Florida

Florida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast. Much of the land mass of the state is a large peninsula with the Gulf of Mexico to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Most of Florida has a humid subtropical climate; southern Florida has a tropical climate. Florida was named by Juan Ponce de Le?n, who landed on the peninsula on April 2, 1513, during Pascua Florida . Florida is the fourth most populous state in the U.S.

History Main article: History of Florida See also: Seminole Wars and Florida in the American Civil War

Archaeological research indicates that Florida had been inhabited for thousands of years before any European settlements. Of the many indigenous peoples, the largest known were the Ais, the Apalachee, the Calusa, the Timucua and the Tocobago tribes. Juan Ponce de Le?n, a Spanish conquistador, named Florida in honor of his discovery of the land on April 2, 1513, during Pascua Florida, a Spanish term for the Easter season . From that date forward, the land became known as "La Florida" , although from 1630 until the 19th century Tegesta was the name of choice for the Florida peninsula following publication of a map by the Dutch cartographer Hessel Gerritsz in Joannes de Laet's History of the New World.

Bernard Picart copper plate engraving of Florida Indians, Circa 1721 "C?r?monies et Coutumes Religieuses de tous les Peuples du Monde" Winter in Florida, 1893 Florida split into East and West in 1810 The Battle of Olustee during the Civil War in 1864

Over the following century, both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success. In 1559, Spanish Pensacola was established by Don Trist?n de Luna y Arellano as the first European settlement in the continental United States, but it had become abandoned by 1561 and would not be reinhabited until the 1690s