Florida (FL).

• Region: Southeast coast
• Population: 22,244,823 (ranked 3rd) (2022 estimate)
• Capital: Tallahassee (pop. 201,731) (2022 estimate)
• Largest city: Jacksonville (pop. 971,319) (2022 estimate)
• Number of counties: 67
• State nickname: Sunshine State
• State motto: In God We Trust
• State flag: White field with red cross of Saint Andrew and state seal in center

Nicknamed the Sunshine State for its year-round warm weather, Florida is located in the southeast corner of the United States. Most of the state is considered a peninsula, with the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico forming its eastern and western borders. Georgia and Alabama border Florida on the north.

Though Florida was the first area in what would become the United States to be colonized by Europeans, it was also the last part of the East Coast to achieve statehood. Long controlled by Spain, Florida became a US territory in 1821 and became the twenty-seventh state to join the Union on March 3, 1845. Florida then seceded from the Union at the outset of the Civil War in 1861 but rejoined after the war in 1868. The state's population and economy began to grow rapidly in the twentieth century, driven largely by tourism and its popularity as a retirement destination. Florida is renowned for its beaches, other natural features such as the Everglades, amusement parks, golf courses, and many other attractions. It has also remained an important agricultural producer, known especially as a major producer of citrus fruit.

State Name: Florida was named in 1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. He named the area in honor of Spain's Easter week celebration Pascua Florida, or "Feast of the Flowers," either in tribute to the area's natural beauty or because he visited the region during the Easter season.

Capital:Tallahassee was selected as the capital of the territory of Florida in 1824. The Creek translation of the city's name is "old town" or "old fields." The area was chosen as the capital for its proximity to both Pensacola and St. Augustine, the two largest cities in the state during the early nineteenth century. Tallahassee is located in the northwest corner of the state near the Georgia border, which is not as populous as the peninsular portion of the state today. Although the city is an important commercial and governmental center, much of the area surrounding Tallahassee is rural.

Flag: After flying the flags of Spain, France, and Great Britain at various times over the course of three hundred years, Florida's legislature adopted its current state flag in 1899. The flag features the state seal against a field of white. The seal depicts a Seminole woman scattering flowers on the ground, with a shining sun, a palmetto tree, and a steamboat in the background. Behind the seal are two red bars extending diagonally corner to corner and crossing at the center.

Official Symbols

• Flower: Orange blossom
• Bird: Mockingbird
• Tree: Sabal palm
• Animal: Florida panther
• Fish: Sailfish (saltwater); Largemouth bass (freshwater)
• Song: "Swanee River (Old Folks at Home)" by Stephen C. Foster

State and National Historic Sites

• Barnacle Historic State Park (Coconut Grove)
• Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park (Flagler Beach)
• Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park (Key West)
• Gamble Plantation Historic State Park (Ellenton)
• Indian Key Historic State Park (Islamorada)
• Koreshan State Historic Site (Estero)
• Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park (Cross Creek)
• Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park (Tallahassee)
• Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park (Olustee)
• Paynes Creek Historic State Park (Bowling Green)
• San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park (St. Marks)
• Tallahassee–St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail (Tallahassee)
• Yulee Sugar Mills Ruins Historic State Park (Crystal River)

DEMOGRAPHICS

• Population: 22,244,823 (ranked 3rd) (2022 estimate)
• Population density: 401.4/sq mi (2020 estimate)
• Urban population: 91.5% (2020 estimate)
• Rural population: 8.5% (2020 estimate)
• Population under 18: 19.3% (2022 estimate)
• Population over 65: 21.6% (2022 estimate)
• White alone: 76.8% (2022 estimate)
• Black or African American alone: 17% (2022 estimate)
• Hispanic or Latino: 27.1% (2022 estimate)
• American Indian and Alaska Native alone: 0.5% (2022 estimate)
• Asian alone: 3.1% (2022 estimate)
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone: 0.1% (2022 estimate)
• Two or More Races: 2.4% (2022 estimate)
• Per capita income: $35,216 (ranked 24th, 2021)
• Unemployment: 2.9% (2022 estimate)

American Indians: There is evidence of Paleo-Indian presence in Florida dating back thousands of years. After European arrival in the early 1500s Indigenous peoples in the area were devastated by disease and conflict. By the 1800s, the American Indian population of Florida was dominated by the Creek and Miccosukee peoples, many of whom had migrated from the north. In Florida various tribes began to branch into a new culture that would become the Seminole. The ethnic diversity of this group was further enhanced by absorbing numerous Black people who had escaped slavery.

