Puerto Ricans

Puerto Ricans(Spanish:Puertorriqueños),most commonly known asBoricuas,but also occasionally referred to asBorinqueños,Borincanos,orPuertorros,are anethnic groupnative to theCaribbeanarchipelago and island of Puerto Rico, and anationidentified with theCommonwealthofPuerto Ricothroughancestry,culture, orhistory. Puerto Ricans are predominately atri-racial,Spanish-speaking,Christiansociety, descending in varying degrees fromIndigenousTaíno natives,Southwestern Europeancolonists, andWestandCentral Africanslaves,freedmen, andfree Blacks. As citizens of aU.S. territory, Puerto Ricans have automaticbirthright American citizenship, and are considerably influenced byAmerican culture. The population of Puerto Ricans is between 9 and 10 million worldwide, with the overwhelming majority residing inPuerto Ricoandmainland United States.
The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred to as aWestern culturelargely derived from the traditions ofSpain, and more specificallyAndalusiaand theCanary Islands.  Puerto Rico has also received immigration from other parts of Spain such as Catalonia as well as from other European countries such as France, Ireland, Italy and Germany. Puerto Rico has also been influenced byAfrican culture, with many Puerto Ricans partially descended from Africans, thoughAfro-Puerto Ricansof unmixed African descent are only a significant minority. Also present in today's Puerto Ricans are traces (about 10-15%) of the aboriginalTaínonatives that inhabited the island at the time European colonizers arrived in 1493.Recent studies in population genetics have concluded that Puerto Rican gene pool is on average predominantly European, with a significant Sub-Saharan African, North AfricanGuanche, and Indigenous American substrate, the latter two originating in the aboriginal people of the Canary Islands and Puerto Rico's pre-ColumbianTaínoinhabitants, respectively.
The population of Puerto Ricans and descendants is estimated to be between 8 and 10 million worldwide, with most living on the islands of Puerto Rico and in the United States mainland. Within the United States, Puerto Ricans are present in all states of the Union, and the states with the largest populations of Puerto Ricans relative to the national population of Puerto Ricans in the United States at large are the states ofNew York,Florida,New Jersey, andPennsylvania, with large populations also inMassachusetts,Connecticut,California,Illinois, andTexas.
For 2009,theAmerican Community Surveyestimates give a total of 3,859,026 Puerto Ricans classified as "Native" Puerto Ricans. It also gives a total of 3,644,515 (91.9%) of the population being born in Puerto Rico and 201,310 (5.1%) born in the United States. The total population born outside Puerto Rico is 322,773 (8.1%). Of the 108,262 who were foreign born outside the United States (2.7% of Puerto Ricans), 92.9% were born in Latin America, 3.8% in Europe, 2.7% in Asia, 0.2% inNorthern America, and 0.1% in Africa andOceaniaeach.
The populations during Spanish rule of Puerto Rico were:
The original inhabitants of Puerto Rico are theTaíno, who called the islandBorikén or Borinquen; however, as in other parts of the Americas, the native people soon diminished in number after the arrival of Spanish settlers. Besidesmiscegenation, the negative impact on the numbers of Amerindian people, especially in Puerto Rico, was almost entirely the result of Old World diseases that the Amerindians had no natural/bodily defenses against, includingmeasles,chicken pox,mumps,influenza, and even thecommon cold. In fact, it was estimated that the majority of all the Amerindian inhabitants of the New World died out due to contact and contamination with those Old World diseases, while those that survived were further reduced through deaths by warfare with Spanish colonizers and settlers.
Thousands of Spanish settlers also immigrated to Puerto Rico from theCanary Islandsduring the 18th and 19th centuries, so many so that whole Puerto Rican villages and towns were founded by Canarian immigrants, and their descendants would later form a majority of the population on the island.
In 1791, the slaves in Saint-Domingue (Haiti), revolted against theirFrenchmasters. Many of the French escaped to Puerto Rico via what is now theDominican Republicand settled in the west coast of the island, especially inMayagüez. Some Puerto Ricans are ofBritishheritage, most notablyScottish peopleandEnglish peoplewho came to reside there in the 17th and 18th centuries.
