Puerto Rico
All about Puerto Rico
Geography of Puerto Rico
Location
Capital of Puerto Rico
Major cities
San Juan:418140
Bayamon:203499
Carolina:170404
Ponce:152634
Caguas:86804
Historical Sites and Landmarks
- Sir Francis Drake - 1595s
- Holland - 1625
- Duke of Cumberland -1598
The Morro is impressive for its dark dungeons, cannons, fortified walls, lighthouse, and its history
2) Fortín Conde de Mirasol is the cultural and historical center of Vieques; it is located in Isabel II. From here you will have a panoramic view towards: Puerto Rico, Culebra, Isabel II, and St. Tomas on a clear day.
It is the last Spanish fort built in the Americas. Its construction dates from the 1840s. This fort was never totally finished because of economic problems. In 1991 the Institute of Culture of PR finalized its restoration and rehabilitated the central building as a museum; where you will find permanent exhibitions of tools and artifacts of the Taino indians and the Spaniards.
3) The Serrallés Castle was constructed in the 1930 decade. This beautiful mansion belonged to the founders of the Serrallés Distillery, famous at that time for the sugar production and now by the production of the Don Q rum.
4) The modernized Rincón Ligthhouse has become a recreational area for all the family. It has sanitary facilities, parking and gazebos. You will be able to enjoy the Desecheo Island and Dome beach.
Economy
Language
Food
Lunch and dinner generally begin with sizzling-hot appetizers such as bacalaitos, crunchy cod fritters; surullitos, sweet plump cornmeal fingers; and empanadillas, crescent-shaped turnovers filled with lobster, crab, conch, or beef.
Soups are a popular beginning for meals on Puerto Rico. There is a debate about whether one of the best-known soups, frijoles negros (black-bean soup), is Cuban or Puerto Rican in origin. Nevertheless, it is still a savory, if filling, opening to a meal.Puerto Ricans adore chicken, which they flower various spices and seasoning. Arroz con pollo (chicken with rice) is the most popular chicken dish on the island, and it was brought long ago to the U.S mainland. Other favorite preparations include chicken in sherry (pollo al jerez), pollo agridulce (sweet and sour chicken), and pollitos asados a la parrilla (broiled chickens). Puerto Rico people eat the same breakfast at the same time, that's the same for Lunch and Dinner.
Three important people
1) Acosta, Jose Julian was a leader and journalist Puerto Rican abolishment movement was born in on May 27, 1825 in San Juan. He received his primary and secondary education from Rafael Cordero. In 1867, he was a member of the Puerto Rican commission, which participated in the Overseas Information Committee in Madrid, Spain. The commission advocated for the abolition of slavery and political reforms at the local level. On November, 1870, he became a leading member of the Liberal Reformist Party. He also collaborated to the foundation of "El Progreso" (Progress) newspaper, of which he was editor. In 1873, he became the president of the Liberal Reformist Party. He died on August 26, 1891 in San Juan.
2) Alegría, Ricardo E.
(1921--), cultural antropologist and archeologist, was born on April 14, 1921 in San Juan. He was the driving force behind the creation of the influential Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, which he headed from its foundation in 1955 to 1972. In 1993 he was the first Latin-American to win the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's Picasso Medal, the same year that President Clinton awarded him the Charles Frankel Award of Humanities.
3) Barbosa, José Celso (1857--1921), doctor and politician, was born on July 27, 1857 in Bayamón. A gifted mulatto medical doctor, Barbosa is better known as the father of the Statehood for Puerto Rico movement. He formed the pro-statehood Republican Party (July 4, 1899) in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War. He was the first black to attend Puerto Rico's prestigious Jesuit Seminary. In 1893, he founded the first Puerto Rican "Cooperativa," named "El Ahorro Colectivo." In 1899, he founded the Republican Party of Puerto Rico, advocating for statehood for the island. In 1907, he established the newspaper "El Tiempo." He was a member of the Executive Cabinet from 1900 to 1917 and held a seat in the Puerto Rican Senate from 1917 until his death on December, 1921 in San Juan.