General Facts
Located at the gateway to the Caribbean, the island of Puerto Rico is 110 miles long and 35 miles wide. San Juan, the capital city is a unique juxtaposition of old and new -- with modern business structures and services as well as traditional Puerto Rican and colonial Spanish flavors in Old San Juan. Puerto Rico's second largest city, Ponce is just 90 minutes from San Juan by car. In 1493 Columbus claimed Puerto Rico for Spain, and the island remained under Spanish rule until 1898 when Spain ceded the island to the U.S. in the Spanish-American War. In 1917, under the Jones Act, Puerto Rico's residents became U.S. citizens and the island became a commonwealth of the U.S. in 1952.