- Florida Fast Facts -

Florida is located in southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered on the north by Georgia, the northwest by Alabama, the east by the Atlantic Ocean, the south by the Straits of Florida and on the west by the Gulf of Mexico. About two-thirds of the state is situated on a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic ocean. The state capital is Tallahassee. Florida has 67 counties, contains 65,758 square miles and is 22nd in size of the 50 states. The state has a population of over 21 million, making it the third most populous state. Most of Florida is at or near sea level which makes it the flattest of all 50 states. Lake Okeechobee is the second largest freshwater lake located entirely within the contiguous 48 states.

Forida was admitted as the 27th state on March 3, 1845, as a slave state. As such it sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War. While the state couldn't supply many soldiers it was able to supply salt and, more importantly, beef to feed the Confederate armies.

Florida is nicknamed the "Sunshine State", however Central Florida experiences more lightning strikes than anyplace else in the country.

In April, 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon came ashore on the northeast coast of what is now the state of Florida and called the area la Florida in honor of Spain's Eastertime celebration Pascua florida or "feast of flowers." Inn 1521 the explorer returned, accompanied by two-hundred people, with an eye towards colonization. The attempt failed quickly as the would be colonists were driven off by attacks of the native people. In 1539 Hernando de Soto brought an expedition to search for gold and silver, but none was found. In 1559 Tristan de Luna y Arellano managed to establish a settlement at Pensacola Bay which was abandoned after only two years. Fort Caroline was established at the mouth of the St. Johns River in 1564 by the Frenchman Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere, but it was destroyed by the Spanish. The first permanent European settlement was made at San Augustin (St. Augustine) in 1565. St. Augustine is the oldest European settlement in what is now the United States.

The British gained control of Florida in 1763, exchanging for Havana, Cuba, which they had captured from Spain during the Seven Years' War. Spain regained control in 1784 as part of the peace treaty that ended the American Revolution, but by 1821 it had become a burden to them and was ceded to the United States through the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1821. East Florida and West Florida were merged into the Florida Territory by act of Congress on March 30, 1822 and Tallahassee was chosen as the capital city.

Florida's population grew, and white settlers increased pressure on the Federal Government to remove the Indians from their native lands. A series of military conflicts between the U.S. Army and the Indians had begun around 1814 and became known as the Seminole Wars. Many Seminoles left Florida in 1832 for the Indian lands west of the Mississippi promised to them with the Treaty of Payne's Landing. Others stayed and fought, including the Seminole war leader Osceola. In the end those that did not leave voluntarily were captured and sent west under military guard or escaped into the Everglades. Osceola was captured on October 21, 1837 and imprisoned at Fort Marion in St. Augustine before being transported to Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina where he died a few months later.

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