Florida - The Sunshine State

Located in the Southeastern U.S., Florida technically is 100 miles(160 km) north of the tropics and Florida's southern tip is 1,700 miles (2720 km) north of the Equator. Most of Florida lies in the Eastern Time Zone (the area west of the Apalachicola River is in the Central Time Zone), thanks to the early railroad years. Florida, by location, is more Midwestern and should be in the Central Time Zone because Jacksonville is located directly beneath Cleveland and Pensacola is directly beneath Chicago. Railroads found it more convenient to include Florida in the Eastern Time Zone because of the state's popularity with travelers along the East coast.

Geography
Total area is 58,167 square miles (151,714 square km). This includes a land area of 54,153 square miles (140,256 square km) and water area of 4,464 square miles (11,458 square km). Florida is larger than England and Wales, Greece or Hungary. From Pensacola in Northwest Florida to Key West in Southeast Florida, the distance is 792 (1,267 km) miles.

Geologists estimate that Florida is one of the youngest parts of the continental U.S., the last land mass to emerge from the ocean. The Florida landscape is sprinkled with 10,000 lakes ranging in size from one acre to the 450,000-acre Lake Okeechobee, the second largest freshwater lake in the U.S. Nearly one-third of the state's lakes are located in four Central Florida counties--Lake, Orange, Osceola and Polk.

There are more than 300 known springs in the state and 27 are classified as "first magnitude." First magnitude springs produce at least 100 cubic feet of water per second. The longest of the state's 166 rivers is the Suwannee which trails 177 miles (283 km) through the northern part of the state.

No part of Florida is more than 60 miles (96 km) from its famous beaches. For most people, beaches and palm trees are synonymous with Florida's landscape. However, the state is quite diverse with upland hardwood forests and hills in the north, central highlands which range from flat to slight hills, coastal lowlands along the perimeter and southern lowlands.

The highest point in Florida is 345 feet above Sea Level with the lowest being at Sea Level.

Weather
Sunshine is one of the state's most important resources as Florida's comfortable climate has lured vacationers for more than a century. Overall, summers are long and winters are short and mild. Average annual temperatures during the summer are 80.5 (F) degrees (26.9 C) in north Florida and 82.7 (F) degrees (55.1 C) in south Florida. Averages annual winter temperatures are 53 (F) degrees (11.7 C) in north Florida and 68.5 (F) degrees (20.3 C) in south Florida. Afternoon rain showers and coastal breezes make warm summer days more comfortable.

Beaches
White Sandy beaches, account for 1,100 miles (1760 km) of the state's 1,800 miles (2880 km) of coastline. Actually, Florida has more than 8,000 miles (12,800 km) of shoreline.

Lakes
Florida has about 7,800 lakes, many of which are still unnamed. They range in area from mere one-acre ponds to mighty Lake Okeechobee, which measures 448,000 acres. Nearly all of Florida's lakes are natural, having originated either as sink holes, as sea-bottom depressions, or as erosion points of rivers. More than one-third of the state's lakes are to be found in four of the 67 counties - Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Polk.


Population
13.4 million in 1992, making Florida the fourth most populated state in the U.S., trailing California (30.5 million), New York (18.3 million) and Texas (17.5 million).
As of 7-1-97 the Bureau of Census population estimate for Florida was 14.7 million with 54 of the 67 counties experiencing annual double digit growth. Florida ranked number 47 in population for the 18 and under age group and number 1 for the 65 and over age group with 92.9% of the total population living in the major metropolitan areas.

The population projection from the U.S. Census Bureau puts Florida at 15.2 million by the year 2000. Florida is projected to remain number 4 in total population.

Tourism
Tourism is the state's largest industry. In 1993, tourism created an economic impact of $32.0 billion ($87.7 million per day). More than 20 percent of the state's taxable sales are generated from visitors, accounting for $2.0 billion ($5.5 million per day) in 1993. Tourism directly employs 657,000 Floridians. In 1993, 41.0 million visitors came to Florida, a 1.2 percent increase from 1992. Officials forecast that 41.9 million vacationers will visit the state in 1994. Most Florida visitors (83 percent) are from the U.S. while 6.8 million (17 percent) international visitors came here in 1992. Canada is the leading international market with 2.5 million vacationers. The top 10 overseas countries of origin for Florida visitors are: United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Venezuela, Bahamas, Argentina, Columbia, Mexico, Japan and France.

