1. Puerto Rico

2. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Is an unincorporated territory of the United States. Unincorporated territory is an area controlled by the government of the United States, but which is not a part of the United States proper.
Puerto Rican’s are US Citizens and possess all the rights and obligations of citizens such as paying Social Security, receiving federal welfare and serving in the armed forces, except for the right to vote in presidential elections and the obligation to pay federal taxes.
Seal
Puerto Rican flag
Coat of Arms

3. People
The population in Puerto Rico is made up of various peoples. Their diversity is the result of the mixing of different ethnic groups that, at one time or another, (Taino Indians, Africans, Spaniards and others) settled on the island
Population: 3,989,133 (July 2011 est.) Marriage Rate: 9.2 per 1000 persons
Divorce Rate: 4.47 per 1000 persons (2004)
Language: Spanish and English are the official languages but Spanish is without a doubt the dominant language
Average Family Size: 3.5 people
Average Family Income: Between $25,000 & $26,000 per year
Unemployment Rate: 13.5%

4. Religion
The major religions are: Catholic (85%), Protestants (8%), non religious (2.3%), and others (3%). Churches of many denominations can be found throughout the island. Some islanders ascribe to spiritualism (espiritismo), and others practice Santeria, an Afro-Caribbean belief system brought to Puerto Rico from Cuba. There is also a small Jewish community.
Santeria

5. Culture
Puerto Ricans love their country, and at the same time accept the free association with the United States, always emphasizing loyalty to their own culture, folklore, hospitality and way of life.
Coqui: While the coqui-a tiny frog found everywhere in the island is only an "unofficial national symbol", its image figures prominently in Puerto Rican culture and heritage. When Puerto Ricans want to express their nationality, they say: Soy de aquí como el coquí (I'm as Puerto Rican as a coquí).

6. Santeria
The practice of Santería dates to the 15th century. Not allowed to practice their traditional religion, the Santería priests, called Santeros, hid their rituals under the guise of Roman Catholic figures. A Botánica is a specialized shop that retails a variety of articles such as figurines of plastic, wood, wax and porcelain, pictures of saints, rosary beads, candles, dried herbs, amulets, prayer books, and other religious pieces, mixing Christian, African and Caribbean motifs.

7. Culture
Azabache Bracelets - Mal de ojo , or evil eye, is believed to result of excessive admiration or envious looks by others. Having newborn babies wear an azabache (a gold bracelet or necklace with a black or red coral charm in the form of a fist), is believed to protect them from the evil eye.
Quinceañeros - The quinceañera tradition started centuries ago as an important social ritual to commemorate the transition from adolescence to womanhood. This celebration often includes a religious ceremony at church, followed by a party. Dinner is often included as part of the night's festivities and the cutting of the multi-tiered cake.

8. Tito Puente “King of Salsa”
Salsa Music
The major type of music coming out of Puerto Rico is salsa, the rhythm of the islands. Its name literally translated is the "sauce" that makes parties happen. Originally developed within the Puerto Rican community of New York, it draws heavily from the musical roots of the Cuban and the African-Caribbean experience. Highly danceable, its rhythms are hot, urban, rhythmically sophisticated, and compelling.
Tito Puente “King of Salsa”

9. Reggaeton Music
Is a relatively new genre of dance music that has become popular in Puerto Rico over the last decade. The name is derived from the reggae music of Jamaica which influenced reggaeton's dance beat. Reggaeton was also heavily influenced by other Puerto Rican music genres and by urban hip-hop music in the United States. Puerto Ricans have claimed reggaeton as their own partly due to the fact that the movement was originally anti-establishment. Reggaeton is now more accepted within the commonwealth.
Daddy Yankee
Ivy Queen
Tito “El Bambino”

10. Puerto Rican Day Parade
The National Puerto Rican Day Parade takes place annually along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, on the second Sunday in June, in honor of the nearly 4 million inhabitants of Puerto Rico and nearly 4 million people of Puerto Rican birth or heritage residing in the United States. The first parade was held on Sunday, April 13, 1958, in Spanish Harlem “El Barrio”. The second parade was held for the first time along Fifth Avenue in New York City.
1958
2007
2011

11. carne frita con cebolla
Food
Although Puerto Rican cooking is somewhat similar to both Spanish, Cuban and Mexican cuisine, it is a unique tasty blend of Spanish, African, Taíno, and American influences, Locals call their cuisine "cocina criolla“ .
Rum is the national drink
Piraguas : A shaved ice cone covered with syrup of fruity flavors. Those who sells "piraguas" are known as piragüeros .
carne frita con cebolla
mojo isleño
lechón asado

12. Health Care
Many Puerto Ricans classify illnesses, medicines, and foods according to an etiological and therapeutic system which derives historically from Hippocratic humoral theories of disease. Adherence to this system influences the way in which patients comply with therapeutic regimens.

13. Health Care
Diseases are classified as hot or cold and foods, medicines, and herbs are believed to be hot, cold, or cool.  Illness is believed to be caused when the body becomes too hot or cold, which causes an imbalance.  In order to cure an illness, a food, medicine, or herb with an opposite quality than the disease would have to be administered.  While the temperature of the foods themselves has nothing to do with their classification, the Puerto Rican illness etiology attributes temperature changes as the causes of some illnesses.  For instance, arthritis pain is seen as cold, caused by placing hands into cold water after they have been submerged in hot water.  Also, the common cold is seen as being caused by a chill or a draft felt by moving from a heated space into an unheated space.
Medical treatment of Puerto Rican patients who ascribe to the Hot-Cold theory requires that the doctor or healer understand the theory.  For instance, when a patient has a cold and is asked to drink fruit juice, they may refuse.  Fruit juice is seen as cool, which would only make their cold worse.  Adverse side effects from medication can also cause a treatment issue.  If a patient has a cold illness, such as joint pains and is prescribed “hot” penicillin, he or she will take the medicine.  However, if she or he experiences a side effect of diarrhea or constipation (both viewed as hot) from the medication, the patient will most likely stop taking it.  One way around this problem is that the doctor could advise the patient to take fruit juice or another cool substance with the penicillin in order to neutralize the effects of the medication.  Puerto Ricans refer to this activity as refreshing the stomach.

14. Mi esposo y su hijo