Portal:Puerto Rico

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Puerto Rico (abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a self-governing Caribbean archipelago and island organized as an unincorporated territory of the United States under the designation of commonwealth. Located between the Dominican Republic in the Greater Antilles and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Lesser Antilles about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, it consists of the eponymous main island and numerous smaller islands, including Vieques, Culebra, and Mona. With approximately 3.2 million people, it is divided into 78 municipalities, of which the most populous is the capital municipality of San Juan, followed by those within the San Juan metropolitan area. Spanish and English are the official languages of the government, though Spanish predominates.

Puerto Rico was settled by a succession of Indigenous peoples of the Americas beginning 2,000 to 4,000 years ago; these included the Ortoiroid, Saladoid, and Taíno. It was claimed by Spain following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493 and subsequently colonized by Juan Ponce de León in 1508. Puerto Rico was contested by other European powers into the 18th century but remained a Spanish possession for the next 400 years. The decline of the Indigenous population, followed by an influx of Spanish settlers—primarily from the Canary Islands and Andalusia—and African slaves vastly changed the cultural and demographic landscape. Within the Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico played a strategically significant role. By the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, centered on a fusion of European, African, and Indigenous elements. In 1898, following the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was acquired by the United States.

Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917 and can move freely between the archipelago and the U.S. Residents of Puerto Rico are disenfranchised from federal elections and pay federal taxes and Puerto Rico income taxes; most are exempt from federal income tax on personal income earned in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico sends a nonvoting representative to the U.S. Congress, called a resident commissioner, and participates in presidential primaries; as it is not a state, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the U.S. Congress, which oversees it under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. Congress approved a territorial constitution in 1952, allowing residents to elect a governor in addition to a senate and house of representatives. The political status of Puerto Rico is an ongoing debate.

Beginning in the mid-20th century, the U.S. government, together with the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, launched a series of economic projects to develop Puerto Rico into an industrial high-income economy. It is classified by the International Monetary Fund as a developed jurisdiction. It ranks 47th on the Human Development Index. The major sectors of the economy are manufacturing, primarily pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and electronics, followed by services, namely tourism and hospitality. (Full article...)

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  • "Despacito" (Latin American Spanish: [despaˈsito]; transl. "Slowly") is a Spanish-language song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, featuring Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee. On January 13, 2017, it was released as lead single for Vida, Fonsi's tenth studio album. Written by Fonsi and Panamanian-American and Brazilian singer-songwriter Erika Ender in collaboration with Yankee between 2015 and 2016, it was produced by Colombian record producers Mauricio Rengifo and Andrés Torres in 2016. An English-language remix featuring Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber was released on April 17, 2017, with added lyrics by Bieber, and American singer-songwriters Poo Bear and Marty James.

    Topping the charts in 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, and reaching the top 10 of six others, "Despacito" has been listed among the best Latin songs ever by various publications, with some referring to it as one of the most successful Spanish-language tracks in pop music history. It has been credited by music journalists as being the most instrumental song in spreading the popularity of Spanish-language music in the mainstream global market since "La Bamba" by Los Lobos in 1987 and "Macarena" by Los Del Rio featuring the Backside Boys in 1995. (Full article...)
  • "The Cup of Life" (Spanish: "La Copa de la Vida") is a song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin for his fourth studio album, Vuelve (1998). Martin created the song after FIFA requested of him an anthem. The song was written by Luis Gómez Escolar, Desmond Child, and Draco Rosa, while the production was handled by the latter two. It was released by Columbia Records on March 9, 1998, as the second single from the album, and became the official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup held in France. A primarily Spanish language samba-rooted Latin pop song, it carries a football-heavy message with fully positive lyrics.

    The song has received highly positive reviews from music critics, who complimented its energy and lyrics. "The Cup of Life" has been ranked as the best World Cup anthem of all time by multiple publications, including The Atlantic, Dallas Observer, and The Fader. It is also one of Martin's most commercially successful songs worldwide, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries. It has received several certifications, including platinum in Australia and France. The accompanying music videos were directed by Wayne Isham and filmed during a sold-out concert in Puerto Rico. (Full article...)

