Travel Guide: Discover the Beautiful History and Culture of Florida, United States

Florida is a state in the US

Florida is a populous and extensive United States located in the Southeastern region. Its population is almost 21 million. The state is linked with other states and countries, with the Atlantic ocean in the east direction, with the Gulf of Mexico on the west side, with Alabama to the northwest and with Georgia to the north side, and with the Straits of Florida in the south direction.

Major cities in Florida

Tallahassee is Florida’s capital. The most populous metropolitan city in Florida is Jacksonville. Other populous urban areas of Florida include Miami, Orlando, Tampa. Naples and Panama are also state regions. The city of Miami, a coastal metropolitan and populous urban region of the United State, with a population of almost 6.2 million in Florida’s other cities. Orlando, the center of attraction, in the center of Florida, is best known for its parks and recreation sites. Tampa, Florida is located on Tampa Bay. It is a business-centered city in Florida that is also famous for its museums. Naples, a city in Florida located on the Gulf of Mexico in the southwest direction of Florida State. It is highly recognized for its shopping centers, a spot for fishing and golf series courses. Panama, the largest city in Florida state, is bounded by two of its populous urban regions, Tallahassee and Pensacola.

Among all the United States, the economy of Florida is $1.0 trillion, the fourth-largest state, which marks a massive difference. Florida State is 160 miles capacious and 500 miles expanded in length at its most wide and unapproachable points. The line of the state of Florida was birthed from the Atlantic Ocean and extended up to the River St Marys.

History of Florida

Florida’s history turns out on the map when, 14,000 years ago, the first indigenous Americans became inhabitants of the peninsula. They left behind their antiquity, artifacts, and archeological relics. Written records of Florida’s history were set up in 1513 when Juan Ponce de León, a Spanish explorer, arranged the first written, official documents. The conqueror is called La Pascua, Florida. It is a Spanish term meaning festival of flowers. Historians think the conquistador named the state’ La Florida’ because of the Easter season when he found this new region. Europeans settled first in this mainland kingdom of the United States. In history, the year 1513 is identified as the originating marker of American borderland. From that century, Florida faced a lot of waves of population settlement, including colonization and immigration, before being chosen as a territorial region of the US in 1821.

In the 16th century, the French and Spanish inhabited to make colonies in the newly found area to occupy it, and new Native Americans who just settled there migrated somewhere else on the south side. On the other hand, in the 19th century, free blacks, escaped bondsmen and the Native Americans became grouped as Black Seminoles. From the 16th century till the 19th century, Florida endured Spanish colonial rule and during the 18th century (1763–1783) it got through the dominance of Great Britain. March 3, 1845 was the lucky year for Florida when it ranked as the 27th state of the US. People from northern areas are attracted to Florida due to its heated environment and sunny days; these attributes of Florida’s climate give it the nickname “Sunshine State.” It is the best vacation spot for people from northern regions.
Great and variegated inhabitants and the industrialized economic system of the state grew speedily during the 20th century. Florida stood out as the third most populous urban state when it exceeded New York’s population in 2014.

Languages

Above 70 percent of the population speaks English as it is the official language. Spanish is also spoken by 20% of residents. The French language is only spoken by less than one percent of the inhabitants.

Dominant ethnic group

The Floridian inhabitation covers people from different regions who have diversified social, religious, national, ethnic, and racial cultures and environments. Latin American emigrants strongly approach this state for settlement and recreational activities. The dominant ethnic and racial communities in Florida state are European Americans. Among them, approximately 75% are classified as white and more than 15% are African Americans. Other groups include Cuban immigrants.

Culture of Florida

Southern American culture has a great impact on Florida’s culture due to its close adhesion to the southeast United States, especially in north and central Florida. Being a coastal state with several metro areas historically featured by a massive migration, much of the metropolitan culture of Florida state has been greatly influenced by colonist populations, especially Latin American, Caribbean, European, and Jewish. Immigrants from different regions come here to settle and imprint different values, manners, modes of living, and practices on the culture of modern Florida. The state’s nearest adjacency to the ocean impacts many cultural aspects of Florida and the daily life routine of the inhabitants. The most important factor affecting the culture of Florida is tourism, which is a highly significant commercial enterprise in the state. Florida is also heavily influenced by the culture of bordering regions, southern culture being a South American part. Miami culture has been mainly predominated and affected by migrants from Latin and Caribbean immigration. Southern accents are still spoken in North Florida, Central Florida, and infrequently in South Florida.