When Spain revived theRoyal Decree of Graces of 1815with the intention of attracting non-Spanish Europeans to settle in the island, thousands ofCorsicans(though the island was French since 1768 the population spoke an Italian dialect similar to Tuscan Italian) during the 19th century immigrated to Puerto Rico, along withGerman immigrantsas well asIrish immigrantswho were affected by theGreat Famine of the 1840s, immigrated to Puerto Rico. They were followed by smaller waves from other European countries and China.
During the early 20th centuryJewsbegan to settle in Puerto Rico. The first large group ofJewsto settle in Puerto Rico were EuropeanrefugeesfleeingGerman–occupied Europein the 1930s and 1940s. The second influx of Jews to the island came in the 1950s, when thousands ofCuban JewsfledCubaafterFidel Castrocame to power.
The native Taino population began to dwindle, with the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, through disease and intermarriage.Many Spaniard men took Taino and West African wives and in the first centuries of the Spanish colonial period the island was overwhelmingly racially mixed. "By 1530 there were 14 native women married to Spaniards, not to mention Spaniards with concubines."Under Spanish rule, mass immigration shifted the ethnic make-up of the island, as a result of the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. Puerto Rico went from being two-thirds black and mulatto in the beginning of the 19th century, to being nearly 80% white by the middle of the 20th century. This was compounded by more flexible attitudes to race under Spanish rule, as epitomized by theRegla del Sacar.Under Spanish rule, Puerto Rico had laws such asRegla del SacarorGracias al Sacar, which allowed persons of mixed ancestry to pay a fee to be classified as white,which was the opposite of "one-drop rule" in US society after the American Civil War.
Studies have shown that the racial ancestry mixture of the average Puerto Rican (regardless of racial self-identity) is about 64% European, 21% African, and 15% Native Taino, with European ancestry strongest on the west side of the island and West African ancestry strongest on the east side, and the levels of Taino ancestry (which, according to some research, ranges from about 5%-35%) generally highest in the southwest of the island.
A study of a sample of 96 healthy self-identified White Puerto Ricans and self-identified Black Puerto Ricans in the U.S. showed that, although all carried a contribution from all 3 ancestral populations (European, African, and Amerindian), the proportions showed significant variation. Depending on individuals, although often correlating with their self-identified race, African ancestry ranged from less than 10% to over 50%, while European ancestry ranged from under 20% to over 80%. Amerindian ancestry showed less fluctuation, generally hovering between 5% and 20% irrespective of self-identified race.
The majority of the European ancestry in Puerto Ricans comes from southern Spain, more specifically theCanary Islands, this is also true for many Dominicans and Cubans. Canarians are of partialGuancheancestry, a North African Berber ethnic group who were the original inhabitants before Spanish conquest. This means that by extension, many Puerto Ricans have minuscule amounts of North African blood through the indigenous Guanches of the Canary Islands.
In the1899 census, taken the year Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States following its invasion and annexation in theSpanish–American War, 61.8% of the people were identified asWhite. In the2020 United States censusthe total of Puerto Ricans that self-identified as White was 17.1% or 560,592 out of the 3,285,874 people living in Puerto Rico,down from 75.8% in the 2010 Census, reflecting a change in perceptions of race in Puerto Rico.For every United States census until 2010, most Puerto Ricans self identified as "white".
TheEuropeanancestry of Puerto Ricans comes primarily from one source:Spaniards(includingCanarians,Catalans,Castilians,Galicians,Asturians,Andalusians, andBasques).
The Canarian cultural influence in Puerto Rico is one of the most important components in which many villages were founded from these immigrants, which started from 1493 to 1890 and beyond. Many Spaniards, especially Canarians, chose Puerto Rico because of its Hispanic ties and relative proximity in comparison with other former Spanish colonies. They searched for security and stability in an environment similar to that of the Canary Islands and Puerto Rico was the most suitable. This began as a temporary exile which became a permanent relocation and the last significant wave of Spanish or European migration to Puerto Rico.