  • Hernandez in Phoenix, Arizona, in July 2017

    Lauren Zoe Hernandez (born June 9, 2000) is an American retired artistic gymnast. During her debut year as a senior gymnast, she competed as a member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team dubbed the "Final Five" that won the team gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Individually, Hernandez earned the silver medal on the balance beam. She took a break from gymnastics and returned to training in late 2018 to earn a spot on the 2020 Summer Olympics team, but she did not qualify for the Olympic Trials.

    Hernandez was first added to the U.S. gymnastics national team in 2013 and began competing in international competitions that same year. After missing the 2014 season due to injury, she won the junior all-around title at the 2015 U.S. Championships. In addition to winning Olympic gold, Hernandez also won team gold medals at the 2016 City of Jesolo Trophy and 2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships. (Full article...)
  • William Daniel Leahy (/ˈleɪ(h)i/ LAY-(h)ee; 6 May 1875 – 20 July 1959) was an American naval officer and was the most senior United States military officer on active duty during World War II; he held several titles and exercised considerable influence over foreign and military policy. As a fleet admiral, he was the first flag officer ever to hold a five-star rank in the U.S. Armed Forces.

    An 1897 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Leahy saw active service in the Spanish–American War, the Philippine–American War, the Boxer Rebellion in China, the Banana Wars in Central America, and World War I. He was the first member of his cadet class to reach flag rank, as the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance from 1927 to 1931. He subsequently served as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation from 1933 to 1936, and commanded the Battle Fleet from 1936 to 1937. As Chief of Naval Operations from 1937 to 1939, he was the senior officer in the United States Navy, overseeing the expansion of the fleet and preparations for war. (Full article...)

  • Milagros Benet de Mewton (née Benet Colón; 22 November 1868 – 26 December 1948) was a Puerto Rican educator, women's rights advocate and suffragist. Born into an intellectual, liberal family, Benet trained as a teacher. Inhabitants of the island gained U.S. citizenship in 1917, two decades after the United States acquired Puerto Rico from Spain in the Spanish–American War. Benet was active in the struggle for women's enfranchisement and joined the first suffragist organization Liga Femínea Puertorriqueña that year. When U.S. women gained the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1919, Benet led the push to extend its coverage to Puerto Rico. In 1924, she filed a lawsuit challenging the right of the electoral board to refuse to register women as they were U.S. citizens. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ruled that states and territories have the right to determine who can vote and denied her claim.

    Benet continued pressing through the Liga Social Sufragista for the filing of various bills, which continued to be rejected by the insular legislature. In 1928, she pushed for the U.S. Congress to resolve the discrepancies in voting rights for women in Puerto Rico. Faced with the possibility that the federal legislature might give women the right to vote, the Puerto Rican legislature finally passed a law in 1929 granting suffrage to literate women. Universal suffrage, eliminating the educational restrictions, was gained in 1936. Benet is remembered for her work in education and for expanding women's rights in Puerto Rico. (Full article...)
  • Barrio Fino (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbarjo ˈfino]; English: "Fine 'Hood") is the third studio album by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, released on July 13, 2004, in the United States by VI Music and El Cartel Records and internationally by Machete Music and Polydor Records. Released two years after his previous studio album, El Cangri.com (2002), the album was recorded in Puerto Rico between 2003 and 2004. It explores themes ranging from dance, sex, romance, introspection, and protest against political corruption and violence against women. Barrio Fino was instrumental in popularizing reggaeton in the mainstream market, enhancing Daddy Yankee's career, as well as cementing his status as one of the most successful Latin artists of the 2000s. The album is reported to have sold over 8 million copies in the world.

