mayaguez Miss Orocovis Miss Humacao Miss Toa Alta Miss Canóvanas Miss Fajardo Miss Rincón
http://wn.com/Miss_Universe_Puerto_Rico_2013_Evening_Gown_Competition
Puerto Rico Performance for Miss World 2011
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:07
- Published: 17 Nov 2011
- Updated: 30 Jul 2012
Puerto Rico, Amanda PEREZ, performs for the Miss World 2011 Talent Final competition. Held at the Miss World 2011 Charity Gala for Beauty with a Purpose. For more information on Beauty with a Purpose visit www.beautywithapurpose.com or follow Beauty with a Purpose on facebook at http For more information on Miss World visit www.missworld.com For exclusive photos and live updates follow Miss World on facebook at http Subscribe to the Miss World Official Youtube Channel for instant notifications on new exclusive videos at www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Puerto_Rico_Performance_for_Miss_World_2011
Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2013 en HD Parte 4 de 4
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 26:39
- Published: 09 Sep 2012
- Updated: 13 Sep 2012
PR Crown Entertainment y Telemundo de PR presentan Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2013. Las 5 finalistas se enfrentan a la temida pregunta final. Conocemos a la nueva Miss Universe Puerto Ri 2213. El evento está dividido en 4 videos. Este video es parte 4 de 4.
http://wn.com/Miss_Universe_Puerto_Rico_2013_en_HD_Parte_4_de_4
Miss Venezuela (Irene Esser) vs Miss Puerto Rico (Bodine Koehler)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:04
- Published: 11 Nov 2011
- Updated: 12 Oct 2012
My bet for Miss Puerto Rico 2013 - Miss Arecibo Monic Pérez
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:50
- Published: 17 Aug 2012
- Updated: 01 Oct 2012
My bet for Miss Puerto Rico 2012-2013 - Miss Arecibo Monic Pérez preliminary preliminar de MUPR universe universo
http://wn.com/My_bet_for_Miss_Puerto_Rico_2013_Miss_Arecibo_Monic_Pérez
Miss Universe Travels to Puerto Rico
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:49
- Published: 01 Apr 2010
- Updated: 22 Aug 2012
Stefania attends the Puerto Rico Open at the Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
http://wn.com/Miss_Universe_Travels_to_Puerto_Rico
Miss Universe- Miss USA, Puerto Rico, Colombia & more
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:19
- Published: 17 Aug 2010
- Updated: 02 Sep 2012
One on one Interviews with Miss Universe 2009, Stefania Fernandez, Miss USA, Rima Fakih, Miss Puerto Rico, Mariana Vicente, Miss Colombia, Natalia Navarro, Miss Haiti, Sarodj Bertin and Miss Australia, Jesinta Campbell on Strip Vegas and TMG Pageant Network. For even more coverage and behind the scene photos visit: Facebook.com/TMGPageantNetwork Twitter.com/PageantNetwork www.PageantNetwork.net
http://wn.com/Miss_Universe_Miss_USA,_Puerto_Rico,_Colombia_more
Monic Pérez - Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2013
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:13
- Published: 09 Sep 2012
- Updated: 16 Sep 2012
Compendium of Monic Perez in the final of Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2013, which was the winner. Monic will compete in Miss Universe 2013.
http://wn.com/Monic_Pérez_Miss_Universe_Puerto_Rico_2013
Miss Puerto Rico 2012 Bodine Koehler Pena, Swimsuit
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:31
- Published: 06 Jan 2012
- Updated: 28 Mar 2012
Miss Universe 2013 - Venezuela vs. Puerto-Rico
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:36
- Published: 02 Sep 2012
- Updated: 22 Sep 2012
Miss Venezuela - María Gabriela Isler Miss PR - Monic Pérez
http://wn.com/Miss_Universe_2013_Venezuela_vs_Puerto-Rico
Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2013 - Crowning Moment
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:32
- Published: 11 Sep 2012
- Updated: 11 Oct 2012
WINNER: Arecibo, Monic Marie Pérez Díaz (Will compete in Miss Universe 2013) FIRST RUNNER-UP: Arroyo, Génesis Dávila (Will compete in Miss Intercontinental 2012) SECOND RUNNER-UP: Cayey, Desireé del Río (Will compete in Miss Supranational 2013) THIRD RUNNER-UP: Mayaguez, Cristina Franceschini (Will compete in Miss Continente Americano 2013) FOURTH RUNNER-UP: Orocovis, Amanda Ortiz (Will compete in Top Model of the World 2013)
http://wn.com/Miss_Universe_Puerto_Rico_2013_Crowning_Moment
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Photo: WN / Aruna Mirasdar
15 Oct 2012
PUNE: Profiles of all secondary schools in the state will now be available at the click of a mouse. A project to this effect has been undertaken by the state Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, a...
Photo: AP / Clemens Bilan
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Des dizaines de millions de personnes ont regardé dimanche avec fascination et angoisse le saut spectaculaire du parachutiste autrichien Felix Baumgartner, qui a franchi pour la...
Photo: AP / Predrag Vuckovic
14 Oct 2012
Update: Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner has landed on Earth after a jump from the stratosphere in what could be the world's first supersonic skydive. Baumgartner landed in eastern New Mexico desert...
Photo: AP / Shakil Adil
15 Oct 2012
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan airlifted a 14-year-old activist who was shot and seriously wounded by the Taliban to the United Kingdom for treatment today, a move that will give her access to the...
Photo: AP / Ross D. Franklin
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De Oostenrijkse parachutist Felix Baumgartner is gedurende zijn recordsprong even in een zogeheten flat spin terechtgekomen, zo vermoedt hij. Dat was vooraf de meest gevreesde toestand waarin hij zou...
Photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
14 Oct 2012
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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the Spanish Wikipedia. (February 2012) Don't speak Spanish? Click here to read a machine-translated version of the Spanish article. Click [show] on the right to review important translation instructions before translating.
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Miss Puerto Rico is the common name or sash used to identify a Puerto Rican representative in an international pageant. Currently, Miss Universe Puerto Rico, Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico and Miss Earth Puerto Rico are the official national preliminaries to the Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Earth international pageants. Each year both events are held to select representatives from the island to both contests.
In addition, Miss Puerto Rico International and the Miss Puerto Rico Scholarship Program select official representatives to the Miss International and Miss America pageants, respectively.
Contents |
Miss Universe Puerto Rico[link]
| Miss Universe Puerto Rico | |
|---|---|
| 225px Logo of the Miss Universe Puerto Rico event. |
|
| Formation | 1952 |
| Type | Beauty Pageant |
| Headquarters | San Juan, PR |
| Location |  Puerto Rico |
| Official languages | Spanish |
| President | Desiree Lowry |
| Key people | Desirée Lowry Luisito Vigoreaux |
| Website | Official website |
History[link]
In its various forms, the "Miss Puerto Rico" beauty pageant has been almost held every year since the 1950s. The winner of the contest represents Puerto Rico at the Miss Universe pageant each year.
The selection of Miss Puerto Rico commences the year before the winner advances to participate in the Miss Universe pageant. Each Puerto Rican city may choose a representative who then enters the Miss Puerto Rico finals, traditionally held at a San Juan area hotel. The winner is crowned at the conclusion of the final competition.
There have been three changes in the organization that led to modifications in the pageant's name. "Miss Puerto Rico" was held from 1952 until 1998 under the direction of Anna Santisteban, in 1996 the pageant lost the franchise for Miss Universe. From 1996 to 1998 Telemundo organized the event, under the name "Miss Universe Puerto Rico". From 1999 to 2002 TeleOnce (now Univision Puerto Rico) obtained the franchise and renamed it "Miss Puerto Rico Universe". Magali Febles organized the pageant between 2003 and 2009 and the pageant title has remained the same. In 2009, Desireé Lowry and Luisito Vigoreaux obtained the Miss Universe franchise and renamed the pageant "Miss Universe Puerto Rico".
The Miss Puerto Rico beauty pageant has now turned to technology to reach more people through the use of podcasting. Starting with the 2006 pageant, Miss Puerto Rico Universe became the first pageant of the Miss Universe franchise to have a podcast.[1] In this, Wilton Vargas, an international multi-media and technology personality, interviews all contestants with the goal of helping people get to know them better so that they can participate in the voting process using cell phones. This podcast is published as a section in technology news and information website Tecnetico.com and various podcast directories, including iTunes.
Delegates are allowed to compete more than once at the Miss Puerto Rico Universe pageant, the caveat being that they are not allowed to compete again after they have won. For example, Cynthia Olavarria placed first runner-up in 2003 and returned in 2005, winning the title and placing first runner-up at Miss Universe. A number of delegates and winners have competed in the "Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico" (Miss World Puerto Rico) pageant, a preliminary to the Miss World pageant. There are frequently crossovers between the two pageants: for example Joyce Giraud was crowned Miss Puerto Rico twice by Ana Rosa Brito, first in 1994 as Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico, then in 1998 as Miss Universe Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico is one of the most successful competitors in the history of the Miss Universe pageant, having won five times. Marisol Malaret, Miss Puerto Rico 1970, was the first Puerto Rican to win the Miss Universe title. The four other Puerto Rican delegates who have won the Miss Universe title are Deborah Carthy Deu (1985), Dayanara Torres (1993), Denise Quiñones (2001), and Zuleyka Rivera (2006).
In November 7, 2011 Miss Universe Puerto Rico makes history, by selecting the first woman that is not born in Puerto Rico and will represent it in Miss Universe. Bodine Koehler Peña was crowned as Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2012. Koehler was born in the Netherlands to a Dutch father and a Dominican mother, but grew up in Puerto Rico.[2]
Recent titleholders[link]
Main article: List of Miss Puerto Rico titleholders
| Year | Miss Puerto Rico Universe | Town Represented | Host City | Placement at Miss Universe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Bodine Koehler Peña | Río Grande | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
|
| 2011 | Viviana Ortiz Pastrana | Corozal | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
|
| 2010 | Mariana Paola Vicente Morales | Río Grande | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
|
| 2009 | Mayra Matos Pérez | Cabo Rojo | Hato Rey, Puerto Rico |
|
| 2008 | Ingrid Marie Rivera Santos | Dorado | Santurce, Puerto Rico |
|
| 2007 | Wilmadilis "Uma" Blasini Pérez | Guayanilla | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
|
| 2006 | Zuleyka Jerrís Rivera Mendoza | Salinas | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
|
| 2005 | Cynthia Enid Olavarría Rivera | Salinas | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
|
| 2004 | Alba Giselle Reyes Santos | Cidra | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
|
| 2003 | Carla Tricoli Rodríguez | Vieques | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
|
| 2002 | Isis Marie Casalduc González | Utuado | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
|
Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico[link]
| Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico | |
|---|---|
| 225px Logo of the Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico event. |
|
| Formation | 1959 |
| Type | Beauty Pageant |
| Headquarters | San Juan, PR |
| Location | Puerto Rico |
| President | Julia Morley |
| Key people | Delia Cruz |
History[link]
Along with Miss Puerto Rico Universe, Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico is one of the most important national pageants in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico debuted in Miss World in 1959, then was absent from 1960 to 1969.
In 1970 a new organization took the responsibility of sending contestants until 1985 via castings. Puerto Rico did not compete in Miss World from 1986 to 1988. The Miss Puerto Rico organization, directed by Anna Santisteban, obtained the Miss World franchise in 1989 and sent the first runner-up of Miss Puerto Rico to Miss World until 1995.
In 1996, Delia Cruz, mother of Puerto Rico's only Miss World Wilnelia Merced Cruz, obtained the franchise and began organizing the Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico pageant whose winner has been competing ever since in the international pageant. Puerto Rico has produced one winner (1975), two 2nd runners-up (2005, 2011) and ten semifinalists (1976, 1978, 1980, 1985, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010). In 2012, Miss Mundo de Puerto Rico is Janelee Chaparro, who was crowned by Amanda Vilanova.
