 |
Submit
pictures of your hometown to be included above, click
here. Refresh this page to see more hometown scenes. |
|
||
|
Submit
pictures of your hometown to be included above, click
here. Refresh this page to see more hometown scenes. |
|
|
||
FloridaFlorida is a southern state in the United States. It is known as the Sunshine State. "Florida" is a Spanish adjective which means "flowery". It was discovered by Spanish explorers during the Easter season, which is called Pascua Florida in Spanish. The U.S. Postal abbreviation is FL. USS Florida was named in honor of this state.
HistoryArchaelogical finds indicate that Florida had been inhabited for many thousands of years prior to any European settlements. Spaniards first arrived in 1513 and lay claim to a large, imprecisely defined area extending from about modern day Gainesville northward to the Carolinas, which they called La terra florida, "The flowery land". Over the following century, the Spanish and French both established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success. The area of Florida diminished with the establishment of British colonies to the north and French colonies to the west. Control of parts of Florida passed among Spanish, British, and American control. Spain finally ceded Florida to the United States with the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819, in exchange for the US renouncing any claims on Texas. On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the United States of America. Today, Florida is the fourth most populous state in the Union. Law and GovernmentThe Florida Legislature has a Senate of 40 members and a House of 120 members. The current governor is Republican Jeb Bush, brother of President George W. Bush. Though Florida has traditionally been a Democratic state, in recent years explosive population growth has brought with it many Republicans, leaving the state approximately evenly split between the two parties. Although the Republicans control the governorship and most other statewide elected offices, both houses of the state legislature, and 18 of the state's 25 seats in the US House, Democrats control the state's two Senate seats, and the presidential contest in Florida in 2000 was extremely close. As such, and because of its high population and large number of electoral votes, Florida is considered by political analysts to be a key swing state in Presidential elections. In Miami, the liberal Democrats vie for control with wealthy Cuban right wing Republicans and their business allies. Tampa was once a hotbed of Democratic union support, but has reversed polarity completely in recent years, and is now governed by heavily pro-business Republicans. Outside of liberal Miami-Dade County, the Florida Democratic Party tends to be socially conservative and heavily associated with the good ol' boy network. TaxationFlorida is one of the nine states which does not impose personal income tax (list of others). The state sales tax rate is 6 percent, and use tax of 6 percent is due on purchases made out of state and brought into Florida within 6 months of the purchase date. Additionally, some counties are authorized to levy a discretionary sales surtax on most transactions that are subject to sales and use tax. Geography
At 345 feet (105 metres) above sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida (it's also the lowest state highpoint.) EconomyFlorida's economy is heavily based on tourism. Warm weather most of the year and many miles of pristine beaches provide a thriving vacation spot for travelers from around the world. The large Walt Disney World theme park and resort complex, located near Orlando, drives the economy of that area, along with more recent entries into the theme park arena such as the Universal Orlando Resort. The great amount of sales tax revenue is what allows the state to be one of the few to not levy a personal income tax. Other major industries include citrus fruit and juice production, banking, and phosphate mining. With the arrival of the space program at Kennedy Space Center in the 1960s, Florida has attracted a large number of aerospace and military industries to the state. Florida does not have any state minimum wage laws. Important cities and towns
EducationFlorida's public school revenue per student and spending per $1000 of personal income usually ranks in the bottom 25% of U.S. states. Average teacher salaries rank near the middle of U.S. states. Florida public schools have consistently ranked in the bottom 25% of many national surveys and average test score rankings. It should be noted that many education surveys are not scientific, but do measure prestige. Governor Jeb Bush has been criticized by many Florida educators for a program that penalizes underperforming schools (as indicated by standardized tests, such as the FCAT) with fewer funding dollars. Major testing organizations frequently discount the use of state average test score rankings, or any average of scaled scores, as a valid metric. In 2000, Governor Bush and the state legislature acted to abolish the Board of Regents that governed the State University System of Florida. Instead, each public university is now controlled by its own Board of Trustees who are directly appointed by the governor. As is typical of executive-appointed government boards, the appointees so far have been overwhelmingly Republican. This has not been without controversy. In 2002, Democratic Senator Bob Graham started a ballot referendum designed to revert to the Board of Regents system. Colleges and Universities
Sports teams
Spring TrainingFlorida is an extremely popular location for Major League Baseball spring training, with teams informally organized into the "Grapefruit League". As of 2004, Florida hosts the following major league teams for spring training:
Minor League teamsFlorida also hosts the following minor league baseball teams:
The
above article in gray is licensed under the
It
uses material from the
|
Our hometown sites offer: Yellow Pages, Interactive Maps, Classified Ads, Guestbooks & Forums, Community Calendars, City Guides, Travel Guides, Moving Guides, History and Trivia.
These Community Websites are part of a network of over 33,000 represented within the Hometown USA Network of Communities. We rely upon and encourage all members of the community to participate in the development of these pages. So come on in and visit with us, see what our great communities have to offer and if you can't find what you are looking for, let us know by posting a question in our Community Forums so that a member of that hometown can reply to you or email you the answer.
|
Welcome to the Sunshine State, the great State of Florida. Within these pages you will find
information about every facet of this beautiful southern state. From the Georgia state line to the
Florida Everglades and the Florida Keys, this state has something to offer everyone for
every reason. This portion of our site offers information from Florida spiders, snakes and panther
to the Florida Marlins. The pages of this site are populated with information submitted by the
residents of the cities, towns and villages of Florida.
Be sure to stop by our yellow pages that can be found on each hometown’s top page. In these
yellow pages you can find an extensive list of State of Florida Government agencies, departments
and services, such as: Florida DMV (Florida Department of Motor Vehicles), Florida drivers
license, Florida Department of Corrections, Lottery Commission (Lotto), Secretary of State, Department
of Revenue, Public Records, State Statues, Florida Highway Patrol, Medicaid, Department of
Insurance, Department of Education, Department of Health, Law Enforcement, Transportation and
Florida laws.
You may find many businesses, organizations and services in our yellow Pages such as: Florida
orporations, Better Business Bureau of Florida, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Bar Association,
Board of Nursing, Commission on Power and Light, hospital, your favorite mall, newspapers, news
agencies, weather and much more.
Don’t forget to find the many quality Florida universities and colleges listed in the yellow
pages such as: Florida Community Colleges, University of Florida, University of Central Florida,
University of South Florida and more.
Known for many attractions, Florida hosts a wide variety of State Parks, campgrounds, beaches,
vacation rentals, and resorts . No page mentioning Florida tourism would be complete
without the mention of Walt Disney World, Florida or the Everglades National Park . If you
are planning a Florida vacations be sure to take a trip on the many Key West, Florida
fishing boats and stay overnight in any one of many Key West hotels . But before
you hit the road, browse through our interactive and printable map of Florida and its many
cities, towns and villages. Find both interactive maps and driving directions.
If you are interested in Florida unemployment and are looking for Florida jobs, then
check out our free classified ads where the residents and businesses of our many hometowns can
post notices right online.
If you are moving to the Sunshine State then browse through our moving guides for information such
as: Florida realestate, land for sale, home builders, homes for sale, Florida Keys real estate, condos,
rentals, apartments and more.
If you are a history buff check out our history, trivia and facts pages for each of the communities of
the State of Florida.
|
