Demographics of Puerto Rico

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Demographics of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Population	3,927,776
Male population	1,887,087
Female population	2,040,689
Population growth	0.47%
Birth rate	13.93/1,000
Death rate	7.86/1,000
Infant mortality rate	8.24/1,000
Life expectancy	78.29 years
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Demographic bureaus	2000, United States Census

The population of Puerto Rico has been shaped by Amerindian settlement, European colonization, slavery, economic migration, and Puerto Rico's status as a United States Commonwealth.

Contents 1 History of migration 1.1 Immigration 1.2 Emigration 2 Race and ethnicity 2.1 Racial demographic history 2.2 Genetic studies 3 Religion 4 Miscellaneous 5 Statistics 6 See also 7 References 8 Resources

[edit] History of migration

The inhabitants of Puerto Rico immediately before the first European contact were part of the Arawak group of Native Americans (also known as American Indians due to some historical confusion). They called themselves Boriquen (alt. Borikén, Borinquén, Boricuas) and were named by Christopher Columbus in 1493 as the Taíno, along with the inhabitants of other nearby islands. (The Taíno had replaced the original human culture on the island, the Ortoiroid.)

[edit] Immigration

Population - Puerto Rico [1]
Year	Population
1765	44,883
1800	155,426
1815	220,892
1860	583,308
1899	953,243
1910	1,118,012
1930	1,543,913
1940	1,869,255
1950	2,210,703
1970	2,712,033
1990	3,522,037
2000	3,808,610
The censuses from 1765 to 1887 were taken by the Spanish Government

The Spanish conquered the island, assuming government in 1508, colonized it, and enslaved the natives. Taíno numbers dwindled due to disease, warfare, and forced labor, and the Spanish began importing large numbers of slaves from Africa. Spanish men arrived on the island disproportionately to Spanish women; Taíno women were sometimes forced to marry them, resulting in a mestizo, or "mixed" ethnicity. Some women used marriage to white men to improve their social status; "cleanliness of blood" documents were used on the island until the 1870s.^{[citations needed]}

During the 1800s, hundreds of Corsican, French, Lebanese, Chinese, and Portuguese families, along with large numbers of immigrants from Spain (mainly from Catalonia, Asturias, Galicia, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, and the Canary Islands) and numerous Spanish loyalists from Spain's former colonies in South America, arrived in Puerto Rico. Other settlers have included Irish, Scots, Germans, Italians, and thousands others who were granted land from Spain during the Real Cedula de Gracias de 1815 (Royal Decree of Graces of 1815), which allowed European Catholics to settle in the island with a certain amount of free land and enslaved persons. This mass immigration during the 19th century helped the population grow from 155,000 in 1800 to almost a million at the close of the century.

In recent years, over 100,000 legal immigrants from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Venezuela, have also settled in Puerto Rico, but together they represent less than 5% of the population.^{[citation needed]}

Illegal immigration from the Dominican Republic is also a current issue.

[edit] Emigration

Emigration has been a major part of Puerto Rico's recent history as well. Starting in the Post-WWII period, due to poverty, cheap airfare, their U.S. citizenship, and promotion by the island government, waves of Puerto Ricans moved to the continental United States, particularly to New York City, New York; Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, and Camden, New Jersey; Chicago; Providence, Rhode Island; Springfield and Boston, Massachusetts; Orlando, Miami and Tampa, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Hartford, Connecticut; Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, California. This continued even as Puerto Rico's economy improved and its birth rate declined. Emigration continues at the present time, and this, combined with Puerto Rico's slumping below-replacement birth rate, suggests that the island's population will age rapidly and start to decline sometime within the next couple of decades.

The word Nuyorican is sometimes used to describe Puerto Rican New Yorkers. The Spanish word for "Puerto Rican" is puertorriqueños.

Further information: Puerto Ricans in the United States

[edit] Race and ethnicity

Race - Puerto Rico [2]
Year	White %	Black %
1827	56.0	44.0
1887	59.5	40.5
1897	64.3	35.7
1899	61.8	38.2
1910	65.5	34.5
1920	73.0	27.0
1930	74.3	25.7
1935	76.2	23.8
1940	76.5	23.5
1950	79.7	20.3
2000	80.5	19.5

[edit] Racial demographic history

A statistical commission for the island of Puerto Rico was created in 1845. The census taken under its auspices in the following year may be considered reliable. The total figures are: Whites...216,083, Free colored..175,791, Slaves... 51,265, Total...443,139^[3]