While the American Indian peoples in Florida had long maintained relatively good relations with Spanish and British colonizers, tensions rose after the United States increased its presence in the region in the early 1800s. This led to a series of conflicts known as the Seminole Wars. The largest and fiercest of these was the Second Seminole War (1835–42). The US government spent $20 million trying to remove or relocate the American Indian population, forcing three thousand American Indians living in Florida to move to Oklahoma. Several hundred more escaped into the Everglades, an expansive marshy area in the southern quarter of the state. This group remained largely in hiding for more than twenty years, after which they emerged and began trade business with American settlers.

The Seminole tribe is still active in the state. The Seminole Constitution of 1957 established the Seminole Tribe of Florida as a federally recognized tribe, and in 1970 they were awarded more than $12 million for lands seized by the United States government. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida is the only other federally recognized tribe in the state.

ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY

• Total area: 65,758 sq mi (ranked 22nd)
• Land area: 53,625 sq mi (81.5% of total area)
• Water area: 12,133 sq mi (18.5% of total area)
• Shoreline: 8,426 miles
• National parks: 11
• Highest point: Britton Hill (345 feet)
• Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean (sea level)
• Highest temperature: 109° F (Monticello, June 29, 1931)
• Lowest temperature: –2° F (Tallahassee, February 13, 1899)

Topography: Florida is a peninsula jutting out from the southeastern corner of the United States into the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The state is, for the most part, flat, with the exception of the Western Highlands, located in the northwest area of the state, between the Apalachicola and Perdido Rivers. This area, also known as the panhandle, features low-lying hills of red clay. Otherwise, there are no significant mountains or valleys, and the state's highest point is only 345 feet above sea level.

The coastal lowlands are dominated by sandy beaches, but they are also dotted with marshes, estuaries, and mangroves and extend between ten and sixty miles into the mainland. The area known as the Florida Keys, in the southern part of the state, is a series of islets composed of limestone and coral rock. The central part of the state can be prone to flooding and sinkholes due to its porous nature and even plain. There are many warm water springs that feed Florida's rivers and maintain temperatures of 72 degrees. Silver Springs is the largest area of warm water springs in the country.

Florida also has two major swamp regions: the Everglades in the south and the Okefenokee Swamp in the north. Most of the Okefenokee Swamp actually lies in Georgia, while the Everglades cover 1.5 million acres and the region is one of Florida's best-known geographic features.

Major Lakes

• Lake Apopka
• Lake Eustis
• Lake George
• Lake Griffin
• Lake Harris
• Lake Istokpoga
• Lake Kissimmee
• Lake Okeechobee
• Lake Tohopekaliga

Major Rivers

• Escambia River
• Kissimmee River
• Perdido River
• St. Johns River
• Suwannee River

State and National Parks: The Biscayne National Park in Dade County, the Everglades National Park, and Dry Tortugas National Park located seventy miles west of Key West are three of the most popular parks that tourists visit each year in Florida. The state also has three national forests: the Apalachicola Forest, the Osceola Forest, and the Ocala Forest. Together these forests account for 1.2 million acres of the state's area. Additionally, Florida is home to over 170 state parks, trails, and historic sites. Prominent state parks include the Ponce de Leon Springs State Park in the northwest, Suwnanee River State Park in the northeast region, Fort Pierce Inlet State Park in the southeast, and Lake Manatee State Park in the southwest.

Natural Resources: Chief among Florida's natural resources is its mineral deposits, and the state has been a world leader in phosphate production. The vast majority of this rock is used to make fertilizer. Phosphate was first discovered in the state in 1881, in central Florida along the Peace River. Other staples of Florida's mineral industry include monazite, staurolite, peat, silica, and fuller's earth.

