Puerto Rico
By: Bryanna and Gabriella

Miami Florida.

Puerto Rico is not a very populated area like Mexico, but it is a very common vacation spot or area to visit. Puerto Rico is a fun tropical place to visit once in a while.
Puerto Rico has a warm atmosphere. Puerto Rico also about
1,000 miles miles southeast from

The shape of Puerto Rico is roughly a bumpy rectangle. Puerto Rico also has a complete area of 9,104. Christopher Columbus sailed from spain in his second voyage and discovered Puerto rico. On November 19, 1493. He named the island San Juan, Bautista. Columbus thought the island to be beautiful and wrote so in his diary. Soon after, the islands name was changed to Puerto
Puerto Rico has a self-governing commonwealth with the U.S. There are two legislative chambers : the house of representatives which has 51 seats and the
Senate with 27.
The President of the U.S. is also president of Puerto Rico so the highest of Puerto Ricos government will become
San Juan is the capital of
Puerto rico. San Juan looks exactly like New York City. Big lights and one of the most populated
. areas of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico better known as Rich Port is 1,000 miles It sits off the coast of southern Florida. It surrounds some of the most deepest waters of the en tire Atlantic Ocean. Puerto Rico is composed of year-round mild climate, and has many white, sandy beaches and extraordinary hotels. Puerto Rico is made up of four areas; the coastal lowlands, the coastal va `lleys, the foothills, and the central mountains. The largest city of Puerto Rico and the capital is San Juan, which is in the lowlands. Furthermore most of Puerto
Rico’s crops like sugarcane, coconuts, and other fruits are grown in the coastal valleys. Pineapples, bananas, and other fruits live in the hot. Puerto
Rico is a wonderful island fill with much history, culture, tradition and different foods.

Music, in Puerto Rico has been the light of most Puerto rico’s days. For five centuries music shows that Puerto Ricans have created it, developed and promoted a variety of genres ranging from folk music, concert music and new genres. The Puerto Rican music and native musicians have shaped and enriched the identity of the Puerto Rican people and their roots.
Puerto Rican music was the ultimate expression of the “Areito” (indigenous artistic traditions) combined in a unitary fashion, oral narrative, dance and music. By the end of the fifteenth century, the Taino Indians had already developed musical instruments used in their ceremonies, religious rituals and daily life. Some of the instruments used during the “Areito” was the “Güiro” and
“Maracas” which are still in use as part of the musical traditions. It is unclear whether the Puerto Rican folk music contains elements of ‘Taino’ language or their musical forms. Upon arrival, the Spanish colonists began a chain of events that re-routed the course of the Puerto Rican music. Both ...
The Taínos received the Spanish with civility but were quickly farmed out in

encomiendas
, a system of indentured labor, to work at mining and cultivation.
By mid-century, African slaves were imported for labor, and both slaves and
Taínos soon rose in armed rebellion.
Spain realized that the island's wealth did not lie in gold and silver, yet it was attacked repeatedly by European powers that recognized its strategic location.

Puerto Rico survived on contraband and piracy, trading cattle, hides, sugar, tobacco, and foodstuffs directly with other nations.
In the eighteenth century, the Spanish initiated a series of improvements, reforming the system of land tenure and in effect initiating private ownership.
Overhauled policies allowed trade with other nations. These measures fostered development and increased settlement, urbanization, and population growth; they also facilitated the emergence of a sense of culture. By the eighteenth century,
Puerto Ricans had developed a definite creole identity, distinguishing themselves from the