Titleholders[link]
Main article: List of Miss Puerto Rico titleholders
| Year | Titleholder | City | Placement | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Janelee Marie Chaparro Colón | Barceloneta |
|
|
| 2011 | Amanda Victoria Vilanova Pérez | San Juan | 2nd Runner-up | Miss World Caribbean 2011 |
| 2010 | Yara Liz Lasanta Santiago | Barranquitas |
|
|
| 2009 | Jennifer Colón Alvarado | Bayamón |
|
|
| 2008 | Ivonne Marie Orsini López | San Juan |
|
|
| 2007 | Jennifer Guevara Campos | Orocovis |
|
|
| 2006 | Thebyam Carrión Álvarez | Arecibo |
|
|
| 2005 | Ingrid Marie Rivera Santos | Dorado |
|
Miss World Caribbean 2005 |
| 2004 | Cassandra Castro Holland | Luquillo |
|
|
| 2003 | Joyceline Montero García | Bayamón |
|
|
| 2002 | Cassandra Polo Berríos | Guaynabo |
|
|
Miss International[link]
The first Puerto Rican delegate in Miss International was Carmen Sara Látimer, sent in 1960. Since 1960, Puerto Rico has produced one winner (Laurie Tamara Simpson in 1987), one 3rd Runner-up and nine semifinalists. The Miss Puerto Rico pageant had the Miss International franchise from 1960 to 1997, after a two-year hiatus, a new pageant was created called Miss Puerto Rico Turismo that sent representatives until 2007 when a new organization acquired the franchise (Creative Options Inc. - Mr Fernando Oquendo Vega).
Representatives[link]
Main article: List of Miss Puerto Rico titleholders
| Year | Titleholder | City | Placement at Miss International | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 2011 | Desireé Del Río De Jesús | Bayamón |
|
|
| 2010 | Aideliz Hidalgo Betances | San Juan |
|
|
| 2009 | Mónica Cristina Pastrana González | Manatí |
|
|
| 2008 | Miriam Ivette Pabón Carrión | Juncos |
|
|
| 2007 | Haydil Rivera Escobales | Adjuntas |
|
|
| 2006 | Sharon Haydée Gómez Díaz | Mayagüez |
|
Miss Goodwill |
| 2005 | Dinorah Collazo | Orocovis |
|
|
| 2004 | Meredith Herrera Morales | Toa Alta |
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| 2003 | Dignelis Taymí Jiménez Hernández | Arecibo |
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| 2002 | Mariela Lugo Marín | Yauco |
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| 2001 | Lorena Otero Pérez |
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Miss Earth[link]
Puerto Rico sent its very first representative to Miss Earth in 2001 with Amaricelys Reyes Guzmán. A Puerto Rican delegate is yet to win the title but it has produced one finalist in Miss Earth 2005 edition. The Miss Puerto Rico Universe organization sent representatives to Miss Earth between 2002–2004.
Representatives[link]
| Year | Titleholder | City | Placement at Miss Earth | Awards |
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| 2001 | Amaricelys Reyes Guzmán | Isabela |
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| 2002 | Deidre Rodríguez Santiago | Santa Isabel |
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| 2003 | Norelis Ortíz Acosta | Toa Baja |
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| 2004 | Shanira Mariette Blanco Colón | Carolina |
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| 2005 | Vanessa De Roide Toledo | Carolina |
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| 2006 | Camille Collazo Ortíz | Orocovis |
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| 2007 | No Contestant | |||
| 2008 | Nathalie Del Mar Cuevas Suárez | Salinas | Did not compete | |
| 2009 | Dignelis Taymi Jiménez Hernández | Arecibo |
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| 2010 | Yeidy Enid Bosques Pérez | Mayagüez |
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| 2011 | Agnes Eileen Benítez Santiago | Cataño |
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| 2012 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
Miss Puerto Rico Scholarship Program[link]
As of 2010, Puerto Rico will send a delegate to the Miss America pageant,[3] this will be the first time Puerto Rico will do so since 1961.
Representatives[link]
| Year | Titleholder | Placement at Miss America [4] | Special Awards |
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| 1948 | Irma Nydia Vasquez |
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| 1949 | Marlene Carozzo |
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| 1950 | Avelina Medrallo |
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| 1951 | Evangelina Moragon |
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| 1952 | Otilia Jimenez, Evangelina Moragon |
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| 1953 | Helga Edmee Monroig |
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| 1954 | Nydia Power |
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| 1955 | Maria del Carmen Mejias |
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| 1956 | Gladys Rodríguez |
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| 1958 | Winnie Rodriguez |
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| 1961 | Rosita Giusti |
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Miss Congeniality |
| 2009 | Miriam Ivette Pabón Carrión |
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| 2010 | Mariselle Morales |
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| 2011 | Laura Ramirez |
Nuestra Belleza Latina[link]
The first Puerto Rican to get the crown was Melissa Marty in 2008. Recently, Vanessa De Roide won the second crown for the island on May 20, 2012.
Representatives[link]
| Year | Titleholder | City | Placement at Nuestra Belleza Latina | Before/After NBL |
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| 2007 | Yara Liz Lasanta Santiago | Barranquitas |
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| 2007 | Madelis Soto Martínez | Bayamón |
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| 2008 | Melissa Marty Caro | Caguas |
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| 2008 | Natalia Rivera Piñero | Toa Alta |
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| 2008 | Aideliz Hidalgo Betances | Cayey |
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| 2009 | Mónica Cristina Pastrana González | Arecibo |
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| 2009 | Chastelyn Rodriguez | San Juan |
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| 2009 | Stephanie Figueroa | Bayamón |
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| 2010 | Tatiana Marie Delgado Quiñones | Canóvanas |
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| 2011 | Darla Delgado | Camuy |
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| 2011 | Gredmarie Colón | Caguas |
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| 2011 | Patricia Corcino | Caguas |
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| 2012 | Vanessa De Roide | Carolina |
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Additional pageants[link]
There are other international pageants that do not receive as much publicity as the Big Four, but that nevertheless have given Puerto Rico some additional beauty queens:
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A Puerto Rican delegate is yet to win a Miss Globe International or Miss Tourism Queen International pageant. Another pageants are Miss Puerto Rico Petite and Miss Puerto Rico Teen managed by Luis Santiago Productions. The Miss America Puerto Rico Scholarship Organization also celebrates its Teen version, Miss Puerto Rico Outstanding Teen. Some women of Puerto Rican descent have competed at Miss USA such as Susie Castillo who won the title of Miss USA 2003 and then later placed as a semi-finalist at the Miss Universe 2003 pageant. Gloria Almonte competed at the Miss USA 2007 pageant but did not place, however she had previously placed 1st Runner-up at the Miss Teen USA 2001 pageant. Marisol Montalvo who won the title of Miss New York and competed at the Miss America, placed 1st Runner-up at the Miss America 1992 pageant.
Since 2000, created the male beauty contest, Misters of Puerto Rico. This is the male version of female beauty contest Miss Universe Puerto Rico.
References[link]
External links[link]
- Miss Universe Puerto Rico
- Miss Earth Puerto Rico
- El Podcast de Miss Puerto Rico Universe
- Miss Puerto Rico Scholarship
- Miss Universe
- Miss Earth
- Nuestra Belleza Latina
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http://wn.com/Miss_Puerto_Rico
Related pages:
http://fr.wn.com/Miss Porto Rico
http://pt.wn.com/Miss Porto Rico
http://it.wn.com/Miss Porto Rico
http://es.wn.com/Miss Puerto Rico
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Puerto_Rico
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is about the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. For other uses, see Puerto Rico (disambiguation).
| Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico (Spanish)
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| Motto: Latin: Joannes Est Nomen Eius Spanish: Juan es su nombre English: John is his name |
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| Anthem: La Borinqueña |
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.png) |
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| Capital (and largest city) |
San Juan 18°27′N 66°6′W / 18.45°N 66.1°W / 18.45; -66.1 |
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| Official language(s) | Spanish and English[1] | |||||
| Ethnic groups | White (mostly Spanish origin) 75.8%, Black 12.4%, Asian 0.2%, Amerindian 0.5%, SOR 7.8%, other 3.3% (2010)[2] | |||||
| Demonym | Puerto Rican | |||||
| Government | Republic, three-branch government | |||||
| - | President | Barack Obama (D) | ||||
| - | Governor | Luis Fortuño (PNP/R) | ||||
| - | Federal legislative branch | United States Congress | ||||
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly | |||||
| - | Upper house | Senate | ||||
| - | Lower house | House of Representatives | ||||
| Sovereignty |  United States[3] |
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| - | Cession | December 10, 1898 from Kingdom of Spain |
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| - | Autonomy | November 25, 1897 Supreme Authority and Sovereignty was retained by the Kingdom of Spain.[4] | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 9,104 km2 (169th) 3,515 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | 1.6 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2011 estimate | 3,706,690[5] (127th in the world; 29th in U.S.) | ||||
| - | Density | 418/km2 (21st in the world; 2nd in U.S.) 1,082/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2009 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $ 108.441 billion[6] (-) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $ 27,384.27[7] (N/A) | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2010 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $96.26 billion[8] (58) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $24,229[8] (34) | ||||
| Gini (2009) | 53.2[9] (?th) | |||||
| HDI (2004) | 0,867 [10] (Very High) (Not ranked) | |||||
| Currency | United States dollar (USD) |
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| Time zone | AST (UTC–4) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | No DST (UTC–4) | ||||
| Drives on the | right | |||||
| ISO 3166 code | PR | |||||
| Internet TLD | .pr | |||||
| Calling code | +1 (spec. +1-787 and +1-939) | |||||
Puerto Rico (/ˌpɔrtə ˈriːkoʊ/ or /ˌpwɛərtə ˈriːkoʊ/),[note 1] officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, [esˈtaðo ˈlibɾe asoˈsjaðo ðe ˈpweɾto ˈriko]—literally, "Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"), is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
Puerto Rico (Spanish for "rich port") comprises an archipelago that includes the main island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller islands, the largest of which are Vieques, Culebra, and Mona. The main island of Puerto Rico is the smallest by land area of the Greater Antilles. However, it ranks third in population amongst that group of four islands, which also include Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Jamaica. Due to its location, Puerto Rico enjoys a tropical climate and also experiences the Atlantic hurricane season.
Originally populated for centuries by indigenous aboriginal peoples known as Taínos, the island was claimed by Christopher Columbus for Spain during his second voyage to the Americas on November 19, 1493. Under Spanish rule, the island was colonized and the indigenous population was forced into slavery and nearly wiped out due to, among other things, European infectious diseases. The remaining population was emancipated by King Charles I in 1520. Spain possessed Puerto Rico for over 400 years, despite attempts at capture of the island by the French, Dutch, and British. The Spanish Crown, in an attempt to keep Puerto Rico from gaining its independence, revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. The decree was printed in three languages — Spanish, English and French — and it fostered the immigration of hundreds of non-Spanish European families.[13]
The relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States dates back to the Spanish-American War, in which Spain, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, ceded the island to the United States. Puerto Ricans became U.S. citizens in 1917, and the United States Congress legislates many aspects of Puerto Rican life.[14] However, the islanders may not vote in U.S. presidential elections.[15][16] Since 1947, Puerto Ricans have been able to elect their own governor. Its official languages are Spanish and English, with Spanish being the primary language. The island's current political status, including the possibility of statehood or independence, is widely debated in Puerto Rico. A referendum on statehood, independence, or continuance of the status quo will be held on November 6, 2012.
Contents |
Name[link]
Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen, from Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name, which means "Land of the Valiant Lord".[17][18][19] The terms boricua and borincano derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively, and are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage. The island is also popularly known in Spanish as la isla del encanto, which means "the island of enchantment" in English.
Christopher Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist. Eventually, traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as "Puerto Rico", and "San Juan" became the name of the main trading/shipping port.
History[link]
Main article: History of Puerto Rico
Pre-Columbian era[link]
The ancient history of the archipelago known today as "Puerto Rico" before the arrival of Christopher Columbus is not well known. Unlike other larger more advanced indigenous communities in the New World (Aztec, Inca) which left behind abundant archeological and physical evidence of their societies, the indigenous population of Puerto Rico left scant records. What is known today about them comes from scarce archaeological findings and early Spanish scholarly accounts. Today, there are few and rare cave drawings, rock carvings and ancient recreational activity sites that have been identified with some degree of speculation as to who left them behind. The first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786, almost three centuries after the first Spaniards arrived on the island.[20]
The first settlers were the Ortoiroid people, an Archaic Period culture of Amerindian hunters and fishermen. An archaeological dig in the island of Vieques in 1990 found the remains of what is believed to be an Arcaico (Archaic) man (named "Puerto Ferro Man") dated to around 2000 BCE.[21] The Igneri, a tribe from the region of the Orinoco river, in northern South America, arrived between 120 and 400 CE. The Arcaicos and Igneri co-existed on the island between the 4th and 10th centuries, and perhaps clashed.