Another important Florida resource is the seafood found in the waters off the state's coast. The top species in dockside value are lobsters, shrimp, blue and stone crabs, and red snapper. Florida's forests, covering almost half the state, supply the lumber and wood pulp that help fuel the economy.

Plants and Animals: With its varied terrain and nearly tropical environment, Florida is home to a wide variety of both plants and animals. Several species of palm dominate the Florida landscape, and its forests are populated by softwood trees such as the loblolly, sand, pond, spruce, and shortleaf pines as well as cypress and cedar trees. Other trees found in the state's forests include hardwoods such as oaks, magnolia, maples, ash, and sweetgum.

Animals found in the state's forests include the Florida black bear, the Florida panther, skunks, wild turkeys, bobcats, beavers, and bald eagles. Florida's swamps serve as the habitat for alligators, river otters, owls, pileated woodpeckers, and several kinds of snakes, and are covered with ferns, cypress trees, and a vast assortment of wildflowers. From January until April, the swamps tend to be drier and one can see a variety of wading birds such as the green heron, white ibis, and wood stork.

The iconic Florida manatee lives in Florida's waters and is considered a threatened species. Manatees need warm water to survive, and they often spend winters in the natural spring areas found in Crystal River on the Gulf Coast and Blue Springs on the St. Johns River. They live in large family groups in shallow waters, and it is in these waters that they face many obstacles to their survival, such as fishing lines and boat propellers. Other wildlife that can be found in the warm waters off Florida's coast include sharks, sea turtles, dolphins, and manta rays. Saltwater fish are plentiful, and include Spanish mackerel, kingfish, sailfish, snook, barracuda, red snapper, and a wide variety of shellfish.

Climate: Florida's year-round sunshine and balmy weather draws millions of tourists to its sandy beaches and tropical waters each year. The state is divided into two zones with regard to climate. The southern half of the state is considered subtropical, where summer temperatures average around 82 degrees Fahrenheit and winter temperatures average about 68 degrees. The northern part of Florida experiences temperatures more like the rest of the southeastern United States, with an average of approximately 53 degrees in the winter and 80 degrees in the summer. Although summers can seem brutally hot because of the humidity, pleasant coastal breezes make the heat bearable in many areas.

Florida is also known for facing frequent hurricanes. Hurricane season in Florida typically lasts from early June until the end of November, and it is during that time that most of the state's rainfall occurs. South-central Florida can experience between fifty-three inches and eighty-nine inches of rain annually, earning Florida a spot among the wettest states in the United States. The state has been devastated by several major hurricanes in the past. The Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928 is considered one of the deadliest in US history, with an estimated 2,500 killed, mostly in Florida. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew struck Florida with winds ranging from 165 to 180 miles per hour and killed forty-one people. Another 300,000 were left homeless, and the storm cost the state $25 billion. Other major hurricanes to strike Florida include Hurricane Charley in 2004, Hurricane Irma in 2017, and Hurricane Michael in 2018. In 2022 Hurricane Ian caused catastrophic damage in parts of the state and was responsible for more than one hundred fatalities in Florida.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE

Major Colleges and Universities

• Bethune-Cookman University (Daytona Beach)
• Eckerd College (St. Petersburg)
• Florida College (Temple Terrace)
• Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (Tallahassee)
• Florida International University (Miami)
• Florida Southern College (Lakeland)
• Florida State University (Tallahassee)
• Jacksonville University (Jacksonville)
• Ringling College of Art and Design (Sarasota)
• Rollins College (Winter Park)
• St. Petersburg College (St. Petersburg)
• St. Thomas University (Miami)
• Stetson University (DeLand)
• University of Central Florida (Orlando)
• University of Florida (Gainesville)
• University of Miami (Coral Gables)
• University of North Florida (Jacksonville)
• University of South Florida (Tampa)
• University of Tampa (Tampa)
• University of West Florida (Pensacola)

Major Museums

• Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens (Jacksonville)
• Florida Museum of Natural History (Gainesville)
• HistoryMiami Museum (Miami)
• John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (Sarasota)
• Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex (Merritt Island)
• Museum of Fine Arts (St. Petersburg)
• Museum of Florida History (Tallahassee)
• Museum of Science and History (Jacksonville)
• Norton Museum of Art (West Palm Beach)
• Salvador Dali Museum (St. Petersburg)

