Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is an island in the caribbean sea. It is located in the Greater Antilles chain of islands, and is the smallest of the 4 main islands there (the other 3 islands are Cuba, Jamaica and Hispaniola). The Greater Antilles are formed out of the continental rock of North America. As apposed to, say, the Lesser Antilles (the Virgin Islands, St. Vincent, St Barts, Martinique, etc) which are made up of mostly volcanic or coral material.

Puerto Rico as seen from space, during Hurricane Irene
photo by NASA's Earth Observatory used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Puerto Rico covers an area of 5325 square miles, 1900 of which is covered by water. That makes Puerto Rico almost as big as the state of Connecticut. Compared to the other Greater Antilles islands, Puerto Rico is 80% the size of Jamaica, but only 8% the size of Cuba!

Talk about comfy! ... The average temperature in Puerto Rico is 82.4 °F (30 °C) year-round! As a matter of fact, the coldest temperature EVER recorded on the island is 39 °F (4 °C)!
(Editorial note: Feel free to leave the heavy winter gear at home!)

Puerto Rico has a lush and colorful history, beginning with the indigenous Taino (Arawak) people, on through European settlement dating back some 500 years. This is good stuff too! Stories of gold treasure, pirates, castles and such. Unfortunately, the islands history also includes slave trading and indentured servitude on island plantations. Welcome to the Caribbean!

Puerto Rico was ceded to the US in 1897, with the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American War. At that time, the island was a territory of the US. In 1947, it was given the right to democratically elect it's own governance. In 1952, a local constitution was approved and ratified, and the island was officially reclassified to Commonwealth status. Currently, it's a self-governing, unincorporated territory of the United States with the official title of the "Commonwealth of Puerto Rico".

Since the end of World War 2, Puerto Rico has experienced a tremendous change in it's economic base. What was once a mainly agricultural economy, has now transformed itself into one with a stronger manufacturing base. Specifically: Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Technology. This has helped to develop the island economically and improve the standard of living for it's residents. However, since the island is subject to US labor laws (specifically Minimum Wage laws), in recent years the island has seen some of their jobs move to other countries in Latin America and Asia.

By comparison, the per capita GDP of Puerto Rico is lower than that of Mississippi, the poorest of all the US states. But even so, the World Bank still classifies Puerto Rico as a high income country.

Tourism has emerged as a leading component to the islands economy. Millions of people, mostly from the US, visit the island every year. A large percentage of those arrive on cruise ships that dock daily at the islands ports, including the Port of San Juan.