Between the 7th and 11th centuries the Taíno culture developed on the island, and by approximately 1000 CE had become dominant. At the time of Columbus' arrival, an estimated 30 to 60 thousand Taíno Amerindians, led by cacique (chief) Agüeybaná, inhabited the island. They called it Boriken, "the great land of the valiant and noble Lord".[22] The natives lived in small villages led by a cacique and subsisted on hunting, fishing and gathering of indigenous cassava root and fruit. This lasted until Columbus arrived in 1493.[23][24] However, Puerto Rican culture today exhibits many Taíno influences within its music and vocabulary.
Spanish colony[link]
Further information: Military history of Puerto Rico#Europeans fight over Puerto Rico and Military history of Puerto Rico#Revolt against Spain
When Christopher Columbus arrived in Puerto Rico during his second voyage on November 19, 1493, the island was inhabited by the Taínos.[25] They called the island "Borikén" or, in Spanish, "Borinquen".[note 2] Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist. The first Spanish settlement, Caparra, was founded on August 8, 1508 by Juan Ponce de León, a lieutenant under Columbus, who later became the first governor of the island.[note 3] Eventually, traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as "Puerto Rico", and "San Juan" became the name of the main trading/shipping port.
Soon thereafter, the Spanish began to colonize the island. The indigenous population (Taínos) came to be exploited and forced into slavery.[16] Within 50 years they were reduced to near extinction by the harsh conditions of work and by European infectious diseases to which they had no natural immunity.[26] For example, the smallpox outbreak in 1518–1519 wiped out much of the Island's indigenous population.[27] In 1520, King Charles I of Spain issued a royal decree collectively emancipating the remaining Taíno population. Essentially, the Taíno presence while not completely extinct had almost vanished.[28]
The importation of Sub-Saharan African slaves was introduced to provide the new manual work force for the Spanish colonists and merchants. Following the decline of the Taíno population, more slaves were brought to Puerto Rico; however, the number of slaves on the island paled in comparison to those in neighboring islands.[29] African slavery was primarily restricted to coastal ports and cities, while the interior of the island continued to be essentially unexplored and undeveloped. Spanish and other European colonists were concentrated in island's seaports. Puerto Rico soon became an important stronghold and a significant port for Spanish Main colonial expansion. Various forts and walls, such as La Fortaleza, El Castillo San Felipe del Morro and El Castillo de San Cristóbal, were built to protect the strategic port of San Juan from numerous European invasion attempts. San Juan served as an important port-of-call for ships of all European nations for purposes of taking on water, food and other commercial provisions and mercantile exchange.
File:JamestownMarker.JPG
Marker in Puerto Rico which traces the routes taken by the Godspeed, Susan Constant and the Discovery and which commemorates their stopping in Puerto Rico from April 6 to 10, 1607 on their way to Virginia
In 1607, Puerto Rico served as a port provisioning the English ships Godspeed, Susan Constant and Discovery, which were on their way to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first successful English settlement in the New World. The Netherlands and England made several attempts to capture Puerto Rico but failed to wrest it from the long-term possession by Spain, which held tenaciously onto its increasingly prized island colony.[30][31]
During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Spanish colonial emphasis continued to be focussed on the more prosperous mainland North, Central, and South American colonies. This continued distraction on the part of the Spanish Crown left the island of Puerto Rico virtually unexplored, undeveloped, and (excepting coastal outposts) largely unsettled before the nineteenth century. But as independence movements in the larger Spanish colonies grew successful, Spain began to pay attention to Puerto Rico as one of its last remaining maritime colonies. Amidst the attacks, Puerto Rican culture began to flourish. In 1786, the first comprehensive history of Puerto Rico—Historia Geográfica, Civil y Política de Puerto Rico by Fray Iñigo Abbad y Lasierra—was published in Madrid, documenting the history of Puerto Rico from the time of Columbus' landing in 1493 until 1783.[32] The book also presents a first hand account of Puerto Rican identity, including music, clothing, personality and nationality.
In 1779, citizens of the still-Spanish colony of Puerto Rico fought in the American Revolutionary War under the command of Bernardo de Gálvez, named Field Marshal of the Spanish colonial army in North America. Puerto Ricans participated in the capture of Pensacola, the capital of the British colony of West Florida, and the cities of Baton Rouge, St. Louis and Mobile. The Puerto Rican troops, under the leadership of Brigadier General Ramón de Castro,[33] helped defeat the British and Indian army of 2,500 soldiers and British warships in Pensacola.[34]
In 1809, in a further move to secure its political bond with the island and in the midst of the European Peninsular War, the Supreme Central Junta based in Cádiz recognized Puerto Rico as an overseas province of Spain with the right to send representatives to the recently convened Spanish parliament with equal representation to Mainland Iberian, Mediterranean (Balearic Islands) and Atlantic maritime Spanish provinces (Canary Islands). The first Spanish parliamentary representative from the island of Puerto Rico, Ramon Power y Giralt, died after serving a three-year term in the Cortes. These parliamentary and constitutional reforms, which were in force from 1810 to 1814 and again from 1820 to 1823, were reversed twice afterwards when the traditional monarchy was restored by Ferdinand VII. Nineteenth century immigration and commercial trade reforms further augmented the island's European population and economy, and expanded Spanish cultural and social imprint on the local character of the island.
Minor slave revolts had occurred in the island during this period, However the revolt planned and organized by Marcos Xiorro in 1821, was the most important of them all. Even though the conspiracy was unsuccessful, Xiorro achieved legendary status among the slaves and is part of Puerto Rico's folklore.[35]
In the early 19th century, Puerto Rico had an Independence movement which, due to the harsh persecution by the Spanish authorities, met in the island of St. Thomas. The movement was largely inspired by the ideals of Simón Bolívar of establishing a United Provinces of New Granada which included Puerto Rico and Cuba. Among the influential members of this movement was Brigadier General Antonio Valero de Bernabe, a Puerto Rican military leader known in Latin America as the "Liberator from Puerto Rico" who fought alongside Bolivar and María de las Mercedes Barbudo, a businesswoman also known as the "first Puerto Rican female freedom fighter". The movement was discovered and Governor Miguel de la Torre had its members imprisoned or exiled.[36]
With the increasingly rapid growth of independent former Spanish colonies in the South and Central American states in the first part of the century, Puerto Rico and Cuba continued to grow in strategic importance to the Spanish Crown. In a very deliberate move to increase its hold on its last two new world colonies, the Spanish Crown revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. This time the decree was printed in three languages: Spanish, English and French. Its primary intent was to attract Europeans of who were not of Spanish origin, with the hope that the independence movements would lose their popularity and strength with increase of new loyalist settlers with strong sympathies to Spain. As a consequence hundreds of families, mainly from Corsica, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Scotland, immigrated to the island.[13]
In 1858, Samuel Morse introduced wired communication to Latin America when he established a telegraph system in Puerto Rico. Morse's oldest daughter Susan Walker Morse (1821-1885), would often visit her uncle Charles Pickering Walker who owned the Hacienda Concordia in the town of Guayama. Morse, who often spent his winters at the Hacienda with his daughter and son-in-law, who lived and owned the Habienda Henriqueta, set a two-mile telegraph line connecting his son-in-law's hacienda to their house in Arroyo. The line was inaugurated on March 1, 1859 in a ceremony flanked by the Spanish and American flags.[37][38] The first lines transmitted by Morse that day in Puerto Rico were:
"Puerto Rico, beautiful jewel! When you are linked with the other jewels of the Antilles in the necklace of the world's telegraph, yours will not shine less brilliantly in the crown of your Queen!"
As an incentive to immigrate and colonize, free land was offered to those who wanted to populate the two islands on the condition that they swear their loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church.[13] It was very successful and European immigration continued even after 1898. Puerto Rico today still receives Spanish and European immigration.
Poverty and political estrangement with Spain led to a small but significant uprising in 1868 known as "Grito de Lares." It began in the rural town of Lares, but was subdued when rebels moved to the neighboring town of San Sebastián. Leaders of this independence movement included Ramón Emeterio Betances, considered the "father" of the Puerto Rican independence movement, and other political figures such as Segundo Ruiz Belvis.
File:Intentona de Yauco.jpg
Flag flown by Fidel Vélez and his men during the "Intentona de Yauco" revolt
Leaders of "El Grito de Lares", who were in exile in New York City, joined the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee, founded on December 8, 1895, and continued their quest for Puerto Rican independence. In 1897, Antonio Mattei Lluberas and the local leaders of the independence movement of the town of Yauco organized another uprising, which became known as the "Intentona de Yauco". This was the first time that the current Puerto Rican flag was unfurled on Puerto Rican soil. The local conservative political factions, which believed that such an attempt would be a threat to their struggle for (colonial) autonomy, opposed such an action. Rumors of the planned event spread to the local Spanish authorities who acted swiftly and put an end to what would be the last major uprising in the island to Spanish colonial rule.[39]
In 1897, Luis Muñoz Rivera and others persuaded the liberal Spanish government to agree to Charters of Autonomy for Cuba and Puerto Rico. In 1898, Puerto Rico's first, but short-lived, autonomous government was organized as an 'overseas province' of Spain. This bilaterally agreed-upon charter maintained a governor appointed by Spain, which held the power to annul any legislative decision, and a partially elected parliamentary structure. In February, Governor-General Manuel Macías inaugurated the new government under the Autonomous Charter. General elections were held in March and the autonomous government began to function on July 17, 1898.[40][41][42]
United States colony[link]
Main article: Puerto Rican Campaign
In 1890, Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, a member of the Navy War Board and leading U.S. strategic thinker, wrote a book titled The Influence of Sea Power upon History in which he argued for the creation of a large and powerful navy modeled after the British Royal Navy. Part of his strategy called for the acquisition of colonies in the Caribbean Sea which would serve as coaling and naval stations and which would serve as strategical points of defense upon the construction of a canal in the Isthmus.[43]
This idea was not new, since William H. Seward, the former Secretary of State under the administrations of various presidents, among them Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant, had stressed that a canal be built either in Honduras, Nicaragua or Panama and that the United States annex the Dominican Republic and purchase Puerto Rico and Cuba. The idea of annexing the Dominican Republic failed to receive the approval of the U.S. Senate and Spain did not accept the 160 million dollars which the U.S. offered for Puerto Rico and Cuba.[43]
Captain Mahan made the following statement to the War Department:
Having therefore no foreign establishments either colonial or military, the ships of war of the United States, in war will be like land birds, unable to fly far from their own shores. To provide resting places for them where they can coal and repair, would be one of the first duties of a government proposing to itself the development of the power of the nation at sea[44]
Since 1894, the Naval War College had been formulating contingency plans for a war with Spain. By 1896, the Office of Naval Intelligence had prepared a plan which included military operations in Puerto Rican waters. This prewar planning did not contemplate major territorial acquisitions. Except for one 1895 plan which recommended annexation of the island then named Isle of Pines (later renamed as Isla de la Juventud), a recommendation dropped in later planning, plans developed for attacks on Spanish territories were intended as support operations against Spain's forces in and around Cuba.[45] However, Jorge Rodriguez Beruf, recognized as a foremost researcher on United States militarism in Puerto Rico,[46] writes that not only was Puerto Rico considered valuable as a naval station, Puerto Rico and Cuba were also abundant in sugar – a valuable commercial commodity which the United States lacked.[47]
On July 25, 1898, during the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was invaded by the United States with a landing at Guánica. As an outcome of the war, Spain ceded Puerto Rico, along with the Philippines and Guam, that were under Spanish sovereignty, to the U.S. under the Treaty of Paris. Spain relinquished sovereignty over Cuba, but did not cede it to the U.S.[48]
The United States and Puerto Rico thus began a long-standing relationship. Puerto Rico began the 20th century under the military rule of the U.S. with officials, including the governor, appointed by the President of the United States. The Foraker Act of 1900 gave Puerto Rico a certain amount of civilian popular government, including a popularly elected House of Representatives, also a judicial system following the American legal system that includes both state courts and federal courts establishing a Puerto Rico Supreme Court and a United State District Court; and a non-voting member of Congress, by the title of "Resident Commissioner". In addition, this Act extended all U.S. laws "not locally inapplicable" to Puerto Rico, specifying specific exemption from U.S. Internal Revenue laws.[49] The act empowered the civil government to legislate on "all matters of legislative character not locally inapplicable", including the power to modify and repeal any laws then in existence in Puerto Rico, though the U.S. Congress retained the power to annul acts of the Puerto Rico legislature.[49][50] During an address to the Puerto Rican legislature in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt recommended that Puerto Ricans become U.S. citizens.[49] In 1917, "Puerto Ricans were collectively made U.S. citizens"[51] via the Jones Act. The same Act also provided for a popularly elected Senate to complete a bicameral Legislative Assembly, a bill of rights and authorized the election of a Resident Commissioner to a four-year term. As a result of their new U.S. citizenship, many Puerto Ricans were drafted into World War I and all subsequent wars with U.S. participation in which a national military draft was in effect.
