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Florida Overview

Florida is a southern state in the United States. It is known as the Sunshine State. "Florida" is a Spanish adjective which means "flowery". It was discovered by Spanish explorers during the Easter season, which is called Pascua Florida in Spanish. The U.S. Postal abbreviation is FL.

Capital - Tallahassee

Largest city - Jacksonville

Governor - Jeb Bush

Official languages - English

Area -170,451 km² (22nd)

- Land 137,374 km²

- Water 30,486 km² (17.9%)

Population (2000)

- Population 15,982,378 (4th)

- Density 114.43 /km² (8th)

Admission into Union

- Date March 3, 1845

- Order 27th

Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4

Central: UTC-6/-5 (western panhandle)

Latitude 24°30'N to 31°N

Longitude 79°48'W to 87°38'W

Width 260 km

Length 800 km

Elevation

- Highest 105 m

- Mean 30 m

- Lowest 0 m

Abbreviations

- USPS FL

- ISO 3166-2 US-FL

Web site www.myflorida.com

History

Archaelogical finds indicate that Florida had been inhabited for many thousands of years prior to any European settlements. Spaniards first arrived in 1513 and laid claim to a large, imprecisely defined area extending from about modern day Gainesville northward to the Carolinas, which they called La terra florida, "The flowery land". Over the following century, the Spanish and French both established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success. The area of Florida diminished with the establishment of British colonies to the north and French colonies to the west. Control of parts of Florida passed among Spanish, British, and American control. Spain finally ceded Florida to the United States with the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819, in exchange for the US 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 and was one of the founding members of the Confederate States of America (CSA, also known as the Confederacy). Florida joined the CSA on February 10, 1860. After the fall of the Confederacy in 1865, Florida was readmitted into the Union on June 25, 1868. Today, Florida is the fourth most populous state in the Union.

Geography

Florida consists of a panhandle extending along the northern Gulf of Mexico and a 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. It is near the countries of the Caribbean, particularly the Bahamas, Cuba, and Haiti.

At 345 feet (105 metres) above sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida (it's also the lowest state highpoint.)

Climate

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. 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 Farenheit, it is not common for the mercury to go above 100 degrees Fareinheit in Florida.

While Florida's nickname is the "Sunshine State", severe weather is a common occurrence in Florida. 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. These thunderstorms which are caused by airflow from the Gulf of Mexico seemingly "pop up" in the early afternoon and can often bring heavy downpours, high winds and sometimes tornadoes. Florida has more lightning strikes than any other state and also 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, although it usually snows somewhere in Florida almost every winter. During the Great Blizzard of 1899, Florida experienced blizzard conditions for possibly the first time. 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 Farenheit, registering -2f in Tallahassee. 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 history.

Hurricanes pose a threat during the summer and fall. Florida saw a slew of destruction in 2004 when it was hit by a record four hurricanes. Hurricanes Charley (August 13), Frances (September 4-5), Ivan (September 16), and Jeanne (September 25-26) cumulatively cost forty-two billion dollars to the state. Florida was also the site of the most costly single weather disaster in U.S. history, Hurricane Andrew, which cost twenty-five billion dollars when it struck on August 12, 1992. Among a long list of other infamous hurricane strikes were the Miami Hurricane of 1926, the Lake Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928, the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Hurricane Donna in 1960 and Hurricane Opal in 1995. Many other smaller hurricanes have hit or brushed Florida, and many more hurricanes will hit in the future.

Economy

The 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. 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 centres 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 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. 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.

In 2005 Spamhaus declared Florida the spam capital of the world [1] (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-sbspammain08may08,0,7702631.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines). Experts have estimated that Florida is an attractive place of business for Spammers due to the gorgeous weather, low key atmosphere, nearby Internet data centers and the state's reputation as "a good place to do dirty business". Spammers are not the first business men of questionable ethics to use Florida as a home base. Historically Florida has also been home to large telemarketing firms. Today most of the spam businesses appear to be operating out of South Florida.

City Population

Population > 1,000,000

* Miami

* Tampa

* Orlando

* Jacksonville

Population > 100,000

* West Palm Beach

* Coral Springs

* Sarasota

* Palm Bay

* Hialeah

* Cape Coral

* Pensacola

* Port Saint Lucie

* Daytona Beach

* Bonita Springs

* Tallahassee

* Lakeland

* Kissimmee

* Gainesville

* Pembroke Pines

* Fort Walton Beach

* Deltona

* Panama City

* North Port

* Ocala

* Brooksville

* Fort Lauderdale

* Melbourne

* Saint Petersburg

Population > 10,000

* Vero Beach

* Key West

* Leesburg

* Zephyrhills

* Saint Augustine

* Titusville

* Lady Lake

* Sebring

* Inverness

* Greater Sun Center

* Palm Coast

* Clermont

* Lehigh Acres

* Belle Glade

* Palatka

* Miami Springs

* Crestview

* Immokalee

* Islamorada

* Okeechobee

* Homosassa Springs

* Lake City

* Marco Island

* Ross Prairie

* Bartow

* Wauchula

* Arcadia

* Placid Lakes

* Clewiston

* Poinciana

* Key Biscayne

* La Belle

* Marianna

* The Villages

* Jupiter

* New Port Richey

Sports

Professional sports teams in Florida

* National Football League

o Jacksonville Jaguars

o Tampa Bay Buccaneers

o Miami Dolphins

* National Basketball Association

o Orlando Magic

o Miami Heat

* National Hockey League

o Tampa Bay Lightning

o Florida Panthers

* Major League Baseball

o Tampa Bay Devil Rays

o Florida Marlins

* Arena Football League

o Orlando Predators

o Tampa Bay Storm

Spring training

Florida is an extremely popular location 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:

* Atlanta Braves at Walt Disney World

* Baltimore Orioles in Fort Lauderdale

* Boston Red Sox in Palms Park

* Cincinatti Reds in Sarasota

* Cleveland Indians in Winter Haven

* Detroit Tigers in Lakeland

* Florida Marlins in Jupiter

* Houston Astros in Kissimmee

* Los Angeles Dodgers in Vero Beach

* Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers

* Washington Nationals in Viera

* New York Mets in Port St. Lucie

* New York Yankees in Tampa

* Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater

* Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton

* Saint Louis Cardinals in Jupiter

* Tampa Bay Devil Rays in St. Petersburg

* Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin

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