Cities
Other destinations
Understand
Being a coastal area, frequent precipitation is common. While the rains are often brief, they are common, and plan for rain at least one or two of your days in Florida. Torrential daytime rains (often accompanied by a fantastic show of lightning and thunder) are a relatively common occurrence in the summer months. Many attractions such as Disney World have multiple attractions available even during downpours.
Talk
English is the official language of the state. However Spanish is widely spoken throughout the state. In some parts of South Florida, Spanish is the preferred language in everyday activities. The people of the Florida Panhandle, North Florida, and The Everglades and Lake Okeechobee region will usually speak in a southern accent. One will also come across a speaker of the southern dialect in rural parts of Central Florida.
Get in
All of the state's major cities have airports. If you're seeking to go to the main tourist destinations like Orlando and Miami, plenty of flights will be available for reasonable rates, especially if you connect through Atlanta.
If you're looking to drive in, the three main interstate highways are I-95, I-75, and I-10 if you're coming from the Northeast, Midwest, and West/Southwest respectively.
Get around
Florida's major interstate highways include I-95, which runs north to south along the east coast, I-10, which runs from Jacksonville in the east across the panhandle to the west, and I-75, which enters the state from Georgia and runs south through Tampa and along the Gulf coast. U.S. Highway 1 is a historic and scenic highway which originates in Key West and continues up the east coast. This Florida Map site includes a detailed road map of the state, showing interstate, federal, and state highways.
See
Itineraries
Do
Visit Disney World. One of the best family attraction sites in Florida and in the world.
Some places that you might like to vist would be to the waterparks in Florida. There are museums and stores to visit.
Drink
Alcoholic beverages abound throughout the state and (at least for being located in the conservative Southern U.S.) has somewhat liberal drinking laws. Liquor stores are quite often built into strip malls, supermarkets, and pharmacies...and most grocery stores, gas stations, and convenience stores sell beer and wine. Bars and clubs are quite popular throughout the state. Miami Beach is well known for a variety of themed and upscale bars with innovative mixed drinks.
Just like every other U.S. state, the purchase and possession age for alcohol is 21 and is fairly well enforced. Underage drinking "stings" are quite frequent in many touristy areas during popular times of year.
Stay safe
Florida has a high occurrence of hurricanes. You might want to check the Hurricane safety page if you are visiting Florida. Beware of lightning in the north central part of the state, especially Dixie County, the state's lightning capital. Volusia County is known for a high number of shark attacks, so be careful when surfing. Also, there is a high occurrence of tornadoes in Florida, so check the Tornado safety page.
Florida has varying crime intensity from city to city. In certain parts of large cities it may not be safe to walk alone or even in small groups at night. Touristy areas rarely have violent crimes, but theft is an occasional occurence.
Get out
Heading out of Florida to the north is Georgia. Here you will find the historic city of Savannah and the resort beach of Jeckyl Island.
In Alabama, Mobile is a historic port city and Gulf Shores is a popular resort. A little further out, Mississippi offers casino gaming in Biloxi and Gulfport.
The State of Florida (IPA: //) is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States of America. Most of the state is a large peninsula with the Gulf of Mexico on its west and the Atlantic Ocean on its east. Most of the state has a humid subtropical climate, except for southern Florida, where the climate borders on tropical and the Florida Keys, which have a tropical climate. Florida was named by Juan Ponce de León, who landed on the peninsula on 2 April, 1513, during Pascua Florida (Spanish for "Flowery Easter," referring to the Easter season). Florida's economy relies heavily on tourism.
Geography
Florida is situated mostly on a large peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida. It extends to the northwest into a panhandle, extending along the northern Gulf of Mexico. It is bordered on the north by the states of Georgia and Alabama, and on the west, at the end of the panhandle, by Alabama. It is near the countries of the Caribbean, particularly the Bahamas and Cuba. Florida's extensive coast line made it a perceived target during World War II, so the government built airstrips all around the state. Today approximately 400 airports are still in service due to the coastal geography of the state. Florida is one of the largest states east of the Mississippi. Only Alaska and Michigan are larger in water area.
At 345 feet (105 m) above mean sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida and the lowest highpoint of any U.S. state. Contrary to popular belief, however, Florida is not entirely "flat." Some places, such as Clearwater, feature vistas that rise 50 to 100 feet (15–30 m) above the water. Much of the interior of Florida, typically 25 miles (40 km) or more away from the coastline, features hills with elevations ranging from 100 to 250 feet (30–76 m) in many locations. Lake County holds the highest point of peninsular Florida, Sugarloaf Mountain, at 312 feet (95 m).
