fun facts about puerto rico
2007-03-13 10:29:13 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Travel ➔ Caribbean ➔ Puerto Rico
Fun Facts about Puerto Rico:
The island is close to the Puerto Rico Trench, the deepest submarine depression in the North Atlantic.
The capital is San Juan (oldest city in US territory), and was founded in 1508 by Juan Ponce de Leon. Over 4 million people live on the island of Puerto Rico and make it one of the most densely populated islands in the world.
The Mona and Monito Islands are located between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. They are also called the Galápagos Islands. No other island in U.S. jurisdiction has such ecological uniqueness and diversity in such a small area. The islands are recognized as a Natural Reserve, and are home to endangered marine turtles, sea birds and migratory marine mammals.
The coqui is a tiny frog found everywhere on the island and is an "unofficial national symbol".
The national holiday is November 19th, which is the date the island was first discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493.
Puerto Rico uses Atlantic Standard Time(AST), which is one hour later (+1) than Eastern Standard Time (EST). The island does not observe Daylight Savings Time.
Spanish and English are the official languages. About 1/4 of the population speaks English and it is required in all federal matters and spoken in all major tourist areas.
75% of the island consists of mountains and hills.
San Juan is one of the biggest and best natural harbors in the Caribbean.
Antonia Novello is the first woman and the first Hispanic to become the Surgeon General of the United States from 1990-1993.
Aida Alvarez is the first Hispanic woman to head the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the first person of Puerto Rican descent to hold a Cabinet-level post in the U.S. government.
Gigi Fernandez is one of the world’s top women’s doubles tennis players.
Sila Calderón is the first woman to be elected to be governor.
The currency is the U.S. Dollar.
Pina Colada was "born" in PR in 1954 @ Caribe Hilton Hotel.
People demonstrate great nationalism, we are so pround of been puertorricans, we profess a great love and passion for our country. It is even hard to put in words.
2007-03-14 16:33:33 · answer #1 · answered by scorpionitty 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Original inhabitants of PR were arawak indians known as taino's.
The heritage of Puerto Ricans can be/are a mixture of ...Indians, Spaniards, and Africans mostly.
Some famous people with Puerto Rican heritage are:
Hector Elizondo(pretty woman)
Eric Estrada(chips)
John Leguizamo
Frankie Muniz
Freddy Prinze jr
Puerto rico has a population density of 1,100 people per square miles
That Puerto Rico is the third country of the world with more physicians
in proportion to its population
The best selling flag in NY city is the Puerto Rican flag?
That the reggaeton was invented in Puerto Rico and has since then spread to other places around the world
2007-03-15 12:06:00 · answer #2 · answered by InquisitiveMind 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
puerto rico has a seat in the house of representatives but can not vote for anything which is why puerto ricans do not pay federal taxes. I just moved from Ohio to Puerto Rico and love it!. Puerto Rico has the only rainforest in the US. Cock fights are still legal, people still ride horses in the streets (everyday), chihuhuas are one of the most popular dogs and Utuado is the largest region in the island.
2007-03-14 11:30:07 · answer #3 · answered by Gringarican 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. Largest mall and pool in the Caribbean.
2. World largest orbservatory.
3. Invent the Pina Colada in Old San Juan.
4. Only rain forest in the US.
5. Smallest island of the Greater Antilles.
6. 78 municipalities.
7. Third deepest basin in the world.
8. 2nd country with most Miss Universe.
9. The K-Mart that most sell in the US is in San Juan.
10. The population is 4 million.
11. Anibal Acevedo Vila governor.
12. Second largest underground river in the world. (not sure)
2007-03-16 15:00:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can find facts about Puerto Rico at www.prwow.com, the tourist information website www.gotopuertorico.com and the official government website www.gobierno.pr
You can also check out the Guiness Book of World Records at www.guinessrecords.com.
2007-03-14 02:46:47 · answer #5 · answered by faxtlearner 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I guess I would need to know what kind of factsd you were interested in, but here's a few...Did you know PR has the best climate in the Caribbean? If you go to the c entral highlands, the temps range between 62 at night to low 80's in the day, all year! Pr has many different eco zones. Yopu can be in rain forest at El Unge in the east, or in a major metro area in San Juan in the north. Go south and you have desert like areas arround Santa Isabell and Ponce. Pr has a rare landscape called Karst just south of Vega Baja in the north and speaking of Vega Baja, check out the beach there, it's awsome! Do you Surf, Rincon in the west has world class surfing and wind surfing. There is very good snorkeling and scuba diving all arround the Island. Like to go boating?...PR has the largest marina in the Caribbean on it's east coast. In PR you can gamble at a world class casino, eat at a 5 star restaurant, ride a horse on the beach, visit the areas largest cave system, view Aricebo, a huge radio telescope, enjoy both fresh and salt water world class fishing, see many different types of animals like monkeys, lizards, bats, mongoose, tortise (the list goes on) and never be more than three hours drive from any of them. Do you enjoy night life? Every friday evening sees young and old alike going out to clubs to socialize and dance. Dancing is a passion in PR. Anyone like cigars, PR has some of the best. They also boast the best rum in the world and I will add, the best coffee. The mountain regions of PR produce some of the worlds best coffee and it is mostly unknown...except to the Pope who drinks nothing else. Air fares from the states are cheap, there are good deals on rental cars if you shop arround. I would advise that you get out into the real PR. Leave San Juan, you can see it in a day or two and get up into the central highlands as well as the south and western parts of the island. Most people speak a little english and are very kind and helpfull as a rule.
Have Fun!!!!
Skip
2007-03-14 01:49:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
every school has uniforms wether its public
or cathlioc it has a lot of interesting places
it has ice cream stands everywhere you go they have the best food in winter since we dont have snow it just gets a little cool like around the 60s its not sooo cold though umm oh they have coquis at night time they make a really soothing sound they go coqui coqui there about a few inches tall there sooooo cute there like really small frogs you shoud go there its GORGEUS I LOVE IT ♥ ♥ hope this helps
2007-03-14 08:03:45 · answer #7 · answered by ♥La BoRicua de CORAZON 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Number 1 in the world for C-section operations (unnecessarily), I know it's not fun, but it's still a fact.
2007-03-15 16:23:26 · answer #8 · answered by DynamoGirl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Has the largest JC Penny in the world, the only Macy's outside the USA, one of the oldest churches in the new world, students wear uniforms, and it is a common wealth.
2007-03-13 16:33:53 · answer #9 · answered by SANDRA Q 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just follow this great link online:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Puerto_Rico/Did_you_know
2007-03-14 16:04:17 · answer #10 · answered by The "L" Word 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