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Puerto Rico

American  
[pwer-tuh ree-koh, pwer-toh, pawr-tuh, pwer-taw ree-kaw] / ˈpwɛr tə ˈri koʊ, ˈpwɛr toʊ, ˈpɔr tə, ˈpwɛr tɔ ˈri kɔ /

noun

  1. an island in the central West Indies: a commonwealth associated with the U.S. 3,435 sq. mi. (8,895 sq. km). San Juan. P.R., PR


Puerto Rico British  
/ ˈpwɛə-, ˈpwɜːtəʊ ˈriːkəʊ /

noun

  1. Former name (until 1932): Porto Rico.   PR.  an autonomous commonwealth (in association with the US) occupying the smallest and easternmost of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean: one of the most densely populated areas in the world; ceded by Spain to the US in 1899. Currency: US dollar. Capital: San Juan. Pop: 3 674 209 (2013 est). Area: 9104 sq km (3515 sq miles)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Puerto Rico Cultural  
  1. Island in the Caribbean Sea, southeast of Miami, Florida. Its capital and largest city is San Juan.


Discover More

Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. Citizens of Puerto Rico are also American citizens but do not vote in federal elections and do not pay federal taxes on their local earnings.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

There’s no doubt that he looks for a way to promote Puerto Rico, recognize the family, recognize relationships.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 26, 2026

“The 2023 restrictions did not raise the standards, they abandoned them,” Ricardo Rosselló, the former governor of Puerto Rico, a drug-manufacturing hub, told the committee.

From MarketWatch Jul. 24, 2026

For Doralba Bejarano, from Puerto Rico in southern Meta, her situation improved as stalled support began to arrive.

From BBC Jul. 19, 2026

Those limits are roughly comparable to the transmitting power of the now collapsed Arecibo radar facility in Puerto Rico.

From Science Daily Jul. 14, 2026

She looked like one of his father’s aunts, the one he’d only met once, when she managed to come over for a week from Puerto Rico.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

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