- For other uses, see Florida (disambiguation).
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.
USS Florida was named in honor of this state.
History
- Main article: History of Florida
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. Spanish Pensacola was established by Don Tristan de Luna as the first European settlement in the current United States in 1559 (its settlement was interrupted by a hurricane). Six years later, in 1565, the Spanish established Saint Augustine as the first permanent European settlement. These two cities would come to be the capitals of the British and Spanish colonies of East and West Florida.
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, 1861. After the fall of the Confederacy in 1865, Florida was readmitted into the Union on June 25, 1868. Until the mid-twentieth century, Florida was the least populous Southern state. Today, Florida is the fourth most populous state in the Union and second most populous in the South.
Law and Government
Main Article: Government of Florida
Florida is a democratic constitutional republic. The basic structure, duties, function, and operations of the Government of the State of Florida is defined and established by the Florida Constitution, and as well which establishes the basic law of the state and gaurantees various rights and freedoms of the people. The state government consists of three seperate branches, the judicial, executive and the legislative. The Florida Legislature enacts legislation, such as those in the Florida Statutes, which are signed into law by the Governor of Florida.
Like the other U.S. state governments, the Government of the State of Florida has exclusive authority over legal and law enforcement matters that lie entirely within the borders of the state, except as limited by the Constitution of the United States. The State of Florida is a member of the federation of the United States of America. As is normal in a federation, and like the 49 other states that are members of the federation, The Government of the State of Florida is independant of the U.S. Federal government, and acquires its power and authority from the consent of the people.
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 explosive population growth has brought with it many Republicans, leaving the state approximately evenly split between the two parties. Despite this demographic 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.
In Miami, the liberal Democrats vie for control with wealthy Cuban conservative Republicans and their business allies. Tampa, once a hotbed of Democratic union support, is now about 50% both registered Republicans and Democrats making it, and surrounding areas, part of the important I-4 Corridor swing region. Outside of liberal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the Florida Democratic Party tends to be socially conservative and heavily associated with the good ol' boy network.See: List of Florida Governors
Taxation
Florida is one of the nine states which does not impose personal income tax (list of others). The state sales tax rate is 6.5 percent. Local governments may levy a local option sales on top of that, upto a half (0.5) percent. The state use tax is 6.5 percent on purchases made out of state and brought into Florida within 6 months of the purchase date.
Geography
See: List of counties in Florida
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 and on the west, at the end of the panhandle, by 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
Hurricane Frances near peak strength.
Florida taken from NASA Shuttle Mission STS-95 on 31st October 1998.
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 Fahrenheit, it is not common for the mercury to go above 100 degrees Fareinheit in Florida. Mean high temperatures for late July are primarily in the low 90's. Mean low temperatures for late January range from the low 40's in North Florida to the mid-50's in South 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 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. 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 Fahrenheit, 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. 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.
Demographics
Race
As of 2004, the state had a population of 17,397,161.
The five largest ancestries in the state are: African American (14.6%), German (11.8%), Irish (10.3%), English (9.2%), American (8%).
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 of German ancestry are prominent on the West Coast, particularly in the Tampa suburbs. Floridians of British ancestry are dominant in most coastal cities while Floridians of American ancestry dominate the culturally Southern areas of inland North Florida. Florida's large and diverse Hispanic community consists particularly of Cubans in Miami, Puerto Ricans in Tampa and Orlando, and Mexican migrant workers in inland South Florida.
