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Feb 21, 2018 · But how did Puerto Rico get its name? Christopher Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista after John the Baptist. The first settlement was named Puerto Rico, meaning rich port, because of the plentiful natural resources, the location, and the gold nuggets in the river.
This brought about significant changes: the name of the island was changed to Porto Rico (it was changed back to Puerto Rico in 1932) and the currency was changed from the Puerto Rican peso to the United States dollar.
The name was changed back to Puerto Rico in 1931 by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila. The official name of the entity in Spanish is Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico ("Free Associated State of Puerto Rico"), while its official English name is Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. History
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Arawak-speaking peoples from South America began settling the Caribbean islands more than 2,000 years ago. In Puerto Rico these people had settled on the island more than 1,000 years before the Spanish arrived—calling it Borinquén, and referred to themselves as Boricua (a term that is still used today). The Spanish first recorded the term Taíno, re...
In order to produce cash crops such as sugar cane, ginger, tobacco and coffee, the Spanish began importing more slaves from Africain the 16th century. They also spent considerable resources turning San Juan into an impregnable military outpost, building a fortified palace for the governor (La Fortaleza) as well as two massive forts—San Felipe del M...
In July 1898, during the brief Spanish-American War, U.S. Army forces occupied Puerto Rico at Guánica, on the island’s south side. Under the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the war later that year, Spain ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and Cuba to the United States. The interim U.S. military government established on the island ended...
Big political, economic and social changes swept Puerto Rico after World War II. In 1948, Congress passed an act permitting Puerto Ricans to elect their own governor. Four years later, Puerto Rico would officially become a U.S. commonwealth, which enabled the island to create its own constitution and granted other powers of self-government. By that...
Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, but the island’s ambiguous statusin relation to the United States has driven heated debate over the years between those who support its commonwealth status, those who favor full-fledged Puerto Rican statehood and those who want the island to be its own independent nation. As citizens of a commonwealt...
In the first decade of the 21st century, Puerto Rico’s economic growth slowed, even as its national debt rapidly expanded. In 2015, the worsening economic crisis led its governor to announce that the commonwealth could no longer meet its debt obligations. Two years later, under legislation passed by Congress to help Puerto Rico deal with its econom...
Doug Mack, The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA. W.W. Norton, 2017. Puerto Rico, History, Art & Archives: U.S. House of Representatives. Smithsonian. Library of Congress. Puerto Rico statehood referendum draws big support—but small turnout, CNN.
2 days ago · The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Last Updated: Apr 25, 2024 • Article History. flag of Puerto Rico. Audio File: National anthem of Puerto Rico. Officially: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Spanish: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. Head Of Government: Governor: Pedro R. Pierluisi. Capital: San Juan. Population: (2024 est.) 3,177,000.
On November 19, 1493, Columbus anchored in a bay on the west coast of Boriquén, which he promptly renamed San Juan Bautista (“Saint John the Baptist”) and claimed for the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I.
Christopher Columbus arrived in Puerto Rico in 1493 during his second voyage to the New World. Initially, Columbus christened the Island San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist). The name was soon changed to Puerto Rico, or “rich port,” when the Spaniards realized the impressive amount of gold found in its rivers.
