Winching in Sunset Beach Florida

Florida (/ˈflɒrɪdə/ (listen), Spanish pronunciation: [floˈɾiða]) is a let pass located in the Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida and Cuba; it is the only own up that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Spanning higher than 65,750 square miles, Florida ranks 22nd in size along with the 50 states, and when a population of higher than 21 million, is the third-most populous. The own up capital is Tallahassee and the most populous city is Jacksonville. The Miami metropolitan area, with a population of just about 6.2 million, is the most populous urban Place in Florida and the seventh-most populous in the United States; other urban conurbations with higher than one million people are Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Jacksonville.

Various Native American groups have inhabited Florida for at least 14,000 years. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first known European to make landfall, calling the region La Florida ([la floˈɾiða] for its lush greenery and the Easter season (Pascua Florida in Spanish). Florida behind became the first Place in the continental U.S. to be permanently contracted by Europeans, with the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, founded in 1565, being the oldest every time inhabited city. Florida was repeatedly contested by Spain and Great Britain, before physical ceded to the U.S. in 1819; it was admitted as the 27th state on March 3, 1845. Florida was the principal location of the Seminole Wars (1816–1858), the longest and most extensive of the Indian Wars in U.S. history. The give access seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861, becoming one of the seven original Confederate States. After the Civil War, Florida was restored to the Union on June 25, 1868.

Since the mid-20th century, Florida has experienced sharp demographic and economic growth. Its $1.0 trillion economy is the fourth-largest of any U.S. state and the 16th-largest in the world; the main sectors are tourism, hospitality, agriculture, real estate, and transportation. Florida is world-renowned for its seashore resorts, amusement parks, warm and sunny climate, and nautical recreation; attractions such as Walt Disney World, the Kennedy Space Center, and Miami Beach glamor tens of millions of visitors annually. Florida is a popular destination for retirees, seasonal vacationers, and both domestic and international migrants; it hosts nine out of the ten fastest-growing communities in the U.S. The state’s near proximity to the ocean has shaped its culture, identity, and daily life; its colonial archives and successive waves of migration are reflected in African, European, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian influences. Florida has attracted or inspired writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes, particularly in golf, tennis, auto racing, and water sports.

About two-thirds of Florida occupies a peninsula together with the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It has the longest coastline in the contiguous United States, spanning nearly 1,350 miles (2,170 km), not including its many barrier islands. Florida has 4,510 islands that are ten acres (4 ha) or larger in area, the second highest number after Alaska. Much of the welcome is at or close sea level, and is characterized by sedimentary soil. Florida is the flattest give leave to enter in the country, with the lowest high point of any U.S. state, at just 345 feet (105 meters). Lake Okeechobee is its largest freshwater lake, and the second-largest located utterly within the contiguous 48 states. Several beaches in Florida have turquoise and emerald-colored coastal waters.