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Florida is a state in the southeast United States, situated mostly on a large peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida. Florida is a Spanish adjective meaning flowery. The peninsula was named by Juan Ponce de León, who landed on the coast on April 2, 1513, during Pascua Florida, a Spanish term for the Easter season. Pascua Florida Day, April 2, is a legal holiday in Florida.[1] Its U.S. Postal abbreviation is FL, though a traditional abbreviation is Fla.
HistoryFive of the flags that have been flown over Florida throughout the centuries.
Archaeological finds indicate that Florida had been inhabited for many thousands of years prior to any European settlements. Of the many indigenous people, the largest tribes were the Ais, Calusa, Tequesta, Timucua and the Tocobago tribes. Juan Ponce de León, a Spanish conquistador, named this new land in honor of his discovery of the land on April 2, 1513, during Pascua Florida, which is a Spanish term for the Easter season. From that date forward, the land became known as "La Florida." Over the following century, the Spanish and French both established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success. Spanish Pensacola was established by Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano as the first European settlement in the continental United States in 1559, but its settlement was interrupted by a hurricane. French Huguenots founded Fort Caroline in modern day Jacksonville in 1564, but it was conquered by forces from the new Spanish colony of St. Augustine the following year. When Huguenot leader Jean Ribault had learned of the new Spanish threat, he launched an expedition to sack their settlement. En route, however, severe storms at sea waylaid the expedition, which consisted of most of the colony's men, allowing St. Augustine founder Pedro Menéndez de Avilés time to march his men over land and conquer the poorly defended to Fort Caroline. Most of the Huguenots were slaughtered, and Menéndez de Avilés marched south and captured the survivors of the wrecked French fleet, ordering all but a few Catholics executed beside a river subsequently called Matanzas (Spanish for "killings"). St. Augustine, the US' oldest continually inhabited European settlement besides San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Pensacola, the first European settlement in the Continental United States, came to serve as the capitals of the British and Spanish colonies of East and West Florida, respectively. The Spanish never had a firm hold on Florida, maintaining a tenuous control of the region by converting the local tribes, briefly with Jesuits and later with Franciscan friars. The local leaders or caciques demonstrated their loyalty to the Spanish by converting to Catholicism and welcoming the Franciscan priests into their villages. The area of Florida diminished with the establishment of British colonies to the north and French colonies to the west. The English weakened Spanish power in the region by supplying their Creek Indian allies with firearms and urging them to raid the Timucuan and Apalachee client-tribes of the Spanish. At other times, the English outright attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times, while the citizens hid behind the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos. The Spanish, meanwhile, encouraged slaves to flee the British-held Carolinas and come to Florida, where they were converted to Catholicism and given freedom, in return for settling in a buffer community north of St. Augustine, called Gracie Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, the first completely black settlement in what would become the United States. Great Britain eventually gained control of Florida diplomatically in 1763 through the Peace of Paris (the Castillo de San Marcos surrendered for the first time, having never been taken militarily). England tried to develop Florida through the importation of immigrants for labor, including some from Minorca and Greece, but this ultimately failed. Spain regained Florida after England's defeat by the American colonies and the subsequent Treaty of Paris in 1783. Spain finally ceded Florida to the United States with the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819, in exchange for the U.S. renouncing any claims on Texas. On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the United States of America. Florida seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War and became one of the founding members of the Confederate States of America ten days later. After then end of the war in 1865, Florida's Congress representation was restored on June 25, 1868. Until the mid-twentieth century, Florida was the least populous Southern state. However, migration from the Rust Belt combined with Florida's warm climate (tempered by the growing availability of air conditioning) made it a haven for newcomers. Today, Florida is the most populous state in the South besides Texas and the fourth most populous in the US. The USS Florida was named in honor of the state. Law and government
The basic structure, duties, function, and operations of the Government of the State of Florida are defined and established by the Florida Constitution, which also establishes the basic law of the state and guarantees various rights and freedoms of the people. The state government consists of three separate branches, the judicial, executive and legislative. The Florida Legislature enacts legislation, such as those in the Florida Statutes, which are signed into law by the Governor of Florida. The Florida Legislature has a Senate of 40 members and a House of 120 members. The current governor is Republican Jeb Bush, brother of President George W. Bush and son of former President George H. W. Bush. Though Florida has traditionally been a Democratic state, in recent years the reallignment of the Solid South has meant that traditionally conservative Democrats have moved en masse to the Republican Party. Combined with explosive population growth which has brought with it many Republicans, the state has been left with a small Republican edge. Despite this demographic near-parity, Republicans control the governorship and most other statewide elected offices, both houses of the state legislature, 18 of the state's 25 seats in the House of Representatives, and one of the state's two Senate seats. The 2000 Presidential election in Florida was extremely close. As such, and because of its high population and large number of electoral votes, Florida is considered by political analysts to be a key swing state in Presidential elections. The Tampa area, once a major center of Democratic union support, is now almost evenly split between registered Republicans and Democrats, making it part of the important I-4 Corridor swing region. Democrats outnumber Republicans in Florida in voter registration with Democrats 43% to Republicans' 39%.
TaxationFlorida is one of the nine states which do not impose a personal income tax (list of others). The state sales tax rate is 6 (six) percent [2]. Local governments may levy an additional local option sales tax of up to 1.5 percent. A locale's use tax rate is the same as its sales tax rate, including local options if any. Use taxes are payable for purchases made out-of-state and brought into Florida within 6 months of the purchase date. Other taxes are mostly levied on businesses. They include the following taxes: Corporate Income, Communication Services, Intangibles, Unemployment, Solid Waste, Documentary Stamps, Insurance Premium, Pollutants, and various fuel taxes. For more information visit the Florida Department of Revenue website at [3]. Geography
Further information: List of counties in Florida Florida consists of the panhandle extending along the northern Gulf of Mexico and the large peninsula with the Atlantic Ocean as its eastern border and the Gulf of Mexico as its western border. It is bordered on the north by the states of Georgia and Alabama and on the west, at the end of the panhandle, by Alabama. It is near the countries of the Caribbean, particularly the Bahamas and Cuba. At 345 feet (105 metres) above mean sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida. This is also the lowest highpoint of any U.S. state. Contrary to popular belief, however, Florida is not an entirely "flat" state. Some places, such as Clearwater, feature relatively high vistas rising 50 to 100 feet (15–30 m) above the water. Much of the interior of Florida, typically 25 miles (40 km) or more away from the coastline, features rolling hills with elevations ranging from 100 to 250 feet (30–76 m) in many locations. Lake County holds the highest point of peninsular Florida, Sugarloaf Mountain , at 312 feet (95 m). The amount of topographical change will surprise many visitors. BoundariesThe state line begins at the Atlantic, traveling west, south, and north up the thalweg of the Saint Mary's River. At the origin of that river, it then follows a straight line nearly due-west and slightly north, to the point where the confluence of the Flint River (from Georgia) and the Chattahoochee River (down the Alabama/Georgia line) used to form Florida's Apalachicola River. (This point is now under Lake Seminole since Woodruff Dam was built.) The border with Georgia continues north through the lake for a short distance up the former thalweg of the Chattahoochee, then with Alabama runs due west along latitude 31°N to the Perdido River, then south along its thalweg to the Gulf via Perdido Bay. ClimateHurricane Frances near peak strength. Florida taken from NASA Shuttle Mission STS-95 on 31 October 1998. The "Cold Sunday" of January 1982 ruined most of the orange crop in Florida.The climate of Florida is tempered somewhat by its proximity to water. Most of the state has a humid subtropical climate with