Natural disasters, including a major earthquake, a tsunami and several hurricanes, and the Great Depression impoverished the island during the first few decades under U.S. rule.[52] Some political leaders, like Pedro Albizu Campos who led the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, demanded change. On March 21, 1937, a march was organized in the southern city of Ponce by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. This march turned bloody when the Insular Police, "a force somewhat resembling the National Guard which answered to the U.S.-appointed governor",[53] opened fire upon unarmed[53] and defenseless[54] cadets and bystanders alike,[53][54] as reported by a U.S. Congressman Vito Marcantonio and the "Hays Commission" led by Arthur Garfield Hays. Nineteen were killed and over 200 were badly wounded,[54] many in their backs while running away.[54][55] An American Civil Liberties Union report declared it a massacre[54] and it has since been known as the Ponce Massacre. On April 2, 1943, U.S. Senator Millard Tydings introduced a bill in Congress calling for independence for Puerto Rico. This bill ultimately was defeated.[49]
The internal governance changed during the latter years of the Roosevelt–Truman administrations, as a form of compromise led by Luis Muñoz Marín and others. It culminated with the appointment by President Truman in 1946 of the first Puerto Rican-born governor, Jesús T. Piñero.
Commonwealth[link]
In 1947, the U.S. granted Puerto Ricans the right to elect democratically their own governor. Luis Muñoz Marín was elected during the 1948 general elections, becoming the first popularly elected governor of Puerto Rico.
A Bill was introduced before the Puerto Rican Senate which would restrain the rights of the independence and nationalist movements in the island. The Senate at the time was controlled by the PPD, and was presided over by Luis Muñoz Marín.[56] The Bill, also known as the Ley de la Mordaza ("Gag Law") was approved by the legislature on May 21, 1948. It made it illegal to display a Puerto Rican flag, to sing a patriotic tune, to talk of independence, or to fight for the liberation of the island. The Bill, which resembled the anti-communist Smith Law passed in the United States, was signed and made into law on June 10, 1948, by the U.S. appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Jesús T. Piñero, and became known as Ley 53 ("Law 53").[57] In accordance to the new law, it would be a crime to print, publish, sell, exhibit, organize or help anyone organize any society, group or assembly of people whose intentions are to paralyze or destroy the insular government. Anyone accused and found guilty of disobeying the law could be sentenced to ten years of prison, be fined $10,000 dollars (US), or both. According to Dr. Leopoldo Figueroa, a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, the law was repressive, and was in violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees Freedom of Speech. He pointed out that the law as such was a violation of the civil rights of the people of Puerto Rico. The infamous law was repealed in 1957.[58]
In 1950, the U.S. Congress approved Public Law 600 (P.L. 81-600) which allowed for a democratic referendum in Puerto Rico to determine whether Puerto Ricans desired to draft their own local constitution.[59] This act was meant to be adopted in the "nature of a compact". It required congressional approval of the Puerto Rico Constitution before it could go into effect, and repealed certain sections of the Organic Act of 1917. The sections of this statute left in force were then entitled the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act.[60][61]
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View newsreel scenes in Spanish of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s |
On October 30, 1950, Pedro Albizu Campos and other nationalists led a 3-day revolt against the United States in various cities and towns of Puerto Rico. The most notable occurred in Jayuya and Utuado. In the Jayuya revolt, known as the Jayuya Uprising, the United States declared martial law, and attacked Jayuya with infantry, artillery and bombers. The Utuado Uprising culminated in what is known as the Utuado massacre. On November 1, 1950, Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempted to assassinate President Harry S Truman. Torresola was killed during the attack, but Collazo was captured. Collazo served 29 years in a federal prison, being released in 1979. Don Pedro Albizu Campos also served many years in a federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia, for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government in Puerto Rico.[62]
The Constitution of Puerto Rico was approved by a Constitutional Convention on February 6, 1952, ratified by the U.S. Congress, approved by President Truman on July 3 of that year, and proclaimed by Gov. Muñoz Marín on July 25, 1952, on the anniversary of the July 25, 1898, landing of U.S. troops in the Puerto Rican Campaign of the Spanish-American War, until then an annual Puerto Rico holiday. Puerto Rico adopted the name of Estado Libre Asociado (literally "Free Associated State", officially translated into English as Commonwealth), for its body politic.[63][64] The United States Congress legislates over many fundamental aspects of Puerto Rican life, including citizenship, currency, postal service, foreign affairs, military defense, communications, labor relations, the environment, commerce, finance, health and welfare, and many others.[14][65]
During the 1950s, Puerto Rico experienced rapid industrialization, due in large part to Operación Manos a la Obra ("Operation Bootstrap"), an offshoot of FDR's New Deal, which aimed to transform Puerto Rico's economy from agriculture-based to manufacturing-based. Presently, Puerto Rico has become a major tourist destination, as well as a global center for pharmaceutical manufacturing.[66] Yet it still struggles to define its political status. Three plebiscites have been held in recent decades to resolve the political status, but no changes have been attained. Support for the pro-statehood party, Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP), and the pro-commonwealth party, Partido Popular Democrático (PPD), remains about equal. The only registered pro-independence party, the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP), usually receives 3–5% of the electoral votes.[citation needed]
Government and politics[link]
Main articles: Government of Puerto Rico and Politics of Puerto Rico
See also: Municipalities of Puerto Rico, List of political parties in Puerto Rico, and Political party strength in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico has a republican form of government,[67] subject to U.S. jurisdiction and sovereignty.[3] Its current powers are all delegated by the United States Congress and lack full protection under the United States Constitution.[68] Puerto Rico's head of state is the President of the United States.
The government of Puerto Rico, based on the formal republican system, is composed of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The executive branch is headed by the Governor, currently Luis Fortuño. The legislative branch consists of a bicameral Legislative Assembly made up of a Senate upper chamber and a House of Representatives lower chamber. The Senate is headed by the President of the Senate, while the House of Representatives is headed by the Speaker of the House.
The judicial branch is headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. The legal system is a mix of the civil law and the common law systems. The governor and legislators are elected by popular vote every four years. Members of the Judicial branch are appointed by the governor with the "advice and consent" of the Senate.
Puerto Rico is represented in the United States Congress by a nonvoting delegate, formally called a Resident Commissioner (currently Pedro Pierluisi). Current legislation has returned the Commissioner's power to vote in the Committee of the Whole, but not on matters where the vote would represent a decisive participation.[69] Puerto Rican elections are governed by the Federal Election Commission and the State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico.[70][71] While residing in Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections, but they can vote in primaries. Puerto Ricans who become residents of a U.S. state can vote in presidential elections.
Puerto Rico is not an independent country and, as such, it hosts no embassies. It is host, however, to consulates from 41 countries, mainly from the Americas and Europe.[72] Most consulates are located in San Juan. As an unincorporated territory of the United States, Puerto Rico does not have any first-order administrative divisions as defined by the U.S. government, but has 78 municipalities at the second level. Mona Island is not a municipality, but part of the municipality of Mayagüez.[73]
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 (previously called "town"), was founded first, in 1521, San Germán in 1570, Coamo in 1579, Arecibo in 1614, Aguada in 1692 and Ponce in 1692. An increase of settlement saw the founding of 30 municipalities in the 18th century and 34 in the 19th. Six were founded in the 20th century; the last was Florida in 1971.[74]
Since 1952 Puerto Rico has had three main political parties: the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), the New Progressive Party (PNP) and the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP). These three parties stood for three distinct future political status scenarios: the PPD seeks to maintain the island's "association" status with the U.S. as a commonwealth, and has won a plurality vote in referendums on the island's status held over the last six decades, the PNP seeks to have Puerto Rico become a U.S. state, and the PIP seeks the establishment of a sovereign and independent republic.
In 2007, a fourth party, the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party (PPR), was registered. The PPR claims that it seeks to address the islands' problems from a status-neutral platform. However, it ceased to remain a registered political party when it failed to obtain the requisite number of votes in the 2008 general election. Non-registered parties include the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, the Socialist Workers Movement, the Hostosian National Independence Movement.
Political status[link]
Main article: Political status of Puerto Rico
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. Specifically, the basic question is whether Puerto Rico should remain a U.S. territory, become a U.S. state, or become an independent country.[75][76]
[edit] Estado Libre Asociado
In 1950, the U.S. Congress granted Puerto Ricans the right to organize a constitutional convention via a referendum that gave them the option of voting their preference, "yes" or "no", on a proposed U.S. law that would organize Puerto Rico as a "commonwealth" that would continue United States sovereignty over Puerto Rico and its people. Puerto Rico's electorate expressed its support for this measure in 1951 with a second referendum to ratify the constitution. The Constitution of Puerto Rico was formally adopted on July 3, 1952. The Constitutional Convention specified the name by which the body politic would be known.
On February 4, 1952, the convention approved Resolution 22 which chose in English the word Commonwealth, meaning a "politically organized community" or "state", which is simultaneously connected by a compact or treaty to another political system. Puerto Rico officially designates itself with the term "Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" in its constitution, as a translation into English of the term to "Estado Libre Asociado" (ELA). Literally translated into English the phrase Estado Libre Asociado means "Associated Free State." The preamble of the Commonwealth constitution in part reads: "We, the people of Puerto Rico, in order to organise ourselves politically on a fully democratic basis, ...do ordain and establish this Constitution for the commonwealth which, in the exercise of our natural rights, we now create within our union with the United States of America. In so doing, we declare: ... We consider as determining factors in our life our citizenship of the United States of America and our aspiration continually to enrich our democratic heritage in the individual and collective enjoyment of its rights and privileges; our loyalty to the principles of the Federal Constitution;...
While the approval of the commonwealth constitution by the people of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Congress and the U.S. President, as a federal law, marked a historic change in the civil government for the islands, neither it nor the public laws approved by Congress in 1950 and 1952 revoked statutory provisions concerning the legal relationship of Puerto Rico to the United States. This relationship is based on the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The statutory provisions that set forth the conditions of the relationship are commonly referred to as the Federal Relations Act (FRA).[77] Inclusive by Resolution number 34, approved by the Constitutional Convention and ratified in the Referendum held on November 4, 1952, the following new sentence was added to section 3 of article VII of the commonwealth constitution: "Any amendment or revision of this constitution shall be consistent with the resolution enacted by the applicable provisions of the Constitution of the United States, with the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act and with Public Law 600, Eighty-first Congress, adopted in the nature of a compact".[78] The provisions of the Federal Relations Act as codified on the U.S. Code Title 48, Chapter 4 shall apply to the island of Puerto Rico and to the adjacent islands belonging to the United States and waters of those islands; and the name Puerto Rico, as used in the chapter, shall be held to include not only the island of that name, but all the adjacent islands as aforesaid.[79] While specified subsections of the FRA were "adopted in the nature of a compact", other provisions, by comparison, are excluded from the compact reference. Matters still subject to congressional authority and established pursuant to legislation include the citizenship status of residents, tax provisions, civil rights, trade and commerce, public finance, the administration of public lands controlled by the federal government, the application of federal law over navigable waters, congressional representation, and the judicial process, among others.[80][81]
In 1967, Puerto Rico's Legislative Assembly polled the political preferences of the Puerto Rican electorate by passing a plebiscite act that provided for a vote on the status of Puerto Rico. This constituted the first plebiscite by the Legislature for a choice among three status options (commonwealth, statehood, and independence). Claiming "foul play" and dubbing the process as illegitimate and contrary to norms of international law regarding decolonization procedures, the plebiscite was boycotted by the major pro-statehood and pro-independence parties of the time, the Republican Party of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican Independence Party, respectively. The Commonwealth option, represented by the PDP, won with a majority of 60.4% of the votes. After the plebiscite, efforts in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s to enact legislation to address the status issue died in U.S. Congressional committees. In subsequent plebiscites organized by Puerto Rico held in 1993 and 1998 (without any formal commitment on the part of the U.S. Government to honor the results), the current political status failed to receive majority support. In 1993, Commonwealth status won by only a plurality of votes (48.6% versus 46.3% for statehood), while the "none of the above" option, which was the Popular Democratic Party-sponsored choice, won in 1998 with 50.3% of the votes (versus 46.5% for statehood). Disputes arose as to the definition of each of the ballot alternatives, and Commonwealth advocates, among others, reportedly urged a vote for "none of the above".[82][83][84]
Within the United States[link]
Constitutionally, Puerto Rico is subject to the Congress's plenary powers under the territorial clause of Article IV, sec. 3, of the U.S. Constitution.[85] U.S. federal law applies to Puerto Rico, even though Puerto Rico is not a state of the American Union and their residents have no voting representation in the U.S. Congress. Like the States of the American Union, Puerto Rico lacks "the full sovereignty of an independent nation," for example, the power to manage its "external relations with other nations," which was retained by the Federal Government. The Supreme Court has indicated that once the 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.".[86]
Puerto Ricans "were collectively made U.S. citizens" in 1917 as a result of the Jones-Shafroth Act.[87] However, U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico cannot vote for the U.S. president, though both major parties, Republican and Democrat, run primary elections in Puerto Rico to send delegates to vote on a presidential candidate. Since Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory (see above) and not a U.S. state, the United States Constitution does not fully enfranchise US citizens residing in Puerto Rico.[68][88](See also: "Voting rights in Puerto Rico"). Despite their American citizenship, however, only the "fundamental rights" under the federal constitution apply to Puerto Ricans. Various other U.S Supreme Court decisions have been held opinions on 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 whenever it has been in effect.