Major Libraries

• Alma Clyde Field Library of Florida History (Cocoa)
• Cummer Museum of Art Library (Jacksonville)
• Henry Sanford Memorial Library (Sanford)
• P. K. Yonge Library of Florida History, University of Florida (Gainesville)
• St. Augustine Free Public Library (St. Augustine)
• State Library of Florida (Tallahassee)
• Tebeau-Field Library of Florida History (Cocoa)

Media

Major newspapers in Florida include the Tampa Bay Times, the Orlando Sentinel, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, and the Miami Herald. Other popular newspapers include the Palm Beach Post and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Jacksonville's the Florida Times-Union, founded in 1864, is considered the state's oldest newspaper.

Florida is a major market for national television networks, with affiliates operating in cities throughout the state. It is also home to numerous radio stations.

ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

• Gross domestic product (in millions $USD): 1,389,069.7 (ranked 4th) (2022 estimate)
• GDP percent change: 4%

Major Industries: Florida's warm climate is appealing not only to tourists, but to businesses as well. Aside from tourism, Florida's major industries include commercial fishing, agriculture, aquaculture, and aerospace and aviation. The state's economy is extremely diversified, encompassing everything from high-technology industries such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology to more traditional businesses catering to Florida's ever-increasing population of retirees and senior citizens.

The largest single portion of the state's gross domestic product (GDP) is derived from the finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing industry, which is bolstered by the heavy tourist traffic throughout the state. Other important industries include professional and business services, government, and retail trade. Manufacturing activities are clustered around the state's larger urban centers, such as Miami. Exports include aircraft and aviation parts, machinery, electronics, fertilizers, medical instruments, perfumes, and vehicle components.

Tourism: Florida is famous both nationally and internationally as a popular tourist destination, drawing many millions of visitors each year and bringing tens of billions of dollars to the state economy. For example, in 2019 about 131 million out-of-state visitors came to Florida, contributing about $98 billion to the economy. Although tourism took a sharp hit in 2020 due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the state still saw an estimated 79.75 million visitors that year. The industry quickly recovered, welcoming 118 million visitors in 2021 and a record 137.6 million in 2022.

With thousands of hotels, hundreds of campgrounds, and more golf courses than any other state in the nation, the vacation industry is a vital employer in the state. Popular tourist destinations in the state include Orlando's Walt Disney World and Epcot Center, the Busch Gardens theme park in Tampa, and the Everglades. Tourists also flock to resort cities such as Key West, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Naples.

Energy Production: Florida is one of the largest consumers of energy in the United States and also one of the largest producers of electricity. In 2021 approximately 74 percent of the state's electricity production was generated in natural gas-burning power plants. Nuclear and coal plants are also significant contributors, and renewable sources increased considerably in the twenty-first century; in 2021 Florida reached the third-largest solar power capacity of any state. Homes consume over half of all the state's electricity, largely due to the high use of air conditioning in the summer months.

Agriculture: Florida is a leader in terms of farm income in the southeast United States. Citrus fruit is the state of Florida's major income producer, with an annual economic impact typically valued in the billions of dollars. The Florida citrus industry is the largest in the nation. Other high-value crops produced on Florida farms include fresh-market tomatoes, strawberries, bell peppers, melons, potatoes, sweet corn, peanuts, hay, cucumbers, snap beans, blueberries, cabbage, cotton, squash, and avocados. The state is also the leading producer of sugarcane for sugar in the country. The top livestock inventory items in the states include broiler chickens, cattle and calves, and goats.

Florida's aquaculture industry supplies most of the nation's tropical fish, aquatic plants, crawfish, shrimp, and eels. More than half of the tropical fish hatcheries in the United States are found in Florida.

Airports: There are twenty-one international airports in Florida. Major airports include Orlando International Airport, Miami International Airport, Tampa International Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers. Miami International Airport is one of the busiest in the world and an important gateway between the United States and Central and South America.

