English language in Puerto Rico

English, along with Spanish, is an official language of the Government of Puerto Rico. Spanish has been an official language in Puerto Rico since it was colonized in the 15th century. English, on the other hand, was first introduced as an official language when the United States occupied the island during the Spanish–

American War. Since then, the Puerto Rican government has declared Spanish an official language on several occasions while removing it from that status on as many occasions.
Spanish is the most widely spoken and written language, and the vast majority of Puerto Ricans do not use English regularly other than some borrowed English words in their ordinary Spanish speech. Various surveys have found that the majority of Puerto Ricans are not fully fluent in English. The 2000 US Census found that 71.9% of people in Puerto Rico spoke English less than "very well." It also found that 85.6% spoke a language other than English at home (mostly Spanish).

After the invasion by the United States in 1898, the Americans made English the official language. In 1991 under the pro-Commonwealth PPD administration of Rafael Hernández Colón Spanish was declared the only official language in the Island. Then, in 1993, under the pro-statehood PNP administration of Pedro Rosselló, the law was reversed, and English was again reinstated as an official language alongside Spanish. In a 1993 survey by the Ateneo Puertorriqueño, a leading cultural institution in Puerto Rico, 93 percent of respondents indicated that they would not relinquish Spanish as their language if Puerto Rico ever became a state of the American Union, even if the United States required English as the only official language of the Island.