#redirect Miami


Miami is a major city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. The city covers 55.27 square miles (143.15 km²) and is the county seat of Miami-Dade County. Miami is a gamma world city with an estimated population of 404,048. It is the largest city within the South Florida metropolitan area, which is the largest metropolitan area in the Southeastern United States with 5.4 million. Miami and it's surrounding cities make up the fifth largest urban area in the United States.

Miami's importance as an international, financial, and cultural center has elevated Miami to the status of world city. Because of Miami's cultural and linguistic ties to North, South, and Central America, as well as the Caribbean, Miami is many times referred to as "The Gateway of the Americas." Florida's large Spanish-speaking population and strong economic ties to Latin America also make Miami and the surrounding region an important center of the Hispanic world.

Miami is also home to one of the largest, most influential ports in the United States, the Port of Miami. The port is often times called the "Cruise Capital of the World" and the "Cargo Gateway of the Americas". It has retained its status as the number one cruise/passenger port in the world for well over a decade accommodating the largest cruise ships and the major cruise lines.

Today, Miami is undergoing a massive building boom that ranks second worldwide (and first in the United States) for the most buildings under construction that will be over 492ft (150m), with over 24 of such buildings currently under construction. Miami's skyline also currently ranks third in the U.S. behind New York City and Chicago (18th in the world) according to the 2006 Almanac of Architecture and Design. Including other nearby neighborhoods and cities, the Miami area has over 80 highrise towers under construction, such as the Biscayne Wall in Downtown Miami, a row of skyscrapers being built along the west side of Biscayne Boulevard. Miami currently has the five tallest skyscrapers in the state of Florida with the tallest being the Four Seasons Hotel & Tower.

History

---

Miami was officially incorporated as a city on July 28 1896, though the area was first inhabited for more than a thousand years by the Tequesta Indians and was claimed for Spain in 1566 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. A Spanish mission was established a year later in 1567. In the mid-1800s Fort Dallas was built and subsequently, was a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. In the 1920s, Miami prospered through the Florida Land Boom of the 1920's with an increase in population and infrastructure. By 1940, 172,172 people lived in the city and Miami had grown to become a large, growing city.

The Miami area was better known as “Biscayne Bay Country” in the early years of its growth. The few published accounts from that period describe the area as a wilderness that held much promise. The area was also characterized as “one of the...