Portal:Florida

Florida
Florida
State
	State of Florida
	Flag Seal
	Map of the United States with Florida highlighted

The Florida Portal

Florida (/ˈflɒrɪdə/ ^ⓘ FLORR-ih-də; Spanish: [floˈɾiða] ^ⓘ) is a state in the Southeastern and South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Straits of Florida to the south, and The Bahamas to the southeast. About two-thirds of Florida occupies a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It has the longest coastline in the contiguous United States, spanning approximately 1,350 miles (2,170 km), not including its many barrier islands. It is the only state that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of over 23 million, it is the third-most populous state in the United States and ranks seventh in population density as of 2020. Florida spans 65,758 square miles (170,310 km²), ranking 22nd in area among the states. The Miami metropolitan area, anchored by the cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, is the state's largest metropolitan area, with a population of 6.138 million; the most populous city is Jacksonville. Florida's other major population centers include Tampa Bay, Orlando, Cape Coral, and the state capital of Tallahassee.

Various Native American groups have inhabited Florida for at least 14,000 years. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first documented European to make landfall in the region and named it La Florida (Spanish for "land of flowers"; [la floˈɾiða]), giving the territory its present name. Spain subsequently incorporated Florida into the Spanish Empire in the early 16th century. In 1565, it founded St. Augustine, the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the continental United States. The region was frequently coveted and attacked by Great Britain throughout the 18th century. Britain briefly gained control of Florida in 1763, but Spain recovered it in 1783 following the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War. Florida remained under Spanish rule until it was ceded to the United States in 1821, in exchange for U.S. recognition of Spanish sovereignty in Texas and the resolution of the border dispute along the Sabine River. Florida was admitted as the 27th state on March 3, 1845, and was the principal location of the Seminole Wars (1816–1858), the longest and most extensive of the American Indian Wars. The state seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861, becoming one of the seven original Confederate States, and was readmitted to the Union after the Civil War on June 25, 1868.

Since the mid-20th century, Florida has experienced rapid demographic and economic growth. Its economy, with a gross state product (GSP) of $1.647 trillion, is the fourth largest of any U.S. state and the fifteenth-largest in the world; the main sectors are tourism, hospitality, agriculture, real estate, and transportation. Florida is world-renowned for its beach resorts, amusement parks, warm and sunny climate, and nautical recreation; attractions such as Walt Disney World, the Kennedy Space Center, and Miami Beach draw tens of millions of visitors annually. Florida is a popular destination for retirees, seasonal vacationers, and both domestic and international migrants. The state's close proximity to the ocean has shaped its culture, identity, and daily life; its colonial history and successive waves of migration are reflected in African, European, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian influences. Florida has attracted or inspired some of the most prominent American writers, including Ernest Hemingway, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes, especially in golf, tennis, auto racing, and water sports. Florida has been known for being a battleground state in American presidential elections, although it has turned increasingly Republican in recent years. (Full article...)

Selected article -

Georges near peak intensity east of the Leeward Islands on September 19

Hurricane Georges (/ʒɔːrʒ/) was a powerful and long-lived tropical cyclone which caused severe destruction as it traversed the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in September 1998, making seven landfalls along its path. Georges was the seventh tropical storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season. It became one of the most destructive storm of the season, the costliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and remained the costliest until Hurricane Charley in 2004, and the deadliest since Hurricane Gordon in 1994. Georges killed 615 people, mainly on the island of Hispaniola, caused extensive damage resulting in just under $10 billion (US dollars in 1998) in damages and leaving nearly 500,000 people homeless in St. Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and Cuba.

The hurricane made landfall in at least six countries (Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and the United States), more than any other hurricane since Hurricane Inez of the 1966 season. Throughout its path of destruction, it caused extreme flooding and mudslides, as well as heavy crop damage. Thousands were left homeless as a result of the storm in the Lesser Antilles, and damage in those islands totaled about US$880 million. In the Greater Antilles, hundreds of deaths were confirmed, along with over $2.4 billion in damages. Hundreds of thousands were left homeless, due to catastrophic flooding, torrential rainfall, and high storm surge. Flooding was exacerbated heavily by coastal defenses being broken from high waves. Crops were heavily damaged, and thousands of houses were destroyed due to mudslides. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know...

... that the 2025 season of Inter Miami CF includes matches in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup?
... that more than 60 student athletes were involved in an academic dishonesty scandal at Florida State University between 2006 and 2007?
... that the legal battle over awarding channel 9 in Orlando, Florida, the longest case in FCC history at the time, filled 55 volumes?
... that when Florida television station WITV ceased broadcasting in May 1958, its owner was reported to be on a yacht at sea and thus unavailable for comment?
... that according to the Zoo Miami communications director, 100 men could beat a single gorilla if they "envelop the gorilla and create a human straightjacket"?
... that the defiant owner of a Miami TV station kept its marquee lit for 18 months after losing its license?

