Florida is a U.S. state located in the southeastern United States. It was named by Juan Ponce de León, who landed on the coast on April 2, 1513, during Pascua Florida. Florida is situated mostly on a large peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida. It extends to the northwest into a panhandle, extending along the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Alachua Altamonte Springs Amelia Island Apalachicola Apopka Arcadia Atlantic Beach Auburndale Aventura Avon Park Bal Harbour Baldwin Belleair Beach Boca Grande Boca Raton Bonita Springs Bowling Green Bradenton Bradenton Beach Brandon Brooksville Bushnell Cape Canaveral Cape Coral Captiva Casselberry Celebration Champions Gate Chiefland Chipley Clearwater Clearwater Beach Clermont Clewiston Cocoa Cocoa Beach Coconut Grove Coral Gables Coral Springs Crawfordville Crestview Crystal River Dade City Dania Dania Beach Davenport Davie Daytona Beach Daytona Beach Shores De Funiak Springs De Land Deerfield Beach Delray Beach Deltona Destin Duck Key Dunedin East Palatka Edgewater Elkton Ellenton Englewood Estero Everglades City Fern Park Fernandina Beach Fisher Island Florida City Fort Lauderdale Fort Myers Fort Myers Beach Fort Pierce Fort Walton Beach Gainesville Gulf Breeze Haines City Hallandale Hernando Hialeah Holiday Hollywood Hollywood Beach Holmes Beach Homestead Indialantic Indian Harbour Beach Indian Rocks Beach Indian Shores Inverness Islamorada Jacksonville Jacksonville Beach Jasper Jennings Jensen Beach Juno Beach Jupiter Kendall Key Biscayne Key Largo Key West Kissimmee Lady Lake Lake Buena Vista Lake City Lake Mary Lake Placid Lake Wales Lake Worth Lakeland Lamont Lantana Largo Leesburg Little Torch Key Live Oak Long Key Longboat Key Lutz Lynn Haven Macclenny Madeira Beach Madison Maitland Manalapan Marathon Marco Island Marianna Melbourne Merritt Island Miami Miami Beach Miami Lakes Miami Springs Micanopy Midway Milton Miramar Miramar Beach Monticello Mount Dora Mulberry Naples Navarre Neptune Beach New Port Richey New Smyrna Beach Niceville Nokomis North Bay Village North Fort Myers North Miami North Miami Beach North Palm Beach North Redington Beach Ocala Ocoee Okeechobee Oldsmar Orange City Orange Park Orlando Ormond Beach Osprey Palatka Palm Bay Palm Beach Palm Beach Gardens Palm Beach Shores Palm Coast Palm Harbor Panama City Panama City Beach Pembroke Pines Pensacola Pensacola Beach Perdido Key Perry Pinellas Park Plant City Plantation Pompano Beach Ponte Vedra Beach Port Charlotte Port Richey Port Saint Lucie Punta Gorda Redington Shores Riviera Beach Safety Harbor Sanford Sanibel Santa Rosa Beach Sarasota Satellite Beach Seagrove Beach Sebastian Sebring Shalimar Siesta Key Silver Springs Singer Island Spring Hill Starke Steinhatchee Stuart Sun City Center Sunny Isles Beach Sunrise Tallahassee Tamarac Tampa Tarpon Springs Tavares Tavernier Temple Terrace The Villages Titusville Treasure Island Venice Vero Beach Weeki Wachee Wesley Chapel West Palm Beach Weston White Springs Wildwood Winter Garden Winter Haven Winter Park Yulee Zephyrhills
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 m) above mean sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida and the lowest highpoint of any U.S. state. Contrary to popular belief, however, Florida is not entirely "flat." Some places, such as Clearwater, feature vistas that rise 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).
Areas under control by the National Park Service include:
Archaeological finds indicate that Florida had been inhabited for thousands of years before any European settlements. Of the many indigenous people, the largest known were the Ais, the Apalachee, the Calusa, the Timucua and the Tocobago tribes. Juan Ponce de León, a Spanish conquistador, named Florida in honor of his "discovery" of the land on April 2, 1513, during Pascua Florida, a Spanish term for the Easter season. From that date forward, the land became known as "La Florida." (Juan Ponce de León may not have been the first European to reach Florida. At least one Indian that he encountered in Florida in 1513 could speak Spanish. Alternatively, the Spanish-speaking Indian could have been in contact with areas where Spanish settlements already existed, and Ponce de León was indeed the discoverer).
Spanish and French
Over the following century, both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success. In 1559, Spanish Pensacola was established by Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano as the first European settlement in the continental United States, but it had become abandoned by 1561 and would not be reinhabited until the 1690s. French Huguenots founded Fort Caroline in modern-day Jacksonville in 1564, but this fort was conquered by forces from the new Spanish colony of St. Augustine the following year.
Huguenot Slaughter
After Huguenot leader Jean Ribault had learned of the new Spanish threat, he launched an expedition to sack the Spanish 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 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 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, and maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the local tribes, briefly with Jesuits and later with Franciscan friars. The local leaders (caciques) demonstrated their loyalty to the Spanish by converting to Roman Catholicism and welcoming the Franciscan priests into their villages.
The British and French
The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of British colonies to the north and French colonies to the west. The English weakened Spanish power in the area by supplying their Creek Indian allies with firearms and urging them to raid the Timucuan and Apalachee client-tribes of the Spanish. The English 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 Roman Catholicism and given freedom.
They settled 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 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 project ultimately failed.
Bye Bye British
Spain regained Florida after England's defeat by the American colonies and the Treaty of Paris, in 1783. Finally, in 1819, by terms of the Adams-Onís Treaty, Spain ceded Florida to the United States in exchange for the American renounciation of any claims on Texas. On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the United States of America. On January 10, 1861, before the formal outbreak of the Civil War, Florida seceded from the Union; ten days later, the state became a founding member of the Confederate States of America. The war ended in 1865. On June 25, 1868, Florida's congressional representation was restored.
Air Conditioning
Until the mid-twentieth century, Florida was the least populous Southern state; however, the local climate, tempered by the growing availability of air conditioning, made the state a haven, and migration from the Rust Belt and the Northeast sharply increased the population. Economic prosperity combined with Florida's sudden elevation in profile led to the Florida land boom of the 1920s, which brought a brief period of intense land development before the Great Depression brought it all to a halt. Florida's economy would not fully recover until WWII. Today, Florida is the most populous state in the South besides Texas, and the fourth most populous in the United States.
The building of Walt Disney World has had a great impact on the levels of tourism and prosperity of 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 especially 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 miles per hour (150 km/h), knocking out power to thousands and damaging mobile homes.
Lots of Sunshine
However, Florida averages 300 days of full sunshine a year. The seasons in Florida are actually determined more by precipitation than by temperature with warm, relatively dry winters and autumns (the dry season) and hot, wet springs and summers (the wet season). The Gulf Stream has a moderating effect on the climate, and although much of Florida commonly sees a high summer temperature over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32°C), the mercury seldom exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit (39°C).
Hot
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 (-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 90s Fahrenheit (32–35°C). Mean low temperatures for late January range from the low 40s Fahrenheit (4–7°C) in northern Florida to the mid-50s (˜13°C)in southern Florida.
The Florida Keys
The Florida Keys, being surrounded by water, generally have a more tropical climate, with lesser variability in temperatures. At Key West, temperatures rarely exceed 90°F in the summer or fall below 60°F in the winter.
Capital of Lightning, Lots of Thunderstorms and Sun
Florida's nickname is the "Sunshine State," but severe weather is a common occurrence in the state. Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States, as it experiences more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the country. Florida has the highest average precipitation of any state, in large part because afternoon thunderstorms are common in most of the state from late spring until early autumn. A fair day may be interrupted with a storm, only to return to regular, gorgeous sunshine.
These thunderstorms, caused by collisions between airflow from the Gulf of Mexico and airflow from the Atlantic Ocean, pop up in the early afternoon and can bring heavy downpours, high winds, and sometimes tornadoes. Florida leads the United States in tornadoes per square mile, but these tornadoes do not typically reach the intensity of those in the Midwest and Great Plains. Hail often accompanies the severest thunderstorms.
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