an island in the Caribbean Sea, southeast of the US state of Florida. Population: 3,937,000 (2001). Capital: San Juan. People who live in Puerto Rico are US citizens, but Puerto Rico is not a US state and it governs itself. Many people from Puerto Rico go to live and work in the US. It was a colony of Spain from 1509 to 1898, and most people speak Spanish as their first language. Rican. officially Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Self-governing island commonwealth of the West Indies; it is associated with the U.S. Area: 3,515 sq mi (9,104 sq km)
{i} Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, autonomous commonwealth located in the Caribbean Sea which is a territory of the United States; smallest island of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean
the smallest and easternmost of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean a self-governing commonwealth associated with the United States occupying the island of Puerto Rico