51 Awesome Fun Facts About Florida - Can You Guess Them All?
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What do you know about the sunny state of Florida?
Find out why so many people move to Florida and why it draws around 131 million visitors each year. Home to two national parks, hundreds of golf courses and miles and miles of paradise coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, it's no wonder Florida is on so many people's holiday bucket list.
Once you've read all out interesting facts about Florida and found out what Florida is known for, check out Mexico City facts and Oregon facts too.
Fun Facts About Florida
Find all the important information about Florida with these facts!
1. Florida got its name from Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, who named it 'La Florida', meaning "land of flowers".
2. The capital of Florida is Tallahassee.
3. Florida is home to over 21 million people and is the country's third most populous state.
4. Florida is the flattest state in the United States! Florida is so flat in fact that its highest point is the lowest high point of any state in the USA. At just 345 feet, Britton Hill, Florida's highest peak, is lower than many of Miami's skyscrapers.
5. With the sea level constantly rising due to climate change, scientists predict that one out of every eight homes in the state may be underwater by 2100.
6. Florida's coral barrier reef system is the third most extensive in the world.
7. Do you like oranges? Florida is the second biggest producer of orange juice in the world.
8. Florida produces around 70% of American oranges.
9. Florida produces 40% of the world's orange juice supply!
10. Florida is the world's biggest producer of grapefruit.
11. The Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are located on Merritt Island, Florida. The center has been the site of every US space flight launch since 1968.
12. The World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum is located in St Augustine, Florida and features a golf simulator and golf museum.
13. The Sunshine State is one of only two US states to have a tropical climate, the other being Hawaii.
14. The only state in the continental United States to have a living coral reef, Florida also boasts over 4000 islands.
Fun Facts About St Petersburg Florida
Find out all about the city in Pinellas County, Florida.
15. This Gulf Coast destination is renowned for its sunny weather. With 361 sunny days a year, St Petersburg holds the Guinness World Record for the most sunny days on average per year.
16. St Petersburg's nickname is the Sunshine City.
17. The world’s first scheduled airline flight took off from St Petersburg on 1 January 1914.
Fun Facts About Destin Florida
This area in Florida is a popular tourist destination, find out all about it!
18. Destin is the most visited city on Florida's Emerald Coast. The Emerald Coast is famed for its beautiful white sandy beaches.
19. Destin is a must-visit destination for fishing fanatics. It is known as the world's Luckiest Fishing Village! Florida has even been described as the fishing capital of the world.
20. The fine white sand found on the typical Destin beach is made from ground quartz crystal taken from the Appalachian Mountains.
Fun Facts About Orlando Florida
Visitors to America can't get enough of Orlando, and neither can we!
21. Orlando used to be called Jernigan after the first permanent European settlers in the area, Isaac and Aaron Jernigan!
22. There are several theories on how Orlando got its name. Some believe Orlando is named after a character in Shakespeare's 'As You Like It'.
23. There are more than 100 lakes in the region. Lake Okeechobee is the largest freshwater lake in Florida and is the second biggest freshwater lake in America, spanning 700 miles and five counties.
24. The old Orlando City Hall was blown up in the opening scene of 'Lethal Weapon 3'. This saved Orlando a lot of money, as they were saved the hassle of demolishing it themselves.
Fun Facts About Florida Beaches
People flock to Florida in search of beautiful beaches, learn all about them with these interesting facts !
25. Florida has around 1,350 miles of coastline.
26. 825 miles of Florida's coastline are made up of white, sandy beaches.
27. There is nowhere in Florida that is more than 60 miles from a beach.
28. One Florida fact is that it is the spring break capital of America, drawing an average of 2.7 million students to its beaches each year.
29. Destin has the clearest water of all the beaches in Florida.
30. The famous Emerald Coast in Florida gets its moniker from the algae which turns its waters green.
31. The sugary white sand on Florida beaches is made from white quartz crystals which were carried into the Gulf of Mexico by the Apalachicola River at the end of the last Ice Age. 2.6 million years of wave erosion has ground the quartz into fine powder.
32. The popular island city of Key West, Florida is home to the world's third largest barrier coral reef. This beach paradise forms part of the Florida Keys archipelago and is hugely popular with divers and snorkelers.
33. Key West is also famed for its iconic pastel-hued Bahamian Conch houses.
Fun Facts About Disneyland Florida
The state is perhaps most famous for being the home of everybody's favorite mouse!
34. Walt Disney World theme park first opened its doors on 1 October, 1971 in Orange County, Florida.
35. The iconic American theme park resort covers almost 25,000 acres of land.
36. Disney World is made up of four theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom.
37. There are two water parks, 27 themed hotels, nine non-themed hotels, numerous golf courses, a campsite and the Disney Springs outdoor shopping centre, among other leisure attractions.
38. Under Disney World visitors' feet there is a nine-acre maze of secret utility tunnels! Performers use these tunnels to get quickly to their next performance destination.
39. The walls of the tunnels are color-coded to make them easy to navigate. Cast members park a mile away at a designated car park and are picked up by a Disney bus which takes them to the tunnels.
40. The resort is known for being one of the cleanest parks in the USA, due to the fact that no guest is ever more than 30 steps from a trash can.
41 . On average, 200 pairs of sunglasses are lost every day at Disney World.
42. One top piece of Disney Florida trivia is that the Epcot aquarium is the second largest aquarium in the United States.
43. Secrets of the Kilimanjaro Safari ride include honey-topped safari buses to lure elephants and air conditioned rocks for lions to laze on.
44. The screams heard near the fast rides are actually pre-recorded "canned" screams, and aren't real.
45. Disney's Hollywood Studios used to be a real, working studio. 'The Mickey Mouse Club' was filmed there.
46. Mickey Mouse has nearly 300 outfits to wear around the resort, and Minnie has about 200.
Fun Facts About Miami Florida
Learn all about the city of Miami and greater Miami (also known as the Miami Metropolitan area) here.
47. The city is named after the Mayaimi tribe who lived there in the 16th and 17th centuries.
48. It is the only city in America to be founded by a woman. A local citrus-growing businesswoman named Julia Tuttle owned the land Miami was built on. She persuaded a developer to extend the Florida East Coast Railroad to the region, paving the way for the development of modern day Miami.
49. Over 14 million tourists visit every year.
50. We haven't listed many facts about Floridians yet, but years ago, one famous Miami Beach pharmacist was responsible for changing the face of sunbathing forever. Benjamin Green developed the world's first sunscreen during WWII and named it Coppertone.
51. There are around fifty shipwrecks at the bottom of the ocean surrounding Miami, a diver's paradise!
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our Florida facts then check out these Bolivia facts, or facts about Dubai.
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Living in Brighton with her three-year-old daughter, Eleanor loves exploring new environments and discovering fun activities to do together. A cinema enthusiast, she enjoys going to see the latest kids' movies and indulging in some popcorn. She also loves visiting London to explore new places to eat and exciting activities. In her spare time, this person is training to become a complementary therapist and has a keen interest in mindfulness
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