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|date=March 3, 1845 (27th)

|date=March 3, 1845 (27th)

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'''Florida''' is located in the southeastern [[United States]]; it was purchased by the U.S. in 1819 and in 1845 became the 27th state to join the Union.  The capital of Florida is [[Tallahassee]], and the main metropolitan areas are Jacksonville, Miami, St. Petersburg and Orlando. Florida's nickname is the "Sunshine State",  and its state tree is the "Sabal Palm." Florida has grown very rapidly, pulling in retirees from the cold, giving it the 3rd largest population of the 50 states.

'''Florida''' is located in the southeastern [[United States]]; it was purchased by the U.S. in 1819 and in 1845 became the 27th state to join the Union.  The capital of Florida is [[Tallahassee]], and the main metropolitan areas are Jacksonville, Miami, St. Petersburg and Orlando. Florida's nickname is the "Sunshine State",  and its state tree is the Sabal Palm.  Florida has grown very rapidly, pulling in retirees from the cold, giving it the 3rd largest population of the 50 states.

==History==

==History==

see [[History of Florida]]

see [[History of Florida]]

Florida was first settled by Europeans in 1513, when Spaniard [[Juan Ponce de Leon]] landed near where [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]] stands today. For some time,  Spain and France ran competing colonies in Florida, with the Spanish eventually expelling the French.  Spain never had effective control and sold Florida to the United States in 1819.  Florida seceded from the Union in 1861 and joined the [[Confederate States of America]]; there was little military action in the remote state.

Florida was first settled by Europeans in 1513, when Spaniard [[Juan Ponce de Leon]] landed near where [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]] stands today. de Leon originally spotted Florida on Easter Sunday, so he named it ''Pascua Florida'', which means "Flowery Easter" in Spanish. <ref>http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Florida/FloridaNameOrigin.html</ref>

 

For some time,  Spain and France ran competing colonies in Florida, with the Spanish eventually expelling the French.  Spain never had effective control and sold Florida to the United States in 1819.  Florida seceded from the Union in 1861 and joined the [[Confederate States of America]]; there was little military action in the remote state.

==Politics==

==Politics==

*[[Tallahassee]]

*[[Tallahassee]]

*[[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]]

*[[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]]

{{USstates}}

{{USstates}}

[[Category:Florida]]

[[Category:Florida]]

[[Category:The South]]

[[Category:The South]]