Selected quote -

General images -

The following are images from various Florida-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Fall foliage in North Florida (from Geography of Florida)
Image 2The Florida Everglades freshwater marsh system, dominated by sawgrass and other wetland vegetation (from Geography of Florida)
Image 3Hurricane Andrew bearing down on Florida on August 23, 1992 (from Geography of Florida)
Image 4Tourists hunting in 1893 (from History of Florida)
Image 5Typical summer afternoon shower from the Everglades traveling eastward over Downtown Miami (from Geography of Florida)
Image 6Soldiers and crowds in Downtown Miami 20 minutes after Japan's surrender ending World War II (1945). (from History of Florida)
Image 7Topographic map of Florida (from Geography of Florida)
Image 8Timucua Indians at a column erected by the French in 1562 (from History of Florida)
Image 9The brick Capitol as built in 1845. (from History of Florida)
Image 10A depiction of what might be Florida from the 1502 Cantino map (from History of Florida)
Image 11Royal Poinciana tree in full bloom in the Florida Keys, an indication of South Florida's tropical climate (from Geography of Florida)
Image 12Juan Ponce de León was one of the first Europeans to set foot in the current United States; he led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named. (from History of Florida)
Image 13Destruction in Lakes by the Bay near Miami following Hurricane Andrew (from History of Florida)
Image 14A shell midden at Enterprise, Florida in 1875. (from History of Florida)
Image 15Platydemus manokwari in Florida (from Environment of Florida)
Image 16A 1527 map by Vesconte Maggiolo showing the east coast of North America with "Tera Florida" at the top and "Lavoradore" at the bottom. (from History of Florida)
Image 17A map of Florida, as seen from outer space. (from Geography of Florida)
Image 18Andrew Jackson served as the first military Governor of Florida. (from History of Florida)
Image 19Five flags of Florida, not including the current State Flag. (from History of Florida)
Image 20Key deer in the lower Florida Keys (from Geography of Florida)
Image 21Snow is very uncommon in Florida, but has occurred in every major Florida city at least once; snow does fall very occasionally in North Florida (from Geography of Florida)
Image 22Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort (from History of Florida)
Image 23Alligator in the Florida Everglades (from Geography of Florida)
Image 24Seminole leader Osceola. (from History of Florida)
Image 25Sunniland Oil Fields (from Environment of Florida)
Image 26South Florida's climate is ideal for growing sugarcane. (from Geography of Florida)
Image 27"Butterfly ballot" (from History of Florida)
Image 28Sunniland stratigraphic column (from Environment of Florida)
Image 29Kennedy Space Center. (from History of Florida)
Image 30Bernard Picart Copper Plate Engraving of Florida Indians, circa 1721 (from History of Florida)
Image 31The Battle of Olustee was the only major Civil War battle fought in Florida. (from History of Florida)
Image 32The Florida scrub jay is found only in Florida (from Geography of Florida)
Image 33Köppen climate classification map of Florida. (from Geography of Florida)
Image 34The expanded West Florida territory in 1767. (from History of Florida)
Image 35A 1591 map of Florida by Jacques le Moyne de Morgues. (from History of Florida)

Related portals

Selected biography -

Mezzotint c. 1820–1835

Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 – 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and con man who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to "Poyais", a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule as "Cazique". Hundreds invested their savings in supposed Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates, while about 250 emigrated to MacGregor's invented country in 1822–23 to find only an untouched jungle; more than half of them died. Seen as a contributory factor to the "Panic of 1825", MacGregor's Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history.

From the Clan Gregor, MacGregor was an officer in the British Army from 1803 to 1810; he served in the Peninsular War. He joined the republican side in the Venezuelan War of Independence in 1812, quickly became a general and, over the next four years, operated against the Spanish on behalf of both Venezuela and its neighbour New Granada. His successes included a difficult month-long fighting retreat through northern Venezuela in 1816. He captured Amelia Island in 1817 under a mandate from revolutionary agents to conquer Spanish Florida, and there proclaimed a short-lived "Republic of the Floridas". He then oversaw two calamitous operations in New Granada during 1819 that each ended with his abandoning British volunteer troops under his command. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

Selected images -

Image 1Fort Brooke was a historical military post situated on the east bank (at the mouth) of the Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa, Florida
Image 2Farles Prairie in Ocala National Forest
Image 3A Cuban sandwich is a variation of a ham and cheese sandwich that originated among the Cuban workers in the cigar factories in Key West, Florida^[1]^[2]
Image 4A Great blue heron at Alafia River State Park
Image 5Florida from space, taken by Shuttle Mission STS-95 on October 31, 1998
Image 6Downtown Miami, viewed from Virginia Key
Image 7Fort Jefferson at the Dry Tortugas
Image 8Fountains at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in Tampa, Florida
Image 9The main street in Alachua downtown historic district

