Florida (FL) Fast Facts

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Location and Geography: The entire state of Florida is more or less a giant peninsula extending from the southeastern portion of the United States.

It is known for its unique wildlife and its delicate but beautiful environment of wetlands and coastlines. It is perhaps the wettest of the states, being mostly surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, with much of its land area being swamps and marshes.

Counties and Regions: Florida has 67 counties, but is best known for its coasts and wetlands. Because Florida is mostly a peninsula, there are many distinct coastal areas, such as:

 

• First Coast

• Emerald Coast

• Fun Coast

• Nature Coast

• Space Coast

• Suncoast

• Gold Coast

• Southwest Florida

• Treasure Coast

Some of the other recognizable regions of Florida are as follows:

• Big Bend

• Central Florida

• Everglades

• South Florida Metro Area

• Tampa Bay Metro Area

• Florida Heartland

• Florida Keys (islands)

• Florida Panhandle

• North Central Florida

Major Cities: Florida has several large metropolitan areas, the largest being that of Miami, followed by the Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville metropolitan areas. Each of these metro areas has more than five hundred thousand people living within it (and the Miami area has a population approaching five million). The state capital, Tallahassee, is much smaller in comparison, with about two hundred thousand people living in or near it.

Population: Since the invention of air conditioning, the population of Florida has skyrocketed. It is a popular destination for retirees and immigrants, and today the majority of Florida’s people were actually born elsewhere. Florida has more people living in it than any other state except for California, Texas, and New York, with a population that is beginning to approach nineteen million people.

Story Behind the Name: “Florida” means “flowery” in the Spanish language. According to records of the time, sixteenth-century Spanish explorer Ponce de León referred to the newly discovered peninsula as “La Florida” because he was celebrating the Easter season, and the spring flowers were in bloom.

 

History and Colonization: Florida was colonized by Europeans early on, being the first part of the present-day United States to be discovered by explorers (according to verified records). The Spanish founded several colonies and missions there, but these faced great difficulty due to powerful native tribes and destructive weather. The British and the French founded competing colonies in the region, and Florida became something of a mixing pot for various ethnicities and cultures as the European settlers, the native tribes, and communities of escaped African-American slaves all began to interact. Even today, Florida is known for being a cultural blend of many different traditions.

The territory of Florida changed hands a few times before Spain signed it over to the United States in 1819 (it would not be admitted as a state until 1845). The nineteenth century in Florida was marked by conflict between American settlers and the native Seminole population, with many battles being fought between the two over the course of what would be known as the Seminole Wars. Florida was the site of one of the United States’ most aggressive “Indian removal” campaigns, eventually resulting in the majority of the Seminoles being relocated in the West. Some were able to maintain their homes deep within the Everglades, but by the mid-nineteenth century, the majority of people living in Florida were white settlers and their African-descended slaves.

The Southern plantation culture was strong in Florida, and the state was one of the founders of the Confederate States of America at the start of the American Civil War. Even after the war, racial violence was common in Florida, and many people migrated away from the state (oppressive weather was also making it an undesirable place to live). There was a brief resurgence in prosperity during the 1920s, but Florida’s population did not begin booming until the onset of World War II, when its low land prices attracted many new immigrants from other parts of the United States.

Florida is now surprisingly well-populated for a marshy and hurricane-prone area, having the fourth-largest population in the country. The state emerged as a desirable tourist destination in the mid-twentieth century, now playing host to many world-famous amusement parks (most notably Disney World in the city of Orlando). The Florida Everglades, a huge wetland in the southern part of the state, is also one of America’s most treasured natural areas, although it is quite vulnerable to environmental damage. Overall, Florida is a prosperous and unique state, home to a unique mix of human cultures and natural forces.

Click to view Florida map