2010 Census Population:	3,725,789
Land Area:	3,423.8 square miles
Density:	1,088.2 persons per square mile
Capital:	San Juan
Became a Commonwealth:	July 25, 1952
Abbreviation:	PR
ANSI Code:	72

History

The United States acquired the area of Puerto Rico from Spain in 1898. Congress granted the people of Puerto Rico United States citizenship in 1917. The area became a commonwealth on July 25, 1952, with the right to internal self-government.

Census data are available for Puerto Rico from periodic censuses, beginning with a census taken by the War Department in 1899. The 1920 and earlier censuses were enumerated on Jan. 1, 1920; Apr. 15, 1910; and Nov. 10, 1899. Earlier data are available from censuses conducted by the government of Spain from 1765 to 1897.

About the Geographic Areas

METROPOLITAN AND MICROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS AND RELATED STATISTICAL AREAS

Puerto Rico has 8 metropolitan statistical areas, 5 micropolitan statistical areas, and 3 combined statistical areas.

COUNTIES

There are 78 county equivalent entities known as municipios in Puerto Rico. All municipios are functioning governmental entities.

COUNTY SUBDIVISIONS

There are 939 county subdivisions in Puerto Rico known as minor civil divisions (MCDs). This includes 827 barrios, 75 barrios-pueblo, and 37 areas where subdivisions are undefined. The barrios and barrios-pueblo are nonfunctioning county subdivisions used for election purposes. Some MCDs are divided into sub-MCDs, which are called subbarrios. There are 145 subbarrios.

PLACES

Puerto Rico has 253 places, all of which are census designated places (CDPs). Puerto Rico does not have incorporated places. There are 79 zonas urbanas that represent the governmental centers of the municipios, and 174 comunidades that represent other settlements.

CENSUS TRACTS/BLOCK GROUPS/BLOCKS

Puerto Rico has 945 census tracts, 2,594 block groups, and 77,189 census blocks.

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

Puerto Rico has 1 resident commissioner district (at large), with one non-voting resident commissioner.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Puerto Rico has one unified school district.

STATE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS

There are 8 state senate districts and 4 state house districts in Puerto Rico. In addition there is 1 state house district undefined and 1 state senate district undefined representing water area.

URBAN AREAS

Puerto Rico has 19 urban areas; 11 urbanized areas and 8 urban clusters.

ZIP CODE TABULATION AREAS

There are 131 ZIP Code tabulation areas (ZCTAs) in Puerto Rico.

Most Populous, Largest, and Dense Areas

	Population		Land Area (square miles)		Population Density (Persons per square mile)
	Name	Population	Name	Area	Name	Density
County	San Juan Municipio	395,326	Arecibo Municipio	125.95	San Juan Municipio	8,262.3
Place
- CDP	San Juan zona urbana	381,931	San Juan zona urbana	39.50	Parcelas Viejas Borinquen comunidad	13,965.4

List of Entities

See the Gazetteer Files for a list of geographic entities. See the Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas page for a list of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas and related statistical areas.

Metropolitan and Micropolitan

Metropolitan and micropolitan areas are geographic entities used by Federal statistical agencies in collecting, tabulating, and publishing Federal statistics.