Seaports: Florida has fifteen deep-water ports. PortMiami is the busiest cruise port in the world, serving millions of cruise passengers annually, followed by Port Everglades. In 2014 PortMiami’s Deep Dredge Project was completed, in which the bay was dredged to allow newer and larger cargo ships to access the port. The Port Miami Tunnel was also completed in 2014, a fast-access tunnel that connects the port directly to the US Interstate Highway System and allows trucks to bypass downtown Miami. Miami is one of the largest container ports on the East Coast. Other seaports are located in Canaveral, Key West, Tampa, Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Pensacola, St. Petersburg, and Panama City.

GOVERNMENT

• Governor: Ron DeSantis (Republican)
• Present constitution date: November 5, 1968
• Electoral votes: 30
• Number of counties: 67
• Violent crime rate: 383.6 (per 100,000 residents)
• Death penalty: Yes

Constitution: Florida's first constitution was written in 1838 but was nullified when the state seceded from the Union during the Civil War. After the end of the war, the state adopted the Reconstruction Constitution in 1868, which was rewritten in 1885. After that constitution was amended over one hundred times, a constitution revision commission was established in 1965. The constitution adopted in 1968 is the current constitution and it provides for a review every twenty years by a revision commission.

Branches of Government

Executive: This is the branch of government that administers and enforces state law. The governor serves as the head of the executive branch, and may serve up to two four-year terms and works with elected cabinet members in addition to the lieutenant governor. The cabinet is comprised of attorney general, commissioner, governor, and chief financial officer.

Legislative: Florida's legislature is comprised of a 40-seat senate and a 120-seat house of representatives. Senators are elected to four-year terms with half of the senate being elected every other year. Representatives are elected for two-year terms in even-numbered years.

Judicial: Each court in Florida's judicial system has a different jurisdiction. The supreme court is the state's highest court, and is comprised of seven justices appointed by the governor and then confirmed by popular vote. The justices select their own chief justice for a two-year term. In addition to the supreme court, there are five appellate districts across the state with fifty judges that handle appeals. Twenty judicial circuits around the state handle the state's trials. Finally, each county has a court and a county court judge elected for a four-year term.

HISTORY

1513 Juan Ponce de León lands on the northeast coast of the peninsula now known as Florida in search of the mythical Fountain of Youth. He names the area la Florida after the Spanish Easter celebration Pascua Florida, which translates as the "Feast of the Flowers."

1521 De León attempts to establish a colony on the southwest coast but is unsuccessful.

1539 Hernando de Soto arrives with six hundred men in present-day Tampa Bay in search of gold. For four years the group travels through Florida and across the southeast.

1542 Hernando de Soto dies near the Mississippi River.

1548 Father Luis Cancer, a Dominican priest and leader of a group of missionaries, is killed by American Indians near Tampa Bay.

1559 Tristan de Luna y Arellano attempts to colonize Florida. He establishes a settlement at Pensacola Bay but leaves after two years.

1562 French explorer Jean Ribault visits Florida.

1564 French Huguenots, led by René Goulaine de Laudonnière establishes Fort Caroline near present-day Jacksonville, at the end of the St. Johns River.

1565 Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés arrives at St. Augustine with the intention of removing the French and creating a Spanish settlement. He captures Fort Caroline and renames it San Mateo. All of the French settlers and non-Catholics are killed. Menéndez also founds St. Augustine, the oldest city founded by European settlers in what is now the United States.

1567 Dominique de Gourgues arrives from France to avenge the massacre at Fort Caroline. He captures San Mateo, kills the Spanish soldiers there, and returns to France. Spaniards continue to arrive, however, and construct Roman Catholic missions along the southeast cost of the new land.

1575 Franciscan friars begin missionary work in Florida.

1586 English Captain Sir Francis Drake loots and burns St. Augustine.

1600s French explorers explore the Mississippi River, heading south. The English establish colonies at Jamestown, Virginia, and Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Spanish continue to settle throughout Florida.

1698 The Spanish build Fort San Carlos, near Pensacola Bay, to guard against French activity along the west coast of Florida.

1702 British colonel James Moore and his allies, the Creeks, attack St. Augustine but are unable to capture the Spanish fort. After a fifty-two-day siege they finally capture the city.

