ABSTRACT
Puerto Rico is a small Caribbean island just east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands. Like the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico is a colony (commonwealth) of the United States, to which it was ceded by Spain in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. It became the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in the 1950s. But unlike the people of the Virgin Islands, Puerto Ricans traditionally speak Spanish, though many speak English in urban areas. As a former Spanish colony, Puerto Rico shares much history and culture with Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
