paragraph_text: Located in the northeastern Caribbean, Puerto Rico formed a key part of the Spanish Empire from the early years of the exploration, conquest and colonization of the New World. The island was a major military post during many wars between Spain and other European powers for control of the region in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The smallest of the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico was a stepping - stone in the passage from Europe to Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northern territories of South America. Throughout most of the 19th century until the conclusion of the Spanish -- American War, Puerto Rico and Cuba were the last two Spanish colonies in the New World; they served as Spain's final outposts in a strategy to regain control of the American continents. Realizing that it was in danger of losing its two remaining Caribbean territories, the Spanish Crown revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. The decree was printed in Spanish, English and French in order to attract Europeans, with the hope that the independence movements would lose their popularity and strength with the arrival of new settlers. Free land was offered to those who wanted to populate the islands on the condition that they swear their loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church.

paragraph_text: Between 1948 and 1972, Ceylon was an independent country in the Commonwealth of Nations that shared a monarch with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and certain other sovereign states. In 1948, the British Colony of Ceylon was granted independence as Ceylon. In 1972, the country became a republic within the Commonwealth, and its name was changed to Sri Lanka. It was an island country in South Asia, located about 31 kilometres (19.3 mi) off the southern coast of India.

paragraph_text: Heap Island () is an island off the southeast coast of Renaud Island in the Biscoe Islands of the Graham Coast of Antarctica, between Jurva Point and Bates Island. In association with the names of sea-ice specialists grouped in this area, it was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) in 1985 after John A. Heap, a sea-ice specialist with the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), 1955–62, who worked in the Antarctic with FIDS, 1955–56, with the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1956–57, and with the United States Antarctic Research Program, 1962–63. He was later head of the Polar Regions Section at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and a member of the UK-APC from 1976.

paragraph_text: The Commonwealth of Nations (formerly the British Commonwealth), also known as simply the Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Commonwealth operates by intergovernmental consensus of the member states, organised through the Commonwealth Secretariat and non-governmental organisations, organised through the Commonwealth Foundation.

paragraph_text: The Victory Tour was a concert tour of the United States and Canada by The Jacksons between July and December 1984. It was the only tour with all six Jackson brothers, even though Jackie was injured for most of it. The group performed 55 concerts to an audience of approximately 2 million. Most came to see Michael, whose album Thriller had been dominating the popular music world at the time. Many consider it to be his Thriller tour, with most of the songs on the set list coming from his Off the Wall and Thriller albums. The tour reportedly grossed approximately $75 million ($181 million in 2018 dollars) and set a new record for the highest-grossing tour. It showcased Michael's single decorated glove, black sequined jacket and moonwalk.

paragraph_text: Increased interest in modern a cappella (particularly collegiate a cappella) can be seen in the growth of awards such as the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (overseen by the Contemporary A Cappella Society) and competitions such as the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella for college groups and the Harmony Sweepstakes for all groups. In December 2009, a new television competition series called The Sing-Off aired on NBC. The show featured eight a cappella groups from the United States and Puerto Rico vying for the prize of $100,000 and a recording contract with Epic Records/Sony Music. The show was judged by Ben Folds, Shawn Stockman, and Nicole Scherzinger and was won by an all-male group from Puerto Rico called Nota. The show returned for a second and third season, won by Committed and Pentatonix, respectively.

paragraph_text: Ümit Besen (born 14 October 1956) represents the darker side of Tarabya school of electronic music. He started his professional career with playing keyboards and singing with his band at the local clubs in Adana, Southern Turkey. While he was in the army for his obligatory service a brigadier-general (Brigadier in Commonwealth armies) liked his style and appointed him with the task of singing at the officers tavern.

paragraph_text: The 4th Composite Group is an inactive United States Army Air Corps unit. It was last was assigned to the United States Army Philippine Department at Nichols Field, Commonwealth of the Philippines. It was disbanded on 1 November 1941.