the extreme tip of Florida and the Florida Keys bordering on a true tropical climate. Cold fronts can occasionally bring high winds and cool to cold temperatures to the entire state during late Fall, and Winter. One such front swept through the peninsula on November 25, 1996 bringing cold temperatures and winds up to 95 mph, knocking out power to thousands, and damaging mobile homes. However, Florida averages 300 days of full sunshine a year. The seasons in Florida often called "Hot and Hotter" are actually determined more by precipitation than by temperature with warm, relatively dry winters and autumns (the dry season) and hot, wet springs and especially the summers (the wet season). The Gulf Stream has a moderating effect on Florida climate and although it is common for much of Florida to see a high summer temperature over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 °C), it is not common for the mercury to go above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (39 °C) in Florida. The hottest temperature ever recorded in the state was 109 °F (43 °C) set on June 29, 1931 in Monticello. The coldest was 2 °F below zero (−19 °C), on February 13, 1899 just 25 miles (40 km) away, in Tallahassee. Mean high temperatures for late July are primarily in the low 90's Fahrenheit (32–35 °C). Mean low temperatures for late January range from the low 40's Fahrenheit (4–7 °C) in North Florida to the mid-50's (≈13 °C)in South Florida. While Florida's nickname is the "Sunshine State", severe weather is a common occurrence in Florida. Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the U.S. as it experiences more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the country. Statewide, Florida has the highest average precipitation of any state, due in large part to afternoon thunderstorms which are common throughout most of the state from late spring until the early autumn. However, a sunny day may be interrupted with a storm only to return to regular gorgeous weather. These thunderstorms, which are caused by airflow from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean colliding over the peninsula, seemingly "pop up" in the early afternoon and can often bring heavy downpours, high winds and sometimes tornadoes. This is frequently due to "onshore flow," or a collision of sea breezes from the east and west coasts. Florida leads the nation in tornadoes per square mile, although the tornadoes in Florida do not get as large as those in the Midwest or Great Plains. Hail is not an uncommon occurrence in some of the more severe thunderstorms. Snow is a rare occurrence in Florida. During the Great Blizzard of 1899, Florida experienced blizzard conditions for possibly the first time since explorers had arrived. During that time, the Tampa Bay Area had "Gulf effect" snow, similar to lake effect snowfall. The Great Blizzard of 1899 was also the only time the temperature has fallen below 0 degrees Fahrenheit (−18 °C), registering -2° F (−18.9 °C)in Tallahassee on February 13, 1899. The most widespread snowfall in Florida history happened in February 1978 with snow falling over much of the state in different times of the month, extending as far south as Homestead. Snow flurries fell on Miami Beach for the only time in recorded history. 1982's Cold Sunday, which saw freezing conditions throughout much of the country, ruined that year's orange crops. In 1989, there was a severe hard freeze that created lots of ice and also caused minor flurries in sections of the state and resulted in rolling blackouts due to power failures caused by massive demands on the power grid for heating. Although some storms have formed out of season, hurricanes pose a threat during hurricane season, which is from June 1 to November 30. Florida saw a slew of destruction in 2004 when it was hit by a record four hurricanes. Hurricanes Charley (August 13), Frances (September 4-September 5|5), Ivan (September 16), and Jeanne (September 25-26) cumulatively cost forty-two billion dollars to the state. In 2005, Hurricane Dennis (July 10) became the fifth storm to strike Florida within 11 months. Later, Hurricane Katrina (August 25) passed through South Florida and Hurricane Rita (September 20) swept through the Florida Keys. Hurricane Wilma made landfall in Florida in the early morning of October 24 as a category 3 hurricane, with storm's eye hitting near Cape Romano, just south of Marco Island, according to National Hurricane Center. Florida was also the site of the second most costly single weather disaster in U.S. history, Hurricane Andrew, which caused more than twenty-five billion dollars ($25,000,000,000) in damage when it struck on August 24, 1992. Among a long list of other infamous hurricane strikes were the 1926 Great Miami Hurricane, the Lake Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928, the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Hurricane Donna in 1960, and Hurricane Opal in 1995.