Florida’s economic condition has flourished over time, beginning with exploiting natural resources, doing diverse activities like logging, unearthing, sponge diving, fishing; as well as farming and ranching of cattle and vegetating citrus. The other important factors that might play a great role in the advancement of the economy of the state are the tourism industry, real estate, the destination for retirees, merchandise, and banking. The Sunshine State is the best place for vacations, family fun, recreational activities, and adventures. For those who want to spend some time with nature, Florida is a great spot. Florida attracts people from other regions for its beauty, savory foods, and recreational places. Some of the most captivating spots include Legoland water parks, Safari Wilderness, Resorts, and Bok Tower Gardens. You will come to know about the cultural attractions, historical beauty, outdoor places, hospitality, and their traditional events when you explore the diversified and appealing charm and captivating attractions, zestful activities, and bewitching sights that make this region an enthralling spot.

Museums in Florida

There are various Aviation Museums, including the Airport Museum, National Naval Aviation Museum, Fantasy of Flight, Kissimmee Air Museum, and the US Space Walk of Fame. The Polk Museum of Art located in Lakeland, Fort Meade Historical Society & Museum, LB Brown House Museum, Lake Wales History Museum, Explorations V Children’s Museum, Polk County History Center, and USA Water Ski and Wake Sports Hall of Fame and Mulberry Phosphate Museum are some of the top museums in Florida. One of the top ten museums in central Florida is Polk Museum, which presents educational plans, diversified exhibitions, and many other enterprising and influential events.

Explorations V Children’s Museum in Lakeland provides different opportunities for parents and children to stay together by offering them various entertainment, interaction, and learning activities. USA Water Ski and Wake Sports Foundation Hall of Fame features historical information about watersports and its multitudinous disciplines. In the town of Mulberry, this museum exhibits a voluminous assemblage of fossils, a gallery of the phosphate industry and antique shots, and memorabilia of traces and specimens.

Events in Florida

The Florida State Fair is a yearly event held at the Fairgrounds in Tampa. This 11-day annual occasion is celebrated in February. The official festival of the state of Florida encircles various indoor and outdoor displays, rides, and shows. This fair provides a great opportunity for the state to exhibit its agricultural production. This yearly event also provides different competitions and food stuff challenges, like chocolate-covered bacon. The Gasparilla Pirate Festival has been held annually in Tampa, Florida since 1904. It is a great parade and a host of connected state events. This event starts in mid-January (the last Saturday of the month) and lasts till early March. Every year, the violent pillagers take up the city in the splendor and greatness of the fictitious mythological pirate Jose Gaspar.

The “Gasparilla Pirate Festival” is one of the country’s greatest and most noteworthy outdoor memorializations. When the world’s only fully-rigged pirate ship cruises into the heart of Tampa, it’s the time for the beginning of this festival. The main purpose of this festival is to present the Gasparilla Parade of Pirates, which is held last Saturday every year. This annual celebration is organized by the Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG) organization. The Miami Book Fair is an annual erudite exhibition held in Miami by Miami Dade College. The book fair, which has become an exemplary model for other events throughout the country, pursues over 300 eminent national and international writers and exhibitioners to an eight-day celebration of all things literary and includes a marquee for transliteration, a humoristic collection for kids, and young adults.

The main objective of this book fair is to encourage and bring advancement in reading skills, support writing, and raise knowledge of acquisition and the literary arts in the diversified ethnic community in Miami city. The weeklong book festival forces hundreds of thousands of bookish individuals to turn towards Miami city each November for an exhibitory festival of all things of literary value. Other events in the state of Florida include sports competitions, political events, and other events of historical value in different cities of Florida.

Libraries in Florida

North Miami Beach Public Library provides a lot of fun and genuine and solid material is available for all categories of individuals, including children, adults, and youngsters. This library caters its visitors with diverse books, magazines, and newspapers of national and international value, DVD booklets, music CDs. The content is also available in different languages, like Chinese, Spanish, Creole, and French languages, to provide accessibility and grasp on knowledge. This unique trait of the library motivates individuals to learn new languages conveniently. Broward County Library was established in 1974. The biggest library project in Florida by square footage with 38 locations is the Broward County Library, which is considered a window to the planet of knowledge and learning along with fun and recreation.

