Puerto Rico

C

Climate

Puerto Rico has an agreeable climate. It is tropical at the lower elevations and subtropical at the higher elevations. There is little difference from season to season, and the length of the day remains fairly constant throughout the year.

San Juan has a mean July temperature of 28°C (83°F) and a mean January temperature of 25°C (77°F). The average temperature of the seawater surrounding the island is 27°C (81°F), with little variation during the course of the year.

The entire island is cooled by the trade winds from the northeast. This air also contains much water vapor. As the air is forced to rise over the mountains, it becomes cooler and the water vapor condenses and falls as rain. San Juan receives an average of 1,330 mm (52 in) of precipitation each year. The mountain areas receive more rain than almost any other part of the United States, with more than 5,100 mm (200 in) falling each year at El Yunque. The southwestern coastal area generally receives the least rain in Puerto Rico and has a distinct dry season from December to March. Puerto Rico is sometimes struck by damaging hurricanes traveling from the east, especially from August to October.

D

Plant and Animal Life

Most of Puerto Rico’s original forests were logged by the beginning of the 20th century. The government began a replanting effort in the 1930s. A commercial reforestation program has also created a modest commercial reserve of tropical hardwoods, including mahogany, ebony, laurel, and satinwood. Puerto Rico contains thousands of species of tropical shrubs and trees, including colorful bougainvilleas, poinsettias, and Sierra palms. There are giant coconut palms, mangroves, and bamboo trees. Orchids and giant ferns grow in the rain forest of El Yunque. Brilliantly hued poinciana trees border most of the older rural roads, lending the flaming red color of their blossoms to the landscape in June.

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Puerto Rico has very little wildlife and few birds. The mongoose, introduced to control rats on the sugar plantations, is fairly abundant. There are nightingales and sparrow-like birds called gorriones. The coquí, a tiny tree frog that sings at night like a bird, leads many visitors to suppose that the island is filled with nightingales. In the waters surrounding Puerto Rico there are a number of different game fish, including tuna, blue marlin, bonefish, and amberjack.

Both the federal and commonwealth governments have stepped up efforts to preserve the island’s animal and plant life. Reserves of special note include the Caribbean National Forest, known as El Yunque, a tropical rain forest in the Sierra de Luquillo Mountains; Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve on the northeast coast; and the Carite Forest Reserve in the southeast. On the southwest tip of the island, La Parguera Natural Reserve has a phosphorescent bay that glows at night because of tiny sea creatures that give off a green light when their bodies are disturbed. The island of Culebra is home to the Culebra National Wildlife Refuge.

III

Economy

For its first 250 years as a Spanish colony, Puerto Rico was largely a military establishment fortified to protect the sea lanes between Spain and its American colonies. Most farms were small, and farmers raised subsistence crops, such as vegetables, rice, plantains, and corn. By the end of the 18th century, export crops began to play an important role in the economy. Puerto Ricans exported sugar, coffee, tobacco, and cotton, as well as meat, animal hides, and other items. The economy grew during the 19th century, but agriculture remained dominant. Coffee, tobacco, and sugar became the most valuable export crops during the 19th century. Puerto Rico traded mostly with Spain and other European nations.

When the United States gained control of the island following the Spanish-American War, it became the new market for the island’s coffee. However, U.S. residents were used to the weaker Brazilian coffee bean and did not appreciate the richer, stronger Puerto Rican variety. Puerto Rico was also struck by two hurricanes in 1899 and 1928, which decimated the island’s coffee crops. As a result, sugar replaced coffee as Puerto Rico’s main export crop after 1900. The U.S. government allowed the island’s sugar to enter the U.S. market tax-free. United States financiers invested heavily in Puerto Rican sugar estates. By 1930 the island’s sugar production had risen by a thousand percent, and almost all of it was exported to the United States. By 1940 the sugar industry employed 25 percent of the island’s labor force. As the sugar industry grew, corporations bought large tracts of land for sugar estates. Many of Puerto Rico’s independent, land-owning farmers went out of business because they could not compete with the corporations.

Puerto Rico transformed its economy after World War II (1939-1945). In an attempt to make the island less dependent upon agriculture and to increase employment opportunities, Puerto Rico’s leaders decided to emphasize industrial development. With the help of the U.S. federal government, in 1947 the Puerto Rican government established Operation Bootstrap, a program of governmental support for industry through tax breaks. The government hoped to attract industries that would import goods to the island to be finished for export. The Puerto Rican government also worked to develop the tourist industry. It invested directly in the construction of the Caribe Hilton, a large hotel in San Juan that received immediate international recognition. In addition to its economy, Puerto Rico worked to improve its health services, housing, education, and electric power.

Operation Bootstrap was a success. It brought many industrial companies to Puerto Rico and created thousands of jobs. Puerto Rico transformed from an underdeveloped island into an industrialized area and an important overseas markets for the United States. By 1965 Puerto Ricans enjoyed the highest per capita income (average individual income) in Latin America. Economic improvements were visible everywhere in the form of new housing, public buildings, and service facilities; new and improved roads and communications; modern factories; and the availability of a higher quantity and quality of food and clothing.

Puerto Rico’s economy experienced a downturn in the mid-1970s. A severe recession in the U.S. economy resulted in fewer U.S. purchases and investments and a decline in tourism on the island. At the same time, worldwide inflation made imported goods, especially oil, more expensive. Moreover, U.S. minimum wage laws and the island’s increased prosperity had resulted in a higher wage level. Higher wages made Puerto Rico less able to compete with other developing areas for labor-intensive, low-capital industries. After rising steadily for years, the gross domestic product (GDP, the total value of goods and services produced in Puerto Rico) and total employment declined in 1975. However, even during the boom years, unemployment remained high, generally ranging from 10 to 13 percent of the labor force. By the mid-1970s, the official unemployment rate had reached 20 percent.

In the late 1970s the economy made some progress, only to be buffeted by recession again in the early 1980s. By the mid-1980s, the island’s economy began to recover. It benefited when the United States increased its investment to the region through the Caribbean Basin Initiative, a program providing tax-free access to U.S. markets for certain products from the Caribbean region. However, in 1996 the U.S. Congress voted to eliminate over a ten-year period the tax incentives for American companies investing in businesses in Puerto Rico. In response, local officials sought to further develop the service industry, especially tourism. In 1997-1998, 76 percent of Puerto Rico’s labor force worked in the services, 22 percent worked in industry, and 2 percent worked in agriculture. In the GDP for the same time period, industry made up 79 percent, services made up 20 percent, and agriculture made up 1 percent.

A

Agriculture

Once the backbone of the economy, agriculture has become less important in Puerto Rico. Less land is under cultivation, and farmers are producing fewer major crops. Farming has stagnated chiefly because large-scale investment has gone into industry rather than agriculture. In 1947 almost 40 percent of the labor force worked on farms. Only about 5 percent worked on farms by 1978; by 2005 agriculture employed 2.1 percent of the island’s workforce and produced less than 1 percent of the GDP.

By the end of the 20th century, the Puerto Rican government had encouraged agricultural diversification away from the traditional export crops of coffee, tobacco, and sugar. By the 1990s dairy, cattle, and poultry farming had outstripped those traditional crops as money earners. Although fruits and vegetables were grown for local consumption and tropical fruits were exported to Europe, Japan, and the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico still imported most of its food from the United States.

B

Fishing and Forestry

Much of Puerto Rico’s original forest cover was cut by 1900. Despite concerted efforts after 1935 to replant trees, the forestry industry remains small. Commercial fishing plays a relatively minor role in Puerto Rico’s economy. Tuna species caught include yellowfin, skipjack, and bluefin. Small-scale freshwater fish farming is a growing economic activity. Fish raised include bass, bluegill, and catfish.

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