Though the Commonwealth government has its own tax laws, Puerto Ricans are also required to pay most U.S. federal taxes, with the major exception being the federal personal income tax.[89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96] In 2009, Puerto Rico paid $3.742 billion into the US Treasury.[97] Residents of Puerto Rico pay into Social Security, and are thus eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement. However, they are excluded from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and the island actually receives a small fraction of the Medicaid funding it would receive if it were a U.S. state.[98] 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.[99]
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. 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 federal district court in Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rican judges have served in that Court and in other federal courts on the mainland regardless of their residency status at the time of their appointment. Puerto Ricans are also regularly appointed to high-level federal positions, including serving as United States Ambassadors.
International status[link]
On November 27, 1953, shortly after the establishment of the Commonwealth, the General Assembly of the United Nations approved Resolution 748, removing Puerto Rico's classification as a non-self-governing territory under article 73(e) of the Charter from UN. But the General Assembly did not apply the full list of criteria which was enunciated in 1960 when it took favorable note of the cessation of transmission of information regarding the non-self-governing status of Puerto Rico.[100][101] According to the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico's Political Status in its December 21, 2007 report, the U.S., in its written submission to the UN in 1953, never represented that Congress could not change its relationship with Puerto Rico without the territory's consent.[102] It stated that the U.S. Justice Department in 1959 reiterated that Congress held power over Puerto Rico pursuant to the Territorial Clause[103] of the U.S. Constitution.[102]
In 1993, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit stated that Congress may unilaterally repeal the Puerto Rican Constitution or the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act and replace them with any rules or regulations of its choice.[81] In a 1996 report on a Puerto Rico status political bill, the U.S. House Committee on Resources stated, "Puerto Rico's current status does not meet the criteria for any of the options for full self-government under Resolution 1541" (the three established forms of full self-government being stated in the report as (1) national independence, (2) free association based on separate sovereignty, or (3) full integration with another nation on the basis of equality). The report concluded that Puerto Rico "... remains an unincorporated territory and does not have the status of 'free association' with the United States as that status is defined under United States law or international practice", that the establishment of local self-government with the consent of the people can be unilaterally revoked by the U.S. Congress, and that U.S. Congress can also withdraw the U.S. citizenship of Puerto Rican residents of Puerto Rico at any time, for a legitimate Federal purpose.[104][105] The application of the U.S. Constitution to Puerto Rico is limited by the Insular Cases.
The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization passed a resolution and adopted a consensus text introduced by Cuba's delegate on June 20, 2011, calling on the United States to expedite a process "that would allow Puerto Ricans to fully exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence." [106]
Recent developments[link]
In 2005 and 2007, two reports were issued by the U.S. President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status.[49][102] Both reports conclude that Puerto Rico continues to be a territory of U.S. under the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress.[102] Reactions from Puerto Rico's two major political parties were mixed. The Popular Democratic Party (PPD) challenged the task force's report[citation needed] and committed to validating the current status in all international forums, including the United Nations. It also rejected[citation needed] any "colonial or territorial status" as a status option, and vowed to keep working for the enhanced Commonwealth status that was approved by the PPD in 1998, which included sovereignty, an association based on "respect and dignity between both nations", and common citizenship.[107] The New Progressive Party (PNP) supported[citation needed] the White House Report's conclusions and supported bills to provide for a democratic referendum process among Puerto Rico voters.
A 2009 CRS report suggested that action might be taken in the 111th Congress. The reports issued in 2007 and 2005 by the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status may be the basis for reconsideration of the existing commonwealth status, as legislative developments during the 109th and 110th Congresses suggested. Agreement on the process to be used in considering the status proposals has been as elusive as agreement on the end result. Congress would have a determinative role in any resolution of the issue. The four options that appear to be most frequently discussed include continuation of the commonwealth, modification of the current commonwealth agreement, statehood, or independence. If independence, or separate national sovereignty, were selected, Puerto Rican officials might seek to negotiate a compact of free association with the United States.[108]
On June 15, 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.[109]
On April 29, 2010, the U.S. House voted 223–169 to approve a measure for a federally sanctioned process for Puerto Rico's self determination, allowing Puerto Rico to set a new referendum on whether to continue its present form of commonwealth political status or to have a different political status. If Puerto Ricans vote to continue to have their present form of political status, the Government of Puerto Rico is authorized to conduct additional plebiscites at intervals of every eight years from the date on which the results of the prior plebiscite are certified; if Puerto Ricans vote to have a different political status, a second referendum would determine whether Puerto Rico would become a U.S. state, an independent country, or a sovereign nation associated with the U.S. that would not be subject to the Territorial Clause of the United States Constitution.[110] During the House debate, a fourth option, to retain its present form of commonwealth (status quo) political status, was added as an option in the second plebiscite.[110][111]
Immediately following U.S. House passage, H.R. 2499 was sent to the U.S. Senate, where it was given two formal readings and referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
A Senate hearing was held on May 19, 2010, for the purpose of gathering testimony on the bill. Among those offering testimony were Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi; Governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuño; President of the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico, Héctor Ferrer; and President of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, Rubén Berríos.[112] According to the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee leadership, the four options are the continuation of the current commonwealth status, subject to the territorial clause (under Article IV of the Constitution), statehood, independence, and free association.[113][114][115] On December 22, 2010, the 111th United States Congress adjourned without any Senate vote on H.R.2499, killing the bill.[116]
The latest Task Force report was released on March 11, 2011. The report suggests a two-plebiscite process, including a "first plebiscite that requires the people of Puerto Rico to choose whether they wish to be part of the United States (either via Statehood or Commonwealth) or wish to be independent (via Independence or Free Association). If continuing to be part of the United States were chosen in the first plebiscite, a second vote would be taken between Statehood and Commonwealth." [117]
The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization passed a resolution and adopted a consensus text introduced by Cuba's delegate on June 20, 2011, calling on the United States to expedite a process "that would allow Puerto Ricans to fully exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence." [106]
In October 2011, Governor Luis Fortuño set August 12, 2012 to hold the first part of a two-step status plebiscite. If a second status vote is required, it will take place on the same day as the general election in November 6, 2012, he added.[118]A bill was brought before the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico in 2011 to effect the governor's proposal. The bill passed on December 28, 2011. Both referendums, however, will be held on a single ballot on November 6, 2012.[119]
The first referendum will ask voters whether they want to maintain the current commonwealth status under the territorial clause of the U.S. Constitution or whether they prefer a nonterritorial option. If more voters check that nonterritorial option, a second vote would be held giving people three status options: statehood, independence or free association.[120]
Geography[link]
Main article: Geography of Puerto Rico
See also: Geology of Puerto Rico and Fauna of Puerto Rico
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 last five, only Culebra and Vieques are inhabited year-round. Mona is uninhabited most of the year except for employees of the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources. There are also many other even smaller islands including Monito and "La Isleta de San Juan" which includes Old San Juan and Puerta de Tierra and is connected to the main island by bridges.
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The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has an area of 13,790 square kilometers (5,320 sq mi), of which 8,870 km2 (3,420 sq mi) is land and 4,921 km2 (1,900 sq mi) is water.[121] The maximum length of the main island from east to west is 180 km (110 mi), and the maximum width from north to south is 65 km (40 mi).[122] Puerto Rico is the smallest of the Greater Antilles. It is 80% of the size of Jamaica,[123] just over 18% of the size of Hispaniola and 8% of the size of Cuba, the largest of the Greater Antilles.[124]
Puerto Rico is mostly mountainous with large coastal areas in the north and south. The main mountain range is called "La Cordillera Central" (The Central Range). The highest elevation in Puerto Rico, Cerro de Punta 1,339 meters (4,393 ft),[121] 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 1,065 m (3,494 ft).[125]
Puerto Rico has 17 lakes, all man-made, and more than 50 rivers, most originating in the Cordillera Central.[126] 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.[127] Most of the caverns and karst topography on the island occurs in the northern region in the carbonates. 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 most recent major earthquake occurred on October 11, 1918, and had an estimated magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale.[128] It originated off the coast of Aguadilla and was accompanied by a tsunami.
The Puerto Rico Trench, the largest and deepest trench in the Atlantic, is located about 115 km (71 mi) north of Puerto Rico at the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates.[129] It is 280 km (170 mi) long.[130] At its deepest point, named the Milwaukee Deep, it is almost 8,400 m (27,600 ft) deep, or about 5.2 miles.[129] The island experiences frequent tremors and is an area of concern for major earthquakes.[citation needed]
Located in the tropics, Puerto Rico has an average temperature of 82.4 °F (28 °C) throughout the year, with an average minimum temperature of 66.9 °F (19 °C) and maximum of 85.4 °F (30 °C). Temperatures do not change drastically throughout the seasons. The temperature in the south is usually a few degrees higher than the north and temperatures in the central interior mountains are always cooler than the rest of the island. The hurricane season spans from June to November. The all-time low in Puerto Rico has been 39 °F (4 °C), registered in Aibonito.[131] The average yearly precipitation is 1687mm.[132]
Species endemic to the archipelago are 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.[133] 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, and from which it gets its name. Most Coquí species (13 of 17) live in the El Yunque National Forest, a tropical rainforest in the northeast of the island 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. Across the island in the southwest, the 40 km2 (15 sq mi) of dry land at the Guánica Commonwealth Forest Reserve[134] contain over 600 uncommon species of plants and animals, including 48 endangered species and 16 endemic to Puerto Rico.
Administrative divisions[link]
Main article: Municipalities of Puerto Rico
As an unincorporated territory of the United States, Puerto Rico does not have any first order administrative divisions as defined by the U.S. Government, but there are 78 municipalities at the secondary level which function as counties. Municipalities are further subdivided into barrios, and those into sectors. Each municipality has a mayor and a municipal legislature elected for four year terms.
The first municipality (previously called "town") of Puerto Rico, San Juan, was founded in 1521. In the 16th century two more municipalities were established, San Germán (1570) and Coamo (1579). Three more municipalities were established in the 17th century. These were Arecibo (1614), Aguada (1692) and Ponce (1692). The 18th and 19th century saw an increase in settlement in Puerto Rico with 30 municipalities being established in the 18th century and 34 more in the 19th century. Only six municipalities were founded in the 20th century with the last, Florida, being founded in 1971.[74]
Economy[link]
Main article: Economy of Puerto Rico
In the early 20th century the greatest contributor to Puerto Rico's economy was agriculture and its main crop was sugar. In the late 1940s a series of projects codenamed Operation Bootstrap encouraged a significant shift to manufacture via tax exemptions. Manufacturing quickly replaced agriculture as the main industry of the island. Puerto Rico is classified as a "high income country" by the World Bank.[135][136]
Economic conditions have improved dramatically since the Great Depression because of external investment in capital-intensive industries such as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and technology. Once the beneficiary of special tax treatment from the U.S. government, today local industries must compete with those in more economically depressed parts of the world where wages are not subject to U.S. minimum wage legislation. In recent years, some U.S. and foreign owned factories have moved to lower wage countries in Latin America and Asia. Puerto Rico is subject to U.S. trade laws and restrictions.
