The economy of Puerto Rico has evolved significantly over the course of history, shaped by a complex history of colonialism, industrialization, natural disasters, and connection to the United States. To start, Puerto Rico averages $39,400 per capita with a -2.4% GDP growth rate, and the island’s $130 billion GDP (slightly less than the Dominican Republic ($173 billion) and more than Haiti ($19.9 billion)) is mostly split between three different sectors: industry (pharmaceuticals, processed foods, machinery), services (tourism, real estate, government work), and agriculture (growing sugarcane, coffee, tobacco). Puerto Rico is also heavily involved in global trading as it exports products such as packaged medicines, medical cultures/vaccines, hormones, orthopedic and medical appliances, and sulfur compounds while importing products like nitrogen compounds, sulfur compounds, refined petroleum, medical cultures/vaccines, and cars. In addition, Puerto Rico’s economy is highly connected with that of the United States as the island uses the U.S. dollar as its unit of currency and the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank regulates the money supply and rates of foreign exchange, along with the fact that Puerto Rico is closely aligned with US banks and retailers. Despite this thriving economy, Puerto Rico was historically behind that of many US mainland states, but that changed in the 1940s when Governor Luis Muñoz Marín launched Operation Bootstrap. This project brought investors, motivated by government subsidies and tax-free access to the US mainland, to the island who built factories which produced goods that could be exported elsewhere. This period of time allowed Puerto Rico to completely transform itself from an agricultural to industrialized economy. However, things took a turn for the worse in May of 2017 when Puerto Rico requested US bankruptcy protection in the form of a court debt restructuring process because the annual economic growth from 2006 to 2020 fell 12.5% while the population also shrank by about 16%, causing massive economic strain. Then, Hurricane Maria devastated the island in September of that same year, causing Puerto Rico’s debt to the US to skyrocket to over $70 billion, or 68% of its GDP. Today, Puerto Rico’s debt to the United States has been reduced and which has allowed Puerto Rico to exit bankruptcy. Overall, Puerto Rico’s economy is a fascinating topic that has shifted and changed along with history, making it one of the most unique economies in the world.