CAPITAL SAN JUAN - POPULATION 3.9 MILLION - AREA 9104 SQ KM -OFFICIAL LANGUAGE SPANISH
Puerto Rico's a funny old fruit, caught between its relationship with the US, of which it's an unincorporated territory, and its Spanish Caribbean heritage. Add to this the fact that the majority of its tourists are American, many coming in on cruise ships, and you get a strange combination of US big city conveniences – skyscrapers, strip malls – and traditional Spanish Caribbean culture. For fun that's not beneath the sun, head out under a new moon to the bioluminescent bays in Vieques and near Fajardo, which light up magically at night courtesy of billions of microscopic organisms. For another sort of beauty, Puerto Rico's set to host the 2009 Miss Universe pageant, courtesy of a certain Mr. Trump.
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