One of the busiest libraries, having more than 7.5 million visitors visiting on a yearly basis. The second oldest library, a piece of antiquity, was established in 1886 and named DeFuniak Springs Library. Other libraries the state of Florida has are the Architecture and Fine Arts Library, Education Library, and Health Science Center Libraries. Theaters are a source of family fun, refreshment, and pleasurable time. The Florida Theatre is a famous historical American movie theater situated in Jacksonville, Florida. It was established in April 1927. On 4 November 1982, it became a part of the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

During the Mediterranean Revival architectural boom of the 1920s, this theatre was constructed, one of the four elevated theatres having grand style movie spots in Florida. The other three high-structure style theatres are the Tampa Theatre in Tampa, the Saenger Theatre of Pensacola, and the Polk Theatre in Lakeland. Attractive Spots in Florida You have not genuinely observed Florida’s real beauty until you’ve stopped over these mesmerizing places. From the northern region of Florida, these thoroughgoing, delightful destinations are of worthwhile importance to stay in and exploring their beauty.

Islands in Flordia

Sanibel Island

Sanibel is a quintessential island and a city located in Lee county in the United States, Florida. Sanibel city is a paradise on a beach. Far away from the transparent waters, there are hundreds of thousands of colorful and decorative seashells waiting to be gathered up on the shoreline. It is a popular spot for vacationers to enjoy. Sanibel city is a remarkably distinguished destination noted for its beaches and remarkable wildlife. Sanibel Island is also a crime novel’s supreme setting by Randy Wayne White. He also referred to many popular locations in his novels. White opened a restaurant, Doc Ford’s Sanibel Rum Bar & Grill, after the name of his popular fictional character Doc Ford.

St. Pete

Founded in 1888, St. Petersburg is a city located in Pinellas County, United States, Florida. The city was distinguished as a supreme doorway because of its iconic beaches and historical destinations. St. Petersburg was shorted to St. Pete St. Pete beach, located next to St. Petersburg city shortened its name to St. Pete in 1994. It is located between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico and on the northern side it is bordered by mainland Florida. Once you visit St. Pete, you will have the two best spots in one place- the city and the beach. The drive from Petersburg city toward St. Pete is 15 minutes due to lower traffic. Because of its cool weather, it is known as a popular destination for retirees.

Amelia Island

Amelia Island, located in Nassau County, United States, Florida, is named after George II’s daughter, process Amelia. It is a great part of the giant chain of sea islands. It is approximately 13 miles in length and 4 miles wide in range. This beautiful island is home to three communities; Fernandina Beach, Amelia City, and American Beach. The Ritz-Carlton hotel located on Amelia Island is a super nice spot to stay in and to spend recreational vacations alongside the beach. It also provides golf courses.

Everglades

The Everglades is a grassy region found in wetlands in the southernmost part of the United States, Florida. The Everglades is the third national park in the contemporary United States. The ecosystem that the Everglades is presenting can’t be viewed anywhere else on the planet. The Everglades suffers a wide variety of climatic conditions, from constant torrents and storms in the rainy season and to droughtiness in the torrid weather. During the 20th century, the Everglades experienced a great loss of habitation and ecological downgrading.

Stiltsville

A cluster of stilt wood houses standing in shallow water presents a fascinating view to the spectators. This charming site is located about a mile from the south of Cape Florida, in Biscayne Bay in Dade County, Miami. These now-vacant wooden structures were built in 1930. At that time, these houses were a place for wild groups during the prohibited period. These calm, erect wooden houses standing in the center of shallow water present an eye-catching view. Other captivating destinations in Florida that are worth seeing are St. Augustine, Key West, Art Deco District Miami, Islamorada, and Micanopy.

Final thoughts

Florida is a beautiful lush territory in the United States that offers a rich cultural and historical experience for anyone who wants a nice getaway. It’s also one of the best spots for tourists who want to check out beautiful beaches and even a few islands!

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