It's 2020, and Puerto Rico is voting again on whether to become a state of the United States. But what exactly is it now? Is Puerto Rico part of the United States, and can its people vote in US elections? Find all your answers here!
This is a revised and expanded version of an explainer we originally published in November 2012.
Is Puerto Rico a state of the US? If not, then what is it?
The US territory of Puerto Rico. (Public domain map from CIA World Factbook) |
Since it was taken from Spain in the Spanish-American War of 1898, Puerto Rico has been an overseas territory of the United States (known in US legal jargon as an "insular area").