Student Name: Shai Plata Date: 3/25/11

 Puerto Rico is located in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands.

 La tierra de Borinquen donde he nacido yo es un jardín florido de mágico primor. Un cielo siempre nítido le sirve de dosel y dan arrullos plácidos las olas a sus pies. Cuando a sus playas llegó Colón exclamó lleno de admiración: "Oh!, oh!, oh!, ésta es la linda tierra que busco yo". Es Borinquen la hija, la hija del mar y el sol, del mar y el sol, del mar y el sol, del mar y el sol, del mar y el sol.  The land of Borinquen where I have been born is a flowery garden of magical beauty. A constantly clear sky serves as its canopy and placid lullabies are sung by the waves at its feet. When at her beaches Columbus arrived full of awe he exclaimed, "Oh!, oh!, oh!, this is the lovely land that I seek" Borinquen is the daughter, the daughter of the sea and the sun. Of the sea and the sun, of the sea and the sun, of the sea and the sun, of the sea and the sun

 Baseball was one of the first sports to gain widespread popularity in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Baseball League serves as the only active professional league, operating as a winter league. No Major League Baseball franchise or affiliate plays in Puerto Rico, however, San Juan hosted the Montreal Expos for several series in 2003 and 2004 before they moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals. The Puerto Rico national baseball team has participated in the World Cup of Baseball winning one gold (1951), four silver and four bronze medals and the Caribbean Series, winning fourteen times. Famous Puerto Rican baseball players include Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda, enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

 The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the archipelago of Puerto Rico by the Ortoiroid people between 3000 and 2000 BC. Other tribes, such as the Saladoid and Arawak Indians, populated the island between 430 BC and 1000 AD. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taínos. The Taíno culture died out during the latter half of the 16th century because of exploitation by Spanish settlers, the war they waged on the Taíno, and diseases introduced by the invaders. Located in the northeastern Caribbean, The smallest of the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico was a stepping-stone in the passage from Europe to Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northern territories of South America. Throughout most of the 19th century until the conclusion of the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico and Cuba were the last two Spanish colonies in the New World; they served as Spain's final outposts in a strategy to regain control of the American continents. In 1898, during the Spanish–American war, Puerto Rico was invaded and subsequently became a possession of the United States. The first half of the 20th century was marked by the struggle to obtain greater democratic rights from the United States. The Foraker Act of 1900, which established a civil government, and the Jones Act of 1917, which made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens, paved the way for the drafting of Puerto Rico‘s Constitution and the establishment of democratic elections in However, the political status of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth controlled by the United States, remains an anomaly more than 500 years after the first Europeans settled the island.

 Jennifer Lopez

 The beaches  Music  Food  Weather