Other sources of European populations areCorsicans,French,Italians,Portuguese(especially Azoreans),Greeks,Germans,Irish,Scots,Maltese,Dutch,English, andDanes.
In the2020 United States census, 7.0% of people self-identified as Black.Africans were brought bySpanishConquistadors.The vast majority of the Africans who were brought toPuerto Ricodid so as a result of theslave tradetaking place from many groups in the African continent, but particularly theWest Africans, theYoruba,theIgbo,and theKongo people.
Indigenous people make up the third largest racial identity among Puerto Ricans, comprising 0.5% of the population.Although this self-identification may be ethno-political in nature since unmixed Tainos no longer exist as a discrete genetic population. Native American admixture in Puerto Ricans ranges between about 5% and 35%, with around 15% being the approximate average.
Puerto Rico's self-identified indigenous population therefore consist mostly of indigenous-identified persons (oftentimes with predominant Indigenous ancestry, but not always) from within the genetically mestizo population of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry, even when most other Puerto Ricans of their exact same mixture would identify either as mixed-race or even as white.
For its 2020 census, the U.S. Census Bureau listed the following groups to constitute "Asian":Asian Indian,Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Cambodian,Chinese, Filipino,Hmong, Indonesian,Japanese, Korean, Laotian,Malaysian, Nepalese, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, Thai,Vietnamese, and Other Asian. Though, the largest groups come from China andIndia. These groups represented 0.1% of the population.
People of "Some other race alone" or "Two or more races" constituted 75.3% of the population in the 2020Census.
Although the average Puerto Rican is of mixed-race,few actually identified as multiracial ("two or more races") in the 2010 census; only 3.3% did so.They more often identified with their predominant heritage or phenotype. However, in the 2020 census, the amount of Puerto Ricans identifying as multiracial went up to 49.8% and an additional 25.5% identified as "some other race", showing a marked change in the way Puerto Ricans view themselves. This may show that Puerto Ricans are now more open to embracing all sides of their mixed-race heritage and do not view themselves as part of the standard race dynamic in the United States hence the high number of people identifying as "some other race", a similar phenomenon went on in the mainland United States with the overall US Hispanic/Latino population.Most have significant ancestry from two or more of the founding source populations of Spaniards, Africans, and Tainos, although Spanish ancestry is predominant in a majority of the population. Small amounts of Puerto Ricans may have additional ancestries from other parts of the world. Similar to many other Latin American ethnic groups, Puerto Ricans are multi-generationally mixed race, though most are European dominant in ancestry, Puerto Ricans who are "evenly mixed" can accurately be described "Mulatto", "Quadroon", orTri-racialvery similar to mixed populations in Cuba and Dominican Republic. According to theNational GeographicGenographic Project, "the average Puerto Rican individual carries 12% Native American, 65% West Eurasian (Mediterranean, Northern European and/or Middle Eastern) and 20% Sub-Saharan African DNA."
In genetic terms, even many of those of pure Spanish origin would have North and, in some cases, West African ancestry brought from founder populations, particularly in the Canary Islands.Along with European, West African, and Taino, many Puerto Ricans have small amounts of North African blood due tosettlers from Canary Islands, the Spanish province where most Puerto Ricans draw their  European ancestry from, being of partial North African blood. Very few self-identified Black Puerto Ricans are of unmixed African ancestry, while a genetically unmixed Amerindian population in Puerto Rico is technically extinct despite a minuscule segment of self-identified Amerindian Puerto Ricans due to a minor Amerindian component in their ancestral mixture. Research data shows that 60% of Puerto Ricans carry maternal lineages of Native American origin and the typical Puerto Rican has between 5% and 15% Native American admixture.
The Puerto Rico of today has come to form some of its own social customs, cultural matrix, historically rooted traditions, and its own unique pronunciation, vocabulary, and idiomatic expressions within theSpanish language, known asPuerto Rican Spanish. Even after the attempted assimilation of Puerto Rico into the United States in the early 20th century, the majority of the people of Puerto Rico feel pride in their Puerto Rican nationality,regardless of the individual's particular racial, ethnic, political, or economic background. Many Puerto Ricans are consciously aware of the rich contribution of all cultures represented on the island. This diversity can be seen in the everyday lifestyle of many Puerto Ricans such as the profound Latin, African, and Taíno influences regarding food, music, dance, and architecture.
