Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: "Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico", is a self governing unincorporated territory of the United States with Commonwealth status. Located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands; approximately 1,280 miles (2,000 km) off the coast of Florida (the nearest of the mainland United States). The archipelago of Puerto Rico includes the main island of Puerto Rico, the smallest of the Greater Antilles, and a number of smaller islands and keys, the largest of which are Mona, Vieques, and Culebra. Puerto Ricans sometimes refer to their island as Borikén, or the Spanish variant Borinquen, a name for the island used by indigenous Taíno people. The current term boricua derives from the Taíno name for the island, and is commonly used to identify oneself as Puerto Rican.

Even though all people born in Puerto Rico are statutory U.S. citizens, the nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States is the subject of ongoing debate on the island, in the United States Congress, and in the United Nations. According to a President's Task Force report, Puerto Rico is an unincorporated organized territory of the United States, subject to the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress and with the right to establish a constitution for the internal administration of government and on matters of purely local concern.