Miami
is a coastal city in southeastern Florida, in
the United States. Miami is the county seat of
Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in
Florida. With an estimated population of 409,719
in 2007, Miami is the largest city within the
Miami metropolitan area, which is the seventh-largest
metro area in the United States with over 5.4
million residents. The Miami Urbanized Area (as
defined by the Census Bureau) was the fifth most
populous urbanized area in the U.S. in the 2000
census with a population of 4,919,036. The United
Nations estimated that in 2007, Miami had become
the fourth largest urbanized area in the United
States, behind New York City, Los Angeles, and
Chicago.
Miami is recognized as a global city because of
its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment,
arts and international trade. The city is home
to many company headquarters, banks, and television
studios. It is an international center for popular
entertainment in television, music, fashion, film,
and the performing arts. The city's Port of Miami
is known for accommodating the largest volume
of cruise ships in the world and is home to many
cruise line headquarters. Miami is also home to
the largest concentration of international banks
in the United States.
Since 2001, Miami has been undergoing a large
building boom with more than 50 skyscrapers rising
over 400 feet (122 m) built or currently under
construction in the city. Miami's skyline ranks
third in the U.S., behind New York City and Chicago,
and 18th in the world according to the Almanac
of Architecture and Design. The city currently
has the seven tallest (as well as twelve of the
thirteen tallest) skyscrapers in the state of
Florida, with the tallest being the 789-foot (240
m) Four Seasons Hotel & Tower.
In 2008, Miami was ranked as "America's Cleanest
City" according to Forbes Magazine for its
year-round good air quality, vast green spaces,
clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide
recycling programs. In 2008, Miami was also ranked
the 3rd-richest city in the United States and
the world's 22nd-richest city in a UBS study.
(Credit:
Wikipedia).
Florida
is a state located in the southeastern region
of the United States, bordering Alabama to the
northwest and Georgia to the northeast. Much of
the land mass of the state is a large peninsula
with the Gulf of Mexico to the west and south,
and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Most of Florida
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 April 2, 1513. Florida is the fourth most populous
state in the U.S.
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.
"Florida" is the oldest surviving European
place-name in the U.S. Juan Ponce de León,
a Spanish
conquistador, named Florida in honor of his discovery
of the land on the evening April 2, 1513, six
days after Easter and still during Pascua Florida,
a Spanish term for the "Flowery Easter"
season, and for the land's appearance as a "flowered
land." "It was named for these two reasons."
(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 after 1630 Tegesta (after the Tequesta
tribe) was throughout the 1700s an alternate 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.
