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Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender pp 760–769Cite as

Puerto Ricans

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Alternative Names

Puerto Ricans are also known as Puertorriqueños Boricua or Borinquén.

Location

Puerto Rico is located east of Central America between North and South America at the entrance of the Caribbean Sea. It is part of a chain of islands that range from the southeast coast of North America to the northeast coast of South America. This chain of islands is divided into the Greater and Lesser Antilles. Puerto Rico is part of the Greater Antilles that also includes Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Jamaica. Puerto Rico is a relatively small island (100 miles long by 35 miles wide) with a great deal of geographical diversity. It has flat coastal plains, high mountain regions, lush fertile areas (e.g., El Yunque rainforest) and deserts. There are many rural and urban communities throughout the island as well as the cosmopolitan capital of San Juan.

Cultural Overview

Each historical group in Puerto Rico has had some influence on the current culture of Puerto...

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References

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Authors
  1. Marysol Asencio
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Human Relationa Area Files/Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Carol R. Ember  & Melvin Ember  & 

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© 2003 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

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Asencio, M. (2003). Puerto Ricans. In: Ember, C.R., Ember, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-29907-6_78

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-29907-6_78

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-306-47770-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-29907-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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