Major Highways
1. Interstate 4: 132 miles (211 km) connecting the Tampa Bay area on the west coast through Orlando to the Daytona Beach area on the east coast.
2. Interstate 10: 362 (579 km) miles connecting Jacksonville on the east coast with the Alabama state line, west of Pensacola.
3. Interstate 75: 417 miles (754 km) entering Florida from Georgia through Lake City to the Tampa Bay area on the west coast, south through Fort Myers and Naples where it crosses the state to Fort Lauderdale (the Naples-Fort Lauderdale segment is commonly called Alligator Alley).
4. Interstate 95: 347 miles (555 km) from the Georgia line near Jacksonville, down the east coast to Miami.
5. Florida Turnpike (Sunshine State Parkway): 265 miles (424 km) from its northern entrance at Wildwood to the Miami/Homestead area, this highway is sometime called Main Street Florida.
 

Note: There is ongoing highway maintenance and construction on several of Florida's Interstate highways as well as some of the locally maintained road systems. In construction zones the speed limits have been reduced to help insure the safety of those working on the roads. To enforce the reduced speed limits you will almost always see a Florida Highway Patrol car (with radar) in these areas. To further deter unlawful speed in construction zones the speeding fines in these areas have been doubled so, please drive carefully and help save lives (as well as a potential $500 or more fine).

The Florida Department of Transportation has a very informative page covering current construction sites, rest area maps and more...

http://www.dot.state.fl.us/publicinformationoffice/traveler.htm

Driving Safety
The law in Florida requires that headlights must be on from dusk till dawn, in fog and in rain! The rule of thumb is that if the windshield (windscreen) wipers are on, so too should be the headlights. It is also recommended that headlights be on while driving on all rural two lane roads.
Some interstate highways have tolls. The Florida Turnpike (Ocala to Homestead), Alligator Alley (1-75 between Miami and Naples), Bee Line Expressway (Orlando to Cape Canaveral) are examples.
Many of the coastal islands have bridges which also charge a fare for crossing. Some fares can be quite expensive for the infrequent user, so be prepared to pay a few dollars.

If you are planning to see the state by car plan ahead for the necessary driving time. The distance from Pensacola in the panhandle to the Florida Keys is almost 800 miles.

Major Airports
Major commercial airports include:

Miami International
Orlando International Airport
Tampa International
Fort Lauderdale International
West Palm Beach International
Jacksonville International
Southwest Regional (Fort Myers)
Sarasota/Bradenton Regional
Pensacola Regional
Daytona Beach International
Melbourne Regional
St. Petersburg/Clearwater International
Gainesville Regional
Key West International
Tallahassee Regional
Eglin Air Force Base
Panama City/Bay County Regional
Hotels / Motels
 

As of 1992 Florida had 772 hotels with 128,265 units; 3,951 motels with 205,220 units. Total lodging units: 333,485. Although current data is unavailable at this time the number of units available increases annually.

Camping
There are more than 700 campgrounds offering more than 100,000 campsites throughout the state. Almost all feature facilities for recreational vehicles. More than 5 million people camp in Florida each year. The busiest time of the year (and the hardest to get campsite reservations) is during the winter months - usually from November to April.

Seaports / Cruising
Seaports are located in

Pensacola
Miami
Panama City
Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)
Palm Beach
St. Petersburg
Fort Pierce
Tampa
Canaveral
Bradenton (Manatee)
Sanford
Fernandina Beach
Jacksonville
 

In 1992, nearly seven million cruise passengers passed through Florida's ports. The Port of Miami is the busiest cruise port in the world with 3.1 million passengers in 1992, followed by Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades with 2.3 million passengers. With the recent expansion of Port Canaveral and the addition of the Disney cruise Line there, more cruises are originating in the central Florida area.

Golf Courses
With 1,050 of the estimated 14,000 courses in the U.S., Florida has more golf courses than any other state. While Florida's mild winters allow for year round golf the summer months can present a challenge with mainly Floridians on the links in June, July and August. Rates at most Florida golf courses increase during the "season" which generally runs from November to April - this varies with each course.

State Parks
There are 105 featuring crystal-clear springs, miles of beaches, rivers, lakes and an abundance of wildlife and outdoor activities. Several state parks feature "living history" exhibits, reflecting life in Florida during Spanish colonization, the Civil War, the Seminole Wars and the early days of cattle ranching. To go to Florida's Recreation and Parks Dept Click here..

National Parks
Florida's three national forests (Apalachicola, Osceola and Ocala) feature more than one million acres and are famous for recreation and a variety of wildlife. All three would fit into Everglades National Park. Biscayne National Park is unique in that it is a 175,000-acre marine playground off the coast of Miami. America's newest national park is Dry Tortuga located 68 miles west of Key West.

Pari-Mutuel Facilities
There are 18 greyhound racing tracks, 12 jai-alai frontons, 4 thoroughbred racing tracks, 1 harness/quarter horse racing track and 4 horse racing tracks.

Professional Sports
Professional sports franchises include:
National Football League
Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Arena Football
Orlando Predators and the Tampa Bay Storm
National Basketball Association
Miami Heat and Orlando Magic
Major League Baseball
Florida Marlins
National Hockey League
Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers

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