Caribbean · North AmericaPuerto Rico
Discover Puerto Rico - a US territory with a soul of its own, where Old San Juan's cobblestones meet bioluminescent bays and reggaeton was born.
Where Is Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean, North America. Its capital is San Juan.
- Capital San Juan
- Population 3.18M
- Area 8,870 km²
Puerto Rico exists in a category all its own. It is part of the United States but not a state, a Caribbean island where people are American citizens but cannot vote for president, a place that is simultaneously Latin American and North American and neither. This ambiguity has fueled one of the most vibrant and resilient cultures in the hemisphere. The island they call La Isla del Encanto - the Island of Enchantment - has been producing outsized cultural impact for centuries.
Old San Juan is one of the most beautiful colonial cities in the Americas, with 500-year-old forts, blue cobblestone streets, and pastel buildings stacked along the Atlantic coast. The island has the only tropical rainforest in the US national forest system, three bioluminescent bays (out of only five in the entire world), and beaches that range from white sand to black volcanic to hidden coves. Puerto Rico gave the world reggaeton, pina coladas, and an astonishing list of musicians, actors, and athletes for an island of 3.2 million people. It has been through hurricanes, economic crises, and 125 years of political limbo - and it just keeps dancing.
At a glance
Largest cities in Puerto Rico
San Juan
Bayamon
Ponce
Mayaguez
Caguas
Famous people from Puerto Rico
Roberto Clemente
SportBaseball legend with exactly 3,000 hits who died in a humanitarian relief mission, the first Latin American inducted into the Hall of Fame
Lin-Manuel Miranda
ArtCreator of Hamilton who brought Puerto Rican identity to Broadway, winning multiple Tony Awards, an Emmy, Grammy, and Pulitzer
Bad Bunny
MusicMost-streamed artist on Spotify multiple years running, who took reggaeton and Latin trap from Puerto Rico to global domination
Rita Moreno
ArtEGOT winner (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) and star of West Side Story, a pioneering Latina actress across seven decades
Daddy Yankee
MusicThe King of Reggaeton whose Gasolina launched the genre worldwide and whose Despacito collaboration with Luis Fonsi once held the title of most-watched YouTube video
Traditional cuisine of Puerto Rico
- Mofongo
- Fried green plantains mashed with garlic, pork cracklings, and olive oil, then stuffed with meat or seafood - Puerto Rico's signature dish
- Lechon Asado
- Whole roast pig slow-cooked over charcoal for hours, the centerpiece of every holiday and the specialty of Guavate's lechoneras
- Arroz con Gandules
- Rice with pigeon peas and sofrito, the essential side dish at every Puerto Rican Christmas table
- Alcapurrias
- Deep-fried fritters of grated green banana and yautia stuffed with seasoned ground beef, a beloved beach snack
- Pina Colada
- Puerto Rico claims the invention of this iconic cocktail of rum, coconut cream, and pineapple juice at the Caribe Hilton in 1954
Nature and landmarks in Puerto Rico
- El YunqueForest
- The only tropical rainforest in the US National Forest system, with waterfalls, endangered parrots, and coqui frogs
- Bioluminescent BaysCoast
- Puerto Rico has three of the world's five bioluminescent bays, where microorganisms light up the water when disturbed
- Flamenco BeachCoast
- Consistently ranked among the best beaches in the world, a crescent of white sand on the island of Culebra
- El MorroLandmark
- Iconic 16th-century Spanish fortress guarding the entrance to San Juan Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Camuy River Cave ParkLandmark
- One of the largest cave networks in the Western Hemisphere, carved by the third largest underground river in the world
Sports in Puerto Rico
- Baseball
- Puerto Rico has produced over 250 MLB players including Roberto Clemente, Roberto Alomar, and Yadier Molina
- Basketball
- Puerto Rico competes independently in the Olympics and defeated the USA in the 2004 Athens Games, one of basketball's greatest upsets
- Boxing
- World-class boxing tradition producing champions like Felix Trinidad, Miguel Cotto, and Wilfredo Gomez
Did you know?
Puerto Ricans are US citizens but cannot vote in presidential elections unless they move to one of the 50 states
The coqui frog, whose 'co-kee' call is the island's unofficial soundtrack, is found only in Puerto Rico
Old San Juan's streets are paved with adoquines, blue-tinted cobblestones originally used as ballast in Spanish ships
Puerto Rico has held six non-binding referendums on statehood, with the most recent in 2020 favoring statehood
Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was the world's largest radio telescope for over 50 years until its collapse in 2020
The Pina Colada was declared the official drink of Puerto Rico in 1978
Despite being a small island, Puerto Rico has competed in the Olympics independently since 1948
Read more about Puerto Rico
Can you find Puerto Rico on a map?
Drop a pin where you think it is and see how close you got. A few rounds and you will place Puerto Rico and its neighbours without a second thought.
