Fact Check: Exactly How Many States Are in the Us and What Counts?
If a 51st state joins the Union, the candidate with the largest population is Puerto Rico. Ceded by Spain in 1898 following the Spanish-American War, the Caribbean archipelago carries the formal title of an unincorporated territory with Commonwealth status (or Estado Libre Asociado).
Puerto Rico is home to roughly 3.2 million American citizens. Under the Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917, individuals born on the island are natural-born US citizens. They carry American passports and can move freely to any of the 50 states without immigration hurdles. Once a Puerto Rican establishes residency in Florida or New York, they gain immediate rights to register and vote for president and federal legislators.
On the island itself, those rights do not apply. Residents do not vote in general presidential elections and send only one non-voting Resident Commissioner to the House. Island voters have weighed options across multiple non-binding plebiscites over the past decade. While pro-statehood factions won majorities in 2012, 2020, and 2024 ballots, voter turnout variances and disagreements over territorial sovereignty continue to stall binding legislation on Capitol Hill. Admitting a new state requires a simple majority vote in both chambers of Congress under the Admissions Clause, but partisan splits over potential Senate balance have kept the bill frozen.