Areas under control by the National Park Service include:
Areas under the control of the USDA United States Forest Service include:
Boundaries
The state line begins in the Atlantic Ocean, traveling west, south, and north up the thalweg of the Saint Mary's River. At the origin of that river, it then follows a straight line nearly due west and slightly north, to the point where the confluence of the Flint River (from Georgia) and the Chattahoochee River (down the Alabama/Georgia line) used to form Florida's Apalachicola River. (Since Woodruff Dam was built, this point has been under Lake Seminole.) The border with Georgia continues north through the lake for a short distance up the former thalweg of the Chattahoochee, then with Alabama runs due west along latitude 31°N to the Perdido River, then south along its thalweg to the Gulf via Perdido Bay.
Climate
The climate of Florida is tempered somewhat by its proximity to water. Most of the state has a humid subtropical climate, except for the southern part below Lake Okeechobee which has a true tropical climate. Cold fronts can occasionally bring high winds and cool to cold temperatures to the entire state during late fall and winter. One such front swept through the peninsula on November 25, 1996, bringing cold temperatures and winds up to 95 miles per hour (150 km/h), knocking out power to thousands and damaging mobile homes. The seasons in Florida are actually determined more by precipitation than by temperature with mild to cool, relatively dry winters and autumns (the dry season) and hot, wet springs and summers (the wet season). The Gulf Stream has a moderating effect on the climate, and although much of Florida commonly sees a high summer temperature over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 °C), the mercury seldom exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 °C). The hottest temperature ever recorded in the state was 109 °F (43 °C), set on June 29, 1931 in Monticello. The coldest was –2 °F (−19 °C), on February 13, 1899, just 25 miles (40 km) away, in Tallahassee. Mean high temperatures for late July are primarily in the low 90s Fahrenheit (32–35 °C). Mean low temperatures for late January range from the low 40s Fahrenheit (4–7 °C) in northern Florida to the mid-50s (≈13 °C) in southern Florida.
The Florida Keys, being surrounded by water, have a more tropical climate, with lesser variability in temperatures. At Key West, temperatures rarely exceed 90 °F in the summer or fall below 60 °F in the winter, and frost has never been reported in the Keys.
Florida's nickname is the "Sunshine State," but severe weather is a common occurrence in the state. Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States, as it experiences more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the country. Florida has the highest average precipitation of any state, in large part because afternoon thunderstorms are common in most of the state from late spring until early autumn. A fair day may be interrupted with a storm, only to return to sunshine. These thunderstorms, caused by collisions between airflow from the Gulf of Mexico and airflow from the Atlantic Ocean, pop up in the early afternoon and can bring heavy downpours, high winds, and sometimes tornadoes. Florida leads the United States in tornadoes per square mile, but these tornadoes do not typically reach the intensity of those in the Midwest and Great Plains. Hail often accompanies the most severe thunderstorms.
Snow in Florida is a rare occurrence. During the Great Blizzard of 1899, Florida experienced blizzard conditions. During that time, the Tampa Bay Area had "gulf-effect" snow, similar to lake-effect snow. The Great Blizzard of 1899 is the only time the temperature in the state is known to have fallen below 0 degrees Fahrenheit (−18 °C). The most widespread snowfall in Florida history happened in January 19th 1977, when snow fell over much of the state in different times of the month, as far south as Homestead. Snow flurries fell on Miami Beach for the only time in recorded history. 1982's "Cold Sunday," which saw freezing conditions throughout much of the country, ruined that year's orange crops. In 1989, a severe hard freeze created lots of ice and also caused minor flurries in sections of the state and resulted in rolling blackouts from power failures caused by massive demands on the power grid for heating. A hard freeze in 2003 brought "ocean-effect" snow flurries to the Atlantic coast as far south as Cape Canaveral.
The 1993 Superstorm brought blizzard conditions to the panhandle, while heavy rain and tornadoes beset the peninsula. The storm is believed to have been similar in composition to a hurricane, and even brought storm surges of six feet or more to regions of the Gulf coast.
Although some storms have formed out of season, hurricanes pose a threat during hurricane season, which lasts from June 1 to November 30. Florida saw a slew of destruction in 2004, when it was hit by a record four hurricanes. Hurricanes Charley (August 13), Frances (September 4–5), Ivan (September 16), and Jeanne (September 25–26) cumulatively cost the state's economy US$42 billion. In 2005, Hurricane Dennis (July 10) became the fifth storm to strike Florida within eleven months. Later, Hurricane Katrina (August 25) passed through South Florida and Hurricane Rita (September 20) swept through the Florida Keys. Hurricane Wilma made landfall in Florida in the early morning of October 24 as a Category 3 hurricane, with the storm's eye hitting near Cape Romano, just south of Marco Island, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Florida was the site of the second costliest weather disaster in U.S. history, Hurricane Andrew, which caused more than US$25 billion in damage when it struck on August 24, 1992. In a long list of other infamous hurricane strikes are the 1926 Great Miami Hurricane, the Lake Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928, the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Hurricane Donna in 1960, and Hurricane Opal in 1995.
