WHY PUERTO RICO?
Two fortresses – 16th century Plaza des Armas – shopping – dining – entertainment center – rainforest – underground rivers – golden sand beacehs – caninos – championship golf and more…

ABOUT PUERTO RICO

The island is a mecca for Caribbean cruise ships and tourists from around the world. Old San Juan is the most popular destination. Compared to other islands in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico has a high standard of living with a vibrant industrialized economy.

HISTORY:

When Christopher Columbus landed at Puerto Rico in 1493, an Arawak tribe, the Ta?, occupied the island, which they called Borinqu? Upon his arrival, Columbus claimed the island for Spain and named it San Juan Bautista. In 1521 the city of Puerto Rico was founded on the site of what is now San Juan. The names of the city and the island were eventually switched.
In 1508 Juan Ponce de Le??egan the conquest of the island for Spain, and he served as the first governor from 1510 to 1512. The Spaniards enslaved the Ta?s, who were largely exterminated as a result of harsh treatment and exposure to European diseases to which they had no resistance. As the Ta?s were decimated, they were replaced by black African slaves who worked the plantations and sugar mills.

Privateers and pirates harassed the island’s settlers during the early colonial years. The Spanish constructed strong fortifications and in 1595 defeated English navigators Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins when they attempted to capture Puerto Rico; Hawkins was mortally wounded. Raids, however, continued for a long time. San Juan was burned during a Dutch attack in 1625, and the English sacked Arecibo in 1702.

Puerto Rico was opened to foreign trade in 1804, and in 1808 it was accorded representation in the Spanish Parliament. Short-lived uprisings against Spanish rule occurred a few times during the 19th century (the most serious uprising, known as El Grito de Lares, took place in 1868), but all were quickly suppressed. Slavery was abolished in 1873. The island was granted autonomy in 1897.

PEOPLE / CULTURE:
Puerto Rico’s population is ethnically mixed because of centuries of immigration and cultural assimilation. There is little overt racial discrimination, although people of Spanish and other European ancestry are still esteemed among most elite members of society. Between 20,000 and 50,000 Taino Indians inhabited the island when Columbus arrived there in 1493.

Caribbean. It was the Tanos who were in residence when Columbus arrived in 1493. This largely peaceful family of autonomous tribes had developed a sophisticated culture, language and religious system. Unusually, the Tanos had female chiefs as well as male, who were entitled to numerous husbands, the foremost of which was burned with his wife at the time of her death. Tanos received prophecy from gods and the dead through such mind-altering practices as inhaling a hallucinatory powder made from cohoba seeds and crushed shells. They were also remarkably nifty at ball games: they invented the rubber ball and the results of their contests were of oracular value.

The conquest of the island didn’t take long, and the peaceful Tainos were put to the task as slaves for the purpose of mining the gold that was found on the island. The gold didn’t last long and in 1511 there was an uprising of the Tainos, who up to this point had believed that the Spaniards were Gods, and took a soldier by the name of Sotomayor and dunked him head first in a river for several hours to see if he would die. Just in case, they had prepared a feast for the Spaniard if he came out alive. However, it wasn’t the Spanish sword that took most of the lives of the Arawaks, but the diseases that were brought from Europe and for which the indians had no defenses.

The people of Puerto Rico have a love of their country, or “patria”, that accepts the free association with the mainland but emphasizes loyalty to their own culture, way of life, spirit, folklore, hospitality, and ways of getting along with others. Many Puerto Ricans move between the island and United States mainland to get the “best of both worlds”; culture, identity, and a familiar environment in the former; material wealth, education, acquisition of skills, and opportunities for their children from temporary residence in the United States. Many return to the Caribbean; many stay in the United States; and the constant circulation of Puerto Ricans between homes is now an enduring feature of the island’s experience.

Economically Puerto Rico has a greater variety of industrial, commercial, and financial service activities and a better developed transportation network than other Caribbean islands. Statistics show that it has some of the most favorable economic and demographic conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean. In comparison to the United States, however, Puerto Rico’s position is still quite below that of the poorest state of the Union, Mississippi.