1704 Moore and the Creeks destroy the Spanish missions between Tallahassee and St. Augustine. The Spaniards and Christianized American Indians are forced to abandon the missions.

1719 The French capture Pensacola. It is returned to Spain in 1723.

1740 British General James Oglethorpe invades Florida. He attempts to take St. Augustine but turns back due to the oppressive heat and lack of provisions.

1763 The British control Florida and give Havana, Cuba, to the Spanish, who had lost it in the Seven Years' War. The Spanish evacuate Florida and the state splits into two halves (East and West). The British try to establish good trade relations with the Seminoles there.

1781 The British lose Pensacola to the Spanish.

1782 The British evacuate and cede all of Florida to the Spanish in exchange for the Bahamas, under the Treaty of Paris. Many British leave for the Bahamas and West Indies.

1803 The United States claims much of the territory between the Mississippi River and Pensacola as part of the terms of the Louisiana Purchase.

1813 During the US invasion of West Florida, Major General Andrew Jackson captures Pensacola.

1816 Three hundred are killed when a cannon ball explodes on an abandoned British fort on the Apalachicola River.

1818 During the First Seminole War, Andrew Jackson executes two British subjects for provoking resistance to US forces among the local American Indians.

1819 Spain grants the title to both East and West Florida to the United States.

1820 Andrew Jackson establishes a territorial government in Florida on behalf of the United States, and East and West Florida are merged.

1821 William Pope Duval becomes the first territorial governor of Florida.

1824 Duval proclaims Tallahassee the capital of Florida, and the Legislative Council meets there in November.

1834 Florida's railroads begin operating.

1835 The Second Seminole War begins and lasts until 1842.

1836 Seminole leader Osceola is imprisoned. General Zachary Taylor leads the battle against the Seminole on Lake Okeechobee on Christmas Day.

1842 Close to four thousand American Indians and African Americans are forcibly removed from Florida to the Indian Territory in present day Oklahoma.

1845 On March 3, Florida becomes the twenty-seventh state to join the United States of America. William Moseley is the state's first governor.

1851 Apalachicola resident Dr. John Gorrie patents the process of artificially making ice.

1855–58 The Third Seminole War takes place.

1860 In the presidential election, no Floridians vote for the winner, Abraham Lincoln.

1861 On January 10, Florida secedes from the Union and joins the Confederate States of America.

1861–65 While few Civil War battles are fought on Florida soil, sixteen thousand Floridians serve in the war and one thousand are killed in action.

1864 Confederate forces win the Battle of Olustee, the largest engagement to take place in Florida during the Civil War, on February 20.

1865 The Civil War ends on May 10, and the South is defeated. Federal troops occupy the capital of Tallahassee.

1868 The federal government begins Reconstruction, and Florida is readmitted into the Union. Florida adopts a new state constitution.

1876 Home rule is returned to Florida, though federal troops remain in the state.

1885 The State Board of Education is created and public schools are established.

1886 Henry Flagler begins building a railroad to service his hotels along the East Coast and in Key West.

1887 The first shipment of phosphate leaves the Peace River Valley.

1894–95 Severe frosts plague northern Florida's orange groves and kill most of the state's citrus crops.

1898 Tampa, Miami, and Jacksonville serve as staging areas for US soldiers during the Spanish American War.

1911 Lincoln Beachey makes the first night flight in history near Tampa.

1912 Construction of the East Coast Railway, a 128-mile overseas railroad linking Homestead and Key West, is completed.

1914 The first regular airline service between two US cities, St. Petersburg and Tampa, begins on January 1.

1917–18 US troops prepare for World War I in Florida.

1924 A two-year real estate boom, resulting in increased population and the founding of several new Florida cities, begins.

1935 A new automobile speed record (276 miles per hour) is set by Sir Malcolm Campbell at Daytona Beach.

1941–45 Florida becomes a training ground for US troops during World War II. Preparation for the war sparks an industrial boom across the state.

1950 Frozen citrus juice becomes a major industry. The inaugural rocket launch is held at the Cape Canaveral space research facility and test site.

1961 On May 5, astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, is launched into orbit in a rocket from Cape Canaveral. Another launch takes place on July 21.

