Wikipedia:WikiProject Puerto Rico/Standards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Puerto Rico WikiProject (PR) developed these article standards for page formatting and layout based on best practices developed through WP:Consensus and other discussions involving the wider Wikipedia community. These standards are not set in stone, however, and can be ignored if warranted for a particular Puerto Rico article, but they should be used on nearly all Puerto Rico articles under this project's scope. If someone finds a case where the Wikipedia Manual of Style (MOS) and these standards conflict, that editor should follow the MOS and let PR know so this document can be updated.
 | This is a WikiProject advice page on style. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more WikiProjects on how to format and present article content within their area of interest. This page is not an encyclopedia article or a Wikipedia policy, as it has not been reviewed by the community. |
Language
American vs. British English
Editors are encouraged to create and edit Puerto Rico articles following American English spelling.
Editors are encouraged to use the template {{Use American English|date=<month-year>}} (example:{{Use American English|date=November 2019}}) in all Puerto Rico articles to help accomplish this. The template is added at the beginning of an article. Adding this template accomplishes two purposes: (1) standardizes spelling to follow the American English spelling in all articles, and (2) directs spell-checker BOTs to follow the American English spelling when operating on such articles, changing words spelled with the British spelling to the American spelling.
For example:
The article Hospital San Lucas (a hospital in Puerto Rico) was created on 12 December 2011 using American English spelling but the "Use American English" template wasn't added to the article. Subsequently, on 18 September 2016 an editor changed the article to follow British spelling. The "Use American English" template was added on 22 September 2019 to help avoid this in the future. The article was modified again on 29 November 2019 to follow the American spelling.
Note: This does not affect date formats, i.e., an article can follow the American spelling while following the British date format.
Spanish (foreign) words
If the word is found in an English language dictionary it doesn't need to be italicized. For example, the word barrio does exist in the English dictionary, as can be seen in wordreference.com, so it does not need to be italicized. Words that are not in the English dictionary should have the language template around them or be italicized.
{{lang|es|Estamos Bien}}would render as Estamos Bien. Putting two single quotes at the beginning and end of the word works, as well.
Pronunciation
Add a pronunciation key after foreign names. When a foreign name has a set English pronunciation (or pronunciations), include both the English and foreign-language pronunciations; the English transcription must always be first. If the native name is different from the English name, the native transcription must appear after the native name.
For example: '''Venezuela''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|v|ɛ|n|ə|ˈ|z|w|eɪ|l|ə}}; {{langx|es|República Bolivariana de Venezuela}}, {{IPA|es|reˈpuβlika βoliβaˈɾjana ðe βeneˈswela|pron}})
which gives: Venezuela (/ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə/; Spanish: República Bolivariana de Venezuela, pronounced [reˈpuβlika βoliβaˈɾjana ðe βeneˈswela])
Translation
It is appropriate to translate text within the article and reference titles, from Spanish to English, but be careful with machine language translations. On the Álvaro Betancourt article, the reference titles are translated, making it possible for readers to understand them. Here's an example of a translated reference title parameter: "Triunfan los Vaqueros y los Gladiadores" [Vaqueros and Gladiadores succeed]- Notice it's not been translated to "Cowboys and Gladiators succeed" because those are names.
The use of "U.S."
Introduction
The Territories of the United States have various types of relationships with the US. "Unincorporated territories are not integral parts of the United States and no promise of statehood or a status approaching statehood is held out to them." See Integrated Renewable Resource Management for U.S. here for an explanation in simple-to-understand terms.
Sometimes with viral situations, false information spreads quickly. Unfortunately, this has been the case with Puerto Rico, an island archipelago property of the United States, and with Puerto Ricans, the people who live there. Puerto Rico is not only the largest of the unincorporated territories of the United States, but the largest by far because it is larger, both in population and land area, than all other U.S. unincorporated territories combined.
Some think the U.S. territories are "in" (or -as some phrase it- "a part of") the U.S., but that is not the case. The U.S. is composed of the 50 states and Washington DC. See this map of the United States by the CIA, an agency of the U.S. Government, in its official "CIA World Fact Book" to understand what the U.S. Government considers the territory that is part of the United States, and notice that the U.S. unincorporated territories are not included. In fact, it even goes further to state "Note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia, no overseas territories."
