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Facts about Florida
- Flag:
- 1899 - Red diagonal cross that frames the state seal
- Seal:
- Indian woman stewing flowers; background a Sabal Palm and a steamboat sailing past the Rising Sun
- Tree:
- Sabal Palm
- Flower:
- Orange Blossom
- Bird:
- Mockingbird
- Song:
- "The Swanee River" ("Old Folks at Home")
- Origin of Name:
- By Juan Ponce de Leon during exploration of Northeast coast of Florida in 1513 Easter season. Named "La Florida" in honor of Spanish Eastertime Feast of Flowers, Pascua Florida
- Nickname:
| 1. Sunshine State | 4. Everglades State |
| 2 Orange State | 5. Peninsular State |
| 3. Alligator State | 6. Southernmost State |
- Size:
- 58,560 sq. miles
- Rank:
- 4th in population
- 22nd in area and size
- Population:
- 15,233,000
- Density:
- 281.4 people per sq. mile
- Terrain:
- Northwest-rolling clay highlands
- East-dense forests
- Center-large citrus groves, bearing nearly four-fifths of the nation's oranges and grapefruits
- Lakes-30,000 including ponds, and countless springs
- Lake Okeechobee-barely 20 feet deep, it is the largest in the southern United States
- Everglades-a 40 mile wide marsh, shaded by Mahogany and Live Oak trees covered with Spanish moss, sheltering a stunning array of wildlife, including blue herons, white ibises, ospreys, bald eagles and rare Florida panthers. Forests of Mangroves, called "walking trees" by the Seminole Indians, line the coast. Alligators and salt-water crocodiles search for prey and the manatee devour one-tenth of their body weight in sea grass every day.
- Keys:
| 1. Key Biscayne |
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12. Key Vaca |
| 2. Elliott Key |
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13. Bahia Honda Key |
| 3. Key Largo |
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14. Content Key |
| 4. Plantation Key |
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15. Big Pine Key |
| 5. Upper Matecumbe Key |
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16. Saddlebunch Keys |
| 6. Lower Matecumbe Key |
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17. Sugarloaf Key |
| 7. Long Key |
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18. Snipe Key |
| 8. Grassy Key |
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19. Boca Chica Keys |
| 9. Duck Key |
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20. Key West |
| 10. Key Colony Beach |
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21. Boca Grande Key |
| 11. Key Colony Beach |
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s22. Marquesas Keys |
Other Keys on the Gulf: Cedar Key / Longboat Key / Siesta Key
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(Information from "Reader's Digest Atlas of America", dated 1998)
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