Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is an island located east of the Dominican Republic in the northeast Caribbean. Puerto Rico has a population of 3 912 054 inhabitants. (evaluation, July 2005). Capital is San Juan. The status of the island’s Free State joined the United States.

The island is located in the Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, about 1 600 kilometers east of the Dominican Republic, southeast of Miami, Florida. Its geographical coordinates are 18 º 15 ‘north latitude, 66 º 30′ W

The area of Puerto Rico is 9 104 square kilometers.

Its maximum length from the easternmost point (Punta Puerka) to the westernmost point (Punta Higuera) is 190 km, its width from the northern currents (Izabelya) to the southernmost point (Punta Colón) is 65 km.

West border with the Dominican Republic and Haiti (O. Hispanyola), of which it divides the Mona Strait, the east borders with the U.S. Virgin Islands, the north is the Atlantic Ocean to the south – the Caribbean Sea.

Freely associated state of Puerto Rico is unincorporated territory of the United States, which is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands, about 1500 kilometers south of the coast of Florida. Puerto Rico archipelago includes Fr. Puerto Rico, the smallest of the Greater Antilles, and the much smaller islands and bays, larger than that Fr. Mona, Fr. Kulebra and Fr. Viekes. Puertoriknatsite sometimes call themselves borikua (boricua), which is the name of the island used by indigenous Indian population of Taino tribe. The nature of political relations with the United States is the subject of continued debate today between Britain, the U.S. Congress and the United Nations. Those who support maintaining the status quo (a freely associated state) insist that Puerto Rico has entered into a voluntary association with the United States, but according to the presidential commission established by President Clinton’s administration to study the status, Puerto Rico is unincorporated territory of the United States, which falls under the sole jurisdiction of the Senate and the President, but has the right to adopt its own constitution by which to establish a form of internal governance. Puerto Rico has the right to self-respect to their internal affairs.

The climat is tropical. The average monthly temperatures in the lower parts are 24-28 degrees C º, but in the mountains – a few degrees lower. Strongest storms are frequent. Rain – in the northern parts of 1400-2500 mm, while in the south – under 800 mm. Vegetation – in humid areas – mixed evergreen forests of south and west – drought resistant shrubs.

The country is visited annually by more than 2.0 million tourists (mainly from USA, Canada, Spain, Mexico, etc.)