Puerto Rico Genealogy

Guide to Puerto Rico ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Country Information
Puerto Rico is a United States Territory in the Caribbean whose nearest neighbors are the Dominican Republic, British Virgin Islands, and Anguilla. It was formerly a colony of Spain. The official languages are Spanish and English.

Municipalities
Sovereignty. Spain 1493, United States 1898.

Subdivisions. Puerto Rico is a territory of the US with commonwealth status. There are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 78 municipalities (municipios) at the second order.

FamilySearch Resources
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in resourcing your family.
 * Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
 * Historical Records
 * Family History Center locator map

Research Tutorials

 * Search page
 * Introduction to Hispanic Research
 * U.S. Hispanic Immigration
 * U.S. Hispanic Immigrants: Finding their Place of Origin
 * Improve your Search Results in FamilySearch Hispanic Records
 * Relatives Masked in the Indexes of Ancestry
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records:
 * Lesson 1: The Spanish Alphabet
 * Lesson 2: Words and Dates
 * Lesson 3: Reading Spanish Records
 * Hispanic Online Resources