IN BRIEF

Home Away

Visiting Puerto Rico is just like flying to any of the 50 states:

No passport is necessary
Currency is the same

MUSICAL MASCOT
Coquís—or little frogs— are known for the sound of their timid call, ko-kee. A much-loved symbol of the island, coquís (the male ones) sing from sunset until dawn.

Puerto Rico is known as “La Isla del Encanto (The Island of Enchantment)”

ISLAND PRIDE
Puerto Ricans identify themselves as Boricua (after the Taíno name for the island, Borinquen) or Puertorriqueño.

BY THE NUMBERS

3.9 million population (as of July 2007)

110 MILES length of the island

40 MILES width of the island

12 Number of championship golf courses on the island

18 Drinking age in Puerto Rico

75° average year-round temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit)

240 types of trees in El Yunque National Forest

4,415 height (in feet) of Cerro Punta, the island’s highest peak

Conversation Starters

Although most Puerto Ricans speak English, these common phrases may come in handy:

TAKE A LOOK BACK IN TIME

1493 Christopher Columbus arrives on the island, beginning Spain’s 400-year rule.

1508 Juan Ponce de Léon becomes Puerto Rico’s first governor.

1523 The first sugarcane processing plant is built.

1692 The city of Ponce is founded. It was named after Loiza Ponce de Leon, Juan’s great grandson.

1797 France and Spain declare war on England; the British attempt to conquer Puerto Rico.

1898 Spain cedes Puerto Rico to the US in the Spanish-American War.

1903 President Theodore Roosevelt makes Luquillo Forest Preserve part of the National Forest system.

1917 Puerto Ricans are granted US citizenship.

1941 The US establishes military bases on the islands of Culebra and Vieques.

1952 Puerto Rico becomes a US commonwealth.

1979 The Pan American Games are held in San Juan.