Puerto Rico

 Puerto Rico is a modern progressive and civilized vacation spot that maintains
 the charm and hospitality of days gone by. You will
 find everything that the Caribbean has to offer in this
 all around family destination - and with it is a people
 whose is equaled only by the sunshine that graces its shores.

 The island of Puerto Rico is almost rectangular in
 shape, and is the smallest and the most eastern island
 of the Greater Antilles. It is located in the Caribbean,
 island between the Caribbean Sea and the North
 Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic.
 (about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida).

History

On September 25, Christopher Columbus set sail from Cádiz, Spain on his second voyage, with 17 ships and almost 1,500 men.

 On November 19, Christopher Columbus discovered the island in his second
 voyage to the New World. He found the island
  populated by as many as 50,000 Taíno or Arawak
 Indians. The Taíno Indians who greeted Columbus made
 a big mistake when they showed him gold nuggets in the
 river and told him to take all he wanted. Originally the
 newcomers called the island "San Juan Bautista", for
 St. John the Baptist and the town Puerto Rico because
 of its obvious excellent potentialities. It was not until later
 that the two names were switched. Thanks in part to the
enthusiasm of ambitious Juan Ponce de León, a lieutenant to Columbus, the city of Puerto Rico ("rich port") quickly became Spain's most important military outpost in the Caribbean.

People and Culture

The 3.580 million people that inhabit the island of Puerto Rico make it one of the most densely populated islands in the world. There are about 1,000 people per square mile, a ratio higher than within any of the 50 states in the United States. It is estimated that some 2 million Puerto Ricans have migrated to the United States. Had these people remained in Puerto Rico, the island would be so densely populated that there would be virtually no room for people to live. Because of the massive migration to the mainland, more Puerto Ricans are said to live in New York City than in San Juan. In recent years, many Puerto Ricans have returned to their island home, in large part because of inadequate economic opportunity in the United States.

On the island, one-third of the population is concentrated in the San Juan-Carolina-Bayamón metropolitan area.

The people of Puerto Rico represent a colorfull. Culture is a series of visual manifestations and interactions with the environment that make a region and/or a group of people different from the rest of the world. Puerto Rico, without a doubt has several unique characteristics that distinguish their culture from any other.