Also, starting around 1950, there was heavy migration from Puerto Rico to the Continental United States, particularly New York City, in search of better economic conditions. Puerto Rican migration to New York displayed an average yearly migration of 1,800 for the years 1930–1940, 31,000 for 1946–1950, 45,000 for 1951–1960, and a peak of 75,000 in 1953.[137] As of 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that more people of Puerto Rican birth or ancestry live in the U.S. than in Puerto Rico.[138]
On May 1, 2006, the Puerto Rican government faced significant shortages in cash flows, which forced the closure of the local Department of Education and 42 other government agencies. All 1,536 public schools closed, and 95,762 people were furloughed in the first-ever partial shutdown of the government in the island's history.[139] On May 10, 2006, the budget crisis was resolved with a new tax reform agreement so that all government employees could return to work. On November 15, 2006, a 5.5% sales tax was implemented. Municipalities are required by law to apply a municipal sales tax of 1.5% bringing the total sales tax to 7%.[140]
Tourism is an important component of Puerto Rican economy supplying an approximate $1.8 billion. In 1999, an estimated 5 million tourists visited the island, most from the U.S. Nearly a third of these are cruise ship passengers. A steady increase in hotel registrations since 1998 and the construction of new hotels and new tourism projects, such as the Puerto Rico Convention Center, indicate the current strength of the tourism industry. In 2009, tourism accounted for nearly 7% of the islands' gross national product.[141]
Puerto Ricans had median household income of $18,314 for 2009, which makes Puerto Rico's economy comparable to the independent nations of Latvia or Poland.[142] By comparison, the poorest state of the Union, Mississippi, had median household income of $36,646 in 2009.[142] Nevertheless, Puerto Rico's GDP per capita compares favorably to other independent Caribbean nations, and is one of the highest in North America. See List of North American countries by GDP per capita.
Puerto Rico's public debt has grown at a faster pace than the growth of its economy, reaching $46.7 billion in 2008.[143] In January 2009, Luis Fortuño enacted several measures aimed at eliminating the government's $3.3 billion deficit,[144] including laying off 12,505[145] government employees. Puerto Rico's unemployment rate was 15.9 percent in January 2010.[146] Some analysts said they expect the government's layoffs to propel that rate to 17 percent.[147]
In November 2010, Gov. Fortuño proposed a tax reform plan that would be implemented in a six-year period, retroactive to January 1, 2010. The first phase, applicable to year 2010, reduces taxes to all individual taxpayers by 7–15%. By year 2016, average relief for individual taxpayers will represent a 50% tax cut and a 30% cut for corporate taxpayers, whose tax rate will be lowered from 41 to 30%.[148]
Businesses and consumers in Puerto Rico are subjected to economic discrimination by many U.S. and multinational companies that limit access to products or offer them at higher prices to businesses and consumers located in Puerto Rico. For example, Apple does not include K-12 or post-secondary educational institutions in their national pricing program offering discounts to teachers and students and special pricing for institutional purchases.[149] Likewise, Minneapolis-based Best Buy does not allow residents of Puerto Rico to purchase goods on their website, which may be purchased from the 50 states, Guam and the United States Virgin Islands, but invites potential customers to skirt their own rules: "Now you can order items online and ship them to a U.S. address* – or pick them up at a U.S. store. International orders may be shipped to street addresses in the U.S., U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, along with AFO/FPO mailing address."[150]
At the same time, the latest report by the President Task Force on Puerto Rico Status recognizes that the status question and the economy are intimately linked. Many participants in the forums conducted by the Task Force argued that uncertainty about status is holding Puerto Rico back in economic areas. And although there are a number of economic actions that should be taken immediately or in the short term, regardless of the ultimate outcome of the status question, identifying the most effective means of assisting the Puerto Rican economy depends on resolving the ultimate question of status. In short, the long-term economic well-being of Puerto Rico would be dramatically improved by an early decision on the status question.[117]
Demographics[link]
Main article: Demographics of Puerto Rico
| Racial and Ethnic Composition in Puerto Rico (2010 Census) [151] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnics | ||||
| White |
|
75.8% | ||
| Black or African American |
|
12.4% | ||
| Asian |
|
0.2% | ||
| Two or more races |
|
3.3% | ||
| American Indian |
|
0.5% | ||
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander |
|
0.1% | ||
| Other races |
|
7.8% | ||
| Note: Hispanic or Latino (of any race) makes up 99.0 percent of the population. | ||||
The population of Puerto Rico has been shaped by Amerindian settlement, European colonization, slavery, economic migration, and Puerto Rico's status as unincorporated territory of the United States.
Population and racial makeup[link]
The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Puerto Rico was 3,706,690 on July 1, 2011, a -0.51% decrease since the 2010 United States Census.[5]
Continuous European immigration during the 19th century helped the population grow from 155,000 in 1800 to almost a million at the close of the century. A census conducted by royal decree on September 30, 1858 gives the following totals of the Puerto Rican population at this time: 341,015 as Free colored; 300,430 identified as Whites; and 41,736 were slaves.[152]
During the 19th century hundreds of Corsican, French, Lebanese, Chinese, and Portuguese families arrived in Puerto Rico, along with large numbers of immigrants from Spain (mainly from Catalonia, Asturias, Galicia, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, and the Canary Islands) and numerous Spanish loyalists from Spain's former colonies in South America. Other settlers included Irish, Scots, Germans, Italians and thousands others who were granted land by Spain during the Real Cedula de Gracias de 1815 ("Royal Decree of Graces of 1815"), which allowed European Catholics to settle in the island with land allotments in the interior of the island, provided they agreed to pay taxes and continue to support the Catholic Church.
Between 1960 and 1990 the census questionnaire in Puerto Rico did not ask about race or color. However, the 2000 United States Census included a racial self-identification question in Puerto Rico. According to the census, most Puerto Ricans self-identified as White and few declared themselves to be Black or some other race.[153] A recent study conducted in Puerto Rico suggests that around 52.6% of the population possess Amerindian mtDNA.[154][155]
Immigration and emigration[link]
File:Population Density, PR, 2000 (sample).jpg
Population density, Census 2000
Puerto Rico has recently become the permanent home of over 100,000 legal residents who immigrated from not only the Dominican Republic, but from other Latin American countries. These include Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela, as well as surrounding Caribbean islands, Haiti, Barbados, and the American Virgin Islands among them.
Emigration is a major part of contemporary Puerto Rican history. Starting soon after World War II, poverty, cheap airfare, and promotion by the island government caused waves of Puerto Ricans to move to the United States, particularly to New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Florida. This trend continued even as Puerto Rico's economy improved and its birth rate declined, and Puerto Ricans continue to follow a pattern of "circular migration".
Languages[link]
The official languages are Spanish and English with Spanish being the primary language. English is taught as a second language in public and private schools from elementary levels to high school and at the university level.
Spanish[link]
Main article: Puerto Rican Spanish
The Spanish of Puerto Rico has evolved into having many idiosyncrasies in vocabulary and syntax which differentiate it from the Spanish spoken in other Spanish-speaking countries. While the Spanish spoken in all Iberian, Mediterranean and Atlantic Spanish Maritime Provinces was brought to the island over the centuries, the most profound regional impact on the Spanish spoken in Puerto Rico has been from the Spanish spoken in present day Canary Islands.
As a result of the natural inclusion of indigenous vocabulary in all New World former European colonies (English, French, Spanish, Dutch, etc.), the Spanish of Puerto Rico also includes occasional "Taíno" words, which are typically in the context of vegetation, natural phenomenon or primitive musical instruments. Similarly, African-attributed words exist within the contexts of foods, music or dances developed in coastal towns with concentrations of descendants of former Sub-Saharan slaves.
English[link]
Main article: English in Puerto Rico
Since the acquisition of the Island by the US from Spain in 1898, the linguistic impression of American English increasingly leaves its linguistic impact on the island in all aspects of social, commercial and educational exchange.[citation needed]
According to a study by the University of Puerto Rico, nine of every ten Puerto Ricans residing in Puerto Rico do not speak English at an advanced level.[156] More recently, according to the 2005–2009 Population and Housing Narrative Profile for Puerto Rico, among people at least five years old living in Puerto Rico in 2005–2009, 95 percent spoke a language other than English at home. Of those speaking a language other than English at home, 100 percent spoke Spanish and less than 0.5 percent spoke some other language; 85 percent reported that they did not speak English "very well."[157]
Religion[link]
The Roman Catholic Church has historically been the dominant religion in Puerto Rico. The first dioceses in the Americas, including the first diocese of Puerto Rico, were authorized by Pope Julius II in 1511.[158] One Pope, John Paul II, visited Puerto Rico in October 1984. All municipalities in Puerto Rico have at least one Catholic church, most of which are located at the town center or "plaza".
Protestantism, which was suppressed under the Spanish regime, has spread under American rule, making modern Puerto Rico interconfessional. The first Protestant church, Holy Trinity Church in Ponce, was established by the Anglican diocese of Antigua in 1872.[159] In 1872, German settlers in Ponce founded the Iglesia Santísima Trinidad, an Anglican Church, the first non-Roman Catholic Church in the entire Spanish Empire in the Americas.[160][161]
There is also an Eastern Orthodox community in Puerto Rico, The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos/ St. Spyridon's Church is located in Trujillo Alto, and serves the small Orthodox community. The congregation represents Greeks, Russians, Serbians, Bulgarians, Americans, Moldavians, and Puerto Ricans.[162]
In 1940, Juanita Garcia Peraza founded the Mita Congregation, the first religion of Puerto Rican origin.[163] Taíno religious practices have been rediscovered/reinvented to a degree by a handful of advocates. Various African religious practices have been present since the arrival of African slaves. In particular, the Yoruba beliefs of Santería and/or Ifá, and the Kongo-derived Palo Mayombe find adherence among a few individuals who practice some form of African traditional religion.
In 1952, a handful of American Jews established the island's first synagogue in the former residence of William Korber, a wealthy Puerto Rican of German descent, which was designed and built by Czech architect Antonin Nechodoma.[164][165] The synagogue, called Sha'are Zedeck, hired its first rabbi in 1954.[166] Puerto Rico now is home to the largest Jewish community in the Caribbean, numbering 3,000, and is the only Caribbean island in which the Conservative, Reform and Orthodox Jewish movements all are represented.[166][167]
In 2007, there were about 5,000 Muslims in Puerto Rico, representing about 0.13% of the population[168][169] There were eight mosques spread throughout the island, with most Muslims living in Rio Piedras.[170][171]
In 2011, there were 26,546 Jehovah's Witnesses, representing about 0.72% of the population, with 329 congregations.[172]
The Padmasambhava Buddhist Center, whose followers practice Tibetan Buddhism, has a branch in Puerto Rico.[173]
-
SANTISIMATRINIDAD.gif
Iglesia Santísima Trinidad of Ponce -
Islamic Center at Ponce -
Shaare Zedeck.jpg
Inside Sha'are Zedeck in San Juan
Culture[link]
Main article: Culture of Puerto Rico
See also: Cuisine of Puerto Rico and Music of Puerto Rico
Modern Puerto Rican culture is a unique mix of cultural antecedents, including African (from the slaves), Taíno (Amerindians), Spanish, and more recently, North American.
From the Spanish Puerto Rico received the Spanish language, the Catholic religion and the vast majority of their cultural and moral values and traditions. The United States added English language influence, the university system and the adoption of some holidays and practices. On March 12 1903, the University of Puerto Rico was officially founded, branching out from the "Escuela Normal Industrial", a smaller organism that was founded in Fajardo three years before.
