15 minutes from the airport. Pineville, which is about 10 minutes away. Most of the state is a large peninsula with the Gulf of Mexico on its west and the Atlantic Ocean on its east. History 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. 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. Over the following century, both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success. 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.

Jacksonville in 1564, but the fort was conquered by forces from the new Spanish colony of St. Spanish settlement; en route, however, severe storms at sea waylaid the expedition, which consisted of most of the colonys men, allowing St. Augustine came to serve as the capitals of the British and Spanish colonies of East and West Florida, respectively. 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. Spanish by converting to Roman Catholicism and welcoming the Franciscan priests into their villages. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English colonies to the north and French colonies to the west. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times, while the citizens hid behind the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos. Carolinas and come to Florida, where they were converted to Roman Catholicism and given freedom. They settled in a buffer community north of St. Augustine, called Gracie Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, the first completely black settlement in what would become the United States. Britain tried to develop Florida through the importation of immigrants for labor, including some from Minorca and Greece, but this project ultimately failed. Spain regained Florida after Britains defeat by the American colonies and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles in 1783. They offered land grants to anyone who settled the colony, and many Americans moved to the state. Winter in Florida, 1893On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the United States of America. 10, 1861, before the formal outbreak of the Civil War, Florida seceded from the Union; ten days later, the state became a founding member of the Confederate States of America. The war ended in 1865. On June 25, 1868, Floridas congressional representation was restored. Rust Belt and the Northeast sharply increased the population. Florida land boom of the 1920s, which brought a brief period of intense land development before the Great Depression brought it all to a halt. Floridas economy would not fully recover until World War II.

Florida is the most populous state in the Southeastern United States, the second most populous state in the South behind Texas, and the fourth most populous in the United States. Geography Florida is situated mostly on a large peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida. It extends to the northwest into a panhandle, extending along the northern Gulf of Mexico. It is bordered on the north by the states of Georgia and Alabama, and on the west, at the end of the panhandle, by Alabama. It is near the countries of the Caribbean, particularly the Bahamas and Cuba. Floridas extensive coast line made it a perceived target during World War II, so the government built airstrips all around the state. Today approximately 400 airports are still in service due to the coastal geography of the state. Florida is one of the largest states east of the Mississippi.

Only Alaska and Michigan are larger in water area. The Florida peninsula is a porous plateau of karst limestone sitting atop bedrock. Extended systems of underwater caves, sinkholes and springs are found throughout the state and supply most of the water used by residents. The limestone is topped with sandy soils deposited as ancient beaches over millions of years as global sea levels rose and fell.

During the last Ice Age, lower sea levels and a drier climate revealed a much wider peninsula, largely desert. Dade County south of Miami Canaveral National Seashore, near Titusville Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, in St. Soto National Memorial, in Bradenton Dry Tortugas National Park, at Key West Everglades National Park in Southern Florida Fort Caroline National Memorial, at Jacksonville Fort Matanzas National Monument, in St. Apalachicola National Forest along the east bank of the Apalachicola River, Choctawhatchee National Forest near Niceville, Ocala National Forest in Central Florida, and Osceola National Forest in Northeast Florida.

See also: List of Florida state parks Boundaries The state line begins in the Atlantic Ocean, traveling west, south, and north up the thalweg of the Saint Marys River.

Perdido River, then south along its thalweg to the Gulf via Perdido Bay. Florida is mostly at sea level. Climate The climate of Florida is tempered somewhat by its proximity to water.

Cold fronts can occasionally bring high winds and cool to cold temperatures to the entire state during late fall and winter.

June 29, 1931 in Monticello. The Florida Keys, being surrounded by water, have a more tropical climate, with lesser variability in temperatures. Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States, as it experiences more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the country. 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.