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Puerto Rico (continued) Elections: Governor—last held 8 November 1988 (next to be held November 1992); results—Rafael Hernández Colón (PPD) 48.7%, Baltasar Corrada Del Rio (PNP) 45.8%, Rubén Barríos Martínez (PIP) 5.5%;

Senate—last held 8 November 1988 (next to be held November 1992); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(27 total) PPD 18, PNP 8, PIP 1;

House of Representatives—last held 8 November 1988 (next to be held November 1992); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(53 total) PPD 36, PNP 15, PIP 2

Other political or pressure groups: all have engaged in terrorist activities—Armed Forces for National Liberation (FALN), Volunteers of the Puerto Rican Revolution, Boricua Popular Army (also known as the Macheteros), Armed Forces of Popular Resistance

Diplomatic representation: none (commonwealth associated with the US)

Flag: five equal horizontal bands of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bears a large white five-pointed star in the center; design based on the US flag

Economy

Overview: Puerto Rico has one of the most dynamic economies in the Caribbean region. Industry has surpassed agriculture as the primary sector of economic activity and income. Encouraged by duty-free access to the US and by tax incentives, US firms have invested heavily in Puerto Rico since the 1970s. Important new industries include pharmaceuticals, electronics, textiles, petrochemicals, and processed foods. Sugar production has lost out to dairy production and other livestock products as the main source of income in the agricultural sector. Tourism has traditionally been an important source of income for the island.

GNP: $18.4 billion, per capita $5,574; real growth rate 4.9% (FY88)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 33% (December 1987-88)

Unemployment rate: 12.8% (December 1988)

Budget: revenues $4.9 million; expenditures $4.9 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY88)

Exports: $13.2 billion (f.o.b., FY88); commodities—sugar, coffee, petroleum products, chemical, metal products, textiles, electronic equipment; partners—US 87%

Imports: $11.8 billion (c.i.f., FY88); commodities—chemicals, clothing, food, fish products, crude oil; partners—US 60%

External debt: $NA

Industrial production: growth rate 5.8% (FY87)

Electricity: 4,149,000 kW capacity; 14,050 million kWh produced, 4,260 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: tourism, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food processing, petroleum refining

Agriculture: accounts for 4% of labor force; crops—sugarcane, coffee, pineapples, tobacco, bananas; livestock—cattle, chickens; imports a large share of food needs

Aid: none

Currency: US currency is used

Exchange rates: US currency is used

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

Communications

Railroads: 100 km rural narrow-gauge system for hauling sugarcane; no passenger railroads

Highways: 13,762 km paved

Ports: San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez, Arecibo

Airports: 33 total; 23 usable; 19 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: 2,000,000 radio receivers; 810,000 TV receivers; 769,140 telephones; stations—69 AM, 42 FM, 24 TV (1984)

Defense Forces

Note: defense is the responsibility of the US; paramilitary National Guard; police force of 10,050 men and women (1984)  Qatar



Geography

Total area: 11,000 km²; land area: 11,000 km²

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Connecticut

Land boundaries: 60 km total; Saudi Arabia 40 km, UAE 20 km

Coastline: 563 km

Maritime claims:
 * Continental shelf: not specific
 * Exclusive fishing zone: as delimited with neighboring states, or to limit of shelf, or to median line
 * Extended economic zone: to median line
 * Territorial sea: 3 nm

Disputes: boundary with UAE is in dispute; territorial dispute with Bahrain over the Ḥawār Islands

Climate: desert; hot, dry; humid and sultry in summer

Terrain: mostly flat and barren desert covered with loose sand and gravel

Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, fish

Land use: NEGL% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 5% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 95% other

Environment: haze, duststorms, sandstorms common; limited freshwater resources mean increasing dependence on large-scale desalination facilities

Note: strategic location in central Persian Gulf near major crude oil sources

People

Population: 490,897 (July 1990), growth rate 5.7% (1990)

Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 3 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 38 migrants/1,000 population (1990)  258