USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Puerto Rico, an island in the Caribbean Sea, has been a territory of the United States since 1898, after the U.S. defeated Spain in the Spanish-American war. It’s classified as an “unincorporated territory, ” meaning the island is controlled by the U.S. government but is separate from the mainland.

Detailed explanation-2: -The political status of Puerto Rico is that of an unincorporated territory of the United States. As such, the island of Puerto Rico is neither a sovereign nation nor a U.S. state.

Detailed explanation-3: -As a territory of the United States, Puerto Rico’s 3.2 million residents are U.S. citizens. However, while subject to U.S. federal laws, island-based Puerto Ricans can’t vote in presidential elections and lack voting representation in Congress. As a U.S. territory, it is neither a state nor an independent country.

Detailed explanation-4: -The short answer: the United States won Puerto Rico in a war. From the landing of Columbus in 1492 until 1898, Puerto Rico was a colony of Spain. In 1898, Spain lost the Spanish-American war and gave Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States.

Detailed explanation-5: -Protectorates and Spheres of Influence-U.s. protectorates since world war ii. Following World War II, the United States under-took by treaty responsibility for the defense of a number of countries in the Pacific: the Philippines in 1946 (revised in 1951), Japan in 1951, South Korea in 1953, and Taiwan in 1954.