An interesting anecdote to consider was that during this whole period, Puerto Rico had laws like the Regla del Sacar or Gracias al Sacar where a person of mixed ancestry could be considered legally white so long as they could prove that at least one person per generation in the last four generations had also been legally white. Therefore people of mixed ancestry with known white lineage where classified as white.^[4][5]

A census conducted by royal decree on September 30, 1858, gives the following totals of the Puerto Rican population at this time, with 300,430 identified as Whites ; 341,015 as Free colored; and 41,736 as Slaves. Like some U.S. states, Puerto Rico had in force a compulsory sterilization program in the 20th century.^{[citation needed]}

According to the 1920 Puerto Rican census, 2,505 individuals immigrated to Puerto Rico between 1910 and 1920. Of these, 2,270 were classified as "white" in the 1920 census (1,205 from Spain), (280 from Venezuela), (180 from Cuba), & (135 from the Dominican Republic). Although, in the same decade 7873 Puerto Ricans emigrated to the U.S, out of these 6561 were "white" on the U.S mainland census, 909 as "Spanish white" and 403 as "black".^[6]

The statistics show Puerto Rican's responses to the 2000/census 2006/survey, asking which race(s) they identify with. (The U.S. Census does not consider Hispanic a race, and asks if a person considers himself Hispanic in a separate question.) Although, the term "Hispanic" specifically refers to a person residing in the United States or Latin America of Spanish descent.

[edit] Genetic studies

Demographic distribution Racial distribution - 2000 Race - Puerto Rico - 2000 Census[7] Race Population  % of Total Total 3,808,610 100% One Race 3,650,195 95.8% White 3,064,862 80.5% Black/African American 302,933 8.0% American Indian and Alaska Native 13,336 0.4% Asian 7,960 0.2% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 1,093 0.0% Some other race 260,011 6.8% Two or more races 158,415 4.2% Island Identity - 2000 Island Identity survey, 2000 [8] Island Identity  % of Total Puerto Rican 69% American 2.5% Spaniard 2.1% Dominican 1.7% Hispanic 0.8% Racial distribution - 2006 Race - 2006 Puerto Rico ACS [9] Race Population  % of Total White 2,962,908 75.4% Black/African American 303,274 7.7% American Indian & Alaska Native 8,085 0.2% Asian 13,498 0.3% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 123 0.0% Some other race 466,125 11.9% Two or more races 173,763 4.4% Ancestral distribution - 2006 Puerto Rico - 2006 ACS [10][11] Ancestry Population Italian 5,436 Spanish/Spaniard 3,714 French 3,639 German 2,456 Arab 2,170 Irish 1,363 Russian 898 English 740 Polish 630 Dutch 426 Portuguese 407 British 403 Swedish 378 Scottish 368

A recent study of Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 800 individuals found 61.1% as having Amerindian maternal mtDNA, 26.4% as having African maternal mtDNA, and 12.5% as having Caucasian maternal mtDNA.^[12] Conversely, patrilineal input, as indicated by the Y chromosome, showed that 70% of all Puerto Rican males have inherited Y chromosome DNA from a male European ancestor, 20% have inherited Y chromosome DNA from a male African ancestor, and fewer than 10% have inherited Y chromosome DNA from a male Amerindian ancestor.

Dr. Juan Martinez Cruzado, a geneticist from the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez who participated in the design of the mDNA study, said accounts of life on Puerto Rico in the 1600 and 1700s "describe many aspects that are totally derived from Taino modus vivendi, not just the hammocks but the way they fished, their methods of farming, etc....It is clear that the influence of Taino culture was very strong up to about 200 years ago. If we could conduct this same study on the Puerto Ricans from those times, the figure would show that 80 percent of the people had Indian heritage."

Conversely, in a study done on Puerto Rican women born on the island but living in NY by Carolina Bonilla, Mark Shriver and Esteban Parra in 2004, the ancestry proportions corresponding to the three parental populations were found to be 53.3±2.8% European, 29.1±2.3% West African, and 17.6±2.4% Native American based on autosomal ancestry informative markers. Autosomal markers tests have been shown to draw a larger picture than that of gender based mtDNA and Y-Chromosome tests. More interesting was to see how much of the population showed any markers of each region. 98% of the people sampled had European ancestry markers, 87% had African ancestry markers, 84% had Native American ancestry markers, 5% showed only African and European markers, 4% showed only Native American and European markers, 2% showed only African markers, and 2% showed only European markers. ^[13]

[edit] Religion

The Roman Catholic Church has been historically the most dominant religion of the majority of Puerto Ricans, with Puerto Rico having the first dioceses in the Americas.^[14] The presence of various Protestant denominations has increased under American sovereignty, making modern Puerto Rico an interconfessional country. Protestantism was suppressed under the Spanish regime, but encouraged under American rule of the island.