EconomyLaunch of Space Shuttle Columbia from Kennedy Space Center. Greetings from FloridaThe gross state product of Florida in 2003 was $550 billion. The per capita personal income was $30,098, ranking 26th in the nation. Florida's economy is heavily based on tourism. About 60 million visitors come to Florida every year. Warm weather most of the year and hundreds of miles of beach provide a thriving vacation spot for travelers from around the world. The large Walt Disney World Resort with four theme parks and over twenty hotels plus countless water parks, shopping centers and other facilities, located in Lake Buena Vista drives the economy of that area, along with more recent entries into the theme park arena such as the Universal Orlando Resort. The great amount of sales and tourist tax revenue is what allows the state to be one of the few to not levy a personal income tax. Other major industries include citrus fruit and juice production, banking, and phosphate mining within the Bone Valley region. With the arrival of the space program at Kennedy Space Center in the 1960s, Florida has attracted a large number of aerospace and military industries to the state. Florida did not have any state minimum wage laws until November 2, 2004, when voters passed a Constitutional Amendment requiring inflationary increases to the minimum wage every six months. Historically, Florida's economy was based upon cattle farming and agriculture (especially sugar cane, citrus, tomatoes, and strawberries). As land speculators discovered Florida in the early 1900's, and when Plant and Flagler developed the railway systems, more people moved in, drawn by the usually good weather. From then on, tourism boomed, fueling a cycle of development and tourism that overwhelmed a great deal of farmland. Other key industries, commercial fishing and water-based tourist activities (sports fishing and diving) were threatened by severe Red Tide outbreaks in 2004 and 2005 off the west coast. Demographics
As of 2005, Florida has an estimated population of 17,789,864, which is an increase of 404,434, or 2.3%, from the prior year and an increase of 1,807,040, or 11.3%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 246,058 people (that is 1,115,565 births minus 869,507 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 1,585,704 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 528,085 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 1,057,619 people. [citation needed] Race and ancestry
Blacks, who during the cotton and sugar plantation era made up fully 50 percent of the state's population, have a large presence in the deeply southern middle Florida region of North Florida and in the cities of Jacksonville, Gainesville, and Fort Lauderdale. Transplanted Northerners are prominent on the West Coast, particularly in the Tampa suburbs. Floridians of British ancestry are dominant in most coastal cities, while Floridians of white American ancestry dominate the culturally Southern areas of inland North Florida. Florida's large and diverse Hispanic community consists particularly of Cubans in Miami and Tampa, Puerto Ricans in Tampa and Orlando and Mexican migrant workers in inland West-Central and South Florida. There are also a number of Haitian Americans in Miami and other parts of Florida. Native white Floridians, especially those who have descended from long-time Florida families, are affectionately referred to as "Florida Crackers." Florida's fast-growing Hispanic population is heaviest in Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. Black Floridians are overwhelmingly Democratic voters. Blacks comprise a large fraction of the populations of North Central Florida, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, and the Tampa Bay area. LanguagesAs of 2000, 76.9% of Florida residents age 5 and older speak English at home and 16.5% speak Spanish. French is the third most spoken language at 2.2%, followed by German at 0.6% and Italian at 0.4%. Article II, Section 9 of the Florida Constitution provides that "English is the official language of the State of Florida." This was adopted in 1988 by a vote following an Initiative Petition. ReligionFlorida is mostly Protestant, but with a growing Roman Catholic community due to immigration. There is also a sizable Jewish community in some parts of Florida which makes Florida unique among Southern states because no other Southern state has a large Jewish community. Florida's current religious affiliations are shown in the table below:
Important cities, towns, and communitiesJacksonville Miami Fort Lauderdale Orlando Tallahassee TampaMain articles: List of cities in Florida and Florida locations by per capita income
Miscellaneous informationOrange blossoms.