During the Spanish colonial period, there was significant migration from Puerto Rico to Santo Domingo (DR), Cuba, the Virgin Islands, and Venezuela, and vice versa, because migration between neighboring colonies especially under the same European power, was common. Nearly all Puerto Ricans who migrated to these areas during these times, assimilated and intermixed with the local populations. In the early days of US rule, from 1900 to the 1940s, the Puerto Rican economy was small and undeveloped, it relied heavily on agriculture. At this time, Puerto Rican migration waves were mainly to Dominican Republic,the Virgin Islands, and US cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami, New Orleans, and most importantly metropolitan area surrounding New York City and North Jersey. Over 5,000Puerto Ricans migrated to Hawaiifrom 1900 to 1901.Puerto Rican migration to the US northeast started as early as the 1890s; however, it was a very, very small flow at the time. During the 1940s, Puerto Rican desire for independence slowly started to decline while desire for statehood and dependence on the US started rise, due to this more Puerto Ricans started to look at the US more favorably and take full advantage of their US citizenship, huge flows of Puerto Ricans started to arrive in the United States, particularly industrial cities in the Northeast and Midwest, coinciding with a strong decline in Puerto Ricans migrating to other countries and even other areas in the US like Baltimore, New Orleans, and Hawaii.From 1940 to 1960, the stateside Puerto Rican population rose from 69,967 to 892,513.
In the modern day, there are about 5.9 million Puerto Ricans in the US mainland.Large concentrations can be found in the Northeast region and in Florida, in the metropolitan areas ofNew York,Orlando,Philadelphia,Miami,Chicago,Tampa, andBoston, among others. Though, over 95% of Puerto Ricans living outside of Puerto Rico, live in the United States (US states), there is a significant and growing number of Puerto Ricans, mainly from Puerto Rico itself but to a lesser degree stateside Puerto Ricans as well, living outside the 50 States and the US territory of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican populations in other countries are very small, not large enough to have dominance over certain neighborhoods and cities like in Florida and the US Northeast. Unsurprisingly, Puerto Rico's neighbors have the biggest Puerto Rican communities outside Puerto Rico and the US mainland, to the west Dominican Republic with as high as 20,000 Puerto Ricans according to some sources,and to the east US Virgin Islands with 7,759, 8.9% of the territory's population, second highest percentage of any US state or territory, after Puerto Rico (95.5%) and before Connecticut (8.0%).There are small numbers of Puerto Ricans in other countries like Canada, Spain, Mexico, United Kingdom, and other countries in Europe and the Caribbean/Latin America. Due to Puerto Rico being a US territory, the vast majority of Puerto Ricans leaving the island go to the mainland United States, comprising Puerto Ricans of all income brackets and lifestyles. However, majority of the small number of Puerto Ricans living outside of the United States, including outside of Puerto Rico and other territories, are usually financially well-off and entrepreneurial, owning homes and businesses in the countries they choose to settle in.Statistical counts of Puerto Rican populations in other countries usually only center on ethnic Puerto Ricans born in Puerto Rico. Non-Puerto Ricans born in Puerto Rico and later moving to target country usually wouldn't be included in a Puerto Rican population count, especially if they have ancestry of at least one parent born in target country, for example people of Dominican, Cuban, or Mexican etc ancestry born in Puerto Rico and later returning to their ancestral country- wouldn't be counted in a Puerto Rican population count, but likely rather counted as a "returning emigrant". Similarly, Puerto Ricans born in the mainland United States would be counted under an"American"statistic, so the Puerto Rican populations abroad may be slightly larger as some may be stateside-born and counted as "American" rather than "Puerto Rican" on local government statistics on immigrants.
