Florida ranks forty-fifth in total energy consumption per capita, despite the heavy reliance on air conditioners and pool pumps.
Florida is mostly Protestant, with a Roman Catholic community that is growing because of immigration; it is now the single largest denomination in the state.
Florida is also a winter home for most species of eastern North American birds.
The Spanish, meanwhile, encouraged slaves to flee the English-held Carolinas and come to Florida, where they were converted to Roman Catholicism and given freedom.
Florida's geography, location and tropical and subtropical climates are its best natural resources and a major influence on the state's economy.
Britain divided the colony into East Florida, with its capital at St. Augustine, and West Florida, with its capital at Pensacola.
The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English colonies to the north and French colonies to the west.
Florida is the most hurricane-prone U.S. state, with subtropical or tropical water on three sides and a lengthy coastline.
The Florida legislature comprises the Senate, which has 40 members, and the House of Representatives, which has 120 members.
Britain tried to develop the Floridas through the importation of immigrants for labor, including some from Minorca and Greece, but this project ultimately failed.
The seasons in Florida are 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).
In 1832, the U.S. government signed the Treaty of Paynes Landing with a few of the Seminole chiefs, promising them lands west of the Mississippi River if they agreed to leave Florida voluntarily.
Archaeological research indicates that Florida had been inhabited as early as twelve thousand years ago.
At 345 feet (105 m) above mean sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida and the lowest state highpoint among the fifty U.S.
Florida is situated mostly on a large peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida.
The Census Bureau estimates that Florida may edge past New York into third place in total population by 2011.
Florida's public education system identifies over 200 first languages other than English spoken in the homes of students.
On June 25, 1868, Florida's congressional representation was restored.
Florida is a state of contrasts, home to St. Augustine, the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement on the North American continent, and the Kennedy Space Center, home to the United States space program.
Florida is one of the nine states that do not impose a personal income tax.
Florida has the fourth highest state population in the United States.
The rounded texture makes p?hoehoe a poor radar reflector, and is difficult to see from an orbiting satellite (dark on Magellan pictures).
Native white Floridians, especially those who have descended from long-time Florida families, affectionately refer to themselves as "Florida crackers."
The gross state product of Florida in 2005 was $596 billion.
Florida has the third longest shoreline of any of the United States followed by Michigan and Alaska.
The legislature enacts bills, which, if signed by the governor, become Florida Statutes.
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.
Spain regained the Floridas after Britain's defeat by the American colonies and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles in 1783.
Great Britain gained control of Florida diplomatically in 1763 through the Peace of Paris.
Historically, Florida's economy was based upon cattle farming and agriculture (especially sugarcane, citrus, tomatoes, and strawberries).
Florida is faced with the difficulties of a burgeoning population—growing congestion, a high crime rate, and pressures on the environment.
On January 10, 1861, before the formal outbreak of the American Civil War, Florida seceded from the Union; ten days later, the state became a founding member of the Confederate States of America.
Florida is the fourth most populated state in the United States, following California, Texas, and New York.
The Florida peninsula is a porous plateau of karst limestone sitting atop bedrock.
Florida's climate makes it a popular state for immigrants.
Florida was traditionally a Democratic state; at one time, 68.5 percent of all Floridians were registered Democrats.
After Florida became a state in 1845, the struggle over slavery continued to mark its history.
In 2006, the state enacted a "Farm to Fuel" initiative, an effort to increase production of renewable energy from crops, agricultural wastes, and residues produced in the state of Florida.
The mostly dry, subtropical regions contain highly specialized, dessication-tolerant species, and the plant cover is often sparse.
Later, members of other tribes to the north moved into Florida and became known as the Seminoles.
Juan Ponce de Leуn, a Spanish conquistador, named Florida in honor of his discovery of the land on April 2, 1513, during Pascua Florida, a Spanish term for the Easter season.
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 State of Florida is located in the southeastern region of the United States.
Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States, as it experiences more strikes than anywhere else in the country.
Following the war, the United States effectively controlled East Florida.
The Spanish never had a firm hold on Florida, and maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the local tribes, briefly with Jesuits and later with Franciscan friars.
Over the following century, both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success.
The Florida Keys, being surrounded by water, have a more tropical climate, with less variability in temperatures.
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.
Once the United States acquired Florida in 1819, Jackson was named military governor.
During the Great Blizzard of 1899, Florida experienced blizzard conditions.
Article II, Section 9, of the Florida Constitution provides that "English is the official language of the State of Florida."
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.
The climate of Florida is tempered somewhat by its proximity to water.
The Gulf Stream has a moderating effect on the climate, and although much of Florida commonly sees a high summer temperature over 90°F (32°C), the mercury seldom exceeds 100°F (38°C).
Florida's modern history, like much of America's, was one of conflict and subjugation.
Until the mid-twentieth century, Florida was the least populous southern state.
Florida's economy did not fully recover until World War II.
The environmental impact of agriculture, especially water pollution, is a major issue in Florida today.
Crocodiles and alligators belong to a group of reptiles called crocodilians, which are the largest of the living reptiles. Of the 23 different species of crocodilians in the world, 2 species are native to the United States, and south Florida is the only place where both of these species coexist.
American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) are a shy and reclusive species. They live in coastal areas throughout the Caribbean, and occur at the northern end of their range in south Florida. They live in brackish or saltwater areas, and can be found in ponds, coves, and creeks in mangrove swamps.
Country Estates was a census-designated place (CDP) in Broward County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,910 at the 2000 census. It is now a neighborhood incorporated into the town of Southwest Ranches, Florida in 2000.
To get this sample, SurveyMonkey Audience polled 2,528 individuals, about half from a national sample and about half from states considered regionally South, according to the Census Bureau (Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, ...Apr 30, 2014
On a white field emblazoned with a red X and the state seal, Florida's flag represents the land of sunshine, flowers, palm trees, rivers and lakes. The seal features a brilliant sun, a cabbage palmetto tree, a steamboat sailing and a Native American Seminole woman scattering flowers.
In 1819, after years of negotiations, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams achieved a diplomatic coup with the signing of the Florida Purchase Treaty, which officially put Florida into U.S. hands at no cost beyond the U.S. assumption of some $5 million of claims by U.S. citizens against Spain.
At 312 feet (95 meters) above sea level it is also the highest point on the geographic Florida Peninsula. The mountain is in Lake County, near the town of Clermont. Comparatively, Florida's highest point, Britton Hill, rises to 345 feet (105 m) above sea level in the Florida Panhandle.
It was either named after its beautiful flowers (Florida means "flowery" in Spanish), or after the Easter day on which it was discovered (the holiday is called "Pascua florida" in Spanish). The state's official nickname is the "Sunshine State."