TransportationThe sample version of Florida's license plateHighwaysFlorida's interstates, state highways and U.S. Highways are maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation. Florida's interstate highway system contains 1,473 miles (2371 km) of highway, and there are 9,934 miles (15 987 km) of non-interstate highway in the state, such as Florida state highways and U.S. Highways. Florida's primary interstate routes include:
Florida's secondary interstate routes include:
Florida also has several toll roads, totalling 515 miles of the state highway system. Major toll roads include:
For more information about the myriad secondary toll expressways in Florida, see articles detailing roads maintained by: the Florida Turnpike Authority; the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority; and the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority. Intercity railIn 2000, voters approved a constitutional amendment to construct a high speed rail system to interconnect Florida's major cities. A committee was formed by the Florida Legislature to oversee the project. However, Governor Jeb Bush and other lawmakers pushed for an amendment in 2004 to remove the amendment, which succeeded. They stated that the cost would have been too high to construct the system; however, proponents of the system have said the claims regarding high cost were exaggerated and taken out of context, compared with the cost of building roads, maintaining automobiles, and so forth. The Florida High Speed Rail Authority, originally formed to implement the high speed rail amendment, has vowed to find a way to implement the system without the amendment. Amtrak service exists in Florida, but it is considered by many not to be extensive or convenient enough for anything but vacation travel. Sanford, in Greater Orlando, is the southern terminus of the Amtrak Auto Train. Public transportationPublic transportation systems exist in many major cities. Miami has a monorail system as well as a metro system, and most cities have bus service. In the South Florida Metropolitan area, train service is provided by Tri-Rail; this service has a southern terminus in Miami and a northern terminus in West Palm Beach. It has been proposed that the northern terminus be extended north as far as Stuart, however no progress has been made at this time. Tri-Rail also provides local bus service from their stations. Greyhound provides commercial bus service between different cities in Florida. AirportsMajor international airports in Florida, with passenger traffic over 20 million annually, are Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Miami International Airport, Orlando International Airport and Tampa International Airport. Secondary airports, with annual passenger traffic over 7 million annually include Jacksonville International Airport, Palm Beach International Airport (West Palm Beach), and Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers). There are many other smaller regional airports including those in Daytona Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Gainesville, Key West, Naples, Pensacola, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, and Tallahassee. Education and cultureFlorida's public school revenue per student and spending per $1000 of personal income usually ranks in the bottom 25% of U.S. states. Average teacher salaries rank near the middle of U.S. states. Florida public schools have consistently ranked in the bottom 25% of many national surveys and average test score rankings. It should be noted that many education surveys are not scientific, but do measure prestige. Governor Jeb Bush has been criticized by many Florida educators for a program that penalizes underperforming schools (as indicated by standardized tests, such as the FCAT) with fewer funding dollars, though supporters claim the program's tough measures have resulted in vast improvements to the education system. Major testing organizations frequently discount the use of state average test score rankings, or any average of scaled scores, as a valid metric (see psychometrics for more details on scaled test scores). In 2000, Governor Bush and the state legislature acted to abolish the Board of Regents that governed the State University System of Florida. Instead, each public university is now controlled by its own Board of Trustees who are directly appointed by the governor. As is typical of executive-appointed government boards, the appointees so far have been overwhelmingly Republican. This has not been without controversy. [7] In 2002, Democratic Senator Bob Graham started a ballot referendum designed to revert to the Board of Regents system. Colleges and universitiesCentury Tower, University of Florida. The Westcott Building, Florida State University. The Green Library at Florida International University. The Sun Dome at the University of South Florida.
SportsMajor-league teams
Spring trainingFlorida is the traditional home for Major League Baseball spring training, with teams informally organized into the "Grapefruit League." As of 2004, Florida hosts the following major league teams for spring training:
Minor-league teamsFlorida also hosts the following minor league baseball teams:
Auto racing tracks
External linksFind more information on Florida by searching one of Wikipedia's sister projects: Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
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