Portal:Florida
The Florida Portal
Florida /ˈflɒrɪdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Most of the state is a large peninsula with the Gulf of Mexico on its west and the Atlantic Ocean on its east. Much of the state has a humid subtropical climate; southern Florida has a tropical climate. Florida was named by Juan Ponce de León, who landed on the peninsula on 2 April 1513, during Pascua Florida (Spanish for "Flowery Easter," referring to the Easter season). Florida is the fourth most populous state in the country.
Archaeological research indicates that Florida had been inhabited for thousands of years before any European settlements. Of the many indigenous peoples, the largest known were the Ais, the Apalachee, the Calusa, the Timucua and the Tocobago tribes. Juan Ponce de León, 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 (Juan Ponce de León may not have been the first European to reach Florida; according to one report, at least one indigenous tribesman who he encountered in Florida in 1513 spoke Spanish.) From that date forward, the land became known as "La Florida" , although from 1630 until the 19th century Tegesta (after the Tequesta tribe) was the name of choice for the Florida peninsula following publication of a map by the Dutch cartographer Hessel Gerritsz in Joannes de Laet's History of the New World. Over the following century, both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success. In 1559, Spanish Pensacola was established by Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano as the first European settlement in the continental United States, but it had become abandoned by 1561 and would not be reinhabited until the 1690s. French Huguenots founded Fort Caroline in modern-day Jacksonville in 1564, but the fort was conquered by Spanish forces from St. Augustine the following year. Florida is considered the fishing capital of the world. One of the finest estuaries can be found in the Palm Coast and St Augustine areas. Guided fishing charters and sightseeing tours are very popular in this area because of its unrivaled beauty. Companies such as Palm Coast Fishing Trips are a great way to experience this part of Florida.
Selected article
Unlike most other U.S. national parks, Everglades National Park was created to protect a fragile ecosystem instead of safeguarding a geographic feature. Thirty-six species designated as threatened or protected live in the park, including the Florida panther, the American crocodile, and the West Indian manatee. Protecting the largest U.S. wilderness area east of the Mississippi River, the park is the most significant breeding ground for tropical wading birds in North America, and contains the largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere. More than 350 species of birds, 300 species of fresh and saltwater fish, 40 species of mammals, and 50 species of reptiles live within Everglades National Park. All of southern Florida's fresh water is recharged by the park, including that of the Biscayne Aquifer.
Selected picture
The Myakka River is a river in southwestern Florida. It arises near the Hardee-Manatee county line and flows southwest and then southeast through Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties to Charlotte Harbor, an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. The river is 68 miles long and has a drainage basin of 235 square miles. The last twenty miles of the river is tidal and brackish.
Categories
Selected biography
Bowden has 373 career wins, thus making him one win ahead of Penn State's Joe Paterno(372) as the all-time winningest Division I-FBS coach by total victories. Bowden, along with Joe Paterno and Chris Ault, is one of three active coaches who have also been inducted in to the College Football Hall of Fame. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Bowden spent a portion of his childhood in bed, sick. When he was 13 years old, Bowden was diagnosed with rheumatic fever. After a six month hospital stay, Bowden was confined to his bed at home for just over a year with nothing more than his imagination to pass the time.
Did you know?
- ...that Paynes Prairie, a Florida Stake Park, encompasses 21,000 acres (85 km²) of savanna south of Gainesville, Florida?
- ...that the Bugaboo scrub fire is the largest fire to have raged in the history of both Georgia and Florida?
- ...that the Melbourne Bone Bed, a paleontological site located at Crane Creek in Melbourne, Florida contains fossils from 20,000 to 10,000 years before present in the Pleistocene period?
Wikiprojects
| You are invited to participate in WikiProject Florida, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Florida. |
- Main project
- Sub-projects
Selected quote
Selected panorama
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park is a Florida State Park in Alachua County, Florida. It is located northwest of Gainesville, Florida on CR 232 (Millhopper Road) and off U.S. 441, just south of the town of Alachua. Among the wildlife of the park are bobcats, white-tailed deer, gray foxes, turkeys, and many species of songbirds.
Quality content
- Featured content
1928 Okeechobee Hurricane • William Cooley • Florida Atlantic University • History of Miami, Florida • List of Florida birds • List of Florida hurricanes • List of sister cities in Florida • List of snow events in Florida • List of wild mammal species of Florida • Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami • Everglades National Park • Rosewood massacre • Marjory Stoneman Douglas • Restoration of the Everglades • Indigenous people of the Everglades region • Geography and ecology of the Everglades • Draining and development of the Everglades • Tropical Storm Keith (1988)
- Good articles
Brothers to the Rescue • Burger King • Casey Donovan (porn star) • Florida International University • Florida State University • University of Central Florida • Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Hurricane Charley • Hurricane Ivan • Key Biscayne • Miami River (Florida) • Osborne Reef • Super Bowl XLI • Mary McLeod Bethune • Against All Odds (2005) • Key Biscayne • Port Charlotte High School • Shawn Lonsdale • More...
Things you can do
- Requested articles: Bent Tree Elementary School • University Christian School
- Cleanup and, if possible, expand stub articles
- Write articles relating to Florida if you see a redlink and know the article meets Wikipedia's notability guideline
- Help suggest additional content for this portal
- Help assess those articles about Florida that have yet to be assessed
Topics
Related portals
Associated Wikimedia
- What are portals?
- List of portals
- Featured portals
