(1.435-meter gauge) electrified, double track, privately owned
Highways: 73,661 km total; 61,599 km paved (bituminous, gravel, and crushed stone), including 140 km of limited-access divided highway; 7,962 km improved earth; 4,100 km unimproved earth (motorable tracks)
Inland waterways: 820 km navigable; relatively unimportant to national economy, used by shallow-draft craft limited to 300-metric-ton cargo capacity
Pipelines: crude oil, 11 km; refined products, 58 km
Ports: Leixões, Lisbon, Porto, Ponta Delgada (Azores), Velas (Azores), Setúbal, Sines
Merchant marine: 50 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 576,654 GRT/1,005,740 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 21 cargo, 2 refrigerated cargo, 1 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 10 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 10 bulk, 1 combination bulk; note—Portugal has created a captive register on Madeira (MAR) for Portuguese-owned ships that will have the taxation and crewing benefits of a flag of convenience; although only one ship is currently known to fly the Portuguese flag on the MAR register, it is likely that a majority of Portuguese flag ships will transfer to this subregister in a few years
Airports: 69 total, 64 usable; 37 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 11 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: facilities are generally adequate; 2,250,000 telephones; stations—44 AM, 66 (22 relays) FM, 25 (23 relays) TV; 7 submarine cables; communication satellite ground stations operating in the INTELSAT (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), EUTELSAT, and domestic systems (mainland and Azores)
Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 2,583,782; 2,102,835 fit for military service; 88,384 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: $1.3 billion (1989 est.)
Puerto Rico (commonwealth associated with the US)
_Puerto_Rico.jpg)
See regional map III
Geography
Total area: 9,104 km²; land area: 8,959
km²
Comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Rhode Island
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 501 km
Maritime claims:
- Contiguous zone: 12 nm
- Continental shelf: 200 m
- Extended economic zone: 200 nm
- Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical marine, mild, little seasonal temperature variation
Terrain: mostly mountains with coastal plain belt in north; mountains precipitous to sea on west coast
Natural resources: some copper and nickel; potential for onshore and offshore crude oil
Land use: 8% arable land; 9% permanent crops; 51% meadows and pastures; 25% forest and woodland; 7% other
Environment: many small rivers and high central mountains ensure land is well watered; south coast relatively dry; fertile coastal plain belt in north
Note: important location between the Dominican Republic and the Virgin Islands group along the Mona Passage—a key shipping lane to the Panama Canal; San Juan is one of the biggest and best natural harbors in the Caribbean
People
Population: 3,291,207 (July 1990), growth
rate 0.1% (1990)
Birth rate: 19 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: -11 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 17 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 76 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.2 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Puerto Rican(s); adjective—Puerto Rican
Ethnic divisions: almost entirely Hispanic
Religion: mostly Christian, 85% Roman Catholic, 15% Protestant denominations and other
Language: Spanish (official); English is widely understood
Literacy: 89%
Labor force: 1,062,000; 23% government, 20% trade, 18% manufacturing, 4% agriculture, 35% other (1988)
Organized labor: 115,000 members in 4 unions; the largest is the General Confederation of Puerto Rican Workers with 35,000 members (1983)
Government
Long-form name: Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico
Type: commonwealth associated with the US
Capital: San Juan
Administrative divisions: none (commonwealth associated with the US)
Independence: none (commonwealth associated with the US)
Constitution: ratified 3 March 1952; approved by US Congress 3 July 1952; effective 25 July 1952
National holiday: Constitution Day, 25 July (1952)
Legal system: based on English common law
Executive branch: US president, US vice president, governor
Legislative branch: bicameral Legislative Assembly consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State—President George BUSH (since 20 January 1989); Vice President Dan QUAYLE (since 20 January 1989);
Head of Government—Governor Rafael HERNÁNDEZ Colón (since 2 January 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Popular Democratic Party (PPD), Rafael Hernández Colón; New Progressive Party (PNP), Baltasar Corrado del Rio; Puerto Rican Socialist Party (PSP), Juan Mari Bras and Carlos Gallisa; Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), Rubén Berríos Martínez; Puerto Rican Communist Party (PCP), leader(s) unknown
Suffrage: universal at age 18; indigenous inhabitants are US citizens, but do not vote in US presidential elections
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