Puerto Rican
Puerto Rican can refer to anybody who was born in or whose descendants are from Puerto Rico. It can also refer to something from Puerto Rico, such as "Puerto Rican Rum". It should be noted that even though Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and its people have American citizenship, the majority of the people of Puerto Rico feel pride in being called Puerto Ricans as if the name actually meant a different nationality as that of the Americans.
Puerto Ricans also refer to themselves as Boricuas. This term comes from the word "Boriken" (Borínquen) which was what the Taínos called Puerto Rico before the Spaniards arrived.
Puerto Ricans are a mixer of customs and cultures which have truly resulted in a great melting pot. The first people to inhabit the island of Puerto Rico were the members of the Taíno tribe. In the 15th century the white Spaniards arrived with their African black slaves . Some of the Spanish inter-married with the Taíno. In 1791, the slaves in Haiti, revoted against their white French masters. Many of the French escaped to Puerto Rico via the Dominican Republic and settled in the west coast of the island, especially in Mayaguez. In 1873 after the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico, some blacks inter-married with the whites (note that ths date for the abolition of slavery is the date when all slaves were granted freedom, but, before that day and starting on 1837, there were some blacks that had already been freed by their white masters). At the end of the 19th century Spain permitted the migration of Italians (principaly from Corsica) and of the Irish to the island. In addition, Chinese started arriving at the island, as rail-road workers, during the 1840s to 1850s. These groups settled mainly in the southern cities of Puerto Rico. The main idea behind Spain's new migration policy was to keep the local population from asking for it's independence by permitting people whom they believed would be loyal to the Spanish Crown to live in the island. This trend continued after 1898, when Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States after the Spanish-American War, with the migration of Germans and Lebanese.
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