A Feast of Flowers. That was the phrase Ponce de Leon had in mind when he named Florida. For millions of visitors since, it is The Sunshine State. It is the nation's sandbox, featuring miles and miles of the most popular beaches in the world, located in the southeast United States on the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. A state in which sunshine has been called its most important natural resource, Florida is much more: rolling hills, exotic swamps and marshes, warm springs, beautiful rivers and lakes, majestic forests. Tropical trees and plants, and abundance of wildlife, from black bear, white-tailed deer, gray fox, and bobcats to armadillo, alligators, crocodiles, and marine turtles. Plus an almost endless variety of saltwater, freshwater, and tropical fish--and 400 species of birds native to Florida.

The Panhandle region in the northwest extends along 200 miles of farms and woods eastward from the Alabama border to the Suwannee River. The northeast is a rolling landscape of cattle and agriculture. West central Florida attracts thousands of people each day to 400 miles of coastline on the Gulf of Mexico. In the state's center Orlando is the mecca of theme park visitors from around the globe. East Central Florida is home to space journeys originating at Cape Canaveral and the flashing thunder of race cars at the Daytona Speedway. Southwest Florida has the Everglades, a shallow river 90 miles wide studded with low islands; and west of the Glades is Retirement Country and winter residents, the Snowbirds. The hub of southeast Florida is the Miami metropolitan area accounting for nearly one-fourth of the state's population. The Florida Keys are a series of coral reef islands connected by the Overseas Highway extending south and west from Miami at Key Largo for 120 miles to Key West. It is a state of continuous growth in population, now estimated at more than 14,700,000. State capital is Tallahassee. Other principal cities include Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa, Saint Petersburg, Sarasota, Orlando, Daytona, Palm Beach, Pensacola, and Key West.

Florida's state beverage is orange juice, proclaimed by the state legislature in 1967. Its state bird is the mockingbird, and its state butterfly the black and yellow Zebra Longwing, Its state song, Swanee River, was written by Stephen Foster who never visited Florida. Its longest river is the 273-mile St. Johns, its largest lake the 700-square-mile Lake Okeechobee (one of 7,700 lakes).

Notable points of interest are the Treasure Coast and Space Coast, south of Daytona; the Florida International Museum; historic Saint Augustine in the north; the Emerald Coast and the First Coast in northeast Florida; the Gold Coast in southeast Florida; Sea World, Walt Disney World, and Universal Studios in central Florida; Everglades National Park, wilderness adventures, and sunset cruises in southwest Florida. Other attractions include Biscayne National Park, De Soto National Memorial, Dry Tortugas National Park, National Forests and State Parks, Marineland, Parrot Jungle and Gardens, Wakulla Spring. Also the Ringling Museum of Art, the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art, the Salvador Dali Museum, the Florida Museum of Natural Resources; symphony orchestras, professional theaters, and other cultural attractions in the larger cities. Recreation opportunities are almost unlimited all year-round: water sports, golf, tennis, polo, jai alai, horse racing, dog racing, automobile racing, rodeos, deep sea fishing, scuba diving. Professional sports include the NFL Dolphins, Jaguars, Buccaneers; Florida Marlins baseball; and the NBA Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.

The base of Florida's diversified, ever-expanding economy is first and foremost, tourism, plus citrus, cattle, electronics, plastics, real estate, construction, international banking, insurance, service industries, forestry, mining, and manufacturing. The area is served by modern interstate highways, including Sunshine State Parkway and Everglades Parkway, railroads, more than 700 airports including Miami International Airport, primary port of entry into the U.S. from Central and South America, the Intracoastal Waterway, and deepwater ports.

The first people to reach Florida some 12,000 years ago were hunters and gatherers who lived off the plentiful animals and plants (many of which are extinct today). In 1513 the Spanish explorer and adventurer Juan Ponce de Leon arrived near present-day Saint Augustine and called the area la Florida. Hernando de Soto's expedition in 1539 opened the way to the gold and silver riches of Mexico, Central and South America. The French arrived in 1562 and established Fort Caroline near present Jacksonville. In 1763 the British seized Florida but the Spanish regained control in 1781 as part of the peace treaty that ended the American Revolution. Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1821, and three years later Tallahassee was established as the territory's capital city. Florida joined the Union in 1845 as the 27th state. In recent years, Florida locked into the future with historic launches of the U.S. Space program from Cape Canaveral, including the moon landings and development of the space shuttle missions.

Useful Florida Resources:

St Augustine Florida Condos Condo real estate guide to St. Augustine Beach and Crescent Beach Florida

 

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