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The main tourist attractions include: Aventura Mall, Bayside Market Place, Coconut Grove, Parrot Jungle Island, Sawgrass Mills, South Beach, Venetian Pool, and Miami Metrozoo. A popular way to see tourist attractions in Miami is to buy the Go Miami Card (external source) Over 40 ... more »
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Airports The main tourist attractions include: Aventura Mall, Bayside Market Place, Coconut Grove, Parrot Jungle Island, Sawgrass Mills, South Beach, Venetian Pool, and Miami Metrozoo.
A popular way to see tourist attractions in Miami is to buy the Go Miami Card (external source) Over 40 Miami Attractions, Tours, Museums, Activities, Sites and More for 1 Low Price!
Miami is a major city in the southeastern corner of Florida, in the United States. Miami and the surrounding metropolitan area are situated on northern Biscayne Bay between the Everglades and the Atlantic Ocean. By population, Miami is the second-largest city in Florida (after Jacksonville), and the county seat and largest city of Miami-Dade County.
Miami's explosive population growth in recent years has been driven by internal migration from other parts of the country as well as by immigration. Greater Miami is regarded as a cultural melting pot, heavily influenced both by its very large population of ethnic Latin Americans and Caribbean islanders (many of them Spanish- or Haitian Creole-speaking).
The region's importance as an international financial and cultural center has elevated Miami to the status of world city; because of its cultural and linguistic ties to North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean it is sometimes called "The Gateway of the Americas." Florida's former status as a colony of Spain, and its continued ties with that country (Spain has a consulate in this city) and her colonies also make Miami and the surrounding region a contemporary part of the Hispanic world.
Practically all major foreign countries today maintain consulates in Miami. The city has been involved in numerous political controversies with nearby Cuba and Fidel Castro, plus wider concerns with terrorism, immigration, and drug issues throughout the region.
The City of Miami and its suburbs are located on a broad plain between the Florida Everglades and Biscayne Bay that also extends from Florida Bay north to Lake Okeechobee. The elevation of the area never rises above 15ft (4.5 m) and averages at around 3ft (0.91 m) above sea level in most neighborhoods, especially near the coast. The main portion of the city lies on the shores of Biscayne Bay which contains several hundred natural and artificially created barrier islands, the largest of which contains the city of Miami Beach and its famous South Beach district. The Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current, runs northward just 15 miles (24.1 km) off the coast, allowing the city's climate to stay warm and mild all year.
The surface bedrock under the Miami area is called Miami oolite or Miami limestone. This bedrock is covered by a thin layer of soil, and is no more than 15 m (50 feet) thick. Miami limestone formed as the result of the drastic changes in sea level associated with recent glaciations or ice ages. Beginning some 130,000 years ago the Sangamon interglacial raised sea levels to approximately 25 feet (7.5 m.) above the current level. All of southern Florida was covered by a shallow sea. Several parallel lines of reef formed along the edge of the submerged Florida plateau, stretching from the present Miami area to what is now the Dry Tortugas. The area behind this reef line was in effect a large lagoon, and the Miami limestone formed throughout the area from the deposition of oolites and the shells of bryozoans. Starting about 100,000 years ago the Wisconsin glaciation began lowering sea levels, exposing the floor of the lagoon. By 15,000 years ago the sea level had dropped to 300 to 350 feet below the contemporary level. The sea level rose quickly after that, stabilizing at the current level about 4000 years ago, leaving the mainland of South Florida just above sea level.
Beneath the plain lies the Biscayne Aquifer, a natural underground river that extends from southern Palm Beach County to Florida Bay, with its highest point peaking around the cities of Miami Springs and Hialeah. Most of the South Florida metropolitan area obtains its drinking water from this aquifer. As a result of the aquifer, it is not possible to dig more than 15 to 20ft (4.57 to 6.1 m) beneath the city without hitting water, impeding underground construction.
Most of the western fringes of the city extend into the Everglades, a subtropical marshland located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. This causes occasional problems with local wildlife such as alligators and crocodiles venturing onto suburban communities and major highways.
In terms of land area, the city of Miami is one of the smallest major cities in the United States. Miami is slightly smaller in land area than San Francisco and Boston.
* Miami has a tropical wet-and-dry climate, whereas seasons are roughly determined by precipitation regimes. The city occasionally experiences brief cold fronts during the winter, otherwise is warm or hot year round. The area does not experience temperate seasons and the year is instead divided into two six-month seasons. The wet season, which is hot and humid, lasts from May to October, when it gives way to the dry season, which features balmy temperatures besides scant rainfall. The hurricane season largely coincides with the wet season.
In addition to its sea-level elevation, coastal location and position just above the Tropic of Cancer, the area owes its warm, humid climate to the Gulf Stream, which moderates climate year-round. A typical summer day does not see temperatures below 75ºF (21º C). Temperatures in the high 80s to low 90s (30-35 °C) accompanied by high humidity are often relieved by afternoon thunderstorms or a seabreeze that develops off the Atlantic Ocean, which then allow more moderate temperatures, although conditions still remain very muggy. During winter, humidity is significantly lower, allowing for cooler weather to develop. Average minimum temperatures during that time are around 60ºF (15ºC), rarely dipping below 40ºF (4ºC), and the equivalent maxima usually range between 70 and 80 °F (21-27 °C). During the dry, cool season, the Gulf Stream helps to moderate the effect of the cold fronts that often bring freezing temperatures to the more northerly portions of Florida.
Officially, Miami has never recorded a triple-digit temperature, the all-time maximum being 98ºF (37ºC), set on August 15, 1956. However, extreme summer humidity often boosts the heat index into the 110sºF (43º to 48ºC). The coldest temperature ever recorded in the city of Miami was 31 °F (-1 °C) on January 20, 1977. That same day, scattered snow flurries hit the area, Miami's first and only recorded snowfall since weather records began in the 1830s.
Miami receives abundant rainfall, one of the highest among major U.S. cities. It receives annual rainfall of 58.6 inches (146.5 cm). The South Florida metropolitan area, which includes the cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, is the second largest metropolitan area in the world after Tokyo that receives regular cyclonic activity. Hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through November 30, although hurricanes can develop beyond those dates. The most likely time for Miami to be hit is during the peak of the Cape Verde season which is late August through the end of September. Due to its location between two major bodies of water known for tropical activity, Miami is also statistically the most likely major city to be struck by a hurricane in the world, trailed closely by Nassau, Bahamas, and Havana, Cuba. Despite this, the city has been fortunate in not having a direct hit by a hurricane since Hurricane Cleo in 1964. However, many other hurricanes have affected the city, including Betsy in 1965, Andrew in 1992, Irene in 1999, and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005. In addition, a tropical depression in October of 2000 passed over the city, causing record rainfall and flooding. Locally, the storm is credited as the No Name Storm of 2000, though the depression went on to become Tropical Storm Leslie upon entering the Atlantic Ocean.
Temperature - Yearly Average
Airport
Miami's main international hub is Miami International Airport, which is one of the busiest international airports in the world, serving over 35 million passengers every year. Identified as MIA or KMIA by various world aviation authorities, it is a major hub and the single largest international gateway for American Airlines, the world's largest passenger air carrier; and is also served by many foreign airlines. MIA is the USA's third largest international port of entry for foreign air passengers (behind New York's JFK and Los Angeles' LAX), and the seventh largest such gateway in the world (bested only by those two airports; combined with London's Heathrow, Paris' Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam's Schiphol, and Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok international airports).
The airport's extensive international route network includes non-stop flights to over seventy international cities in North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL/KFLL) also serves the metropolitan area, and actually handles more total passengers who are originating or ending their trip in south Florida than does MIA.
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Seaport
The main seaport, The Port of Miami, is the largest cruise ship port in the world, serving over 18 million passengers per year. Additionally, the port is one of the nation's busiest cargo ports, importing nearly ten million tons of cargo annually. Among North American ports, it ranks second only to the Port of South Louisiana in terms of cargo tonnage imported/exported from Latin America.
Amtrak
Miami is connected to Amtrak's Atlantic Coast services.
Public Transportation
Local public transportation includes Metrobus and Metrorail, a metro rapid transit system (both operated by Miami-Dade Transit). Furthermore, Tri-Rail, a commuter rail system, connects the major cities and airports of the South Florida metropolitan area. Several transit expansion projects are being funded by a transit development sales tax surcharge throughout Miami-Dade County.
Interstate Highways
Miami-Dade County is served by four Interstate Highways (I-75, I-95, I-195, I-395) and several U.S. Highways including U.S. Route 1, US 27, US 41, and US 441.
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The earliest evidence of Native American settlement in the Miami region came from about 12,000 years ago. The first inhabitants settled on the banks of the Miami River, with the main villages on the northern banks.
Tequesta Indians
The inhabitants at the time of first European contact were the Tequesta people, who controlled much of southeastern Florida, including what is now Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and the southern parts of Palm Beach County. The Tequesta Indians fished, hunted, and gathered the fruit and roots of plants for food, but did not practice any form of agriculture. They buried the small bones of the deceased with the rest of the body, and put the larger bones in a box for the village people to see. The Tequesta are credited with making the Miami Circle.
Canals, Hurricanes and Gambling
Miami's growth up to World War II was astronomical. In 1900, 1,681 people lived in Miami, Florida; in 1910, 5,471; in 1920, 29,571; in 1930, 110,637. As thousands of people moved to the area in the early 1900s, the need for more land quickly became apparent. Up until then, the Florida Everglades extended eastward to as close as three miles from Biscayne Bay. Beginning in 1906, canals were made to remove some of the water from those lands. During the early 1920s, the authorities of Miami allowed gambling and were very lax in regulating Prohibition, so thousands of people migrated from the northern United States to the Miami region. The catastrophic Great Miami Hurricane in 1926 caused 373 fatalities and ended a large building boom. Between 25,000 and 50,000 people were left homeless in the Miami area. The Great Depression followed, in which more than sixteen thousand people in Miami became unemployed.
Poor Cuban Refugees and White Flight
The Mariel Boatlift of 1980 brought 150,000 Cubans to Miami, the largest in civilian history. Unlike the previous exodus of the 1960s, most of the Cuban refugees arriving were poor. Castro used the boatlift as a way of purging his country of criminals and of the mentally ill. During this time, many of the middle class non-Hispanic whites in the community left the city, often referred to as "white flight." In 1960, Miami was 90% non-Hispanic white; by 1990 it was less than 12% non-Hispanic white. In the 1980s, Miami started to see an increase in immigrants from other nations such as Haiti. As the Haitian population grew, the area known today as Little Haiti emerged, centered around Northeast Second Avenue and 54th Street. In the 1990s, the presence of Haitians was acknowledged with Haitian Creole language signs in public places and ballots during voting.
Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew caused more than $45 billion in damage just south of the Miami-Dade area in 1992.
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* This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Source wikipedia.