Spanish and English are the official languages of the entire Commonwealth. A 1902 English-only language law was abolished on April 5, 1991. Then on January 28, 1993, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico approved Law Number 1 again making Spanish and English the official languages of Puerto Rico.All official business of theU.S. District Courtfor the District of Puerto Rico is conducted in English. Theofficial languagesof the executive branch of government of Puerto Ricoare Spanish and English, with Spanish being the primary language. English is the primary language of less than 10% of the population.
Puerto Rican Spanish is the dominant language of business, education and daily life on the island.The US Census Bureau's 2015 update provides the following:94.1% of adults speak Spanish, 5.8% speak only English and little to no Spanish, 78.3% do not speak English "very well", 15.8% are fully bilingual in both English and Spanish, 0.1% speak other languages.
Public school instruction in Puerto Rico is conducted almost entirely in Spanish. There have been pilot programs in about a dozen of the over 1,400 public schools aimed at conducting instruction in English only. Objections from teaching staff are common, perhaps because many of them are not fully fluent in English.English is taught as a second language and is a compulsory subject from elementary levels to high school.
Home to a sizeabledeaf community, the actual numbers are unknown due to unavailable source data.A 1986 estimate places the Puerto Rican deaf population to be between 8,000 and 40,000.Due to ongoing colonization from the US mainland, the largerAmerican Sign Language(ASL) is supplanting the localPuerto Rican Sign Language(PRSL, also known as LSPR:Lenguaje de Señas Puertorriqueño).Although assumed to be a dialect or variant of ASL, it is currently unknown the degree ofmutual intelligibilitybetween Puerto Rican Sign Language nor whether it is even aFrancosign languagelike ASL. Indeed, there is a hesitancy amongst Puerto Rican Deaf to even mention LSPR after heavy handedoralist educationof English, Spanish, andSigned English.Today, there is muchcontactbetween ASL, PRSL, andSigned Spanish.
TheSpanish of Puerto Ricohas evolved into having many idiosyncrasies in vocabulary and syntax that differentiate it from the Spanish spoken elsewhere. While the Spanish spoken in all Iberian, Mediterranean and Atlantic Spanish Maritime Provinces was brought to the island over the centuries, the most profound regional influence on the Spanish spoken in Puerto Rico has been from that spoken in the present-day Canary Islands. The Spanish of Puerto Rico also includes occasionalTaínowords, typically in the context of vegetation, natural phenomena or primitive musical instruments. Similarly, words attributed to primarily WestAfrican languageswere adopted in the contexts of foods, music or dances.
There are many religious beliefs represented in the island. Religious breakdown in Puerto Rico (as of 2006) is given in the table on the right.
The majority of Puerto Ricans in the island areChristians.Spiritistshave a large secondary following.Muslims,Hindus,Jews, andBuddhistsall have a small presence as well.Roman Catholicismhas been the main Christian denomination among Puerto Ricans since the arrival of the Spanish in the 15th century, but the presence ofProtestant,Mormon,Pentecostal, andJehovah's Witnessesdenominations has increased under U.S. sovereignty, making modern Puerto Rico an inter-denominational, multi-religious community. The Afro-Caribbean religionSanteríais also practiced.
In 1998, a news report stated that "Puerto Rico [was] no longer predominantly Catholic". Pollster Pablo Ramos wrote that the population was 38% Roman Catholic, 28% Pentecostal, and 18% were members of independent churches.However, anAssociated Pressarticle in March 2014 stated that "more than 70 percent of [Puerto Ricans] identify themselves as Catholic".The CIA World Factbook reports that 85% of the population of Puerto Rico identifies as Roman Catholic, while 15% identify as Protestant and Other.
Puerto Ricans became citizens of the United States as a result of the passage of theJones–Shafroth Actof 1917. Since this law was the result of Congressional legislation, and not the result of an amendment to theUnited States Constitution, the current U.S. citizenship of Puerto Ricans can be revoked by Congress,as they arestatutory citizens, not14th Amendmentcitizens.The Jones Act established that Puerto Ricans born prior to 1899 were considered naturalized citizens of Puerto Rico, and anyone born after 1898 were U.S. citizens, unless the Puerto Rican expressed his/her intentions to remain a Spanish subject. Since 1948, it was decided by Congress that all Puerto Ricans, whether born within the United States or in Puerto Rico, were naturally bornUnited States citizens.
