On Sunday, June 11, Puerto Rico is holding a referendum on the future legal status of this Caribbean island.

In a referendum, citizens choose the country's future among three options: maintaining the current status of Puerto Rico, changing the status to the fifty-first state of the United States or full independence in association with the United States.

Now Puerto Rico is called an "unincorporated territory of the United States," because it does not belong to any state, is not itself a state and is under the direct jurisdiction of the Congress, Radio Liberty writes.

The US Constitution does not work in full. Residents of the island are citizens of the United States and pay some US taxes, but do not fully use the country's social benefits, do not vote in presidential and congressional elections and the like.

It should be noted that a similar referendum was held on the island five years ago, but it did not determine the unequivocal preferences of the population.

The decision to hold a referendum was taken by the island authorities because of the economic recession and the resulting islanders' move to the mainland.

In May, the leadership of Puerto Rico declared bankruptcy.

If Puerto Rico during these elections will vote for a change of status to the state of the United States, local parliamentarians will go to Washington with a petition to Congress in order to approve the outcome of the referendum.

A positive decision requires a simple majority of both chambers of the legislature and the president's credentials.