1. A state in southeastern United States between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War; Also called: Sunshine State, Everglade State.
2. Village in Missouri (USA).
3. Village in New York (USA); zip code 10921.
4. Village in Ohio (USA).
5. Zona urbana in Puerto Rico (USA).
Southeasternmost state of the US; mainly a peninsula jutting into the Atlantic, which it separates from the Gulf of Mexico; nicknamed Sunshine State.
area 152,000 sq km/58,672 sq mi.
capital Tallahassee.
towns and cities Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville.
one of the fastest-growing of the states; including 15% nonwhite; 10% Hispanic, (especially Cuban).
physical 50% forested; lakes (including Okeechobee 1,800 sq km/695 sq mi); Everglades national park (5,000 sq km/1,930 sq mi), with birdlife, mangrove and cypress forests, alligators.
features lowlying, mostly less than 30 m/100 ft above sea level; Biscayne national park, a marine park with a living coral reef 320 km/200 mi long; Apalachia, Ocala, and Oscoela national forests; the Florida Keys, 31 islands between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, including Key Largo, with Crocodile Lakes national wildlife refuge; Tampa Bay; Fort Lauderdale; St Augustine, the oldest city in the US; the Spanish fortress, Castillo de San Marcos national monument; Penascola (1559) with Spanish colonial buildings; Key West, with 19th-century buildings; Tallahassee, with pre-Civil War plantation mansions; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; Miami, with Art Deco district; Elgin Air Force Base; John F Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral; Palm Beach island resort; beach resorts on Gulf and on Atlantic; Daytona International Speedway; Walt Disney World, and Epcot (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) Center; Universal Studios Florida; fishing at Destin.
industries citrus fruits, melons, vegetables, fish, shellfish, phosphates, chemicals, electrical and electronic equipment, aircraft, fabricated metals.
famous people Chris Evert, Henry Flagler, James Weldon Johnson, Sidney Poitier, Philip Randolph, Joseph Stilwell.
history discovered by Ponce de Leon and under Spanish rule from 1513 until its cession to England 1763; returned to Spain 1783 and purchased by the US 1819, becoming a state 1845.
It grew rapidly in the early 1920s, stimulated by feverish land speculation. Despite the 1926 collapse of the boom, migration continued, especially of retirees from the North. After World War II, resorts, agriculture, and industry grew in importance. The space center at Cape Canaveral also contributed to the state economy. More recently, Florida has become a banking center, a development often partially attributed to the sizable inflow of cash derived from the traffic in illegal drugs from Latin America. Because of its proximity to Caribbean nations, the state became a haven for refugees from such countries as Cuba and Haiti.
Hurricane Andrew ravaged South Florida and Louisiana August 1993, killing 13 and making 250,000 people homeless. It was the world's costliest insured loss as a result of a natural disaster.