History of the Jews in Puerto Rico Very few American Jews settled in Puerto Rico after it was ceded by Spain to the United States under the terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish–American War. The first large group of Jews to settle in Puerto Rico were refugees fleeing German–occupied Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. The second influx came in the 1950s, when thousands of Cuban Jews (most of Eastern-European descent) fled after Fidel Castro came to power. The majority immigrated to Miami, Florida, but a sizable portion chose to establish and integrate themselves on the neighboring island because of Puerto Rico's
Geology of Puerto Rico Trough to the coast of Central America. Approximately 50 miles ESE of Fajardo, Puerto Rico, past the island of Vieques and approximately 20 miles south of Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, can be found the Virgin Islands Trough, which in places exceeds 14,000 feet in depth. Geology of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico is composed of Jurassic to Eocene volcanic and plutonic rocks, which are overlain by younger Oligocene to recent carbonates and other sedimentary rocks. Most of the caverns and karst topography on the island occurs in the northern Oligocene to recent carbonates. The oldest rocks are approximately