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Puerto Rican can refer to anybody who was born or whose descendants are from Puerto Rico. It can also refer
to something from Puerto Rico, such as "Puerto Rican Rum". It should be noted that even though
Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and its people have American citizenship,
the majority of the people of Puerto Rico feel pride in being called Puerto Ricans as if the name actually meant a different
nationality as that of the Americans.
Puerto Ricans also refer to themselves as Boricuas. This term
comes from the word Borínquen which
was what the Taínos called Puerto Rico before the Spaniards arrived.
Puerto Ricans are a mixer of customs and cultures which have truly resulted in a great melting pot. The first people to inhabit the island of Puerto Rico were the members of the Taíno tribe. In the
15th century the white Spaniards arrived with their African black slaves . Some of the Spanish inter-married with the Taíno. In Haiti, slaves revoted against their white French masters in 1791. Many of the French escaped to Puerto Rico via the Dominican
Republic and settled in the west coast of the island, especially in Mayaguez. In 1973 after the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico, some blacks inter-married
with the whites. At the end of the 19th century Spain permitted the
migration of Italians (principaly from Corsica), who settled mainly in Ponce and Yauco and of the Irish to the
island. The main idea behind Spain's new migration policy was to keep the local
population from asking for it's independence by permitting people whom they
believed would be loyal to the Spanish Crown live in the island. This trend continued after 1898, when Puerto Rico was annexed by
the United States after the Spanish-American War, by the migration of the Germans,
Lebanese and some Chinese.
See also
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