Standard

PR

Puerto Rico

Summary

Official Name
Sovereignty Status
Self-governing insular area in commonwealth status with the United States
Population
3,286,000
General Remarks
Puerto Rico consists of the islands of Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, Mona and many small neighboring islets
Principal Languages
English, Spanish
Literacy Rate
92% (2017 UNESCO)
Deaf Population
8,000–420,000
Language Counts
The number of established languages listed for Puerto Rico is 4. All are living languages. Of these, 2 are indigenous and 2 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 2 are institutional, 1 is developing, and 1 is dying. Also listed are 5 unestablished languages.

Languages

Chinese, Yue yue
Users: 1,680 in Puerto Rico (2020). Status: Unestablished. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese
English eng
Users: 1,551,000 in Puerto Rico, all users. L1 users: 61,000 in Puerto Rico (2020 J. Leclerc). L2 users: 1,490,000 (2020). Status: 1 (National). Statutory national working language (1993, Official Languages Act No. 1, Article 1). Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English
French fra
Users: 2,100 in Puerto Rico (2020). Status: Unestablished. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Rhaetian, Oïl, French
German, Standard deu
Users: 1,300 in Puerto Rico (2020). Status: Unestablished. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, German, Middle German, East Middle German
Hindi hin
Users: 3,670 in Puerto Rico (2020). Status: Unestablished. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Western Hindi, Hindustani
Italian ita
Users: 1,400 in Puerto Rico (2020). Status: Unestablished. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Italo-Dalmatian
Puerto Rican Sign Language psl
Scattered. Users: 10,000 (2021 DBS/DOOR/SIL). Estimated 6,000–13,000 deaf signers, based on 0.2%–0.4% of the general population. another estimate: 8,000–40,000 deaf persons (Van Cleve 1986). Status: 5 (Developing). Alternate Names: ASL, American Sign Language, PRSL Classification: Sign language, Deaf community sign language
Spanish spa
Users: 3,112,000 in Puerto Rico, all users. L1 users: 3,080,000 in Puerto Rico (2020). L2 users: 32,000 (Instituto Cervantes 2019). Status: 1 (National). Statutory national language (1993, Official Languages Act No. 1, Article 1). Alternate Names: Español Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, Castilian
Taíno tnq
Bayamon Municipality, southwest of San Juan on north coast; otherwise scattered. Users: No known L1 speakers. The last fluent speaker died no later than the late 19th century (Wahayona Campos Reyes 2004). Status: 9 (Dormant). Alternate Names: Taino Classification: Maipurean, Northern, Maritime, Ta-Maipurean

Languages by Status

    English
    [eng] 1 (National). Statutory national working language (1993, Official Languages Act No. 1, Article 1). 1,551,000 in Puerto Rico, all users. L1 users: 61,000 in Puerto Rico (2020 J. Leclerc). L2 users: 1,490,000 (2020).
    Spanish
    [spa] 1 (National). Statutory national language (1993, Official Languages Act No. 1, Article 1). 3,112,000 in Puerto Rico, all users. L1 users: 3,080,000 in Puerto Rico (2020). L2 users: 32,000 (Instituto Cervantes 2019).
    Puerto Rican Sign Language
    [psl] 5 (Developing). 10,000 (2021 DBS/DOOR/SIL). Estimated 6,000–13,000 deaf signers, based on 0.2%–0.4% of the general population. another estimate: 8,000–40,000 deaf persons (Van Cleve 1986).
    Taíno
    [tnq] 9 (Dormant). No known L1 speakers. The last fluent speaker died no later than the late 19th century (Wahayona Campos Reyes 2004).
    Chinese, Yue
    [yue] Unestablished. 1,680 in Puerto Rico (2020).
    French
    [fra] Unestablished. 2,100 in Puerto Rico (2020).
    German, Standard
    [deu] Unestablished. 1,300 in Puerto Rico (2020).
    Hindi
    [hin] Unestablished. 3,670 in Puerto Rico (2020).
    Italian
    [ita] Unestablished. 1,400 in Puerto Rico (2020).

Maps

  • Creole Languages of the Northern Caribbean

Graphs

  • Language Vitality Profile

  • Language Status Profile

Resources

  • Each Ethnologue country digest is a licensed product with restricted terms of use. Before downloading the product, you must agree to the following terms:

    • This is a license for individual use. Just as with a conventionally published book, it is a violation of copyright to make a copy and give it to others.
    • You may not redistribute this work in any form, including ingesting the contents into a database that is shared with others or posting it on a web site (whether public or private).

    To inquire about permission for reuse or redistribution, please use the Contact Us form in the footer.

    Digest of the languages of Puerto Rico ($149.95, 22 page PDF)