1963 Cape Canaveral is renamed the John F. Kennedy Space Center in honor of the slain president.

1969 The formerly segregated Florida school system becomes racially integrated.

1971 The Walt Disney World theme park in Orlando opens on October 1.

1973 A then-record 25.5 million tourists visit Florida this year.

1977 Thirty-four Florida counties are declared disaster areas by President Jimmy Carter after the state's crops are ruined by severe cold.

1981 Kennedy Space Center launches the first manned space shuttle.

1982 The EPCOT Center opens in Orlando at a cost of $800 million.

1986 The space shuttle Challenger explodes after takeoff from the Kennedy Space Center. Seven astronauts are killed.

1990 Extreme flooding in northwest Florida causes two thousand homes to be evacuated.

1992 Hurricane Andrew devastates southern Florida. The storm leaves thirty-two dead and nearly a quarter of million people homeless, in what is referred to as the most expensive natural disaster in American history.

1999 A joint plan is proposed by the federal and state governments to restore the Everglades, at a cost of nearly $8 billion.

2000 Florida is at the center of a national controversy after irregularities are discovered in the state's voting system during the presidential election. The US Supreme Court decides the election in favor of Governor Jeb Bush's brother, George W. Bush.

2004 Four hurricanes in a row devastate Florida, and the state declares a national emergency. Over $1.7 billion in aid funds are issued to help Floridians recover from the damage. The same year, US Representative Porter Goss is named CIA director by President George W. Bush.

2005 Hurricane Katrina lands first in Florida before moving along the Southern Coast of the United States. Katrina is one of four hurricanes to hit Florida during the 2005 hurricane season.

2006 Florida Representative Mark Foley resigns from Congress following reports of sexual impropriety.

2007 The University of Florida men’s basketball team win their second consecutive National Championship in March. The school becomes the first in the history of the NCAA to simultaneously hold championships in both basketball and football.

Toward the end of 2006 and into 2007, Florida and other southeastern states began to suffer one of the worst droughts in regional history. Meteorologists report that 2007 was the driest in over 113 years. Watering bans and water rationing initiatives are instituted in Florida and other states.

2010 The British oil company BP (British Petroleum) gives the state of Florida $25 million to help the state promote its beaches following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Oil from a BP drilling rig site leaked into the Gulf of Mexico for three months after the rig was destroyed by an explosion.

2012 On February 26, Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African American teenager, is shot and killed by twenty-eight-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, a multiracial Hispanic American, within a gated community in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman is eventually with second-degree murder and acquitted; the incident sparks nationwide protests and heightens public attention to violence against Black Americans.

2016 A mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando leaves forty-nine people dead. It is at the time the deadliest attack by a single shooter in US history.

2017 Hurricane Irma hits Florida in September; it kills at least eighty people and leaves behind at least $50 billion of damage, becoming the costliest and deadliest hurricane in the state's history. In addition, almost 4.4 million homes and businesses are left without power, and the tourism industry suffers a significant blow, losing 111,000 jobs that month.

2018 A shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland becomes the deadliest high school shooting in the United States to date, with seventeen killed. The incident triggers nationwide student-led gun violence protests and some gun regulation laws.

Hurricane Michael, a category 5 storm, makes landfall near Panama City in October. It is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the panhandle.

Florida voters pass a state constitutional amendment to restore the right to vote for people with felony convictions after they have completed all terms of sentence.

2021 A condominium in Miami collapses, killing at least ninety-seven people. It is considered one of the deadliest engineering disasters in US history.

2022 Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Southwest Florida, causing catastrophic damage and becoming one of the deadliest storms in state history. Governor Ron DeSantis signs a law restricting discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in public school classrooms, generating much controversy nationwide.

FAMOUS PEOPLE

Julian Adderley, 1928–1975 (Tampa) , Jazz musician, alto saxophone player.

Wally Amos, 1936– (Tallahassee) , Entrepreneur, founder of Famous Amos cookies.

Pat Boone, 1934– (Jacksonville) , Singer and actor.

John Mercer Brooke, 1826–1906 (Tampa Bay) , Naval officer and inventor of deep sea sounding apparatus.

Fernando Bujones, 1955–2005 (Miami) , Ballet dancer.

