The Rich Port Essay, Research Paper

Looking over the website, www.about.com I found out many interesting facts about the country and commonwealth of Puerto Rico. For one, Spanish and English are the official languages. English is spoken by about 1/4 of the population with limited capabilities. English is required in all federal matters; it is also spoken in all major tourist areas and locations. Speaking of language, it?s been a central issue in Puerto Rican education and culture since 1898. Until 1930 U.S. authorities insisted upon making English the language of instruction in the schools, the intent being to produce English-speaking persons of American culture in the same way this is done in the United States public schools. Strong resistance to the policy finally brought a change to the use of Spanish as the basic school language, English becoming a second language studied by all.

Puerto Rico has its own national holiday on November 19th, which was the date of its discovery. All U.S. government holidays are celebrated in Puerto Rico. Additionally, there are nine local holidays, which usually honor important leaders or events in the island’s history. Government offices, banks, the post office and most stores are closed on the official holidays.

Puerto Rico?s national anthem is ?La Borinque?a,? which reflects the character of the people very accurately by recalling the island’s Indian past. It was originally a dance measure, but now it has a gracious, melancholic tone, like America?s ?Star Spangled Banner,? written by Francis Scott Key. The country even has its own flower, tree, symbol and motto! Their flower is the Puerto Rican hibiscus, the tree is the silk-cotton tree, the coqui (a tiny frog found all over the island) is their unofficial symbol, and their motto is ?Puerto Rico lo hace mejor!,? which translates to ?Puerto Rico does it better!?

As you can see, I have learned a lot about the commonwealth of Puerto Rico by going to the website, www.about.com. I feel that it has been an excellent and very useful site for finding out information on Puerto Rico and could be of assistance in finding facts on any other country as well!

Bibliography

about.com