Puerto Rico, Spanish for 'rich port' and officially the 'Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,' is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean Sea. While it's not an official US state, it does possess some of the same rights as a state. There's a possibility, similar to Washington DC, that it could become a state in the future.
If Puerto Rico were a US state, its 3,515 square miles (mi²) area would make it the third-smallest state in terms of size. However, its population, estimated to be 3,153,898 as of 2023, would rank 33rd out of 51, just below Nevada and just above Arkansas. Notably, Puerto Rico's population has decreased by an estimated 15.35% from 2010 to 2023, a significant change compared to any existing US state.
Although Puerto Rico's population is contracting, its population density remains high. Currently estimated at 912 people per square mile, Puerto Rico's population density is nearly ten times the US national density of 96 people/mi². It would rank as the fourth-highest among existing US states. The most populous city in Puerto Rico is the island's capital, San Juan, estimated to have approximately 342,259 residents. This makes San Juan the 57th-largest city under United States jurisdiction.
Rhode Island was the last of the 13 original colonies to ratify the Constitution, entering the Union in May 1790. The state has been reliably Democratic since 1928, only voting Republican four times—twice for Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, Nixon in 1972, and Reagan in 1984, when he won every state except Minnesota. In 2020, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by just over 20%.
Since its first participation in 1792, the Ocean State has had four electoral votes, except for the 1910s and 1920s, when it had five. It has the most electoral votes proportional to size—one for every 303 square miles. Heading into release, based on the 2020 Census results, the state had been projected to lose the electoral vote. This did not occur.
Comments