Before the American Civil War, when slavery was legal, and during the Reconstruction era that followed, African Americans made up nearly half of the state's population. Their proportion declined over the next century, as many moved north in the Great Migration while large numbers of northern whites moved to the state. Recently, the state's proportion of black residents has begun to grow again. Today, large concentrations of black residents can be found in northern Florida (notably in Jacksonville, Gainesville and Pensacola), the Tampa Bay area, the Orlando area (especially in the city of Orlando and Sanford), and South Florida (where their numbers have been bolstered by significant immigration from Haiti and Jamaica).
Florida's Hispanic population includes large communities of Cuban Americans in Miami and Tampa, Puerto Ricans in Tampa and Orlando, and Central American migrant workers in inland West-Central and South Florida. The Hispanic community continues to grow more affluent and mobile: between the years of 2000 and 2004, Lee County in southwest Florida, which is largely suburban in character, had the fastest Hispanic population growth rate of any county in the United States.
Whites of all ethnicities are present in all areas of the state. Those of British and Irish ancestry are present in large numbers in all the urban/suburban areas across the state. There is a large German population in Southwest Florida, a large Greek population in the Tarpon Springs area, a sizable and historic Italian community in the Miami area, and white Floridians of longer-present generations in the culturally southern areas of inland and northern Florida. Native white Floridians, especially those who have descended from long-time Florida families, affectionately refer to themselves as "Florida crackers." Like all the other southern states, they descend mainly from Scots-Irish as well as some British settlers.
"Floridian" is the most common term to describe people and things from Florida. The term "Floridan" is used with some proper names, such as the Floridan Aquifer, the Floridan Hotel, or the Jackson County Floridan newspaper.
Languages
As of 2000, 76.91 percent of Florida residents age 5 and older speak only English at home, while 16.46 percent speak Spanish. French-based creole languages (predominantly Haitian Creole) are spoken by 1.38 percent, followed by French at 0.83 percent, German at 0.59 percent and Italian at 0.44 percent. Florida's climate makes it a popular state for immigrants. Florida's public education system identifies over 200 first languages other than English spoken in the homes of students. In 1990 the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) won a class action lawsuit against the state Department of Education that required educators to be trained in teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).
Article II, Section 9, of the Florida Constitution provides that "English is the official language of the State of Florida." This provision was adopted in 1988 by a vote following an Initiative Petition.
Religion
Florida is mostly Protestant, with a Roman Catholic community that is growing because of immigration, thus making it the single largest denomination in the state. There is also a sizable Jewish community, located mainly in South Florida; no other Southern state has such a large Jewish population. Florida's current religious affiliations are shown in the table below:
Education
Florida's public primary and secondary schools are administered by the Florida Department of Education.
Florida's public-school revenue per student and spending per $1000 of personal income usually rank in the bottom 25 percent of U.S. states. Average teacher salaries rank near the middle of U.S. states.
Florida public schools have consistently ranked in the bottom 25 percent of many national surveys and average test-score rankings. Former Governor Jeb Bush has been criticized by many Florida educators for a program that penalizes underperforming schools (as indicated by standardized tests, most prominently the FCAT) with fewer funding dollars. Supporters say the program's tough measures have resulted in vast improvements to the education system. Major testing organizations frequently discount the use of state's average test-score rankings, or any average of scaled scores, as a valid metric (for details on scaled test scores, see psychometrics).
The State University System of Florida manages and funds Florida's eleven public universities such as Florida International University, Florida State University, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, and the University of South Florida. In 2000, the governor and the state legislature abolished the Florida Board of Regents, which long had governed the State University System of Florida, and created boards of trustees to govern each university. As is typical of executive-appointed government boards, the appointees so far have overwhelmingly belonged to the governor's party. This effect has not been without controversy. In 2002, former governor and then U.S. Senator Bob Graham (Dem.) led a constitutional-amendment ballot referendum designed to restore the board-of-regents system. Voters responded by creating the Florida Board of Governors; however, each university still maintains a Board of Trustees which work under this new, overseeing Board of Governors.
As of a 2007 census of Florida's schools, the state grew by 477 students to 2,641,598, which was expected to grow 48,376 more than it did to 2,689,973. School boards blame rising insurance and property tax costs and the major 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons have scared people into moving to Florida. Counties such as Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Orange, Pinellas, and Duval counties were under state projections. Although Hillsborough County was the only one of these to have grown, it was 4,537 under state projections and grew by 536 to 191,141.http://www.fldoe.org/fefp/pdf/oct06fte.pdf
Transportation
Highways
Florida's interstates, state highways and U.S. Highways are maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation.
Florida's interstate highway system contains 1,473 miles (2,371 km) of highway, and there are 9,934 miles (15,987 km) of non-interstate highway in the state, such as Florida state highways and U.S. Highways.
Florida's primary interstate routes include:
Florida's secondary interstate routes include:
