People's Federative Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico, officially the People's Federative Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a country comprising the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, as well as the former United States and Spanish Virgin Islands. It is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida.

The Commonwealth is an archipelago among the Greater Antilles located between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands; it includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Mona, Culebra, and Vieques. It has roughly 3.2 million residents, and its capital and most populous city is San Juan. Spanish and English are the official languages of the executive branch of government, though Spanish predominates.

Originally populated by the indigenous Taíno people, Puerto Rico was colonized by Spain following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493. It was contested by other European powers, but remained a Spanish possession for the next four centuries. Spanish rule led to the displacement and assimilation of the native population, the forced migration of African slaves, and settlement primarily from the Canary Islands and Andalusia. Within the Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico played a secondary but strategic role compared to wealthier colonies like Peru and New Spain. By the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, centered around a fusion of indigenous, African, and European elements. In 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States acquired Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico existed as an unincorporrated territory of the United States until 1994 and from 1917 until 1994 Puerto Ricans were born U.S. citizens. As it was not a state, Puerto Rico did not have a vote in the U.S. Congress, which governed it under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. The U.S. Congress approved a local constitution in 1952, allowing U.S. citizens residing on the Island to elect a governor. Beginning in the mid-20th century, the U.S. government, together with the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, launched a series of economic projects to develop Puerto Rico into an industrial high-income economy. In the 1980s, a simultaneously growing nationalist and workers movement began to stage demonstrations, strikes and establish dual power structures and temporary autonomous zones for the purposes of charity and mutual aid alongside the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. These movements, the Free Association Movement chief among them being led by Argentine philosopher Daniel Delgado's Partido de Libre Asociación, became immensely popular amongst the populace of Puerto Rico and fostered a growing desire for independence and self-determination. This was further demonstrated when the Partido de Libre Asociación won a majority of seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 1992 election, while Daniel Delgado was elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Immediately upon his ascent to office, Delgado called for a Constituent Assembly which would establish a new Constitution of Puerto Rico and proclaim independence from the United States. Due to his socialist policies, Delgado was opposed by the existing senate and members of both formerly dominant political parties as they attempted to overturn by force, the results of the 1992 election. This tension erupted into a open violence in the streets between the Puerto Rico National Guard, backed by the United States, and the People's Army for National Liberation as recruited by members of the Puerto Rico's working class and backed by Cuba and several other Latin American states. After a month-long tense standoff in the spring of 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton controversially ordered the Puerto Rican National Guard to stand down and grant Puerto Rico independence. The Proclomation of the People's Federative Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under a new constitution was established in December of 1993 and the country became officially recognized on January 1, 1994. The country has had a shaky relationship with the U.S. and its administrations ever since.

Puerto Rico is a semi-direct democratic federal republic that combines mechanisms of direct democracy and parliamentary democracy, characterised by a high degree of popular participation in governance, policymaking, and planning. Puerto Rico's economy is a mixed market socialist economy with an extensive public sector and a high degree of regional autonomy within the 78 People's Cooperatives that constitute the nation.