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Florida
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.
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 terra florida, "The flowery land". 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. Although the Republicans control the governorship and most other statewide elected offices, both houses of the state legislature, and 18 of the state's 25 seats in the US House, Democrats control the state's two Senate seats, and the presidential contest in Florida in 2000 was extremely close. 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 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 counties in Florida
Florida taken from NASA Shuttle Mission STS-95 on 31st October 1998.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 countries of the Caribbean, particularly the Bahamas, Cuba, and Haiti.
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. With the arrival of the space program at
Kennedy Space Center in the 1960s, Florida has attracted a large number
of aerospace and military industries to the state. Florida does not have
any state minimum wage laws.
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)
Coral Springs
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
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
Florida's public school revenue per student and spending per $1000 of
personal income usually ranks in the bottom 25% 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% of many national surveys and average test score rankings. It should be noted that many education surveys are not scientific, but do measure prestige. Governor Jeb Bush has been criticized by many Florida educators for a program that penalizes underperforming schools (as indicated by standardized tests, such as the FCAT) with fewer funding dollars. Major testing organizations frequently discount the use of state average test score rankings, or any average of scaled scores, as a valid metric (see psychometrics for more details on scaled test scores).
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. As is typical of executive-appointed government boards, the appointees so far have been overwhelmingly Republican. This has not been without controversy. [1] (http://www.sptimes.com/News/050801/State/Bush_s_trustees_mostl.shtml) 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 University
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, with teams informally organized into the "Grapefruit League".
As of 2004, Florida hosts the following major league teams for spring
training:
Atlanta Braves in Kissimmee
Baltimore Orioles in Fort Lauderdale
Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers
Cleveland Indians in Winterhaven
Detroit Tigers in Lakeland
Florida Marlins in Jupiter
Houston Astros in Kissimmee
Los Angeles Dodgers in Vero Beach
Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers
Montreal Expos in Viera
New York Mets in Port St. Lucie
New York Yankees in Tampa
Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater
Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton
Saint Louis Cardinals in Jupiter
Tampa Bay Devil Rays in St. Petersburg
Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin
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