Puerto Ricans and other U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico cannot vote inpresidential electionsas that is a right reserved by the U.S. Constitution to admitted states and the District of Columbia through theElectoral Collegesystem. Nevertheless, both theDemocratic PartyandRepublican Party, while not fielding candidates for public office in Puerto Rico, provide the islands with state-sized voting delegations at their presidential nominating conventions. Delegate selection processes frequently have resulted inpresidential primariesbeing held in Puerto Rico. U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico do not electU.S. representativesorsenators. However, Puerto Rico is represented in the House of Representatives by an elected representative commonly known as theResident Commissioner, who has the same duties and obligations as a representative, with the exception of being able to cast votes on the final disposition of legislation on the House floor. The Resident Commissioner is elected by Puerto Ricans to a four-year term and does serve oncongressional committee. Puerto Ricans residing in the U.S. states have all rights and privileges of other U.S. citizens living in the states.
As statutory U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans born in Puerto Rico may enlist in theU.S. militaryand have been included in the compulsory draft when it has been in effect. Puerto Ricans have fully participated in allU.S. wars and military conflictssince 1898, includingWorld War I,World War II, theKorean War, theVietnam War, theGulf War, theWar in Afghanistan, and theIraq War.
Since 2007, the Puerto Rico State Department has developed a protocol to issue certificates of Puerto Rican citizenship to Puerto Ricans. In order to be eligible, applicants must have been born in Puerto Rico; born outside of Puerto Rico to a Puerto Rican-born parent; or be an American citizen with at least one year residence in Puerto Rico. The citizenship is internationally recognized by Spain, which considers Puerto Rico to be an Ibero-American nation. Therefore, Puerto Rican citizens have the ability to apply for Spanish citizenship after only two years residency in Spain (instead of the standard 10 years).
Puerto Rican voters, despite not voting in the 2024 election for the President on the island, nevertheless were a surprisingly important political "hot potato" for both parties, due to the large number of Puerto Rican voters on the mainland.
Since 1953, theUNhas been considering thepolitical status of Puerto Ricoand how to assist it in achieving "independence" or "decolonization." In 1978, the Special Committee determined that a "colonial relationship" existed between the US and Puerto Rico.
The UN's Special Committee has referred often to Puerto Rico as a nation in its reports, because, internationally, the people of Puerto Rico are often considered to be a Caribbean nation with their own national identity.Most recently, in a June 2016 report, the Special Committee called for the United States to expedite the process to allow self-determination in Puerto Rico. More specifically, the group called on the United States to expedite a process that would allow the people of Puerto Rico to exercise fully their right to self-determination and independence. ... allow the Puerto Rican people to take decisions in a sovereign manner, and to address their urgent economic and social needs, including unemployment, marginalization, insolvency and poverty".
Puerto Rico has held four referendums to determine whether to retain its status as a territory or to switch to some other status such as statehood. The fourth, thePuerto Rican status referendum, 2012occurred on November 6, 2012. The result a 54% majority of the ballots cast against the continuation of the island's territorial political status, and in favor of a new status. Of votes for new status, a 61.1% majority chose statehood.This was by far the most successful referendum for statehood advocates. In all earlier referenda, votes for statehood were matched almost equally by votes for remaining an American territory, with the remainder for independence. Support for U.S. statehood has risen in each successive popular referendum.
The fifthPuerto Rican status referendum of 2017, was held on June 11, 2017, and offered three options: "Statehood", "Independence/Free Association", and "Current Territorial Status." With 23% of registered voters casting ballots, 97% voted for statehood.Benefits of statehood would include an additional $10 billion per year in federal funds, the right to vote in presidential elections, higher Social Security and Medicare benefits, and a right for its government agencies and municipalities to file for bankruptcy. The latter is currently prohibited.
Even with the Puerto Ricans' vote for statehood, action by theUnited States Congresswould be necessary to implement changes to the status of Puerto Rico under theTerritorial Clause of the United States Constitution.