A Puerto Rican (Taíno

Taíno language

Taíno, an Arawakan language, was the principal language of the Caribbean islands at the time of the Spanish Conquest, including the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Florida Keys, and the Lesser Antilles...

 term: boricua) is a person who was born in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

.

Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico. Since 2007, the government of Puerto Rico has been granting Certificates of Puerto Rican citizenship

Puerto Rican citizenship

Puerto Rican citizenship was first legislated by the U.S. Congress in Article 7 of the Foraker Act of 1900 and later recognized by the Puerto Rican constitution...

 to any persons born on the island as well as to those born outside of the island that have at least one parent who was born on the island.

Puerto Ricans, who also commonly refer to themselves as "boricuas", are largely the descendants of Europeans, Taíno

Taíno people

The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is thought that the seafaring Taínos are relatives of the Arawak people of South America...

, Africans or a blend of these groups which has produced a very diversified population.