Puerto Rico

Upon reaching the mountainous Caribbean island in 1493, explorer Christopher Columbus called the spot where he landed Puerto Rico, or "rich port." But it was Ponce de Leon who declared that name should refer to the entire island when he established the country's first permanent European settlement. The fourth-largest island in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico lies at the eastern end of the island chain called the Greater Antilles; it includes the islands of Vieques and Culebra in its territory.