    Daddy Yankee wrote all the tracks, with co-writing credits on seven, and is credited as executive producer. Five of the 21 songs were released as singles. The first single, "Gasolina", charted within the top 10 in Denmark, Italy, Norway, Ireland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Austria, while "Lo Que Pasó, Pasó" peaked at number two on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Barrio Fino reached number one on the US Tropical Albums and the Top Latin Albums charts. It became the first reggaeton recording to debut and peak atop the latter chart. It ranked within the top 30 in the United States, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain. (Full article...)
  • "A Puro Dolor" is a song recorded by Puerto Rican band Son by Four. It was written by Omar Alfanno and released as the first single of the second studio album of the band in 2000. Two versions of the track were produced by Oscar Llord for the album; one as a salsa and the other as a ballad. The ballad version was arranged by Alejandro Jaén.

    The song reached number-one on Billboard Top Latin Songs chart, and became the longest running chart topper of its history, spending 20 weeks at the top; this record was broken five years later by Colombian singer Shakira with "La Tortura" which spent 25 weeks at number-one. "A Puro Dolor" also reached the Billboard 100; this led to the recording of an English-language version of the track "Purest of Pain", which was also charted in the United States. (Full article...)
  • Francisco "Pancho" Coimbre Atiles (29 January 1909 – 4 November 1989), more commonly known as Pancho Coimbre, was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player. He was born in the municipality of Coamo and moved to Ponce early in his life. It was in Ponce where he would begin to actively participate in sports, both in sprinting and baseball. Coimbre played thirteen seasons in the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League (LBPPR), with the Leones de Ponce. During this period the team won five league championships. He finished his career with an average of .337, and had an average of 2.2 strikeouts per season, this included four consecutive seasons from 1939 to 1942, without any strikeouts. Coimbre also won two LBPPR batting titles and the league's Most Valuable Player Award in 1943.

    Coimbre traveled to New York City, after completing his first professional season in Puerto Rico, where he joined the Porto Rico Stars baseball team of the Negro leagues.[A] He was contracted by the New York Cubans while playing with the Porto Rico Stars. He joined the NY Cubans and played several seasons for them. Coimbre's batting average remained over the .300 mark, including two seasons in which he batted over .400. While playing in the Negro leagues he was selected to play in the league's East–West All-Star games twice, where he played with several players who in the future would be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. He also played with teams established in Colombia, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Following his retirement, Coimbre worked as a coach and manager of teams in both the professional and amateur leagues of Puerto Rico. Coimbre, who was eighty years old, died due to a fire at his home. (Full article...)

  • Barea with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011

    José Juan Barea Mora (born June 26, 1984) is a Puerto Rican basketball coach and former player. He played college basketball for the Northeastern Huskies before joining the Dallas Mavericks in 2006 and becoming the seventh Puerto Rican to play in the NBA. He went on to win an NBA championship with the Mavericks in 2011 before signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he played for the next three seasons before returning to Dallas. He has also played in the NBA Development League and the Baloncesto Superior Nacional.

    Barea was a member of the Puerto Rican national team that won the gold medal in the 2006 and 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games. He was the starting point guard for Puerto Rico when they won the gold medal in the 2011 Pan American Games and the silver medal in the 2007 Pan American Games. (Full article...)


  • This list of governors of Puerto Rico includes all persons who have held the office of Governor of Puerto Rico since its establishment under the rule of the Spanish Empire (1508–1898) to the present under the sovereignty of the United States (1898–present).

    The archipelago and island of Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States during the Spanish–American War in 1898, ending 390 years of active rule by the Spanish Empire, which began the European exploration, colonization, and settlement of the main island under conquistador Juan Ponce de León in 1508. Ponce de León was the first person to hold the title and office of governor by orders of King Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1509. The governor remained an appointee of the Spanish Crown during Spanish rule, and was an appointee of the President of the United States during American rule until 1948, when the residents of Puerto Rico began to popularly elect the governor, starting with Luis Muñoz Marín, who took office in 1949. (Full article...)
  • "Quiero Bailar" ('I Want To Dance') is a song by Puerto Rican reggaetón recording artist Ivy Queen, from the platinum edition of her third studio album, Diva (2003). It was composed by Queen alongside her then-husband Gran Omar, produced by Iván Joy and released as the lead single from the album in 2004. Lyrically, "the song talks about a guy expecting sex after a dance like it was a bad thing." Addressing the topic of female autonomy of the body, the song has become recognized as a female empowerment anthem.