Much of the Puerto Rican culture centers on the influence of music. Like the country as a whole, Puerto Rican music has been developed by mixing other cultures with local and traditional rhythms. Early in the history of Puerto Rican music, the influences of African and Spanish traditions were most noticeable. However, the cultural movements across the Caribbean and North America have played a vital role in the more recent musical influences that have reached Puerto Rico.[174][175]
The official symbols of Puerto Rico are the Reinita mora or Puerto Rican Spindalis (a type of bird), the Flor de Maga (a type of flower), and the Ceiba or Kapok (a type of tree). The unofficial animal and a symbol of Puerto Rican pride is the Coquí, a small frog. Other popular symbols of Puerto Rico are the "jíbaro", the "countryman", and the carite.
Sports[link]
Main article: Sports in Puerto Rico
Baseball was one of the first sports to gain widespread popularity in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Baseball League serves as the only active professional league, operating as a winter league. No Major League Baseball franchise or affiliate plays in Puerto Rico, however, San Juan hosted the Montreal Expos for several series in 2003 and 2004 before they moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals. The Puerto Rico national baseball team has participated in the World Cup of Baseball winning one gold (1951), four silver and four bronze medals and the Caribbean Series, winning fourteen times. Famous Puerto Rican baseball players include Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda and Roberto Alomar, enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, 1999, and 2011 respectively.[176][177][178]
Boxing, basketball, and volleyball are considered popular sports as well. Wilfredo Gómez and McWilliams Arroyo have won their respective divisions at the World Amateur Boxing Championships. Other medalists include José Pedraza, who holds a silver medal, as well as three boxers that finished in third place, José Luis Vellón, Nelson Dieppa and McJoe Arroyo. In the professional circuit, Puerto Rico has the third-most boxing world champions and its the global leader in champions per capita. These include Miguel Cotto, Félix Trinidad, Wilfred Benítez and Gómez among others. The Puerto Rico national basketball team joined the International Basketball Federation in 1957. Since then, it has won more than 30 medals in international competitions, including gold in three FIBA Americas Championships and the 1994 Goodwill Games. August 8, 2004, became a landmark date for the team when it became the first team to defeat the United States in an Olympic tournament since the integration of National Basketball Association players. Winning the inaugural game with scores of 92–73 as part of the 2004 Summer Olympics organized in Athens, Greece.[179] Baloncesto Superior Nacional acts as the top-level professional basketball league in Puerto Rico, and has experienced success since its beginning in 1930.
Miscellaneous practices of this sport have experienced some success, including the "Puerto Rico All Stars" team, which has won twelve world championships in unicycle basketball.[180] Organized Streetball has gathered some exposition, with teams like "Puerto Rico Street Ball" competing against established organizations including the Capitanes de Arecibo and AND1's Mixtape Tour Team. Consequently, practitioners of this style have earned participation in international teams, including Orlando "El Gato" Meléndez, who became the first Puerto Rican born athlete to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.[181] Orlando Antigua, whose mother is Puerto Rican, made history in 1995, when he became the first Hispanic and the first non-black in 52 years to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.[182]
The Puerto Rico Islanders Football Club, founded in 2003, plays in the United Soccer Leagues First Division, which constitutes the second tier of football in North America. Puerto Rico is also a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. In 2008 the archipelago's first unified league, the Puerto Rico Soccer League, was established. Secondary sports include Professional wrestling and road running. The World Wrestling Council and International Wrestling Association are the largest wrestling promotions in the main island. The World's Best 10K, held annually in San Juan, has been ranked among the 20 most competitive races globally.
Puerto Rico has representation in all international competitions including the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Pan American Games, the Caribbean World Series, and the Central American and Caribbean Games. Puerto Rican athletes have won six medals (one silver, five bronze) in Olympic competition, the first one in 1948 by boxer Juan Evangelista Venegas. On March 2006 San Juan's Hiram Bithorn Stadium hosted the opening round as well as the second round of the newly formed World Baseball Classic. The Central American and Caribbean Games were held in 1993 in Ponce and in 2010 in Mayagüez.
Education[link]
Main article: Education in Puerto Rico
Education in Puerto Rico is divided in three levels—Primary (elementary school grades 1–6), Secondary (intermediate and high school grades 7–12), and Higher Level (undergraduate and graduate studies). As of 2002, the literacy rate of the Puerto Rican population was 94.1%; by gender, it was 93.9% for males and 94.4% for females.[183] According to the 2000 Census, 60.0% of the population attained a high school degree or higher level of education, and 18.3% has a bachelor's degree or higher.
Instruction at the primary school level is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 18 and is enforced by the state. The Constitution of Puerto Rico grants the right to an education to every citizen on the island. To this end, public schools in Puerto Rico provide free and non-sectarian education at the elementary and secondary levels. At any of the three levels, students may attend either public or private schools. As of 1999, there were 1532 public schools[184] and 569 private schools in the island.[citation needed]
The largest and oldest university system in Puerto Rico is the public University of Puerto Rico (UPR) with 11 campuses. The largest private university systems on the island are the Sistema Universitario Ana G. Mendez which operates the Universidad del Turabo, Metropolitan University and Universidad del Este, the multi-campus Inter American University, the Pontifical Catholic University, and the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. Puerto Rico has four schools of Medicine and four Law Schools.
Transportation[link]
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Main article: Transportation in Puerto Rico
Cities and towns in Puerto Rico are interconnected by a system of roads, freeways, expressways, and highways maintained by the Highways and Transportation Authority under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and patrolled by the Puerto Rico Police Department. The island's metropolitan area is served by a public bus transit system and a metro system called Tren Urbano (in English: Urban Train). Other forms of public transportation include seaborne ferries (that serve Puerto Rico's archipelago) as well as Carros Públicos (private mini buses).
The island has three international airports, the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, Mercedita Airport in Ponce, and the Rafael Hernández Airport in Aguadilla, and 27 local airports. The Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport is the largest aerial transportation hub in the Caribbean, and one of the largest in the world in terms of passenger and cargo movement.[185]
Puerto Rico has 9 ports in different cities across the main island. The San Juan Port is the largest in Puerto Rico, and the busiest port in the Caribbean and the 10th busiest in the United States in terms of commercial activity and cargo movement, respectively.[185] The second largest port is the Port of the Americas in Ponce, currently under expansion to increase cargo capacity to 1.5 million twenty-foot containers (TEUs) per year.[186]
See also[link]
 |
Book: Puerto Rico |
| Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. | |
- Outline of Puerto Rico
- Index of Puerto Rico-related articles
- List of Puerto Ricans
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Puerto Rico
Notes[link]
- ^ In 1932, the U.S. Congress officially corrected what it had been misspelling as Porto Rico back into Puerto Rico.[11] It had been using the former spelling in its legislative and judicial records since it acquired the territory. Patricia Gherovici states that both "Porto Rico" and "Puerto Rico" were used interchangeably in the news media and documentation before, during, and after the U.S. invasion of the island in 1898. The "Porto" spelling, for instance, was used in the Treaty of Paris, but "Puerto" was used by The New York Times that same year. Nancy Morris clarifies that "a curious oversight in the drafting of the Foraker Act caused the name of the island to be officially misspelled."[12]
- ^ Today, Puerto Ricans are also known as Boricuas, or people from Borinquen.
- ^ Vicente Yañez Pinzón is considered the first appointed governor of Puerto Rico, but he never arrived on the island.
References[link]
- ^ Nancy Morris (1995). Puerto Rico: Culture, Politics, and Identity. Praeger/Greenwood. p. 62. ISBN 0-275-95228-2. http://books.google.com/?id=vyQDYqz2kFsC&pg=RA1-PA62&lpg=RA1-PA62&dq=%22puerto+rico%22+official+language+1993
- ^ 2010 Census Data. "2010 Census Data". 2010.census.gov. http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ a b "U.S. Department of State. Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty". State.gov. http://www.state.gov/s/inr/rls/10543.htm. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
- ^ "Carta Autonómica de 1897 de Puerto Rico". Lexjuris.com. http://www.lexjuris.com/lexlex/lexotras/lexcartaautonomica.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ a b "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2011" (CSV). 2011 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. December 2011. http://www.census.gov/popest/data/state/totals/2011/tables/NST-EST2011-01.csv. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
- ^ "Penn World Tabbles - PWT - Version 7.0". University of Pennsylvania. http://pwt.econ.upenn.edu/php_site/pwt70/pwt70_form.php. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
- ^ "Penn World Tabbles - PWT- Version 7.0". University of Pennsylvania. http://pwt.econ.upenn.edu/php_site/pwt70/pwt70_form.php. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
- ^ a b "Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico, May 2011". gdb-pur.com. http://www.gdb-pur.com/economy/documents/2011-05-16-AETabla1-2010.pdf. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
- ^ http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/state/state4.html (English)
- ^ - "El capital social movilizadocontra la pobreza" -- UNESCO, CLASCO (2007)
- ^ Pedro A. Malavet (2004). America's colony: the political and cultural conflict between the United States and Puerto Rico. NYU Press. pp. 43, 181 note 76. ISBN 978-0-8147-5680-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=pKqVpqGVsJYC.
- ^ Patricia Gherovici (2003). The Puerto Rican syndrome. Other Press, LLC. pp. 140–141. ISBN 978-1-892746-75-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=2jSsxVWxu2sC.
- ^ a b c Real Cédula de 1789 "para el comercio de Negros"
- ^ a b Levinson, Sanford; Sparrow, Bartholomew H (2005). The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion, 1803–1898. Ed. by Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew H. Sparrow. (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Cloth, ISBN 0-7425-4983-6. Paper, ISBN 0-7425-4984-4.) pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-0-7425-4984-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=ayINMX_RtkEC&pg=PA167#. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
- ^ "Regions and Territories: Puerto Rico". British Broadcasting Corporation. June 16, 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/3593469.stm.
- ^ a b "World Factbook: Puerto Rico". Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rq.html.
- ^ Allatson, Paul. Key Terms in Latino/a Cultural and Literary Studies, p. 47. Malden, Mass: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1-4051-0250-0.
- ^ Dictionary: Taino Indigenous Peoples of the Caribbean Retrieved: February 21, 2008. (Based on the encyclopedia "Clásicos de Puerto Rico", 2nd. edition. Ed. Cayetano Coll y Toste. Publisher: Ediciones Latinoamericanas, S.A., 1972.).
- ^ Grose, Howard Benjamin (August 8, 2006). H. B. Grose, Advance in the Antilles: the new era in Cuba and Porto Rico, Presbyterian Home Missions, 1910. http://books.google.com/books?id=qAMQAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=porto+rico#v=onepage&q=land%20of%20the%20valiant%20lord&f=false. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ^ Abbad y Lasierra, Iñigo. Historia Geográfica, Civil y Natural de la Isla de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico.
- ^ Mahaffy, Cheryl (January 28, 2006). "Vieques Island – What lies beneath". Edmonton Journal. http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/travel/story.html?id=eb3c0119-8328-4b52-96ed-4a63763160f7. Retrieved February 11, 2006.
- ^ Pedro Torres. "The Dictionary of the Taíno Language". Taíno Inter-Tribal Council Inc.. http://members.dandy.net/~orocobix/tedict.html. Retrieved February 11, 2006.
- ^ Cheryl Mahaffy (January 30, 2006). "Vieques Island: What lies beneath". Edmonton Journal. http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/travel/story.html?id=eb3c0119-8328-4b52-96ed-4a63763160f7.
- ^ "500 Years of Puerto Rican History through the Eyes of Others". The Newberry library - Newberry.org. 2008-07-12. http://www.newberry.org/exhibits/PuertoRico.html. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ "History of Puerto Rico". http://welcome.topuertorico.org/history.shtml. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
- ^ Arthur C. Aufderheide; Conrado Rodríguez-Martín; Odin Langsjoen (1998). The Cambridge encyclopedia of human paleopathology. Cambridge University Press. pp. 204. ISBN 978-0-521-55203-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=qubTdDk1H3IC.
- ^ Kohn, George C. (2008). Encyclopedia of plague and pestilence: from ancient times to the present. Infobase Publishing. p. 160. ISBN 0-8160-6935-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=tzRwRmb09rgC&pg=PA160&dq#v=onepage&q=&f=false.
- ^ "Puerto Rico | Colonial Genocides | Genocide Studies Program". Yale University. http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/puerto-rico/index.html. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ Dietz, p.38.
- ^ "The Life of Sir Francis Drake". July 20, 2004. http://www.drakenavigatorsguild.org/drakeslife.html. Retrieved March 1, 2006.
- ^ Historias de Puerto Rico by Paul G. Miller, (1947) pgs. 221–237.