The U.S. classifies migration to the US from PR, and migration to PR from the US as international migration.[1]
The U.S. Congress does have final say in many of its unincorporated territories' affairs, but that is not because they are "part of" or "in" the US, but because of the legalities of the relationship of the United States with the people who live in those territories. This is an encyclopedia, (encyclopaedia in the UK) and being precise here is a requirement. Some additional facts are in place at this point:
- Puerto Rico is "foreign in a domestic sense".[2]
- Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the US. This is often reduced to "territory of the United States" for brevity.[6]
- Puerto Rico is an insular area of the US.[6]
- Puerto Rico is associated with the US. [10]
Several repercussions result from the statements cited above:
- Using "Puerto Rico, United States" in an address or location contradicts the statements cited above and, thus, is not to be used in Wikipedia article or its summary infoboxes.
- Sometimes, in Wikipedia articles, templates, categories, etc., it can be beneficial to point out that Puerto Rico -- as with the other unincorporated territories of the United States, are not constituent parts of "the United States". This can be accomplished by inserting, in the proper place of the body of the article, template, category, etc., the phrase "United States and its territories". This qualifies that the territories are also included, if that was the case in the specific matter being covered. Some exampleas may be articles regarding subjects for which the United States is provider of the service, such as military defense, postal service.
- Puerto Rico, being the most populated of the territories is often spoken of along with the 50 states and DC. Many times we hear the newscasters state, the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico. In many cases this may also included all' other territories in addition to Puerto Rico, but only Puerto Rico was named for brevity. However, only further research can determine if the rest of the unincorporated territories were also included as well.
In summary, we strive to bring our reader factual information and seek out --and correct-- inaccuracies, half-truths, and outright falsehoods, including that "Puerto Rico is in the US" and that "Puerto Rico is part of the US". Wikipedia has grappled with this issue for many, many years and, though much progress has been achieved, to a smaller extent it continues to be a problem with uninformed readers and even, some Wikipedia editors. We encourage our readers and other editors to be cognizant of the many forms that such falsehood can take and bring it to the attention of tis project whenever and wherever such error may be found in this encyclopedia.
Nowhere have we learned that Puerto Rico is "part of" or "in" the United States. By the way, the United States' own Supreme Court has stated Puerto Rico is not part of the United States and, while on occasions the SCOTUS "considers" Puerto Rico part of the United States, it does this as a handy shorthand way when determining whether it should be treated as a state in allocation of funds to programs (such Social Security or Medicare), and not because it is making a global determination =that Puerto Rico has, somehow, suddenly become part of the United States, something that, to begin with, would required it became formally admitted into the Union by at least two-thirds of the other states and their Legislatures. Of course, as in many such legal cases, the best way for readers to become educated in this matter is to WP:VERIFY.
Infobox
The following standards address the entries to be made for the display of the location of an entity (or place of birth of a person) in infoboxes.
Puerto Rico is not located in the United States, is not part of the United States and is not a U.S. state.[11][12] Because Puerto Rico "belongs to but is not part of the United States",[9] the United Nations states it is a colony of the United States.[13][12][14] "...the Insular Cases produced the doctrine of territorial incorporation. This doctrine holds that fully incorporated territories are afforded all the rights and privileges of the Constitution, while unincorporated territories are only afforded the particular Constitutional rights and privileges as designated by Congress."[15]
In most cases, there is no need to obfuscate the reader with the political relationship of the United States and Puerto Rico. In addition, information in the infobox "summarizes key features of the page's subject";[16] thus, if the subject of the article is, say, a municipality, the infobox should not have facts that allude to the political relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico.[17][18][19]
An official definition of what constitutes the United States can be found on the United States USGS website, on this USGS page.
In addition, the CIA World Factbook, a US Government publication, under the Geography section of the United States, gives the area of the United States and notes that it includes "no overseas territories":
Area
- total: 9,833,517 sq km
- land: 9,147,593 sq km
- water: 685,924 sq km
"note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia, no overseas territories" (the emphasis is ours)[20][21]
The US Social Security Administration defines Puerto Rico as being outside of the United States as well.[22]
For these and other reasons argued in numerous Wikipedia discussions throughout years, the Infobox of Puerto Rico-related articles should not include "United States" (or "US"). (Note: The Wikipedia article List of sovereign states accurately details what "the United States" is, and we encourage editors to use it as a guide whenever a question raises over the topic of "Is Puerto Rico part of the United States?")
