Florida

Article Outline

Introduction; Physical Geography; Economic Activities; The People of Florida; Education and Cultural Institutions; Recreation and Places to Visit; Government; History

Population Patterns

Since 1920 Florida has been among the four fastest-growing states in the Union. Its population in 2000 was more than 16 times the size of the 1920 population of 968,470. According to the 2000 national census, Florida ranked fourth among the states, with a total population of 15,982,378 (an increase of 23.5 percent over the 1990 total of 12,937,926). In 2006 the average population density was 130 persons per sq km (335 per sq mi).

The population is not evenly distributed. Some 89 percent of the population live in urban areas, and the remainder live in small communities in rural areas. Most people reside in towns and cities along the coast. The center of the peninsula and the western panhandle support a fairly large rural population, but large areas of southern Florida, including most of the Everglades and many offshore islands along the Gulf coast, are practically uninhabited.

People over the age of 65 made up 18 percent of the state’s population in 1997, compared with the national average of 13 percent. Many older people from the rest of the nation and also some from Canada move to Florida after they have retired.

In 2000 whites comprised the largest share of the population, representing 78 percent of the people. Blacks were 14.6 percent of the population, Asians were 1.7 percent, Native Americans were 0.3 percent, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders were 0.1 percent, and those of mixed heritage or not reporting race were 5.3 percent. Hispanics, who may be of any race, were 16.8 percent of the population. Many of the Hispanics in Florida are Cubans or their descendants who left the island nation before or soon after a revolution there in the late 1950s. Others came during the early 1980s when Cuba temporarily lifted exit restrictions.

Principal Cities

Jacksonville, since it consolidated with all but three of the communities in Duval County in 1968, is the most populous city in Florida, with an estimated 2005 population of 782,623. It is the major northern Florida city and an important seaport, and has an extensive financial and insurance industry. The Miami metropolitan area, which is coextensive with Miami-Dade County, had a population of 2.2 million, of whom 386,417 lived in Miami proper. Combined with the adjoining Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area, the population was 3.9 million in 2000. Miami is the principal commercial and manufacturing city in the state. The Miami area is the major center for Florida’s Hispanic population, who make up three-fifths of the local population.

The Tampa-Saint Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area, with 2.6 million people, is the largest urban complex on the Gulf coast. Orlando, with 213,223 inhabitants, serves a metropolitan area of 1.9 million. It is a recreation destination for people from around the world, a major citrus marketing center, and has many industries related to the space program on nearby Cape Canaveral. Tallahassee, the capital city, has a population of 158,500. Daytona Beach and Palm Beach are important Atlantic urban centers and beach resorts. Key West, the southernmost city, and Pensacola both have U.S. naval facilities. Saint Augustine is the nation’s oldest continuously inhabited city.

Religion

The early history of Florida was marked by religious conflict, which was linked to the national rivalry between Spain and England. Under Spanish rule, which began in the 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church was the established church in Florida. Protestantism was first introduced by French Huguenots in 1562. After 1763, when Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain, the Church of England was the official religion.

The Roman Catholic Church makes up the largest religious group, especially in Miami, Tampa, Pensacola, Saint Augustine, and other cities with large numbers of Spanish American residents. The parish of the Cathedral of Saint Augustine, which was organized shortly after the city was founded in 1565, is the oldest Roman Catholic parish in the United States. Baptists and Methodists are the leading Protestant groups. In addition, there are large Jewish congregations in Miami and nearby communities, as well as in other large cities.

Education and Cultural Institutions

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Education

Before the American Civil War (1861-1865), Florida had few public schools. The development of public education in the state was given impetus after the war, when the federal government established schools for freed slaves. In 1868 a new state constitution included a provision authorizing a statewide system of public education. In 1869 a state board of education was created.

A great effort to improve the public school system was begun in 1947 with the adoption of the minimum foundation program. The program makes state funds available to each county that needs money to provide a minimum school term of 180 days and a satisfactory minimum quality of education for each child.

School attendance in Florida is compulsory from age 6 through 16. Most of Florida’s private and parochial schools are maintained by the Roman Catholic Church. Some 12 percent of Florida’s children attend private schools.

In the 2002–2003 school year Florida spent $7,773 on each student’s education, compared to a national average of $9,299. There were 17.9 students for every teacher (the national average was 15.9). Of those older than 25 years of age in the state, 85.9 percent had a high school diploma, while the nation as a whole averaged 82.8 percent.

Higher Education

The University of Florida, in Gainesville, one of the oldest and largest schools of higher learning in the state, was started in 1853 at Ocala as the East Florida Seminary. It is now part of the state system of higher education. This system also includes Florida State University, in Tallahassee; the University of South Florida, in Tampa; Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, in Tallahassee; University of West Florida, in Pensacola; Florida Atlantic University, in Boca Raton; University of Central Florida, in Orlando; University of North Florida, in Jacksonville; and the Florida International University, in Miami. A tenth state school, Florida Gulf Coast University, opened in 1997 near Fort Myers.