- ^ Abbad y Lasierra, Iñigo. Historia Geográfica, Civil y Política de Puerto Rico. S.l.: Univ Of Puerto Rico Pr. ISBN 0-8477-0800-4. (Spanish)
- ^ Interview of Thomas Ellingwood Fortin, Producer, New Albion Pictures
- ^ "Words from Pres. Ronald Reagan". Thecajuns.com. http://www.thecajuns.com/galvezrw.htm. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
- ^ "Slave revolts in Puerto Rico: conspiracies and uprisings, 1795-1873"; by: Guillermo A. Baralt; Publisher Markus Wiener Publishers; ISBN 1-55876-463-1, ISBN 978-1-55876-463-7
- ^ "María de las Mercedes Barbudo; Primera mujer independentista de Puerto Rico; CLARIDAD; December 1994; page 19" (PDF). http://www.raquelrosario.net/Historias%20Claridad%20Mercedes%20Bar.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ "150th. Anniversary of the Foundation of Arroyo, Puerto Rico". Elboricua.com. http://www.elboricua.com/MiradorPuertorriquenoArchives.html. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ "Welcome to Puerto Rico". Topuertorico.org. http://www.topuertorico.org/history4.shtml. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ Negroni, Héctor Andrés (1992) (in Spanish). Historia militar de Puerto Rico. Sociedad Estatal Quinto Centenario. ISBN 978-84-7844-138-9.
- ^ "USA Seizes Puerto Rico". History of Puerto Rico. solboricua.com. 2000. http://www.solboricua.com/history2.htm#usa.
- ^ Magaly Rivera. "History". topuertorico.org. http://www.topuertorico.org/history4.shtml. Retrieved October 1, 2007.
- ^ "Chronology of Puerto Rico in the Spanish-American War". The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War. Hispanic Division, Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/chronpr.html.
- ^ a b Strategy as Politics; by: Jorge Rodriguez Beruff; Publisher: La Editorial; Universidad de Puerto Rico; page 7; ISBN 978-0-8477-0160-5
- ^ A.T. Mahan, "The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1660–1783)", London: Sampson Low, Marston, Seale; page 83
- ^ David F. Trask. The war with Spain in 1898. University of Nebraska Press. 1996. ISBN=978-0-8032-9429-5. Pages 72–78. Google Books.ph. 1996. ISBN 978-0-8032-9429-5. http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=2f0Gf0DQfmUC&pg=PA72. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ^ Daniel B. Zwickel. "Jorge Rodríguez Beruff". Peacehost.net. http://www.peacehost.net/WhiteStar/Voices/eng-rodriguez-beruff.html. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ Strategy as Politics; by: Jorge Rodriguez Beruff; Publisher: La Editorial; Universidad de Puerto Rico; page 13; ISBN 978-0-8477-0160-5
- ^ "Treaty of Peace Between the United States and Spain". The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School. Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library. December 10, 1898. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp.
- ^ a b c d e "Report by the President's task force on Puerto Rico's Status" (PDF). December 2005. http://charma.uprm.edu/~angel/Puerto_Rico/reporte_status.pdf. Retrieved October 1, 2007.
- ^ Efrén Rivera Ramos (2007). American Colonialism in Puerto Rico: The Judicial and Social Legacy. Markus Wiener Publishers. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-1-55876-410-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=J5l55R3_mPoC.
- ^ The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion: 1803–1898. By Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew H. Sparrow. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2005. Pages 166, 178. "U.S. citizenship was extended to residents of Puerto Rico by virtue of the Jones Act, chap. 190, 39 Stat. 951 (1971)(codified at 48 U.S.C. § 731 (1987)")
- ^ "Sistema de Alerta de Tsunamis de Puerto Rico y el Caribe" (in Spanish). Red Sísmica de Puerto Rico. http://redsismica.uprm.edu/spanish/tsunami/index.php. Retrieved February 6, 2011. [dead link]
- ^ a b c "Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Civil Rights in Puerto Rico. The Commission, 70p, np, May 22, 1937". Llmc.com. http://www.llmc.com/TitleLLMC.asp?ColID=3&Cat=136&TID=7037&TName=Ponce%20Massacre,%20Com.%20of%20Inquiry,%201937. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Five Years of Tyranny, Speech before the U.S. House of Representatives. The entire speech is contained in the Congressional Record of August 14, 1939. It is reported in the Cong. Rec., and various other publications elsewhere, that among those shot in the back was a 7-year-old girl, Georgina Maldonado, who "was killed through the back while running to a nearby church"
- ^ Antonio de la Cova. "Photos of police shooting with rifles (from positions previously occupied by marchers and bystanders) at bystanders running away". Latinamericanstudies.org. http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/ponce-1937.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ "La obra jurídica del Profesor David M. Helfeld (1948-2008)'; by: Dr. Carmelo Delgado Cintrón
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- ^ La Gobernación de Jesús T. Piñero y la Guerra Fría
- ^ Act of July 3, 1950, Ch. 446, 64 Stat. 319.
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- ^ a b "United States v. Sanchez, 992 F.2D 1143 (1993) United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (Paragraphs 44 – 46)". ftp.resources.com. June 4, 1993. http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/992/992.F2d.1143.90-5749.html. Retrieved January 21, 2010
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- ^ [The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion: 1803–1898. By Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew H. Sparrow. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2005. Page 166, 178.]"U.S. citizenship was extended to residents of Puerto Rico by virtue of the Jones Act, chap. 190, 39 Stat. 951 (1971)(codified at 48 U.S.C. § 731 (1987)")
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- ^ "Mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals substantial Native American ancestry in Puerto Rico
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- Puerto Rican government official website (English)
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- Five Years of Tyranny by Congressman Vito Marcantonio
- Wikimedia Atlas of Puerto Rico
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- United States government
- Application of the U.S. Constitution in U.S. Insular Areas, November 1997
- Puerto Rico State Guide, from the Library of Congress
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- U.N. Decolonization Committee's press release on what it deems as the colonial political status of Puerto Rico, June 14, 2007
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| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
|
|
| Born | Zuleyka Jerrís Rivera Mendoza (1987-10-03) October 3, 1987 (age 24) Cayey, Puerto Rico |
|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Hair color | Brown |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Title(s) | Miss Salinas Teen 2002 Miss Salinas 2006 Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006 Miss Universe 2006 |
| Major competition(s) |
Miss Puerto Rico Teen 2002 (1st runner-up) Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006 (winner) Miss Universe 2006 (winner) |
Zuleyka Jerrís Rivera Mendoza (born October 3, 1987) is a Puerto Rican beauty queen and actress who held the titles Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006 and Miss Universe 2006.[1] She made her debut as a telenovela actress in Telemundo's soap opera Dame Chocolate.
Contents |
Early life[link]
Born in Cayey, she was raised in Salinas with her parents Jerry Rivera and Carmen Mendoza, and two brothers, Jerry, Jr. and Jose Rivera Mendoza. Prior to winning the Miss Puerto Rico title she won the local pageant for her hometown of Salinas. She had also placed as the first runner-up in the Miss Teen Puerto Rico pageant. Only eighteen years of age when she was crowned Miss Universe, Rivera is one of the youngest women to win the title. She is also the first winner from Puerto Rico to have noticeable mixed heritage features, different from her four predecessors (Marisol Malaret, Deborah Carthy-Deu, Dayanara Torres, and Denise Quiñones) that have distinctly European features.
Miss Universe 2006[link]
Zuleyka Rivera represented Puerto Rico in the Miss Universe 2006 pageant which was televised live internationally from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on 23 July 2006. After competing in swimsuit, evening gown and interview, she was crowned Miss Universe by outgoing titleholder Natalie Glebova of Canada.
Later that evening, Rivera fainted briefly during a press appearance. The incident was reportedly attributed to heat exhaustion (from the stage lights) coupled with the weight of the heavy, chained dress she was wearing.[2]
Rivera was the fifth Puerto Rican to win the title, which makes the island the third most successful entity in the pageant (behind the United States and Venezuela). Rivera was the third consecutive delegate from Puerto Rico to make the top five at Miss Universe, after Alba Reyes placed second runner-up at Miss Universe 2004 and Cynthia Olavarría was first runner-up at Miss Universe 2005.
Rivera's win came only five years after Denise Quiñones, the most recent winner from Puerto Rico, won the crown. As Miss Universe, Rivera represented the Miss Universe Organization, both in the United States and internationally. She was based in New York City, where she shared an apartment with Tara Conner, Miss USA and Katie Blair, Miss Teen USA 2006.
At the Miss Universe 2007 pageant she passed her crown to Riyo Mori of Japan in Mexico City, Mexico on May 28, 2007.[3]
Reign[link]
After being crowned on July 23, 2006 in Los Angeles, Zuleyka was interviewed by many news teams in Los Angeles and when she arrived at her new home in New York.
From the end of July until early August, Zuleyka traveled to Japan where she presented the Five Star Diamond Award to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Tokyo. She also participated in a photo shoot with Kurara Chibana in San Juan, Puerto Rico and in Tokyo, Japan, the girls who became really close best friends and still keep in touch. Miss Universe Japan (and first runner-up), and Zuleyka also visited Mikimoto, the creators of her dazzling crown. In late August, Zuleyka traveled to Indonesia where she attended the opening of a new spa, met with the Minister of Culture, and attended the Miss Indonesia Universe pageant where Agni Pratistha was crowned. While in Indonesia, Zuleyka also visited Bali. On September 4, 2006, Zuleyka returned to her home, Puerto Rico for an official homecoming celebration and parade. The following day, Zuleyka returned to her hometown of Salinas.
As of April 2007, Zuleyka has traveled to the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Kazakhstan, India, Mexico, Thailand, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Japan, and Indonesia, in addition to numerous trips around the United States.
On April 1, 2007, Rivera appeared at WrestleMania 23 along with Miss USA 2007 Rachel Smith and Miss Teen USA 2006 Katie Blair, supporting Donald Trump in the Battle of the Billionaires match against Vince McMahon.
She passed on her crown at the Miss Universe 2007 pageant to Japan's Riyo Mori, which was held in Mexico City, Mexico on May 28, 2007.
Personal life[link]
Since the fall of 2010, Rivera has been dating Minnesota Timberwolves point guard José Juan Barea.[4] In July 2011, the couple announced they were expecting their first child together.[5] Rivera gave birth to Sebastián José Barea Rivera in Minnesota on February 18, 2012. Barea was present during the birth.[6]
Telenovelas[link]
| Year | Telenovelas | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2010–2011 | Aurora | Diana Del Valle |
| 2010–2011 | Alguien Te Mira | Rocío Lynch |
| 2007 | Dame Chocolate | Betsy Marvel |
References[link]
- ^ "Miss Puerto Rico, Zuleyka Rivera Crowned Miss Universe 2006 During Live NBC Telecast on July 23rd" (Press release). Miss Universe Organization. {{Subst:Date|subst=Subst:|2006-07-23}}. http://www.missuniverse.com/press/07.23.06.html. Retrieved {{Subst:Date|2009-03-05}}.
- ^ Associated Press (23 July 2006). "Miss Universe: 'Why I Fainted'". CBS News. http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/27/people/main1843557.shtml. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
- ^ Watson, Julie; Associated Press (28 May 2007). "Miss Japan crowned Miss Universe 2007". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/artandlife/1404AP_Miss_Universe.html. Retrieved 5 June 2007. [dead link]
- ^ J.J. Barea dating Miss Universe 2006 from ESPN 30 March 2011
- ^ Baby due for J.J. Barea and his Miss Universe girlfriend from USA Today 21 July 2011
- ^ Hernández Mercado, Damaris (February 18, 2012). "Zuleyka Rivera da a luz a Sebastián José". El Nuevo Día. http://www.elnuevodia.com/zuleykariveradaaluzasebastianjose-1193548.html.
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Zuleyka Rivera |
- An Interview with Zuleyka prior to her winning Miss Universe 2006
- Miss Universe official website
- Zuleyka Rivera on the Internet Movie Database
| Preceded by Cynthia Olavarria |
Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006 |
Succeeded by Uma Blasini |
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| Persondata | |
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| Name | Rivera, Zuleyka |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | October 3, 1987 |
| Place of birth | Cayey, Puerto Rico |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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http://id.wn.com/Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza
http://es.wn.com/Zuleyka Rivera
http://ru.wn.com/Ривера, Сулейка
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http://pl.wn.com/Zuleyka Rivera
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http://de.wn.com/Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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