Current events

November 26, 2025 – South Africa–United States relations, 2026 G20 Doral summit, South African farm attacks: U.S. president Donald Trump announces that South Africa will not be invited to the 2026 G20 summit in Doral, Florida, and that U.S. payments and subsidies to the country will cease, citing South Africa's refusal to transfer G20 hosting responsibilities to a U.S. embassy representative at the 2025 Johannesburg summit and criticizing its treatment of Afrikaners, among other reasons. (AP via Arab News)
November 10, 2025 – 2025 Atlantic hurricane season: Two people are killed when a Beechcraft King Air plane carrying Hurricane Melissa relief supplies for Jamaica crashes into a pond in Coral Springs, Florida, United States. (CNN) (The Palm Beach Post)
October 31, 2025 –: Police in Guyana arrest opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed following an indictment by a federal grand jury in Florida, United States, and an extradition request by American authorities, who accuse him of several financial crimes. (AP)

WikiProjects

Main project

WikiProject Florida

Sub-projects

Jacksonville
Manatee-Sarasota History
Miami
Navarre
Tampa Bay
Florida International University
Florida State University
State University System of Florida
University of Central Florida
University of Florida
U.S. Roads/Florida

Selected panorama -

DeFuniak Springs is a city in Walton County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,089 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 5,141.

Topics

Quality content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Florida}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.

Reached maximum of 50 out of 230

Did you know? articles

WKMG-TV (2025-12-12) • Splash (otter) (2025-11-28) • Lewis House (Tallahassee, Florida) (2025-11-10) • John Adams Cameron (2025-11-01) • Bop House (2025-10-29) • Weezer Cruise (2025-10-17) • WTWC-TV (2025-09-09) • Luisa Moreno (2025-08-10) • Arielle Prepetit (2025-08-05) • Chelsea Wolfe (BMX cyclist) (2025-07-23) • Jeff Baena (2025-06-29) • Samantha Nye (2025-06-26) • WRBW (2025-06-24) • Leander Wiegand (2025-06-24) • Jeremy Crawshaw (2025-06-18) • Arrest of Marcy Rheintgen (2025-05-24) • WTLV (2025-05-05) • Sophie Rain (2025-04-28) • 2024 Tallahassee tornadoes (2025-03-20) • WTVX (2025-02-16) • La Querida (mansion) (2025-02-12) • 2025 Orange Bowl (2025-02-05) • Florida State University academic-athletic scandal (2025-01-19) • WZAZ (2024-12-31) • WOGX (2024-11-14) • Misinformation about the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season (2024-11-07) • Jumbo's (2024-10-28) • MyRadar (2024-10-25) • J. D. Arteaga (2024-07-19) • Florida Hospital Oceanside (2024-07-02) • WOTF-TV (2024-06-29) • Caitlyn Wurzburger (2024-06-15) • WJHP-TV (2024-06-07) • WEDU (2024-05-09) • CSL Plasma (2024-04-12) • Liberty Christian Preparatory School (2024-04-05) • Tim Burke (journalist) (2024-03-11) • Gasparilla Pirate Festival (2024-03-02) • Buccaneers–Packers rivalry (2023-12-17) • Skytrain (Miami International Airport) (2023-12-05) • Anthony Bennett (gridiron football) (2023-12-05) • WPBF (2023-12-01) • If I Survive You (2023-10-26) • Ruby Diamond (2023-09-22) • 1989 South Florida television affiliation switch (2023-09-22) • Desmond Watson (2023-08-20) • WXEL-TV (2023-06-25) • 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship (2023-05-15) • 2023 Fort Lauderdale floods (2023-05-04) • Devin Futrell (2023-04-28)

Reached maximum of 50 out of 634

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Things you can do

Tag all talk pages of Florida articles and categories with {{WPFlorida|class=|importance=}}. (The rater user script can be used to help tag articles.)
Find images for articles (see Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in Florida)
Cleanup requests: clean-up listing for Florida
Expand any existing stub
Add county templates ({{Hamilton County, Florida}}, {{Jackson County, Florida}}, etc.) to appropriate cities.
Add appropriate short descriptions to Florida-related articles.

Sources

^ "Cuba's most famous food isn't even from Cuba — or Miami". Matador Network.
^ "Viva La Cuban Sandwich!". Farmers’ Almanac. March 20, 2015.

Discover Wikipedia using portals

[1] "Cuba's most famous food isn't even from Cuba — or Miami". Matador Network.

[2] "Viva La Cuban Sandwich!". Farmers’ Almanac. March 20, 2015.

[1]

[2]