Discover Why Puerto Rico Does it Better

Puerto Rico’s Key Facts

• Spanish is the official language, although most Puerto Ricans speak English.
• Since Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, the U.S. dollar is the official currency so no need to bring a currency converter when you travel to Puerto Rico.
• Our first inhabitants date back to 2000 BC and remnants of their culture are still alive in the everyday language and the many indigenous ceremonial parks still in existence.
• Our unofficial mascot is a tiny tree frog called coquí, which is found only in Puerto Rico and you’ll hear it’s unique “ko-kee” sound just outside your window.
• More than 70% of the rum sold in the U.S. comes from Puerto Rico and you can sample our own favorite local brands and even take refinery tours.
• Puerto Rico houses the world's largest radio telescope, spanning almost 20 acres. It is the only radio telescope that can accurately predict when and where an asteroid might collide with Earth and was responsible for the first time in history that an asteroid was imaged. The facilities tour is even more amazing.
• The second radio station in all of the U.S. and the fifth licensed radio station in the world was Puerto Rico’s own WKAQ-AM. It is still alive and well, broadcasting our breaking news.
• Hacienda Buena Vista, a meticulously-restored19th-century coffee plantation and estate in Ponce, holds the only remaining, operating example of a Barker hydraulic turbine, which was named a Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1994. It is powered by water sluiced from high atop the adjacent mountain.
• El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. National Forest Service, a place so indescribable that it must be seen, heard, and felt. Be sure to make note of it in your Puerto Rico travel guide.
• Puerto Rico is Spanish for “rich port”, although it wasn’t our original name. From 1493 to 1508, Puerto Rico was called San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist. Locals call it “Isla del Encanto” which of course means Island of Enchantment.