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Jíbaro is a Taino Indian word, Jibaro meaning (forest people) and used in Puerto Rico to refer to mestizo peasants, but it also has a broader cultural meaning. When Spanish control ended in 1898, "jíbaros" who were generally working-class agricultural land tenants, sharecroppers, and hired fieldworkers-came to represent the authentic Puerto Rican people in all their ethnic and cultural complexity, the soul of "la gran familia puertorriqueña." The expression in English that best describes jíbaros is probably "salt of the earth." Certain kinds of music (such as seis and aguinaldo) have also become associated with jíbaro traditions.

When Luis Muñoz Marín founded the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) in 1938, the party adopted the jíbaro hat, the pava, as its symbol. The PDP seal shows the pava with the words "Pan, Tierra, y Libertad", which translates to "Bread, Land, and Freedom" in English.

In modern times, the word jíbaro has become a pejorative, somewhat similar to the American english word, hillbilly. It is used to denote a resident of the countryside or the mountains who lives away from major towns or cities, is ignorant towards modern society and usually maintains an aggressively conservative point of view.

Jíbaros are stereotypically seen as being members of the PDP and of Catholic faith hence the common humoristic phrase católico y popular, Catholic and popular ( Popular is the common way to refer to someone of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP)). Although other common religions stereotypically adopted by jibaros are Protestant faiths, Pentecostal being the most common one.

In Cuba there exists a word similar to jíbaro, Guajiro.

[edit] Uses of the word in other countries

• In Venezuela, jíbaro is used to describe street drug dealers.
• The Shuar people of the amazonic regions of South America are sometimes called "jíbaros". The word is commonly used in Ecuador and is usually considered an insult.

de: Jíbaro (Puerto Rico)