Florida

I

Introduction

Florida, state in the southeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, which is an arm of the ocean. Florida, sometimes called the Peninsula State, consists of a large low-lying peninsula and, in the northwest, a strip of land known as the panhandle. It is a region of low, rolling hills, vast swamps and marshes, numerous lakes, and extensive forests. Superimposed on this varied pattern of physical features are the farmlands, urban areas, transportation routes, and other cultural features that have transformed Florida from largely a wilderness area into one of the fastest-growing states in the Union. Florida entered the Union on March 3, 1845, as the 27th state. Beginning in the late 1800s development schemes brought a tide of new arrivals to the state, and the story of Florida since has been one of nearly continuous growth.

Between 1950 and 1970 Florida’s population experienced a phenomenal increase of 145 percent. Between 1970 and 1980 the population increased by another 43.4 percent, and by 32.7 percent between 1980 and 1990. Much of this increase was attributed to the large influx of people from elsewhere rather than natural increase. Many were people who had retired. Many were refugees from Cuba. Others came to work in the state’s new and expanding industries and to share in its general economic growth.

Tourism has been Florida’s major source of income for many years. Although it initially attracted visitors from the Northeastern states during the winter months, it is now a year-round vacationland visited by tourists from every state, Latin America, and also from Canada and other foreign countries. The state’s tourist attractions range from the vast expanse of the Everglades in the south to the historic cities of Saint Augustine and Pensacola in the north. The most popular attractions are the theme parks around Orlando and the many resort cities that rim the coast. Their importance is reflected in the distribution of the state’s inhabitants, most of whom live in cities along the coast or in a corridor stretching between Tampa and Daytona Beach and including Orlando. While Jacksonville on the northern Atlantic shore is the state’s largest city in population, the state’s largest metropolitan area centers on Miami, near the southern tip of the state. Tallahassee, in the panhandle, is Florida’s capital.

The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León called the region La Florida, roughly translated as Land of the Flowers, when he visited it in 1513. It is thought that he chose this name because he was impressed by the many colorful flowers of the region and because he sighted it on Easter, which is called Pascua Florida in Spanish. The state’s official nickname, the Sunshine State, reflects the economic importance of its climate, which has been called its most important natural resource. Among the other nicknames, all unofficial, are the Everglade State and the Orange State, for its most renowned crop.

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II

Physical Geography

Florida ranks 23rd among the states in size, covering 170,305 sq km (65,755 sq mi), including 12,100 sq km (4,672 sq mi) of inland water and 3,395 sq km (1,311 sq mi) of coastal water over which it has jurisdiction. The major part of the state is a peninsula that extends southward for some 610 km (380 mi) to Cape Sable, which at latitude 25°7’ north is the southernmost point of the United States mainland. The peninsula has an average width of about 200 km (about 125 mi). At the southern end of the peninsula the Florida Keys, a chain of small islands, or keys, curve southwestward from Biscayne Bay to the Dry Tortugas. Northern Florida includes a narrow panhandle stretching for about 300 km (about 200 mi) along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The state’s irregular shape gives it a large maximum extent: From north to south the state’s greatest distance is 724 km (450 mi); from east to west it is 758 km (471 mi).

Florida is a low-lying area with an average elevation of only 30 m (100 ft) above sea level. It ranks with Louisiana as the second lowest state in the Union, after Delaware. The highest point in Florida, a hill in the panhandle, is 105 m (345 ft) above sea level.

A

Natural Regions

Florida lies wholly within two major natural regions: The Atlantic Coastal Plain and the Gulf Coastal Plain. The Atlantic Coastal Plain, in Florida, occupies most of the state and can be subdivided into two sections. The so-called Floridian section, or Florida peninsula, covers all of the region except the extreme northeast, where the Sea Island section extends into Florida from Georgia and the Carolinas.

The Floridian section lies south of a line joining the mouth of the Saint Johns River on the Atlantic Coast and Deadman Bay on the Gulf Coast. It is an extensive region of low, rolling hills and large swamps and marshes. South of Lake Okeechobee, much of the land is covered by the Everglades, a watery expanse of saw-grass prairie—which the Seminole termed Pay-hai-o-kee (“grassy water”)—dotted with cypress trees and Sabal palms, the state tree. To preserve the plant and animal life of the swamps, part of the Everglades has been set aside as the Everglades National Park.

