PORTOBELO 318 PORTO RICO PORTOBELO, a small seaport town of Colombia, on the N. shore of the Isthmus of Panama, almost due N. of the town of Panama. It has an excellent harbor, discovered by Columbus in 1502, but is very unhealthy, and has fallen into de- cay since 1739, when it was stormed by Admiral Vernon, during the war be- tween England and Spain. PORTO MAGGIORE, a town of Italy, on an island in the Valli di Commac- chio, midway between Ferrara and Ra- venna, the chief occupations are cattle- breeding, fishing, and agriculture, the products comprising beet root, and grain. Pop. about 22,500. PORTO NOVO, capital of Dahomey, French West Africa, near the Gulf of Guinea, with which it is joined by a stretch of shallow water leading to the seaport of Kotonu. It is connected by rail with Pobe, and has trade in oil and nuts. French administration headquar- ters situated here since last conquest of Dahomey in 1893. Pop. about 30,000. PORTO NOVO, a small port on the Coromandel coast of India, 145 miles S. of Madras. Both the Danes and the Dutch had formerly a factory here. The place is celebrated for the battle fought here on July 1, 1781, when Sir Eyre Coote, with 8,000 men, defeated Hyder Ali and an army of 60,000. PORTO RICO, the most easterly of the Greater Antilles Islands of the West Indies, a territorial possession of the United States. It has an area of 3,606 square miles. The island is roughly rectangular in shape. It is about 100 miles in length. The coast line is about 360 miles long, with comparatively few important indentations. A broken irre- gular range of hills passes across the island from east to west, ranging in height from 2,000 to 3,000 feet. The annual range of temperature is from 90° to 50°, with an average of 76°. Rail falls almost daily, the annual pre- cipitation being nearly 77 inches. The island is famous for the number and size of its trees, which include sev- eral species of palms. There are also several varieties of hard wood useful in building. Although several metals occur on the island there is little or no mining. Gold, carbonate, and sulphide of copper have been found. No systematic survey of the mineral resources of the island has been made. The chief industry of the people is agriculture. The principal crops are sugar cane, coffee, tobacco, and fruit. Of sugar, there were in 1918 256,431 acres under cultivation, and the total production was 453,796 tons. The pro- duction in 1919 was 406,002 tons. The exports of sugar in 1919 amounted to 351,910 tons, valued at $48,132,419. The exports of leaf and scrap tobacco in 1919 were valued at $8,420,538. The coffee production decreased from 37,618,- 613 pounds in 1918 to 27,897,971 pounds in 1919. In 1918-1919 1,307 American and foreign vessels entered Porto Rico from the United States and foreign countries. The harbor of San Juan, chief port and naval station, has been improved and has an entrance of 600 yards square and 30 feet deep. There are about 1,100 miles of road on the island and about 339 miles of railway. The railway sys- tem nearly encircles the island and also penetrates the interior. The total enrollment in the public schools in 1919 was 160,794. The total number of children of school age was about 440,000. There were enrolled in the rural schools about 98,000 pupils, and in the elementary schools about 54,- 000. Great advances have been made in education since the American occupation of the island. Health conditions have greatly im- proved under the American administra- tion, owing to the installation of sani- tary systems in the larger cities and to more careful attention to sanitation in all parts of the island. The total receipts for the fiscal year 1918-1919 amounted to $13,578,608, and the disbursements to $13,017,734. There was a balance on hand on July 1, 1919, of $5,022,316. Government. — Porto Rico is governed in accordance vnth the terms of the Act of Congress of 1917. American citizen- ship was granted to the people. There is a representative government, the franchise being restricted to citizens of the United States, 21 years of age or over. The executive power resides in a governor, appointed by the President of the United States. There is a legisla- ture of two elective houses. The Senate is composed of 19 members and the House of Representatives of 39 mem- bers. There is a resident commissioner to the United States who has a seat in Congress. There are six heads of de- partments which form a council to the governor known as the executive coun- cil. There is a Supreme Court of five members, appointed by the President, and seven district judges appointed by the governor. There are also municipal courts, the judges and officials of which are appointed by the governor. History. — Porto Rico was discovered by Columbus on his second voyage, in 1493, and was afterward visited by
