Nicknamed the “Sunshine state”, Florida was the 27th state to join the United States of America on March 3, 1845.
Florida has 67 counties in total, and its state capital is Tallahassee.
It has a population of 21.3 million people, making it the 3rd most populous state. Let’s take a closer look at what really makes Florida the place it is today.
Florida is bordered by the states of Alabama and Georgia, with a total of 65,758 sq mi (170,312 km²) of land and water it is the 22nd largest state.
With the fast facts out of the way, let’s take a look into something a little more interesting, the facts that really make Florida the state that it is!
While Florida borders the states of Alabama and Georgia, its biggest borders are with the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
Its borders with these bodies of water are so large, that it actually has the longest coastline of the contiguous US states (the 48 states in mainland USA).
Its coastline is a whopping 1,350 miles (2,170 km) long, and it has 4,510 islands that are 10 acres in size or greater!
Florida’s nickname of the “Sunshine State” is a little ironic at best, if you ask me.
Severe weather is actually really common in Florida, especially in the central region.
Here it experiences more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the USA.
Florida also has more tornadoes per area than any of the other states too.
Hurricanes, you ask? Well, Florida also has so many of them that it’s the most hurricane prone state too. Sunshine state, hah!
In 1513 a Spanish conquistador by the name of Juan Ponce de León arrived on the peninsula of what is now known as Florida.
Upon arrival, he named the area La Florida.
While there are multiple theories as to the origin of the name, there are two main contenders.
Either the area was named in appreciation of the beautiful wildflowers found there, or it was named after the Spanish festival Pascua Florida (Festival of Flowers), which was being celebrated when they arrived.
In the Everglades National Park, the largest tropical wild lands in the US, you can find such a sight.
While you can find alligators all over Florida, the only place where you can see both them and the American crocodile, a protected species, is here.
There are actually 38 different protected species in the Everglades National Park, including the West Indian manatee and the Florida panther – one of the most endangered mammals left on this planet.