Taíno religious practices have to a degree been rediscovered/reinvented by a handful of advocates. Various African religious practices have been present since the arrival of enslaved Africans. In particular, the Yoruba beliefs of Santeria and/or Ifá, and the Kongo-derived Palo Mayombe (sometimes called an African belief system, but rather a way of Bantu lifestyle of Congo origin) find adherence among very few individuals who practice some form of African traditional religion.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Puerto Rico has its own Olympic team and has international representation in many events including the Summer Olympics, the Pan-American Games, the Central American Games, the Caribbean World Series, and (famously) beauty pageants such as Miss Puerto Rico 2008.

[edit] Statistics

Population: 3,916,632 (July 2005 est.)

Gender:^[15]

• Men: 1,845,154
• Woman: 2,020,126

Age structure:
0-14 years: 22% (male 441,594; female 421,986)
15-64 years: 65.5% (male 1,228,583; female 1,337,066)
65 years and over: 12.4% (male 211,283; female 276,120) (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.47% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 13.93 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 7.86 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 8.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.29 years
male: 74.35 years
female: 82.43 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.91 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Puerto Rican(s) (US citizens)
adjective: Puerto Rican

Ethnic Groups:

White 80% (Most are of Spanish heritage)

Black 8%;

Amerindian 0.4%;

Asian 0.2%;

mixed and other 10.9%

Religions: Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant and other 15%

Languages: Spanish (main language), English

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 94.1%
male: 93.9%
female: 94.4% (2002 est.)

[edit] See also

• Puerto Rican people
• Demographics of the United States

[edit] References

1. ^ Puerto Rico's population Statistics
2. ^ Puerto Rico's History on race
3. ^ History of Puerto Rico
4. ^ Jay Kinsbruner, Not of Pure Blood, Duke University Press 1996
5. ^ Jay Kinsbruner, Not of Pure Blood, Duke University Press Preview
6. ^ How Puerto Rico became white
7. ^ Ethnicity 2000 census
8. ^ "Island Identity 2000 census
9. ^ 2006 Puerto Rico Community Survey;HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE
10. ^ Ancestry ACS 2006
11. ^ B03001. HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN
12. ^ Martínez Cruzado, Juan C. (2002). The Use of Mitochondrial DNA to Discover Pre-Columbian Migrations to the Caribbean:Results for Puerto Rico and Expectations for the Dominican Republic. KACIKE: The Journal of Caribbean Amerindian History and Anthropology [On-line Journal], Special Issue, Lynne Guitar, Ed. Available at: http://www.kacike.org/MartinezEnglish.pdf [Date of access: 25 September, 2006]
13. ^ Bonilla et al, Ancestral proportions and their association with skin pigmentation and bone mineral density in Puerto Rican women from New York City. Hum Gen (2004) 115: 57-58 Available at: http://onedroprule.org/forum/index.php?file=bonilla-2004-pigmnt-bmd-pr-women.pdf [Date of access: 30 May, 2008]
14. ^   "Porto Rico". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company. 
15. ^ "2006 Survey

[edit] Resources

• The End of Slavery ...
• How Puerto Rico Became White: Racial analysis
• Puerto rico 2005 Fact finder statistics
• United Nations country profile
• Genetic Make-up of Puerto Ricans

v • d • e Puerto Rican immigration and migration series African immigration to Puerto Rico · Chinese immigration to Puerto Rico · Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico · Dominican immigration to Puerto Rico · French immigration to Puerto Rico · German immigration to Puerto Rico · Irish immigration to Puerto Rico · Puerto Rican immigration to Hawaii · Puerto Rican migration to New York ·

v • d • e Demographics of North America Sovereign states Antigua and Barbuda · Bahamas · Barbados · Belize · Canada · Costa Rica · Cuba · Dominica · Dominican Republic · El Salvador · Grenada · Guatemala · Haiti · Honduras · Jamaica · Mexico · Nicaragua · Panama1 · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · St. Vincent and the Grenadines · Trinidad and Tobago1 · United States Dependencies and other territories American Samoa2 · Anguilla · Aruba1 · Bermuda · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands · Greenland · Guadeloupe · Guam2 · Martinique · Montserrat · Navassa Island · Netherlands Antilles · Northern Mariana Islands2 · Puerto Rico · St. Barthélemy · St. Martin · St. Pierre and Miquelon · Turks and Caicos Islands · United States Virgin Islands 1 Territories also in or commonly reckoned elsewhere in the Americas (South America). 2 Territories also in or commonly reckoned to be in the Pacific basin.