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Puerto Rico's population is a mixture of European, African and Native American, with a small presence of Asians.
Puerto Rico is said to comprise a White majority, an extinct Amerindian population, Africans, persons of mixed ancestry, and a small Asian minority. Recent genetic research, however, contradicts that information.
Recent genetic research revealed a surprising picture about Puerto Rican heritage. On the one hand, Mitochondrial DNA analysis, which corresponds to maternal heritage, showed that at least 61% of Puerto Ricans have female American Indian ancestors somewhere along their family tree, 27% have female African ancestors and 12% have female European ancestors. On the other hand, Y-chromosome analysis, which corresponds to paternal heritage, showed over 70% of Puerto Ricans as having male European ancestors, 20% have male African ancestry, but less then 10% have male Native American ancestors. Other smaller studies from the island have been done to further back up this evidence... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11459420
Corsican, Italian, and French immigrants arrived along with numerous Spanish loyalists from Spain's former colonies in South America. Other settlers have included Irish, Germans, and in recent years, immigrants from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela, but all together represent less than 5% of the population.
Puerto Rico has over 100,000 legal residents who came from Spain, Mexico, Central or South America, in addition to the Cubans and Dominicans.
The Roman Catholic religion is dominant, although there is a notable Protestant presence. Puerto Rico has its own Olympic team and has international representation in many events including the Summer Olympics, the Pan-American Games, the Central American Games, and the Caribbean World Series.
Natives of Puerto Rico are referred to as Puerto Rican (Span puertorriqueños), and also as Boricuas from Borikén (alt. Borinquén), the island's indigenous name.
Population:
3,915,798 (July 2000 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
24% (male 480,100; female 457,684)
15-64 years:
66% (male 1,234,065; female 1,336,848)
65 years and over:
10% (male 174,383; female 232,718) (2000 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.56% (2000 est.)
Birth rate:
15.47 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate:
7.74 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Net migration rate:
-2.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.75 male(s)/female
total population:
0.93 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
9.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
75.55 years
male:
71.05 years
female:
80.3 years (2000 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.91 children born/woman (2004 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Puerto Rican(s) (US citizens)
adjective:
Puerto Rican
Ethnic groups:
white (mostly Spanish origin) 80.5%, black 8%, Amerindian 0.4%, Asian 0.2%, mixed and other 10.9%
See also: Chinese Puerto Rican
Religions:
Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant and other 15%(many catholics also practice santeria)
Languages:
Spanish (main language), English
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
89%
male:
90%
female:
88% (1980 est.)
- See also : Puerto Rico
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