Regarding the inclusion of "United States" in the infobox, there have been many discussions over the years because Puerto Rico is not in the U.S. but is a place that belongs to the U.S. while not "a part of the U.S." "United States" thus shouldn't be included in addresses. Puerto Rico in many respects behaves as a country and is a country, but is not a sovereign state because it is a commonwealth, and an unincorporated territory of the United States.[23][24]
The following examples reflect the proper handling of "location" and similar parameters (such as city/ state/ country, etc.) in infoboxes:
Barrios, subbarrios and communities in Puerto Rico
Example:
In the Infobox of barrios, such as the barrio of Pueblo Viejo, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico,
Do use:
| subdivision_type1 = [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|Commonwealth]]| subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Puerto Rico}}| subdivision_type2 = [[List of municipalities in Puerto Rico|Municipality]]| subdivision_name2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of Guaynabo.svg}} [[Guaynabo, Puerto Rico|Guaynabo]]
which renders as:
Biographies on people born in Puerto Rico - "Place of Birth" parameter
Example:
In the Infobox of biographies (such as baseball biography, politician, and others) such as José Hernández (baseball),
Do use:
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|07|14}}| birth_place = [[Río Piedras, Puerto Rico]]
which renders as:
- Born: July 14, 1969 (age 50)
- Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Cays and Islets of Puerto Rico
The U.S. Library of Congress shows places in P.R., including the location of cays and islets of Puerto Rico as being in Puerto Rico.[25]
Companies based in Puerto Rico
Example:
In the Infobox "company", such as Martex Farms,
Do use:
| location = [[Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico|Santa Isabel]], [[Puerto Rico]]
which renders as:
Geologic formations of Puerto Rico
Example:
In the Infobox of "rockunit", such as Lares Limestone,
Do use:
| region = [[Caribbean]]| country = [[Puerto Rico]]
which renders as:
Rationale: Geological formations follow regional geology natural boundaries; they do not obey political powers of sovereign states. "Puerto Rico" is included, as with other world geologic regions, as a location within the geological region, not as a political entity.
Hospitals in Puerto Rico
Example:
In the Infobox of hospitals, such as Professional Hospital Guaynabo,
Do use:
| location = [[Guaynabo, Puerto Rico|Guaynabo]], [[Puerto Rico]]
which renders as:
Libraries in Puerto Rico
Example:
In the Infobox of libraries, such as Biblioteca Municipal Mariana Suárez de Longo,
Do use:
| location = [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]], [[Puerto Rico]]
which renders as:
Military installations of the United States in Puerto Rico
Example:
In the infobox of military installations such as Campamento Santiago,
Do use:
| location = [[Salinas, Puerto Rico]]
which renders as:
Rationale: Location of base is in Puerto Rico.
Municipalities of Puerto Rico
Example:
In the infobox of municipalities, such as the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico,
Do use:
| subdivision_type = [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|Commonwealth]]| subdivision_name = {{flag|Puerto Rico}}
which renders as:
Museums in Puerto Rico
Example:
In the Infobox of museums, such as Museo del Autonomismo Puertorriqueño,
Do use:
| location = [[Ponce]], [[Puerto Rico]]
which renders as:
Organizations in Puerto Rico
Example:
In the Infobox "organization", such as Centro Ponceño de Autismo,
Do use:
| location = [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]], [[Puerto Rico]]
which renders as:
Status: 
Not done?
Parks and Plazas (squares) in Puerto Rico
Example:
In the Infobox of parks, such as Parque Luis Muñoz Rivera,
Do use:
| location = [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]]
which renders as:
Rivers in Puerto Rico
Example:
In the Infobox of rivers, such as Chiquito de Cibao River,
Do use:
| subdivision_type1 = [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|Commonwealth]]| subdivision_name1 = [[Puerto Rico]]| subdivision_type2 = [[Municipalities of Puerto Rico|Municipality]]| subdivision_name2 = [[Lares, Puerto Rico|Lares]]
which renders as:
Universities in Puerto Rico
Example:
In the Infobox of universities, such as UPRRP College of Natural Sciences,
Do use:
| location = [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]], [[Puerto Rico]]
which renders as:
