Interesting Facts About Florida - Fun Facts About Florida

Florida is a state that forms a part of the southeastern region of the United States of America. Its landmass basically comprises of a large peninsula, with the Gulf of Mexico to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The state stands bordered by Alabama in the northwest and Georgia in the northeast. Discovered by Ponce de León in 1513, Florida was initially under Spanish and British occupation, before being sold it to the United States, in 1819. Today, tourism, manufacturing, and agriculture are the main industries of the state. In the following lines, we have provided some more interesting information on Florida.

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Fun & Interesting Facts about Florida

Florida is a state in the United States of America.
Florida was named by Juan Ponce de León, who landed on the peninsula in the year 1513.
Florida is the fourth most populous state in the United States of America.
It is believed that Florida had been inhabited for thousands of years before any European settlements were established.
Saint Augustine city of Florida is the oldest European settlement in North America.
Charlotte Harbor is the point where the Peace River meets the ocean.
Rollins College, founded in 1885, is the oldest college in Florida.
Cape Canaveral serves as America's launch pad for space flights.
A museum in Sanibel claims to be the only museum in the world that is dedicated only to mollusks. It houses 2 million shells.
It is said that Benwood, on French Reef in the Florida Keys, is one of the most dived shipwrecks in the world.
Safety Harbor of Florida serves as the home of the historic Espiritu Santo Springs.
Clearwater city of Florida has the highest rate of lightning strikes, per capita, in the whole of USA.
World's first scheduled passenger service airline flight went from St. Petersburg's downtown yacht basin to Tampa.
The first suntan cream was made in Miami Beach, Florida, in 1944, by pharmacist Benjamin Green.
Key West (Florida) boasts of having the highest average temperature in the United States.
Saint John's River of Florida is amongst those few rivers that flow north instead of south.
Lake Okeechobee is the largest lake in Florida.
Moonstone, not found naturally in Florida, is its official state gem.
American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) was made the official state reptile in 1987.
The first bank ATM was installed in Miami for rollerbladers.
Amelia Island waters serve as the harvesting place of nearly 80 percent of Florida’s intake of sweet Atlantic white shrimp.
DeFuniak Springs have one of the two naturally round lakes in the world.
With 185 miles of local waterways, Fort Lauderdale is called the ‘Venice of America’.
Haines City is known as ‘The Heart of Florida’.
Islamorada is known as the ‘Sports fishing Capital of the World’.
Key Largo is known as the ‘Dive Capital of the World’.
Old Kings Road of Florida was built in 1763 and is the first graded road to be built in the state.
Annual Mug Race of Florida is the longest river sailboat race in the world.
The Pinellas Trail, connecting St. Petersburg with Central and north Pinellas County, is the longest urban linear trail in the eastern USA.
Florida is the only state that has 2 rivers both with the same name, Withlacoochee. One is in north central Florida (Madison County) and the other is in central Florida.
Orange blossom is the state flower of Florida and the Mockingbird is its state bird.

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