Florida ('Land of Flowers') is a large peninsular state in the extreme south-east of the United States, bounded E. by the Atlantic Ocean, N. by Georgia and Alabama, and W. by the Gulf of Mexico. It lies in about 25°-31° N. lat. and 80°-87° W. long. The state is nearly 400 miles in length, and about 84 miles in mean breadth, its coast-line embracing about 1150 miles, and its area 58,680 sq. m., or 37,555,200 acres. About one-fifteenth of this area is water surface. Florida has nineteen navigable rivers, making an aggregate of 1000 miles; swamps and marshes are still extensive, and the lakes and isolated ponds number at least 1200. Of the lakes the largest is Okeechobee, a shallow fresh-water expanse of about 1000 sq. m., in the southern part of the peninsula; the Everglades (q.v.) form a delta-like expansion of this lake. No general survey of Florida has yet been made, but from a preliminary inspection the state geologist finds the formations to be the equivalent of the Tertiarys of the Paris and Thames basins. There are indications that there is an upheaval of the land still in slow progress; and this, together with the drainage operations, points to the possibility of at least a great part of the Everglades being reclaimed. The best bays, harbours, and estuaries are Fernandina, St John's River, St Augustine, Indian River, Key West, Caloosahatchie, Charlotte Bay, Tampa Bay, Cedar Keys, Deadman's Bay, Appalachie Bay, Appalachicola, St Andrew's Bay, and Pensacola Bay. The long coast-line is dotted with innumerable islands of all sizes, from Santa Rosa and Key Largo, 30 to 50 miles long, to the smallest possible sandy keys.
In climate and products Florida is like a great tropical island. It is cooled by delightful sea-breezes from the gulf, making the climate remarkably equable and healthful; and the state is a favourite winter-resort, both for tourists and invalids, although malarial fevers prevail in some parts, and yellow fever has occasionally, as in 1889, visited the seaports heavily. Even in the southernmost portions the summer heat is not extreme. The range between the mean summer and winter temperature is only about 20°; but the observations published by the Signal Service present the recorded extremes as 105° and 10° F., showing a difference of 95°. The soil, while much of it seems a sterile sand, is helped to fertility by the moisture, the rainfall being about 54 inches annually. Florida furnishes abundantly the rich fruits and valuable products of the tropics. Large areas are devoted to orange orchards, while lemons, limes, grapes, pine-apples, bananas, pears, guavas, &c. grow with equal luxuriance; and coffee, rice, cotton, and tobacco are natural products. Sea-island cotton, so valuable, and elsewhere limited to a few islands, here grows far inland. Cocoa-nuts also are grown in the subtropical region. Horticulture is one of the most profitable pursuits, and of late years market-gardening has assumed considerable dimensions in many parts of the state. An abundance of fruits and vegetables may be had fresh every month in the year, and during the winter and early spring months they are in great demand in northern markets. Florida is not rich in minerals, but there may be found some iron ore, a little coal, peat, corals, silicified shells, ochre, amethyst, topaz, agate, carnelian, chalcedony, and calcareous limestone. The coquina, a shell conglomerate, furnishes an excellent building-stone; but concrete of sand, shells, and lime or cement is now more extensively employed, as in the vast hotel at St Augustine (q.v.). Mineral springs are numerous. Large tracts of alluvial swamp and shallow lake-lands are being reclaimed by drainage. Next to these are the low hummocks or bottom-lands, dry enough for cultivation, and producing large crops of cotton, sugar-cane, grain, fruits, and vegetables. The high hummocks have a dark, gray soil, very rich at first, but soon running out if not kept well fertilised. Then come first-class pine, oak, and hickory lands, sandy, but containing a good deal of lime. Oranges and other citrus fruits grow well on these lands. There is a second-class pine land that is barren, but supplies a tolerably good pasturage. The forest trees are live-oaks and other evergreen oaks, cypress, hickory, magnolia, holly, great dogwood, bay-laurel, satinwood, lignum-vitæ, mahogany, palmettos, Jamaica kino, mangrove, manchineel, torch-wood, &c. Figs are grown in great abundance. Indian corn is largely raised. Numerous wild animals abound in the central and southern parts of the state, such as the black bear, the cougar, the panther, wild-cats, wolves, foxes, raccoons, opossums, fish-otters, deer, and smaller game; alligators are found in nearly all rivers, lakes, and swamps; turtles are taken among the keys; and manatees are found on the Atlantic side as far north as latitude 27°.
Among the industries of Florida is a large business in the production of pine and other lumber, and live-oak timber for shipbuilding. The preparation of naval stores, turpentine, tar, rosin, and pitch employs many hands; cigars are manufactured in large quantities; all along the coast there are valuable fisheries, oysters abound in many parts, and the inland waters also teem with fish; and the evaporation of salt, the production of cotton-seed oil and meal, the manufacture of fertilisers, and sponge and coral fisheries are among the profitable industries.
Since about 1885 many energetic northern capitalists have invested and settled in Florida, contributing greatly to its resources. The rapid development of the phosphate industry, one of very recent establishment, may be seen from the shipments—354,327 tons in 1892, as against some 800 tons in
1887. The state is traversed by numerous railroad lines, the principal of which are the Florida Railway and Navigation Company; the Florida Central and Peninsular; the Savannah, Florida, and Western; the Jacksonville, Tampa, and Key West; the South Florida; and the Florida Southern. The chief towns are Tallahassee (the capital), Pensacola, Apalachicola, Jacksonville, Fernandina, St Augustine, Tampa, Key West, Bartow, Orlando, Ocala, and Gainesville. There are forty-five counties of irregular shape, but many of the large ones are to be divided with the increase of population. In 1870 there were 187,748 inhabitants; in 1880, 269,493 (142,605 white; 126,888 coloured, including 18 Chinese and 180 Indians); in 1890, 391,422.
The common-school system is popular and efficient. There are over 2000 public schools, and the enrolled pupils in 1887 numbered 82,453. There are numerous institutes and colleges, including the State College at Lake City, which is endowed by the United States, and offers free tuition.
Florida was discovered on Easter Day (Pascua Florida), 1512, by Juan Ponce de Leon (q.v.). In 1539 it was explored by De Soto (q.v.), and in 1565 a body of French Calvinists, who had established a settlement three years previous, were butchered or driven out by the Spaniards. The latter held possession till 1763, when Florida was ceded to England in exchange for Cuba. The Spanish regained the country in 1781, and two years later were confirmed in their occupation by the Peace of Versailles. Florida was ceded to the United States as a territory in 1819, received a constitution in 1833, and was admitted into the Union as a state in 1845. In 1835-42 it was the theatre of a desperate war between the aborigines (Seminoles, q.v.) and the white settlers, a war which was only terminated after a sacrifice of hundreds of lives, and at a cost to the United States government of over $20,000,000. Florida passed an ordinance of secession, January 10, 1861, siding with the Confederates; but the battle of Olustee in February 1864 was the only important fight within its boundaries. It was one of the first states to return to the Union, framing a new constitution in October 1865, but was not re-admitted till June 1868. It is represented in the United States senate by two members, and in the House of Representatives also by two. See Davidson, The Florida of To-day (1889); Whitehead, The Campfires of the East (1891); Powell, The American Siberia (1892).