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Puerto Rico Facts |
Puerto Rico Information |
Puerto Rico Tourist Attractions Puerto Rico Location Map | Puerto Rico City Map |
Geography: the island is situated in between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The geographic Coordinates of the island are 18.15 north and 66.30 west. With a total land area of 13, 790 square km, the island provides a home to 3, 927, 188 inhabitants. The coastline extends to about 501 km. Puerto Rico experiences tropical marine and mild climate minor variation sin weather.
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History: The Aboriginals were the first inhabitants of the island. The Taino Indians named the island Boriken or Borinquen, which means the “Great Land of Valliant and Nobel Lord”. In those times life revolved mainly on agriculture. In the year 1493, the island passed into the hands of the Spanish crown after Christopher Columbus ventured to the American continent another time. The Spanish – American war in the year 1898 resulted in the island to become a part of the US. The African slave labor was also introduced in the island after the Americans took over the government.
Economy: Though agriculture used to be the prime occupation of the people if the island for quite a long time, the focus has been shifted towards the development of the industries. Dairy production is the most important economic activity, along with tourism and hospitality industry.
Society and Cultural Life: The ethnicity of most of the people is Spanish, along with Africans, Amerindians and Asians. Roman catholicity is religion, which most people follow. The people are very sentimental about their culture and language, they have resisted to English being made the official language and the language of instruction. With its roots dug deep in the Spanish and the Caribbean culture, Americanization has never been successful in this unique island country. The most popular festival of the island is the “Festival de las Chinas”, the Orange Festival, which is a time to party and have fun for the islanders.
Transport System:
Travel to Puerto Rico – Travel to Puerto Rico is very easy as it has very frequent air service, being the hub of air transport in the Caribbean. Flights form the US cities of Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles Miami and New York arrives at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan. Airlines like the American Airlines, American Eagle, Delta, Continental Airlines and Seabourne Airlines offer daily flights to San Juan. Air Canada provides direct air transport from Toronto and Montreal. The Puerto Rican City of Mayaguez is connected to Santo Dominigo in Dominican Republic.
Travel in Puerto Rico – You can fly from the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan to Mayaguez in western Puerto Rico. You can also rent a car to travel around the island. a cheaper way is to use the public transportation. The publicos, as the cars and mini buses are referred to, are the common way of transportation in the island.
Administration and Government: The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as the island is called politically, is a territory of the US with an autonomous government. San Juan is the Administrative capital of the country. The island is divided into 78 municipalities. The legal system is based on the Spanish Civil Code. The Chief of Sate is President George W. Bush and the Head of the Government is Governor Anibal ACEVEDO-VILA. The governor is elected by voting, once in every four years.
Educational Institutions: there are many primary and secondary educational institutions in the island. Apart form that there are many colleges and universities imparting technical education to the students in fields like law, medicine, management and arts.
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