Steve Carlton, 1944– (Miami) , Hall of Fame baseball player.

Aaron Carter, 1987–2022 (Tampa) , Pop singer.

Merian C. Cooper, 1893–1973 (Jacksonville) , Cinematographer, director, writer, producer.

Patricia Cornwell, 1956– (Miami) , Novelist.

George Dillon, 1906–1968 (Jacksonville) , Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Flowering Stone.

Faye Dunaway, 1941– (Bascom) , Actor.

Timothy Thomas Fortune, 1856–1928 (Mariana Township) , Journalist and civil rights activist.

Dwight Gooden, 1964– (Tampa) , Former Major League Baseball pitcher.

Ariana Grande, 1993– (Boca Raton) , Singer.

Edgerrin James, 1977– (Immokalee) , Professional football player.

Barry Jenkins, 1979– (Miami) , Academy Award–winning director and screenwriter.

James Weldon Johnson, 1871–1938 (Jacksonville) , Poet, novelist, and civil rights activist.

John Rosamond Johnson, 1873–1954 (Jacksonville) , Composer.

Frances Langford, 1913–2005 (Lakeland) , Singer.

Jim Morrison, 1943–1971 (Melbourne) , Popular musician, lead singer of rock band the Doors.

Sidney Poitier, 1924–2022 (Miami) , Actor.

A. Philip Randolph, 1889–1979 (Crescent City) , Activist; union founder.

Janet Reno, 1938–2016 (Miami) , Politician, former attorney general of the United States.

Maya Rudolph, 1972– (Gainesville), Actor, comedian.

Augusta Savage, 1892–1962 (Green Cove Springs) , Sculptor, civil rights activist.

Wesley Snipes, 1962– (Orlando) , Actor.

Niki Taylor, 1975– (Fort Lauderdale) , Fashion model.

TRIVIA

• The key lime is native to the Florida Keys.
• Sixty different species of mosquitoes live in Florida.
• No part of Florida is more than seventy-five miles from the ocean.
• The state's largest lake, Lake Okeechobee, is among the largest freshwater lakes in the United States, at 700 square miles.
• Florida has 4,510 islands that are ten acres or larger, the second highest total in the country.
• Famous inventions and products first developed in Florida include mechanical refrigeration, suntan lotion, Gatorade soft drinks, and Snapper riding lawn mowers.
• Greater Miami is the only metropolitan area in the country that encompasses two national parks.
• In July 2020 the state of Florida announced that it had removed five thousand invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades.

Bibliography

Baram, Uzi, and Daniel Hughes. "Florida and Its Historical Archaeology." Historical Archaeology, vol. 46, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1–7. Academic Search Premier, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=77781656&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 21 July 2016.

"Economic Profile for Florida." BEARFACTS, US Bureau of Economic Analysis, 31 Mar. 2023, apps.bea.gov/regional/bearfacts/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

"Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer." Federal Bureau of Investigation, cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

"Florida." QuickFacts, US Census Bureau, 1 July 2022, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/FL/PST045222. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

"Florida State Profile and Energy Estimates." US Energy Information Administration, 19 Jan. 2023, www.eia.gov/state/?sid=FL. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

"Florida: 2020 Census." US Census Bureau, 25 Aug. 2021, www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/florida-population-change-between-census-decade.html. Accessed 4 Oct. 2022.

Higgs, Robert. "'Not Merely Perfidious but Ungrateful': The US Takeover of West Florida." Independent Review, vol. 10, no. 2, 2005, pp. 303–10. Business Source Premier, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=18159001&site=bsi-live. Accessed 21 July 2016.

Knight, Henry. "Southward Expansion: The Myth of the West in the Promotion of Florida, 1876–1900." European Journal of American Culture, vol. 29, no. 2, 2010, pp. 111–29. Academic Search Premier, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=52803285&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 21 July 2016.

"Research: Florida Visitor Estimates." Visit Florida, www.visitflorida.org/resources/research/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

"Unemployment Rates for States, 2022 Annual Averages." Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor, 1 Mar. 2023, www.bls.gov/lau/lastrk22.htm. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

Jennifer Petersen