Florida: The Sunshine State

Florida is located in the southeastern United States along the Atlantic Ocean seacoast. Much of its land is a peninsula that adjoins a “panhandle” to the northwest. Florida was admitted to the United States on March 3, 1845 after three hundred years of rule by various European countries. In 1861, Florida joined the Confederate States of America and sided with the Confederacy in the Civil War. After Reconstruction, white Democrats succeeded in regaining power in the state legislature, and implemented numerous measures that were onerous to African American and poor white people. Florida’s economy underwent a real estate development boom and bust in the 1920’s and then suffered greatly in the Great Depression. After World War II, Florida’s economic fortunes started to change. Its warm climate, low cost of living, and the availability of air conditioning led to a tremendous influx of people from the northeast. Florida is now the fourth most populous state in the United States, with diverse representation among Hispanics of Cuban, Central American, and Puerto Rican descent, African Americans, and Caucasians. Florida gets its nickname, “the sunshine state,” from the high proportion of sun it enjoys.

Economy: Florida Shines

Today Florida’s largest economic deriver is tourism, followed by agriculture, with a strong focus on citrus fruits. General services, education, financial services, trade, transportation, and health care are all economic drivers of Florida’s economy today. The city of Miami, at the southernmost tip of the state, is a major “jumping off” point in the American southeast for trade and transportation to Central and South America.

Education: In Line with U.S. Averages

Educational attainment among the Florida population is roughly equivalent to that of the U.S. as a whole. As of 2000, roughly 80% of Florida’s residents aged 25 and older had completed high school and 22% had completed college. There are 3,239 institutions of higher learning in Florida. Prominent among these are Eckerd College, University of Miami, and the State University System of Florida. The State University of Florida System enrolls over 300,000 students within eleven institutions, including: Florida State University, Florida A&M University, and the University of Central Florida.

The Crime Scene in Florida: Trending Down Sharply

While having one of the higher overall rates of crime in the country, Florida’s crime rate has been declining sharply over the past several decades. All major types of crime have seen declines from their peaks in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. In 2006, Florida ranked 4th among U.S. states for violent crimes with 712 per 100,000 population.

The Florida Population – Large, Older Population as Well as Ethnically Diverse

Florida has a population of roughly 18.5 million people. Its population has grown steadily over the past decade, at a rate of 1.6% per year. Florida has recently been favoring Republicans in its government, by a margin of nearly two to one. Perhaps surprisingly, then, of roughly 8.3 million votes cast in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Florida voters chose Democratic candidate Barack Obama over Republican candidate John McCain by a slim margin, 51%-48%.