    The song became the first Spanish-language song to reach the top position on Miami's WPOW Rhythmic Top 40, the first Spanish song to do so, while reaching the Top 10 of the Billboard Latin Rhythm Airplay chart. The song has become known as the first female reggaeton feminist anthem among songs that lyrically degraded women. An accompanying music video was filmed for the song which featured cameos from her ex-husband Omar Navarro, known artistically as Gran Omar. (Full article...)
  • "Píntame" (transl. "Paint Me") is a song by Puerto Rican American singer Elvis Crespo from his 1999 second studio album of the same name. The song was written by Crespo with Luis Angel Cruz and Robert Cora handling its productions. It is a merengue song in which Crespo asks an artist to materialize his lover by painting her. The song was met with positive reactions from three music critics who found the song to be catchy. An accompanying music video for the single features Crespo dancing with other performers in a white background.

    Commercially, "Píntame" peaked at number two and one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs and Tropical Airplay charts in the United States. An English-language version of the song was released to dance radio stations in the US. The track garnered several accolades including the Lo Nuestro Award for Tropical Song of the Year in 2000. In 2019, Dominican Republic singer Gabriel Pagán covered the song with Crespo and their version topped the merengue charts in the Dominican Republic. (Full article...)
  • Álvaro E. Betancourt (born 8 February 1994) is a Puerto Rican retired international footballer who played as a midfielder. He appeared at the senior level for High Performance FC, Conquistadores de Guaynabo, Bayamón, and Metropolitan FA, split around a two-year stint at Valparaiso University.

    A native of Caguas, Puerto Rico, Betancourt played youth football for Fraigcomar while attending the Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola. He made his senior debut at 15 years old, spending two seasons with High Performance FC followed by a year with Conquistadores de Guaynabo. He left his home island to attend college in the United States, spending two years with the men's soccer program at Valparaiso. After returning to Puerto Rico, Betancourt played the sport for four more years, splitting time between Bayamón and Metropolitan FA. He stepped away from the game in 2017, aged just 23. (Full article...)
  • Diva is the third studio album by Puerto Rican reggaetón recording artist Ivy Queen. It was released on August 23, 2003 and independently distributed by Real Music Group after being dropped from Sony Discos. The recording followed her two previous studio albums which were commercially unsuccessful and a hiatus from her musical career beginning in 1999. It featured collaborations with Latin hip hop artists including Mexicano 777, Bimbo and K-7 while the album's production was handled by a variety of musical producers; Luny Tunes, DJ Nelson, Noriega, and Iván Joy were enlisted, while DJ Adam produced a majority of the tracks. Lyrically, the album explored female empowerment, infidelity, heartbreak and love with "a veritable compendium of her artistic passion, femininity, and culture". The musical styles of the recording alternate between reggaetón and hip-hop while Queen experiments with R&B, dancehall, and pop balladry.

    Diva spawned a total of seven singles: "Quiero Bailar", "Quiero Saber", "Papi Te Quiero", "Guillaera", "Tuya Soy", "Tu No Puedes", and "Súbelo", which were released over the course of three years. "Quiero Bailar" became a commercial success and her first big hit in the United States and Puerto Rico. (Full article...)

  • Torres with the San Francisco Giants in 2010

    Andrés Yungo Torres Feliciano Jr. (born January 26, 1978) is an American former professional baseball center fielder who played as a switch hitter. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, New York Mets, and San Francisco Giants.

