1.
Florida
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Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St
2.
Darren Soto
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Darren Michael Soto is an American attorney and politician from Orlando, Florida, who is the U. S. He defeated Republican Wayne Liebnitzky in the 2016 general election, 57-43%, prior to being elected to Congress, Soto served for four years in the Florida Senate and five in the Florida House of Representatives, representing parts of the Orlando area. Soto was born in the borough of Ringwood, New Jersey to a Puerto Rican father, O. Lou Soto, from 1998 to 2001, he worked for Prudential Insurance in finance while he attended college. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University in 2000, a Juris Doctor from George Washington University in 2004, Soto has a bachelors degree in Economics, and attended Law School at George Washington University. Soto is a commercial and civil rights attorney proudly practicing law in Central Florida and he is ardent defender of civil rights and is committed to rendering legal services pro bono to the community. In 2006, he was named class counsel in the class action brought on behalf of Hispanic voters against the City of Kissimmee in the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. He was also the YD Co-Host for their Speak Easy events that provide a forum for local. In 2006, Soto ran for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives from the 40th District, in April 2007, he emerged victorious from a crowded Democratic primary in a special election to replace John Quinones, who had resigned to run for the Osceola County Commission. In the general election, Soto narrowly defeated former Democratic State Representative Tony Suarez, Soto was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2008 and 2010. He fought to protect access to the courts in foreclosure proceedings. Soto was a key voice in securing the passage of Sunrail to bring rail to Central Florida. He also played a role in stopping the split of the Florida Supreme Court. He won his partys nomination uncontested and faced Republican Will McBride, though the contest was initially thought to be a toughly-fought one, in the end, Soto overwhelmingly defeated McBride, winning over 70% of the vote. He secured the state funding to start a Poinciana Valencia Campus. In addition, he led the Democratic House and Senate Caucuses in drafting and presenting an important Congressional Map during the 2014 Special Session on Redistricting. During the 2015 legislative session, Soto was fundamental in securing $11. 9M in funding for Valencia Colleges Poinciana campus and this allowed area students to seek higher education without traveling two hours round trip to attend classes. Soto also successfully pushed for $20M to restore the Kissimmee River and this earned him the award of Champion of the Everglades presented by the Audubon Society of Florida. Darren continued to fight for one of his top priorities - the environment - by proposing legislation to ban fracking in Florida and he secured $10M in Floridas budget to promote economic growth in Osceola County for a new state of the art facility that will manufacture high tech sensors
3.
Democratic Party (United States)
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The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president
4.
Orlando, Florida
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Orlando is a city in the U. S. state of Florida and the county seat of Orange County. Located in Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 4,000,002, according to U. S. As of 2015, Orlando had an estimated population of 270,934, making it the 73rd-largest city in the United States, the fourth-largest city in Florida. The City of Orlando is nicknamed The City Beautiful, and its symbol is the fountain at Lake Eola, Orlando is also known as The Theme Park Capital of the World and in 2014 its tourist attractions and events drew more than 62 million visitors. The Orlando International Airport is the thirteenth-busiest airport in the United States, with the exception of Walt Disney World, most major attractions are located along International Drive. The city is one of the busiest American cities for conferences and conventions. Orlando is home to the University of Central Florida, which is the largest university campus in the United States in terms of enrollment as of 2015, in 2010, Orlando was listed as a Gamma− level of world-city in the World Cities Study Groups inventory. Orlando ranks as the fourth-most popular American city based on where people want to live according to a 2009 Pew Research Center study. Fort Gatlin, as the Orlando area was known, was established at what is now just south of the city limits by the 4th U. S. Artillery under the command of Ltc, alexander C. W. Fanning on November 9,1838 during the construction of a series of fortified encampments across Florida during the Second Seminole War. The fort and surrounding area were named for Dr. John S. Gatlin, king Phillip and Coacoochee frequented this area and the tree was alleged to be the place where the previous 1835 ambush that had killed over 100 soldiers had been planned. When the U. S. military abandoned the fort in 1839 the surrounding community was built up by settlers, prior to being known by its current name, Orlando was once known as Jernigan. Aarron Jernigan became Orange Countys first State Representative in 1845 but his pleas for military protection went unanswered. Fort Gatlin was briefly reoccupied by the military for a few weeks during October and November 1849, a historical marker indicates that by 1850 the Jernigan homestead served as the nucleus of a village named Jernigan. One of the countys first records, a grand jurys report, mentions a stockade where it states homesteaders were driven from their homes, Aaron Jernigan led a local volunteer militia during 1852. Jernigan appears on an 1855 map of Florida and by 1856 the area had become the county seat of Orange County and it is known for certain that the area was renamed Orlando in 1857. The move is believed to be sparked, in part, by Aaron Jernigans fall from grace after he was relieved of his command by military officials in 1856. His behavior was so notorious that Secretary of War Jefferson Davis wrote, in 1859, Jernigan and his sons were accused of committing a murder at the towns post office
5.
White people
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White people is a racial classification specifier, used for people of Europid ancestry, with the exact implications dependent on context. The contemporary usage of people or a white race as a large group of populations contrasting with black, American Indian. It is today used as a racial classifier in multiracial societies, such as North Africa, United States. The term white race or white people entered the major European languages in the later 17th century, in the context of racialized slavery, description of populations as white in reference to their skin color predates this notion and is found in Greco-Roman ethnography and other ancient sources. Scholarship on race generally distinguishes the concept from pre-modern descriptions of collective difference. In the literature of the Ancient Near East and Classical Antiquity and we know that Egyptians were not oblivious to skin color, however, because artists paid attention to it in works of art, to the extent the pigments at the time permitted. Classicist James Dee states the Greeks do not describe themselves as white people—or as anything else because they had no word in their color vocabulary for themselves. Peoples skin color did not carry meaning, what mattered is where they lived. Religious conversion was sometimes described figuratively as a change in skin color, similarly, the Rigveda uses krsna tvac black skin as a metaphor for irreligiosity. The Ancient Egyptian funerary text known as the Book of Gates distinguishes four groups in a procession and these are the Egyptians, the Levantine/Canaanite peoples or Asiatics, the Nubians and the fair-skinned Libyans. The Egyptians are depicted as a reddish brown, the Nubians as black skinned, the Semites from the Levant and Canaan as light skinned. Herodotus described the Scythian Budini as having blue eyes and bright red hair. And the Egyptians – quite like the Colchians – as melánchroes and he also gives the possibly first reference to the common Greek name of the tribes living south of Egypt, otherwise known as Nubians, which was Aithíopes. Later Xenophon described the Aethiopians as black and the Persian troops as white compared to the skin of Greek troops. These color adjectives are found in contrast to the standard set by the own group. According to historian Irene Silverblatt, Race thinking … made social categories into racial truths, Alastair Bonnett argues that white identity, as it is presently conceived, is an American project, reflecting American interpretations of race and history. According to Gregory Jay, a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Before the age of exploration, group differences were based on language, religion. … the European had always reacted a bit hysterically to the differences of skin color, in the 16th and 17th centuries, East Asian peoples were almost uniformly described as white, never as yellow
6.
Black people
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As such, the meaning of the expression varies widely both between and within societies, and depends significantly on context. For many other individuals, communities and countries, black is also perceived as a derogatory, outdated, reductive or otherwise unrepresentative label, different societies apply differing criteria regarding who is classified as black, and these social constructs have also changed over time. In a number of countries, societal variables affect classification as much as skin color, in the United Kingdom, black was historically equivalent with person of color, a general term for non-European peoples. In South Africa and Latin America, mixed-race people are not classified as black. In other regions such as Australasia, settlers applied the term black or it was used by local populations with different histories and ancestral backgrounds. The Romans interacted with and later conquered parts of Mauretania, a state that covered modern Morocco, western Algeria. The people of the region were noted in Classical literature as Mauri, numerous communities of dark-skinned peoples are present in North Africa, some dating from prehistoric communities. In the 18th century, the Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail the Bloodthirsty raised a corps of 150,000 black slaves, called his Black Guard and he claims that black-looking Arabs, much like black-looking Latin Americans, consider themselves white because they have some distant white ancestry. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat had a mother who was a dark-skinned Nubian Sudanese woman, in response to an advertisement for an acting position, as a young man he said, I am not white but I am not exactly black either. My blackness is tending to reddish, due to the patriarchal nature of Arab society, Arab men, including during the slave trade in North Africa, enslaved more black women than men. They used more black female slaves in domestic service and agriculture than males, the men interpreted the Quran to permit sexual relations between a male master and his female slave outside of marriage, leading to many mixed-race children. When an enslaved woman became pregnant with her Arab masters child, she was considered as umm walad or mother of a child, the child was given rights of inheritance to the fathers property, so mixed-race children could share in any wealth of the father. Because the society was patrilineal, the children took their fathers social status at birth and were born free, some succeeded their fathers as rulers, such as Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, who ruled Morocco from 1578 to 1608. He was not technically considered as a child of a slave, his mother was Fulani. Such tolerance for black persons, even when technically free, was not so common in Morocco, the long association of sub-Saharan peoples as slaves is shown in the term abd, it is still frequently used in the Arabic-speaking world as a term for black people. In early 1991, non-Arabs of the Zaghawa tribe of Sudan attested that they were victims of an intensifying Arab apartheid campaign, Sudanese Arabs, who controlled the government, were widely referred to as practicing apartheid against Sudans non-Arab citizens. The government was accused of deftly manipulat Arab solidarity to carry out policies of apartheid, American University economist George Ayittey accused the Arab government of Sudan of practicing acts of racism against black citizens. The Arabs monopolized power and excluded blacks – Arab apartheid, many African commentators joined Ayittey in accusing Sudan of practising Arab apartheid
7.
Asian Americans
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Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The term refers to a group that includes diverse populations who have ancestral origins in East Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia. This includes people who indicate their race on the census as Asian or reported entries such as Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Other Asian. Asian Americans with no other ancestry comprise 4. 8% of the U. S. population, although migrants from Asia have been in parts of the contemporary United States since the 17th century, large-scale immigration did not begin until the mid-18th century. Nativist immigration laws during the 1880s-1920s excluded various Asian groups, eventually prohibiting almost all Asian immigration to the continental United States, after immigration laws were reformed during the 1940s-60s, abolishing national origins quotas, Asian immigration increased rapidly. Analyses of the 2010 census have shown that Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial or ethnic minority in the United States, starting in the first few years of the 2000 decade, Asian American earnings began exceeding all other racial groups for both men and women. For example, in 2008 Asian Americans had the highest median household income overall of any racial demographic, in 2012, Asian Americans had the highest educational attainment level and median household income of any racial demographic in the country. In 2015, Asian American men were the highest earning racial group as they earned 117% as much as white American men, once country of birth and other demographic factors are taken into account, Asian Americans are no more likely than non-Hispanic whites to live in poverty. As with other racial and ethnicity based terms, formal and common usage have changed markedly through the history of this term. Prior to the late 1960s, people of Asian ancestry were referred to as Oriental, Asiatic. Today, Asian American is the term for most formal purposes, such as government and academic research. The most commonly used definition of Asian American is the US Census Bureau definition, which all people with origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia. This is chiefly because the census definitions determine many government classifications, notably for equal opportunity programs, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, Asian person in the United States is sometimes thought of as a person of East Asian descent. In vernacular usage, Asian is often used to refer to those of East Asian descent or anyone else of Asian descent with epicanthic eyefolds. This differs from the U. S. Census definition and the Asian American Studies departments in many universities consider all those of East, before 1980, Census forms listed particular Asian ancestries as separate groups, along with white and black or negro. Asian Americans had also been classified as other, in 1977, the federal Office of Management and Budget issued a directive requiring government agencies to maintain statistics on racial groups, including on Asian or Pacific Islander. The 1980 census marked the first classification of Asians as a large group, by the 1990 census, Asian or Pacific Islander was included as an explicit category, although respondents had to select one particular ancestry as a subcategory. The 2000 census onwards separated the category into two separate ones, Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, the definition of Asian American has variations that derive from the use of the word American in different contexts
8.
Hispanic
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The term Hispanic broadly refers to the people, nations, and cultures that have a historical link to Spain. It commonly applies to countries once colonized by the Spanish Empire in the Americas and Asia, particularly the countries of Latin America and the Philippines. It could be argued that the term should apply to all Spanish-speaking cultures or countries and it is difficult to label a nation or culture with one term, such as Hispanic, as the ethnicities, customs, traditions, and art forms vary greatly by country and region. The Spanish language and Spanish culture are the main traditions, the term Hispanic derives from Latin Hispanicus, the adjectival derivation of Latin Hispania and Hispanus/Hispanos, ultimately probably of Celtiberian origin. In English the word is attested from the 16th century, the words Spain, Spanish, and Spaniard are of the same etymology as Hispanus, ultimately. Hispanus was the Latin name given to a person from Hispania during Roman rule, in English, the term Hispano-Roman is sometimes used. The Hispano-Romans were composed of people from different indigenous tribes. A number of men, such as Trajan, Hadrian. Hispano-Roman is used to refer to the culture and people of Hispania, Hispanic is used to refer to modern Spain, to the Spanish language, and to the Spanish-speaking nations of the world and particularly the Americas. Spanish is used to refer to the people, nationality, culture, language, Spaniard is used to refer to the people of Spain. Hispania was the Roman name for the territory of the Iberian Peninsula. Initially, this territory was divided into two provinces, Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior, in 27 B. C, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Hispania Baetica and Hispania Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Hispania Tarraconensis. This division of Hispania explains the usage of the singular and plural forms used to refer to the peninsula and this revival of the old Roman concept in the Middle Ages appears to have originated in Provençal, and was first documented at the end of the 11th century. In the Council of Constance, the four kingdoms shared one vote, the word Lusitanian, relates to Lusitania or Portugal, also in reference to the Lusitanians, possibly one of the first Indo-European tribes to settle in Europe. From this tribes name had derived the name of the Roman province of Lusitania, the terms Spain and the Spains were not interchangeable. Spain was a territory, home to several kingdoms, with separate governments, laws, languages, religions, and customs. Spain was not an entity until much later, and when referring to the Middle Ages. The term The Spains referred specifically to a collective of juridico-political units, first the Christian kingdoms, although colloquially and literally the expression King of Spain or King of the Spains was already widespread, it did not refer to a unified nation-state
9.
Native Americans in the United States
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In the United States, Native Americans are people descended from the Pre-Columbian indigenous population of the land within the countrys modern boundaries. These peoples were composed of distinct tribes, bands, and ethnic groups. Most Native American groups had historically preserved their histories by oral traditions and artwork, at the time of first contact, the indigenous cultures were quite different from those of the proto-industrial and mostly Christian immigrants. Some of the Northeastern and Southwestern cultures in particular were matrilineal, the majority of Indigenous American tribes maintained their hunting grounds and agricultural lands for use of the entire tribe. Europeans at that time had patriarchal cultures and had developed concepts of property rights with respect to land that were extremely different. Assimilation became a consistent policy through American administrations, during the 19th century, the ideology of manifest destiny became integral to the American nationalist movement. Expansion of European-American populations to the west after the American Revolution resulted in increasing pressure on Native American lands and this resulted in the ethnic cleansing of many tribes, with the brutal, forced marches coming to be known as The Trail of Tears. As American expansion reached into the West, settler and miner migrants came into increasing conflict with the Great Basin, Great Plains and these were complex nomadic cultures based on horse culture and seasonal bison hunting. Over time, the United States forced a series of treaties and land cessions by the tribes, in 1924, Native Americans who were not already U. S. citizens were granted citizenship by Congress. Contemporary Native Americans have a relationship with the United States because they may be members of nations, tribes. The terms used to refer to Native Americans have at times been controversial, by comparison, the indigenous peoples of Canada are generally known as First Nations. It is not definitively known how or when the Native Americans first settled the Americas and these early inhabitants, called Paleoamericans, soon diversified into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes. The archaeological periods used are the classifications of archaeological periods and cultures established in Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips 1958 book Method and they divided the archaeological record in the Americas into five phases, see Archaeology of the Americas. The Clovis culture, a hunting culture, is primarily identified by use of fluted spear points. Artifacts from this culture were first excavated in 1932 near Clovis, the Clovis culture ranged over much of North America and also appeared in South America. The culture is identified by the distinctive Clovis point, a flaked flint spear-point with a notched flute, dating of Clovis materials has been by association with animal bones and by the use of carbon dating methods. Recent reexaminations of Clovis materials using improved carbon-dating methods produced results of 11,050 and 10,800 radiocarbon years B. P, other tribes have stories that recount migrations across long tracts of land and a great river, believed to be the Mississippi River. Genetic and linguistic data connect the people of this continent with ancient northeast Asians
10.
Cook Partisan Voting Index
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The Cook Political Report introduced the PVI in August 1997 to better gauge the competitiveness of each district using the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections as a baseline. The index is based on analysis by the Center for Voting, the national average for 2004 and 2008 was 51. 2% Democratic to 48. 8% Republican. For example, in Alaskas at-large congressional district, the Republican candidate won 63% and 61% of the two-party share in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, respectively. Comparing the average of two results against the average national share, this district has voted 13 percentage points more Republican than the country as a whole. Prior to its April 2009 update, the PVI formula was calculated by comparing district-level results for the past two elections to nationwide results for the most recent election. David Nir of the Swing State Project advocated a change to the new formula, the most Democratic congressional district in the country is New Yorks 15th, located in the Bronx, with a PVI of D+43. The most Republican district is Texass 13th at R+32, as for states as a whole, Wyoming and Utah are the most Republican at R+22, and Hawaii is the most Democratic at D+20. The most Democratic congressional districts to be represented by a Republican are Iowas 1st, Iowas 1st is represented by Rod Blum and New Yorks 24th is represented by John Katko. The most Republican congressional district to be represented by a Democrat is Minnesotas 7th, in total there are nine Democratic-leaning House districts represented by Republicans following the 2014 elections and eight Republican-leaning House districts represented by Democrats. This represents a total of 17 out of 435 Representatives from districts with a PVI opposite to their own party, in the Senate, the most Republican-leaning state to have a Democratic senator is West Virginia, with Democrat Joe Manchin. The most Democratic-leaning state to have a Republican senator is Maine with Republican Susan Collins, the most Democratic-leaning state to have two Republican senators is Iowa, represented by Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst. Four Republican-leaning states have governors from the Democratic Party while twelve Democratic-leaning states have governors from the Republican Party, all Republican-leaning states have a majority Republican house delegation, as well as six Democratic-leaning states and neutral Virginia. Note that the seven states with one representative must be among these. Psephology, the analysis of elections. Political party strength in U. S. states The Cook Political Report
11.
Congressional district
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A congressional district is an electoral constituency that elects a single member of a congress. Countries with congressional districts include the United States, the Philippines, a congressional district is based on population, which, in the United States, is taken using a census every ten years. There are 435 congressional districts in the United States House of Representatives, in addition to the 435 congressional districts, the five inhabited U. S. territories and the federal district of Washington, D. C. each send a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives. The Census Bureau within the United States Department of Commerce conducts a decennial census whose figures are used to determine the number of districts within each state. The 2012 elections were the first to be based on the districts which were defined based on the 2010 Census data. List of electoral districts by nation House of Representatives House of Representatives of the Philippines United States House of Representatives
12.
U.S. state
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A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders. States range in population from just under 600,000 to over 39 million, four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, State governments are allocated power by the people through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in principles, and each provides for a government. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a debate over states rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government. States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a legislature consisting of the Senate. Each state is represented in the Senate by two senators, and is guaranteed at least one Representative in the House, members of the House are elected from single-member districts. Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census, the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50, alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of states have the power to secede from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U. S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, as a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance
13.
Yeehaw Junction, Florida
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Yeehaw Junction is a census-designated place in Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 240, the area was confused with Buenaventura Lakes CDP in the 2000 census, and the correct data for the area was not recorded. Yeehaw Junction is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area, the Destiny development is planned nearby. Yeehaw Junction is located at 27°42′00″N 80°54′16″W, at the intersection of US 441/SR15, SR60 and Floridas Turnpike, the location was named after the Yeehaw station on the Florida East Coast Railway, several miles to the east on SR60 in Indian River County. Some say the name comes from the fact locals would yell Yeehaw. While others believe the name is derived from the Seminole language word meaning wolf, according to town historians and several original newspaper articles that are displayed at the Desert Inn and Restaurant, the town was originally named Jackass Junction or Jackass Crossing. This name was given to the site back in the early 1930s. In late 1968 the Deseret Test Center conducted a biological warfare experiment at Yeehaw Junction, the experiment was part of Project 112 and was labelled DTC Test 69-75. Stem rust of wheat or Puccinia graminis tritici, was known as Agent TX and was being tested to determine its effectiveness against a wheat crop in time of war, the tests were conducted over a period of one month from October 31 to December 1,1968. Live agent was sprayed by a U. S, the stated objective of Deseret Test Center Test 69-75 was to investigate the effectiveness of the F-4/A/B and 45Y-2/TX weapon systems to reduce soviet wheat crop yields in selected geographic areas. Eglin Air Force Base, Avon Park Air Force Range Panama City, Belle Glade, in 2010 Yeehaw Junction had a population of 240. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 89. 2% non-Hispanic white,1. 3% Native American,0. 4% Asian,2. 9% reporting two or more races and 6. 3% Hispanic or Latino. The Yeehaw Junction exit on the Florida Turnpike still exists but there is no longer a place to buy tickets and it was known as a major stopping point for tourists to purchase conditional discount tickets for various tourist attractions in the Orlando area. The Turnpike exit links with State Road 60, an important traffic route going from Vero Beach on the Atlantic to Tampa and St. Petersburg on the Gulf Coast. The Turnpike exit is the end of the longest stretch of limited-access highway without an exit in the United States. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document Project 112 Fact Sheets
14.
Kissimmee, Florida
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Kissimmee is a city in Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 59,682 and it is the county seat of Osceola County. Kissimmee is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, the area was originally named Allendale, after Confederate Major J. H. Allen who operated the first cargo steamboat along the Kissimmee River – the Mary Belle. It was renamed Kissimmee when incorporated as a city in 1883, the etymology of the name Kissimmee is debated, apart from general agreement that it is Native American in origin. Its growth can be credited to Hamilton Disston of Philadelphia, who based his four-million acre drainage operation out of the small town, Disston had contracted with the financially wobbly state of Florida to drain its southern lands, for which he would own half of all he successfully drained. This deal made Disston the largest single landowner in the United States, disstons dredging and land speculation required a small steamboat industry to transport people and goods along the new waterway. The Kissimmee shipyard was responsible for building most of large steamships. Concurrently, the South Florida Railroad was growing and extended the end of its line from Sanford down to Kissimmee, on February 12,1885, the Florida Legislature incorporated the Kissimmee City Street Railway. But the heyday of Kissimmee was short-lived, expanding railroads began to challenge the steamships for carrying freight and passengers. By 1884, the South Florida Railroad, now part of the Plant System, had extended its tracks to Tampa, the Panic of 1893 was the worst depression the U. S. had experienced up to that time, crushing land speculation and unsound debt. Hamilton Disston closed his Kissimmee land operation, consecutive freezes in 1894 and 1895 wiped out the citrus industry. The freezes, combined with South Floridas growth and the relocation of operations to Lake Okeechobee. Kissimmee had a population of 4,310 in 1950, at that point there was some citrus packing as well as the ranching. Ranching remained an important part of the economy until the opening of nearby Walt Disney World in 1971. After that, tourism and development supplanted cattle ranching to a large measure, however, even though the Disney facility took over much of the open range cattle lands, cattle ranches still operate nearby, particularly in the southern part of Osceola County. Kissimmee Utility Authority restored power to 54 percent of the residents in the first 72 hours,85 percent were restored within one week, service was restored to all customers on August 28. Three weeks after Hurricane Charley, the area was struck by Hurricane Frances, Kissimmee is located at 28°18′14″N 81°24′46″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 17.32 square miles
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St. Cloud, Florida
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St. Cloud is a city in northern Osceola County, Florida, United States. It is located on the shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga in Central Florida. The city population was 35,183 in the 2010 census, the city is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford metropolitan area. St. Cloud was founded as a retirement community for Civil War union veterans, during the 1870s, Hamilton Disston of Philadelphia took an interest in developing the region while on fishing trips with Henry Shelton Sanford, founder of the city of Sanford. Disston contracted with the Florida Internal Improvement Fund, then in receivership, to pay $1 million to offset its Civil War, in exchange, Disston would be awarded half the land he drained from the states swamps. Diston opened the Sugar Belt Railway to the South Florida Railroad in 1888 to carry his product to market, but the Panic of 1893 dropped land values, and the Great Freeze of 1894-1895 ruined the plantation. Disston returned to Philadelphia, where he died in 1896, the Sugar Belt Railway merged into the South Florida Railroad. An attempt to cultivate rice in the failed, and for several years the land remained fallow. Then in 1909,35,000 acres were acquired by the Seminole Land & Investment Company as the site for a Grand Army of the Republic veterans colony, St. Cloud was selected because of its health, climate and productiveness of soil. It was first permanently settled in 1909 by William G. King, on April 16,1909, the Kissimmee Valley Gazette announced the “New Town of St. Cloud”, a “Soldiers Colony” to be near Kissimmee. The newspaper called the purchase by the Seminole Land and Investment Company “one of the most important real estate deals ever made in the State of Florida. It is believed many of the streets were named for states from which the Civil War veterans had served. On June 1,1915, the Florida Legislature incorporated St. Cloud as a city and its downtown features landmark buildings by the Orlando architectural firm of Ryan & Roberts, a partnership consisting of two women. The buildings by Ryan and Roberts and others in the area are predominantly Spanish Revival. On March 6,2006, St. Cloud introduced CyberSpot, the city then ended Cyberspot, quoting its too costly. The city is served by the Osceola Library System, St. Cloud is located at 28°14′48″N 81°17′15″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 9.2 square miles. St. Cloud is located on the shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga
16.
Hillsborough County, Florida
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Hillsborough County is a county in the U. S. state of Florida. In the 2010 census, the population was 1,229,226 and its county seat and largest city is Tampa. Hillsborough County is part of the Tampa–St, Hillsborough County was created on January 25,1834, from Alachua and Monroe counties, during the U. S. territorial period. The new county was named for Wills Hill, the Earl of Hillsborough, the countys 1834 area was much larger and included eight other present-day counties, Charlotte County, DeSoto, Hardee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota. The last significant change in Hillsborough Countys borders was the separation of its section to create Pinellas County. On New Years Day in 1914, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line initiated the first scheduled airline service in the world. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,266 square miles. There is approximately 158.27 miles of shoreline on Tampa Bay, the countys unincorporated area is approximately 888 square miles, more than 84 percent of the total land area. Municipalities account for 163 square miles, the modern boundaries of the county place it midway along the west coast of Florida. A narrow portion of Hillsborough County to the south, consisting almost exclusively of water and this has the effect of keeping Hillsborough County from being technically landlocked. The central portion of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is in Hillsborough County, so is Egmont Key, at the entrance to Tampa Bay, this narrow strip of land separates Pinellas County from Manatee County. The northernmost tip of an island just west of Port Manatee also lies in Hillsborough County. Hillsborough is home to Alafia River State Park and Hillsborough River state parks, and to the C. W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir and Lithia Springs, the largest natural spring in Florida. 27. 12% of all households were made up of individuals and 7. 96% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.11. The age distribution was as follows,23. 9% were under the age of 18,10. 5% from 18 to 24,28. 3% from 25 to 44,25. 4% from 45 to 64, the median age was 36.1 years. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males. The median income for a household in the county was $49,536, males had a median income of $43,125 versus $35,184 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,062, about 10. 7% of families and 14. 2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19. 9% of those under age 18 and 9. 6% of those aged 65 or over
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Pinellas County, Florida
