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

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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)

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Puerto Rico Cultural  

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

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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.

Other Word Forms

• Puerto Rican
  adjective

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Puerto Rico

“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

Canada and Puerto Rico, recently called humanoid robots, AI and mass automation “one of the most profound technological revolutions in our lifetimes.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 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

“Maybe Dad came back to Puerto Rico because he wanted to build a farm of his own? Didn’t Tío Ermenio say he loved coming to Orocovis?”

From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya