The Florida reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Florida

Alternate meanings: Florida (disambiguation)

Central: UTC-6/Daylight saving time>-5
All but western panhandle is Eastern >

Florida

(Flag of Florida) (State seal of Florida)
State nickname	Sunshine State
Other U.S. States
Capital	Tallahassee
Largest City	Miami
Governor	Jeb Bush
Area Total km² (Ranked 22nd) Land 137,374 km² Water 30,486 km² (17.9%)
Population Total (2000) Ranked 4th) Density 94/km²
Admittance into Union	March 3, 1845 (27th
Time zone	UTC-5/Daylight saving time
Latitude	24°30'N to 31°N
Longitude	79°48'W to 87°38'W
Width	260 km
Length	800 km
Elevation Highest 105 meters Mean 30 meters Lowest 0 meters
ISO 3166-2	US-FL

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.

Table of contents

1 History 2 Law and Government 3 Taxation 4 Geography 5 Economy 6 Demographics 7 Important cities and towns 8 Education 8.1 Colleges and universities 9 Sports 9.2 Professional sports teams in Florida 9.3 Spring training 9.4 Minor League teams 10 External links

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 lay claim to a large, imprecisely defined area extending from about modern day Gainesville northward to the Carolinas, which they called La Florida. Over the following century, the Spanish and French both established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success. 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. Today, Florida is the fourth most populous state in the Union.

Law and Government

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.

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. 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 right wing Republicans and their business allies. Tampa was once a hotbed of Democratic union/Mafia support, but has reversed polarity completely in recent years, and is now governed by heavily pro-business Republicans. Outside of liberal Miami-Dade County, 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 percent, and use tax of 6 percent is due on purchases made out of state and brought into Florida within 6 months of the purchase date. Additionally, some counties are authorized to levy a discretionary sales surtax on most transactions that are subject to sales and use tax.

Geography

See: List of Florida counties

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. It is near the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, and other countries in the Caribbean.

At 345 feet (105 metres) above sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida (it's also the lowest state highpoint.)

Economy

Florida's economy is heavily based on tourism. Warm weather most of the year and many miles of pristine beaches provide a thriving vacation spot for travelers from around the world. The large Walt Disney World theme park and resort complex, located near Orlando, 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.

Demographics

As of the 2000 census, the state had a population of 15,982,378.

Important cities and towns

Population > 1,000,000 (urbanized area) Miami Tampa Orlando Jacksonville Population > 100,000 (urbanized area) Sarasota Palm Bay Cape Coral Pensacola Port Saint Lucie Daytona Beach Bonita Springs Tallahassee Lakeland Kissimmee Gainesville Pembroke Pines Fort Walton Beach Deltona Panama City North Port Vero Beach Ocala Brooksville Fort Lauderdale Melbourne Saint Petersburg

Population > 10,000 (urbanized area) Key West Leesburg Zephyrhills Saint Augustine Titusville Lady Lake Sebring Inverness Key West Greater Sun Center Palm Coast Clermont Lehigh Acres Belle Glade Palatka Crestview Immokalee Islamorada Okeechobee Homosassa Springs Lake City Marco Island Ross Prairie Bartow Wauchula Arcadia Placid Lakes Clewiston Poinciana Key Biscayne La Belle Quincy

Education

Despite the tremendous amount of tax revenue generated by tourism, Florida's public education system is abysmal, with state public schools consistently ranking last or near last in national surveys. With teachers' salaries among the lowest in the country, many competent educators choose to go elsewhere or work in private industry rather than teach. Governor Jeb Bush has been criticized by Florida educators for a program, widely regarded as counterproductive, that penalizes underperforming schools (as indicated by standardized tests) with fewer funding dollars.

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. The appointees so far have been overwhelmingly Republican. [1] In 2002, Democratic Senator Bob Graham started a ballot referendum designed to revert to the Board of Regents system.

Colleges and universities

Barry University Bethune-Cookman College Carlos Albizu University Miami campus Clearwater Christian College Eckerd College Edward Waters College Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Flagler College Florida A&M University Florida Atlantic University Florida Christian College Florida College Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences Florida Institute of Technology Florida International University Florida Memorial College Florida Metropolitan University Florida Southern College Florida State University Florida State University Panama City campus Hobe Sound Bible College International College International Fine Arts College Jacksonville University

Jones College Lynn University New College of Florida Northwood University Nova Southeastern University Palm Beach Atlantic College Ringling School of Art and Design Rollins College Saint John Vianney College Seminary Saint Leo College St. Thomas University South Florida Bible College and Theological Seminary Southeastern College of the Assemblies of God Stetson University Trinity College of Florida Troy State University Florida Region University of Central Florida University of Florida University of Miami University of North Florida University of Sarasota University of South Florida University of Tampa University of West Florida Warner Southern College Webber College

Sports

Professional sports teams in Florida

National Football League Jacksonville Jaguars Tampa Bay Buccaneers Miami Dolphins National Basketball Association Orlando Magic Miami Heat

National Hockey League Tampa Bay Lightning Florida Panthers Major League Baseball Tampa Bay Devil Rays Florida Marlins

Arena Football League Orlando Predators Tampa Bay Storm

Spring training

Florida is an extremely popular location for Major League Baseball spring training. Florida hosts the following major league teams for spring training:

• New York Yankees in Tampa
• Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton
• Detroit Tigers in Lakeland

Minor League teams

Florida also hosts the following minor league baseball teams:

Jacksonville Suns Daytona Cubs Dunedin Blue Jays Clearwater Threshers Brevard County Manatees Vero Beach Dodgers

Lakeland Tigers St. Lucie Mets Sarasota Red Sox Fort Myers Miracle Charlotte Rangers Jupiter Hammerheads

External links

• http://www.state.fl.us

Political divisions of the United States

States Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming Federal district District of Columbia Insular areas American Samoa | Baker Island | Guam | Howland Island | Jarvis Island | Johnston Atoll | Kingman Reef | Midway Atoll | Northern Mariana Islands | Palmyra Atoll | Puerto Rico | U.S. Virgin Islands | Wake Island