About Florida
Florida occupies a peninsula jutting 500 miles into warm subtropical waters, a geography that has made it a crossroads of cultures, ecosystems, and ambitions for more than 500 years. Claimed by Spain in 1513, traded between European powers for centuries, purchased by the United States in 1821, and admitted as the 27th state in 1845, Florida has spent its entire modern history attracting people from everywhere else.
That migration has never stopped. In 1950, Florida had fewer than 3 million residents. Today it has nearly 23 million, making it the third most populous state in the country. Retirees from the Midwest, Cuban exiles, tech workers from California, and financial professionals from New York have each left their mark on a state that feels less like a single place than a collection of distinct worlds sharing a peninsula.
Florida is the only state to have hosted the beginning of America's space age, every crewed American space mission has launched from its shores. It is the only state where alligators and crocodiles coexist. And it is the state whose 537-vote margin in November 2000 decided the presidency of the United States.
Geography, Four Distinct Floridas
Florida's geography shifts dramatically from north to south, from Southern pine forests to subtropical wilderness, from Gulf Coast beaches to the international metropolis of Miami.
Economy
Florida's economy is one of the largest in the nation , driven by tourism, aerospace, agriculture, healthcare, and a tax environment that draws businesses and high-income residents from across the country.