paragraph_text: The Liberals' immediate predecessor was the United Australia Party (UAP). More broadly, the Liberal Party's ideological ancestry stretched back to the anti-Labor groupings in the first Commonwealth parliaments. The Commonwealth Liberal Party was a fusion of the Free Trade Party and the Protectionist Party in 1909 by the second prime minister, Alfred Deakin, in response to Labor's growing electoral prominence. The Commonwealth Liberal Party merged with several Labor dissidents (including Billy Hughes) to form the Nationalist Party of Australia in 1917. That party, in turn, merged with Labor dissidents to form the UAP in 1931.

paragraph_text: The Irish state came into being in 1922 as the Irish Free State, a dominion of the British Commonwealth, having seceded from the United Kingdom under the Anglo - Irish Treaty. It comprises 26 of the island of Ireland's 32 counties. The 1937 constitution renamed the state Ireland. In 1949 it explicitly became a republic, definitively ending its tenuous membership of the British Commonwealth. In 1973 it joined the European Communities.

paragraph_text: The El Dorado AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in El Dorado County, California, United States. Wine grape growers in the region produce Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot and are beginning to plant the Rhône varietals. Located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, vineyards are found at elevations between and above sea level and some of the best vineyards are planted above elevation. The region benefits from the cool breezes that come off the mountains and push hot air off the vines and down to the valley. The soils of the region are magma based with high levels of acidity.

paragraph_text: James Richardson Comer Jr.  (born August 19, 1972) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky who currently represents the state's  1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He previously served as the Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky from 2012 to 2016 and in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2000 to 2012.

paragraph_text: William Huston Natcher (September 11, 1909 – March 29, 1994) was a Democratic congressman, serving in the United States House of Representatives from 1953 until his death from heart failure in Bethesda, Maryland in 1994. He is the longest-serving member ever of the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

paragraph_text: Kentucky (/ kənˈtʌki / (listen), kən - TUCK - ee), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state located in the east south - central region of the United States. Although styled as the ``State of Kentucky ''in the law creating it, Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth (the others being Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts). Originally a part of Virginia, in 1792 Kentucky became the 15th state to join the Union. Kentucky is the 37th most extensive and the 26th most populous of the 50 United States.

paragraph_text: "Sad Lookin' Moon" is a song written by Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry and Greg Fowler, and recorded by American country music group Alabama. It was released in February 1997 as the lead-off single from the album "Dancin' on the Boulevard". It peaked at number 2 in the United States, while it was a number-one hit in Canada.

paragraph_text: A cappella [a kapˈpɛlla] (Italian for "in the manner of the chapel") music is specifically group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It contrasts with cantata, which is accompanied singing. The term "a cappella" was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato style. In the 19th century a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, albeit rarely, as a synonym for alla breve.

paragraph_text: ``Sing for the Moment ''contains samples of the song`` Dream On'' by the rock band Aerosmith. Joe Perry plays the guitar solo at the end of the song, and a sample of Steven Tyler singing is used as the chorus for this song. Eminem chants ``sing ''when Tyler starts to sing the chorus, and Eminem also chants`` sing with me'' and ``come on ''. Eminem says the words in his live performances as well. The beginning of the song samples the intro of`` Dream On''. ``Sing for the Moment ''was later released on Eminem's greatest hits compilation album Curtain Call: The Hits (2005).

paragraph_text: Tim Lee Carter (September 2, 1910 – March 27, 1987) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for the commonwealth of Kentucky from 1965 until 1981.

paragraph_text: Fruitcakes is the eighteenth studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. This album was released in May 1994, coming off a five-year hiatus from the recording studio since 1989's "Off to See the Lizard".

paragraph_text: "Leavin" is a song by American R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné! It was released on April 12, 1994, as the fourth single from their 1993 album "Sons of Soul". The optimistic, upbeat song features turntable scratches and a sample of A Tribe Called Quest's 1990 song "If the Papes Come". Music critics found the song's style and group member Raphael Wiggins' singing reminiscent of Smokey Robinson.

Question: Before it was a commonwealth, what was the status of the area where the non-US groups in The Sing-Off came from?
Answer: a key part of the Spanish Empire