波多黎各(Puerto Rico)
正式名称波多黎各联邦（Commonwealth of Puerto Rico）
美国在西印度群岛的自治岛屿联邦。面积9,104平方公里。人口约3,829,000（2001）。首府︰圣胡安。居民混杂了多种民族，主要是西班牙人和非洲裔人。语言︰西班牙语和英语（均为官方语）。宗教：天主教。货币：美元（U.S.$）。波多黎各是个多山岛，可分为三个地理区：内陆山脉区、北部平原区和沿海平原区。属开发中自由市场经济，以制造业、金融业和贸易（大多是和美国）为主。旅游业也是重要的收入来源。国家元首是美国总统，政府首脑为总督。16世纪初西班牙人到此定居时，岛上已居住着阿拉瓦克印第安人。18世纪末以前，岛上的经济大致未经开发。1830年以後逐渐发展以甘蔗、咖啡和烟草等出口作物为基础的种植园经济。19世纪晚期开始独立运动，1898年美西战争後，西班牙将该岛割让给了美国。1917年波多黎各人获得美国公民身分，1952年该岛成为美国一个联邦，在内部事务上享有自治权。波多黎各的国家地位问题一直是个政治争议问题，1967年全民公投批准联邦制，1993年再次获得通过。
English version：
Puerto Rico
Self-governing island commonwealth of the West Indies, in union with the U.S. Area: 3,515 sq mi (9,104 sq km). Population (1998 est.): 3,786,000. Capital: San Juan. The population is a mixture of diverse ethnic groups, mainly of Spanish and African descent. Languages: Spanish and English (both official). Religion: Roman Catholicism. Currency: U.S. dollar. Puerto Rico is a mountainous island and may be divided into three geographic regions: the mountainous interior, the northern plateau, and the coastal plains. It has a developing free-market economy, and manufacturing, financial services, and trade (mostly with the U.S.) are its main components. Tourism is also an important source of income. Its chief of state is the U.S. president, and its head of government is the commonwealth governor. The island was inhabited by Arawak Indians when it was settled by the Spanish in the early 16th century. It remained largely undeveloped economically until the late 18th century. After 1830 it gradually developed a plantation economy based on the export crops of sugarcane, coffee, and tobacco. The independence movement began in the late 19th century, and Spain ceded the island to the U.S. in 1898, after the Spanish-American War. In 1917 Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship, and in 1952 the island became a commonwealth with autonomy in internal affairs. The question of Puerto Rican statehood has been a political issue, with commonwealth status approved by voters in 1967 and again, in 1993.
