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==Geography==
==Geography==
The southernmost of America's "Lower 48" states, Florida is a largely subtropical state whose southernmost point (at Key West) is only about 90 miles north of Cuba. It has a land area of about 58,560 square miles, ranking 22nd among the states. Its highest elevation, the peak of Britton Hill in Walton County near the Alabama state line, is only 345 feet above sea level, while its whole coastline lies at or just above sea level. Florida's average elevation, of only about 100 feet above sea level, is lower than every other state except [[Delaware]] and [[Louisiana]].
The southernmost of America's "Lower 48" states, Florida is a largely subtropical state whose southernmost point (at Key West) is only about 90 miles north of Cuba. It has a land area of about 58,560 square miles, ranking 22nd among the states. Most of its land is part of the long, tapering Florida peninsula that juts in a south-southeastward direction toward the Caribbean, with the rest, a narrow northwestern arm extending as far west as the Perdido River just west of Pensacola, known as the Florida panhandle. The state's highest elevation, the peak of Britton Hill in Walton County near the Alabama state line, is only 345 feet above sea level, while its whole coastline lies at or just above sea level. Florida's average elevation, of only about 100 feet above sea level, is lower than every other state except [[Delaware]] and [[Louisiana]].
[[Image:Florida ref 2001.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The state of Florida]]
[[Image:Florida ref 2001.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The state of Florida]]
The state has three major natural regions: the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the East Gulf Coastal Plain, and the Florida Uplands.
* The '''Atlantic Coastal Plain''' is a low, level expanse that covers the eastern part of the Florida peninsula, gently sloping towards the Atlantic Ocean. A considerable portion of the plain consists of freshwater and saltwater marshes, separated by small, drier heights known as "land islands." The largest of the wetlands, lying south of Lake Okeechobee, are Big Cypress Swamp and the Everglades. Just off the coast, for practically the entire length of the peninsula, is a broken string of long, very narrow islands, terminating in the Florida Keys.
* The '''East Gulf Coastal Plain''', which wraps around most of Florida's western and northwestern coast, is similar in terrain and other features to the Atlantic Coastal Plain, except that it is somewhat narrower in width (typically 30 miles or less). Its southernmost portion, in the Everglades, effectively merges with the other coastal plain, the two being indistinguishable except for the direction of water flow. There are fewer offshore islands on the Gulf Coast, except along the Florida panhandle.
* The '''Florida Uplands''' comprise the state's interior portion, including the central part of the peninsula and most of the Florida panhandle. It consists largely of rolling red-clay hills, divided by fertile valleys. In central Florida, the Uplands are characterized by numerous lakes, many of them formed by sinkholes, water-filled holes created by a collapse in the underlying bed of limestone.
==Economy==
==Economy==