Religion
Florida is mostly Protestant, but with a growing Roman Catholic community due to migration from the North and Puerto Rico and immigration from Cuba, Mexico, and other parts of Latin America. There is also a sizable Jewish community in the Miami area which makes Florida unique among Southern states (no other Southern state has a large Jewish community). Florida's current religious affiliations are shown in the table below:
Important cities and towns
Metropolitan Population
|
Population > 4,000,000
Population > 2,000,000
Population > 1,000,000
Population > 100,000
|
Population > 10,000
|
Wealthiest Cities
Ranked by per capita income
| 1 |
Fisher Island, Florida |
$236,238 |
| 2 |
Jupiter Island, Florida |
$200,087 |
| 3 |
Golf, Florida |
$144,956 |
| 4 |
Manalapan, Florida |
$143,729 |
| 5 |
Indian Creek, Florida |
$137,382 |
| 6 |
Orchid, Florida |
$135,870 |
| 7 |
Gulf Stream, Florida |
$133,651 |
| 8 |
Palm Beach, Florida |
$109,219 |
| 9 |
Indian River Shores, Florida |
$102,511 |
| 10 |
South Beach, Florida |
$90,938 |
| 11 |
Pelican Bay, Florida |
$89,063 |
| 12 |
Oak Point, Florida |
$86,225 |
| 13 |
North Key Largo, Florida |
$83,199 |
| 14 |
Longboat Key, Florida |
$80,963 |
| 15 |
Weston, Florida |
$80,920 |
| 16 |
North Beach, Florida |
$79,269 |
| 17 |
Captiva, Florida |
$76,139 |
| 18 |
Ocean Ridge, Florida |
$76,088 |
| 19 |
Golden Beach, Florida |
$73,053 |
| 20 |
Bal Harbour, Florida |
$67,680 |
| 21 |
Highland Beach, Florida |
$67,288 |
| 22 |
Sanibel, Florida |
$66,912 |
| 23 |
Boca Pointe, Florida |
$66,797 |
| 24 |
Jupiter Inlet Colony, Florida |
$66,713 |
| 25 |
Sawgrass, Florida |
$64,798 |
| 26 |
Belleair Beach, Florida |
$61,569 |
See complete list of Florida places
Transportation
Florida's interstates, state highways and U.S. Highways are maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation.
Floridas major interstates include Interstate 4 which connects to Tampa, heads northeast from there to Orlando, to Daytona Beach. Interstate 75 continues southward from Georgia into Hamilton County, Florida, and continues towards Ocala, Tampa, Fort Myers, then crosses the Everglades towards Miami. Interstate 95 continues southward from Georgia, passes through Jacksonville, down the east coast to Daytona Beach, Cape Canaveral, Vero Beach, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. Interstate 10 continues eastward from Alabama, to Pensacola, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville. Florida's interstate highway system contains 1,473 miles of highway, and there are 9,934 miles of non-interstate highway in the state, such as Florida state highways and U.S. Highways.
Florida has several toll roads. The state has 515 miles of toll roads in the state highway system. The section of Interstate 75 passing through the Everglades is a toll road. The Florida Turnpike, which begins off of Interstate 75 just south of Ocala, continues southeast to Orlando, and down to West Palm Beach is also a toll road.
Florida has nearly 100 different specialty license plates to choose from for automobiles. There are plates for various issues and causes, such as environmental, and as well for various organisations and colleges.
In 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, 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 overexeggerated and taken out of context, compared with the cost of building roads, maintaining automobiles, and so forth.
Amtrack service exists in Florida, but it is considered by many not to be extensive or convenient enough for anything but vacation travel.
Public transportation systems exist in many major cities. Miami has a monorail system, and most cities have bus service. However, the bus service is often criticised for being poorly funded, and to infrequent, sparse, inconvenient and spotty for serious use. Efforts, such as the high speed rail system, monorails, and improved bus service, have been proposed by many to help remedy this situation.
Greyhound provides bus service between different cities in Florida. The service here as well is said to be too infrequent and slow. A trip between Tampa and Miami can take 10 hours, for instance.
All major cities in Florida have airports, such as Miami International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Tampa International Airport, and Jacksonville International Airport. There are many other smaller regional and international airports, including one in Key West.
Education
Florida'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. 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. [1] In 2002, Democratic Senator Bob Graham started a ballot referendum designed to revert to the Board of Regents system.
Colleges and universities
Sports
Professional sports teams in Florida
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:
Minor League teams
Florida also hosts the following minor league baseball teams:
External links
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