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Puerto Rico will compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics independently of the United States, as it has since 1948. The National Olympic Committee for Puerto Rico was recognized in 1948 by the International Olympic Committee.

How can Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, have its own Olympic team? As it happens, the Olympics include quite a few entities that are not sovereign nations. For example, the International Olympic Committee recognized the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1967, Guam in 1986, and American Samoa in 1987.  The U.S. Olympic team does not object to the inclusion of Puerto Rico or these other U.S. territories as being included among “nations” competing in the the Olympic games.Read More »Puerto Rico at the Olympics

Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States.  It has been a U.S. territory since 1898, when it was acquired from Spain after the Spanish-American War.

The Supreme Court has affirmed Puerto Rico’s status as a territory.  Presidents, senior administration officials in successive Republican and Democratic administrations, authoritative sources such as the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and Government Accountability Office (GAO), and Congress itself have consistently and repeatedly confirmed that Puerto Rico is a United States territory.Read More »Puerto Rico: Commonwealth or Territory?

Report by The President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status (President Barack Obama), 2011, p. 26.  Under the Commonwealth option, Puerto Rico would remain, as… Read More »Presidential Statements on Puerto Rico’s Status

Puerto Rico is a territory belonging to the United States. Historically, many parts of the current United States, such as Oregon and Missouri, were territories before statehood. The Philippines are an example of a former territory of the United States which is now an independent nation. There are also former territories which have become part of other nations. Territories and states are the two types of relationships available in the U.S. Constitution for land belonging to the United States. All land belonging to the United States is either a territory or a state.Read More »What is a Territory?

Harris v. Rosario, 446 U.S. 651, 651-52 (1980). Congress, which is empowered under the Territory Clause of the constitution, U.S. const., Art. IV, 3, cl.2, to “make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the territory . . . belonging to the United States,” may treat Puerto Rico differently from States so long as there is a rational basis for its actions.Read More »Supreme Court Statements on Puerto Rico’s Status