Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. The island has no electricity, and may not for months to come. Much of the water is undrinkable. About 80 percent of crop value is gone, a loss of $780 million.

More than 3.4 million people live in Puerto Rico, yet the political and popular response to the catastrophe has been far more muted than the response to the devastation in Houston from Hurricane Harvey or that in Florida from Hurricane Irma. This may be because, according to a new poll, only a slim majority of Americans realize Puerto Ricans are Americans, too.

Here are answers to some questions you might have about Puerto Rico’s place in the United States.

Are Puerto Ricans American citizens?

Yes. Under Section 302 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, people born in Puerto Rico have the same birthright American citizenship as people born in the 50 states. (Puerto Ricans born from April 11, 1899, to Jan. 13, 1941, became citizens when the act was passed.)

Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló of Puerto Rico emphasized this on Monday, pleading for federal aid.

“Puerto Rico, which is part of the United States, can turn into a humanitarian crisis,” he said. “To avoid that, recognize that we Puerto Ricans are American citizens. When we speak of a catastrophe, everyone must be treated equally.”