25 Facts About Puerto Rico

1. Puerto Rico has nine ports in different cities across the main island.

2. Puerto Rico has representation in all international competitions including the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Pan American Games, the Caribbean World Series, and the Central American and Caribbean Games.

3. In the professional circuit, Puerto Rico has the third-most boxing world champions and it is the global leader in champions per capita.

4. Puerto Rico has been commemorated on four US postal stamps and four personalities have been featured.

5. Puerto Rico has some national instruments, like the cuatro.

6. Music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources.

7. On March 12, 1903, the University of Puerto Rico was officially founded, branching out from the "Escuela Normal Industrial", a smaller organization that was founded in Fajardo three years before.

8. Puerto Rico has an operating budget of about US$9.8 billion with expenses at about $10.4 billion, creating a structural deficit of $775 million.

9. Puerto Rico is currently under the responsibility of United States Northern Command.

10. Puerto Rico is subject to the Commerce and Territorial Clause of the Constitution of the United States and, therefore, is restricted on how it can engage with other nations, sharing the opportunities and limitations that state governments have albeit not being one.

11. Puerto Rico is the only current US possession whose legal system operates primarily in a language other than American English: namely, Spanish.

12. Puerto Rico hosts consulates from 41 countries, mainly from the Americas and Europe, with most located in San Juan.

13. Puerto Rico is represented in the United States Congress by a nonvoting delegate, the Resident Commissioner, currently Jenniffer Gonzalez.

14. Government of Puerto Rico, based on the formal republican system, is composed of three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial branch.

15. Puerto Rico has 8 senatorial districts, 40 representative districts and 78 municipalities.

16. Puerto Rico has the largest Jewish community in the Caribbean, numbering 3000 people, and is the only Caribbean island in which the Conservative, Reform and Orthodox Jewish movements all are represented.

17. Puerto Rico has recently become the permanent home of over 100,000 legal residents.

18. Puerto Rico experiences the Atlantic hurricane season, similar to the remainder of the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic oceans.

19. Puerto Rico lies at the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates and is being deformed by the tectonic stresses caused by their interaction.

20. Puerto Rico is composed of Cretaceous to Eocene volcanic and plutonic rocks, overlain by younger Oligocene and more recent carbonates and other sedimentary rocks.

21. Puerto Rico has 17 lakes, all man-made, and more than 50 rivers, most originating in the Cordillera Central.

22. The people of Puerto Rico made history by requesting, for the first time ever, the conclusion of the island's current territorial status.

23. The Constitution of Puerto Rico was formally adopted on July 3, 1952.

24. In the early 20th century, Puerto Rico was ruled by the military, with officials including the governor appointed by the President of the United States.

25. In the early 19th century, Puerto Rico spawned an independence movement that, due to harsh persecution by the Spanish authorities, convened in the island of St Thomas.