To the east of the Everglades a low ridge of land several miles wide separates the freshwater swamps from the Atlantic Coast. Although the ridge is less than 3 m (10 ft) higher than the swamps, it is well drained and is the site of such south Florida cities as West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. A series of barrier islands, separated from the mainland by lagoons, rim the state’s Atlantic Coast. Miami Beach occupies one of these barrier islands. There is no continuous strip of higher land west of the Everglades, and the Everglades merge with a belt of saltwater mangrove swamps along the Gulf Coast.

North of Lake Okeechobee the interior of the peninsula is generally hilly and is pitted by numerous lakes. The highest hills are a little more than 90 m (300 ft) above sea level, but the area is sometimes called the Central Highlands or the Backbone of Florida. The hills are covered by grass and patches of palmettos, but extensive areas from Orlando and farther south have been cleared and planted with citrus groves. Part of the region is also sometimes called the lake district because of its numerous lakes. West of the lake district is an area known as the lime-sink district because of the many sinks, or natural basins, that occur in its limestone surface or subsurface. Small lakes have formed in some of the sinks.

The small part of the Sea Islands section in northeastern Florida is a flat, low-lying area. Okefenokee Swamp, a huge wilderness area on the Florida-Georgia state line, occupies much of the interior of the region. A wide belt of swamps and sandy ridges occupies the coastal regions. The largest area of well-drained land is a strip behind the mainland coastal beaches. A continuation of the ridge to the south, it rises up to 3 m (10 ft) above sea level and is mainly pine covered.

The Gulf Coastal Plain, in northwestern Florida, rises to 105 m (345 ft) above sea level, which is the highest point in the state, near the Alabama state line. From the low hills in the northern part of the panhandle the land slopes southward at the Cody Escarpment to extensive stretches of swamps, salt marshes, and pine forests that are found along the Gulf Coast.

B

Rivers, Lakes, and Springs

The Saint Johns River, measuring 459 km (285 mi), is Florida’s longest river. It rises near the Atlantic Coast at about the middle of the peninsula and then flows northward to the Atlantic Ocean, east of Jacksonville. In the 19th century the Saint Johns was a busy waterway for the greater part of its course. Now, however, dense mats of water hyacinth render navigation almost impossible on the river’s upper course. The water hyacinth, a beautiful aquatic plant with purple flowers, was accidentally introduced into the region in the 1880s, and it spread with alarming rapidity throughout the upper reaches of the river. The plant is very difficult to eradicate, and it has also clogged the channels of other Florida rivers. To increase drainage of the Everglades, which drain naturally to Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, a number of drainage channels and canals have been built across southern Florida.

Among the rivers flowing from the peninsula to the Gulf of Mexico are the Suwannee, Caloosahatchee, Peace, Hillsborough, and Withlacoochee. The Suwannee, famous as the Swanee River of Old Folks at Home by Stephen Foster, rises in Georgia and is navigable in its lower course. The Caloosahatchee River is also navigable and is connected with Lake Okeechobee by a dredged channel that forms part of the Okeechobee Waterway, also known as the Cross-State Canal.

In northwestern Florida several major rivers flow across the panhandle from neighboring Alabama and Georgia. Among them are the Perdido, the Escambia (Conecuh in Georgia), the Yellow, the Choctawhatchee, the Blackwater, and the Ochlockonee. The northwest is also crossed by the Apalachicola River, which is formed near the Georgia-Florida state line by the junction of the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers. The Apalachicola River forms the lower part of an extensive waterway for barges.

Florida has more than 7,000 lakes greater than 4 hectares (10 acres) in size, most of which are in the lake district of the Florida peninsula. The largest one in the state is Lake Okeechobee, which also is the fourth largest natural lake wholly within the United States. It covers an area of 1,717 sq km (663 sq mi). It is a shallow lake, with a maximum depth of 6 m (20 ft).

Florida is noted for its springs, many of which bubble up from large underground reservoirs. Their waters are usually warm, 21°C (70°F) or more, and are very clear. Some of the springs are inhabited by alligators and a variety of fish. Many are fringed with mosses and ferns and are overhung by hardwood trees. A number give rise to swift streams called runs. Springs are also a source of water for major rivers, such as the Saint Johns. The best-known springs are Rainbow Springs, near Dunnellon, and Silver Springs, near Ocala. Each of these springs pours out more than 1.9 billion liters (500 million gallons) a day. Wakulla Spring, near Tallahassee, which is 56 m (185 ft) deep, is Florida’s deepest spring.