    Born in New Jersey, Torres grew up in Puerto Rico before returning to the United States to attend Miami-Dade Community College. He was a track star at Miami-Dade and did not begin playing baseball until later. In 1998, he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the fourth round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft. Torres played in their minor leagues until 2002, when he made his major league debut. In 2003, he got a chance to be the everyday center fielder for the Tigers, but after 23 games they chose to replace him. He played only three games for them in 2004 before he was outrighted to the minors and released upon request. In 2005, Torres resurfaced with the Texas Rangers but only appeared in eight games. He spent the next three years in the minor leagues. (Full article...)

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Photo credit: Mtmelendez

City halls in Puerto Rico, such as the one in Ponce, are usually the centerpieces of each Municipality's town center. Most are located across the town plaza, and are frequented by the public and tourists alike.

Selected anniversaries for March

WikiProjects

WikiProject Puerto Rico
Parent Projects: Sister Projects:
Geography
    Caribbean Cuba • Dominican Republic
    Latin America Mexico • Mesoamerica
    United States Puerto Rican Highways
Ethnic groups
    Latinos

Selected article –

Agustín Stahl

Non-Spanish cultural diversity in Puerto Rico and the basic foundation of Puerto Rican culture began with the mixture of the Spanish-Portuguese (catalans, galicianss, andalusians, sephardim, mozarabs, gypsies et al.), Taíno Arauak and African (Yoruba, Bedouins, Egyptians, Ethiopians, Moroccan Jews, et al.) cultures in the beginning of the 16th century. In the early 19th century, Puerto Rico's cultures became more diversified with the arrival of hundreds of families from Non-Spanish countries such as Corsica, France, Germany, Greece, Palestine, Türkiye, Pakistan, India, England, and Ireland. To a lesser extent, other settlers came from Lebanon, China, Japan, Slavic countries of Eastern Europe and Scotland.

Factors that contributed to the immigration of Non-Spanish families to Puerto Rico included the advent of the Second Industrial Revolution and widespread crop failures in Europe. All this, plus the spread of the cholera epidemic, came at a time when desire for independence was growing among Spanish subjects of Spain's last two colonies in the Western Hemisphere, Puerto Rico and Cuba. (Full article...)

Selected biography –

Kenny Omar Galarza Arocho (born October 16, 1985) is a professional boxer. He competes in the light welterweight division, and represented Puerto Rico at numerous events as an amateur. Galarza won seven national championships locally and earned several recognitions in international competition. These include: two gold medals at the Junior Olympics Invitational, silver at the 2005 Pan American Boxing Championships and bronze in the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games. Prior to the 2007 Pan American Games, Galarza closed his amateur career, signing with Seminole Warriors Boxing. He debuted defeating Jesse Francisco on May 16, 2007. This victory marked the beginning of a knockout streak, which has lasted for thirteen contests. On September 18, 2009, Galarza won his first professional title, defeating Joshua Allotey to become the first interim light welterweight champion of the North American Boxing Organization. Amassing a perfect record and knockout ratio earned him inclusion in other sanctioning bodies, including the World Boxing Organization (11th), WBO Latino (7th), World Boxing Association's FEDECARIBE (6th) and World Boxing Foundation's International (10th) rankings. (Full article...)

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Sources

  1. ^ [email protected] Félix Rigau Carrera, (Spanish)
  2. ^ Laura Rey: Soprano From Puerto Rico Wins Met's Gulf Coast Regional Finals; National Semifinals Next For 22-Year-Old. Keith Marshall. PuertoRico-Herald. February 17, 2003. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  3. ^ San Francisco Opera Performance Archive, retrieved October 3, 2013
  4. ^ Proyecto Salon Hogar, retrieved October 3, 2013
  5. ^ "LA MUJER EN LAS PROFESIONES DE SALUD (1898-1930); By: YAMILA AZIZE VARGAS1 and LUIS ALBERTO AVILES; PRHSJ Vol, 9 No. 1
  6. ^ Blanca Canales
  7. ^ Geisler, Lindsey (September 11, 2006). "Mendez case paved way for Brown v. Board". Topeka Capital-Journal.
  8. ^ "Sauceda, Isis (March 28, 2007). "Cambio Historico (Historic Change)". People en Espanol (in Spanish): 111–112.
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