10 Facts About Puerto Rico That All Americans Should Know 

by Teens4PR Member and Co-Founder Ana Beatriz

1

The name Puerto Rico means “rich port.”  It was so called because of its abundance of natural resources.

2

San Juan is the capital of Puerto Rico and, founded in 1521, is the oldest capital in the United States.  The second oldest is Santa Fe, New Mexico, which was founded in 1610.

3

Spanish and English are both official languages in Puerto Rico. Ninety-nine of the population is Hispanic.

4

Puerto Rico was claimed by Christopher Columbus for Spain’s Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand in 1493. The United States acquired it in the Spanish-American War of 1898. It benefited the U.S. to have a military base in the Caribbean.  

5

Puerto Ricans were made citizens in 1917 so they could be drafted into service for World War I. At various times in the 20th century, the U.S. had about 25 military installations in Puerto Rico.  Other than the U.S. Coast Guard, only two small ones remain at this time.

6

In the 1930s there was so much poverty in Puerto Rico that the unemployment rate reached 65% of the population. This forced many Puerto Ricans to move to the United States mainland, creating a diaspora. 

7

In the 1950s, the United States made Puerto Rico a Commonwealth, defined as “an organized United States insular area, which has established with the Federal Government a more highly developed relationship, usually embodied in a written mutual agreement.” One aspect of being a commonwealth is that Puerto Ricans are exempt from paying federal taxes; however, they also do not have voting representation in Congress or the right to vote for the President of the US. 

8

The year 1976 marked the beginning of a high point for the Puerto Rican economy when Section 936 of The Internal Revenue Code was passed.  It stated that mainland United States companies would receive an exemption from federal taxes on income earned in Puerto Rico, leading many pharmaceutical and petrochemical manufacturers to establish operations on the Island.  However, this statute was phased out by 2006, hurting an important source of income.

9

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria, one of the most damaging hurricanes ever recorded, hit Puerto Rico with 160 miles per hour winds.  It destroyed the Island’s electrical grid, leaving residents without power and access to clean water, in some cases for months, and destroying 80% to 90% of structures in some areas.

10

In the summer of 2019, texts written by Governor Ricardo Rosselló were leaked, showing him joking about the tragedies that occurred during Hurricane Maria and using inappropriate, sexist, and homophobic language. This led to large street protests which forced his resignation. 

You Would Be Surprised to Learn That …

After Hurricane Maria, 4 out of 10 people on the U.S. mainland were not in favor of giving aid to Puerto Rico. However, after learning that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, 8 out of 10 asked were in favor. 

How does the damage caused by Hurricane Maria
compare to that caused by other recent major hurricanes? 

• Like Hurricane Maria, Hurricanes Katrina (Florida and Louisiana, 2005) and Irma (Caribbean, Florida, 2017) were Category 5 storms, meaning they had sustained wind speeds of more than 157 miles/hour.  Hurricane Harvey (Texas and Louisiana, 2017) was a Category 4 hurricane, with wind speeds of more than 136 miles/hour.

•  Hurricane Maria released 30 inches of rain on Puerto Rico on one day, whereas it took three days for the accumulation of rain from Hurricane Harvey to reach 30 inches.

•  Hurricane Maria completely destroyed the power grid for the Island’s 3.4 million population, leaving residents in some areas without electricity for months.  This also led to disruptions in access to water and communication services for long periods of time. Neither Harvey nor Irma completely wiped out power in their respective areas. At its worst, Hurricane Katrina left nearly 1 million people without electricity for several weeks.

• Infrastructure was generally not destroyed by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, meaning that supply lines were not disrupted.  More than a week after Hurricane Maria, 1.8 million people still did not have access to clean drinking water.

• Ultimately it was shown that 3,057 deaths (2,975 in Puerto Rico) were caused by Hurricane Maria, compared to an estimated 1,833 from Katrina, 134 from Irma and 88 from Harvey.

• In terms of economic cost, Katrina is estimated at $117 billion, followed by $62 billion from Harvey and $31 billion from Irma.  Although the damage from Hurricane Maria was first estimated at $92 billion, this figure is no longer considered accurate and its true cost remains unknown.

 This video, produced by Teens4PR co-founder Ana Beatriz, sheds light on the extent of the damage and the impact the hurricanes had on Puerto Rican youth and their families:

Location

Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean Sea. At 100 miles long and 35 miles wide, it is the smallest of the Greater Antilles.

Relationship with the United States

It is a United States territory with close to 3.5 million people who were born US citizens.

There are another 5.1 million Puerto Ricans in the 50 states.

Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans have fought in every major US military conflict since World War I. Thousands were wounded or lost their lives fighting for the United States.