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Pinellas County is a county located in the state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 916,542 and its county seat is Clearwater, and its largest city is St. Petersburg. Pinellas County is included in the Tampa–St, the modern site is protected and can be visited as part of the Countys Philippe Park. During the early 16th century Spanish explorers discovered and slowly began exploring Florida, in 1528 Panfilo de Narvaez landed in Pinellas, and 10 years later Hernando de Soto is thought to have explored the Tampa Bay Area. By the early 18th century the Tocobaga had been annihilated, having fallen victim to European diseases from which they had no immunity. Later Spanish explorers named the area Punta Piñal, after trading hands multiple times between the British and the Spanish, Spain finally ceded Florida to the United States in 1821, and in 1823 the U. S. Army established Fort Brooke. In 1834 much of west central Florida, including the Pinellas peninsula, was organized as Hillsborough County, the very next year Odet Philippe became the first permanent, non-native resident of the peninsula when he established a homestead near the site of the Tocobaga village in Safety Harbor. It was Philippe who first introduced both citrus culture and cigar-making to Florida, the new fort was located on a bluff overlooking Clear Water Harbor, which later became part of an early 20th-century residential development called Harbor Oaks. University of South Florida archaeologists excavated the site in 1977 after Alfred C, wyllie discovered an underground ammunition bunker while digging a swimming pool on his estate. Clearwater would later become the first organized community on the peninsula as well as the site of its first post office. The Armed Occupation Act, passed in 1842, encouraged further settlement of Pinellas, like all of Florida, by offering 160 acres to anyone who would bear arms and cultivate the land. Pioneer families like the Booths, the Coachmans, the Marstons, during the American Civil War, many residents fought for the Confederate States of America. Brothers James and Daniel McMullen were members of the Confederate Cow Cavalry, driving Florida cattle to Georgia, John W. Marston served in the 9th Florida Regiment as a part of the Appomattox Campaign. Many other residents served in other capacities, otherwise the peninsula had virtually no significance during the war, and the war largely passed the area by. Tarpon Springs became West Hillsboroughs first incorporated city in 1887, Railroad owner Peter Demens named the town that grew near the railroads terminus St. Petersburg in honor of his hometown. The town would incorporate in 1892, other major towns in the county incorporated during this time were Clearwater, Dunedin, and Largo. Construction of Fort De Soto, on Mullet Key facing the mouth of Tampa Bay, was begun in 1898 during the Spanish–American War to protect Tampa Bay from potential invading forces. The fort, a subpost of Fort Dade on adjacent Egmont Key, was equipped with artillery, even into the early years of the 20th century, West Hillsborough had no paved roads, and transportation posed a major challenge
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Clearwater, Florida
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Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay, as of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 107,685. It is the county seat of Pinellas County, Clearwater is the smallest of the three principal cities in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area, most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area. Cleveland Street is one of the citys avenues and the city includes Spectrum Field. The city is separated by the Intracoastal Waterway from Clearwater Beach, Clearwater is the home of Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where bottlenose dolphins Winter and Hope live. Clearwater is the spiritual headquarters for the Church of Scientology. Present-day Clearwater was originally the home of the Tocobaga people, around 1835, the United States Army began construction of Fort Harrison, named after William Henry Harrison, as an outpost during the Seminole Wars. The fort was located on a bluff overlooking Clearwater Harbor, which became part of an early 20th-century residential development called Harbor Oaks. University of South Florida archaeologists excavated the site in 1962 after Mark Wyllie discovered an under ground ammunition bunker while planting a tree in his yard. The areas population grew after the Federal Armed Occupation Act of 1842 offered 160 acres to anyone who would bear arms, early settlers included the Stevens, Stevenson, Sever and McMullen families, who claimed and farmed large tracts of land. Prior to 1906, the area was known as Clear Water Harbor, the name Clear Water is thought to have come from a fresh water spring flowing from near where the City Hall building is located today. There were many other freshwater springs that dotted the bluff, many in the bay or harbor itself, originally part of Hillsborough County, the first road joining Clearwater and Tampa was built in 1849, which dramatically reduced the prior day-long commute between the cities. During the American Civil War, Union gunboats repeatedly raided the communitys supplies, the town began developing in the late nineteenth century, prompted by Peter Demens completion of the first passenger railroad line into the city in 1888. Clearwater was incorporated in 1891, with James E. Crane becoming the first mayor, the areas popularity as a vacation destination grew after railroad magnate Henry B. Plant built a sprawling Victorian resort hotel named Belleview Biltmore just south of Clearwater in 1897, by the early 1900s, Clearwaters population had grown to around 400, ballooning to nearly 1,000 in the winter. Clearwaters oldest existing newspaper, the Clearwater Sun, was first published on March 14,1914, Clearwater was reincorporated, this time as a city, on May 27,1915, and was designated the county seat for Pinellas County, which broke from Hillsborough County in 1912. In 1915, a bridge was built across Clearwater Harbor, joining the city with Clearwater Beach to the west, Clearwater Beach, although located on a separate barrier island, belongs to the city of Clearwater and fronts the Gulf of Mexico. A new, much higher bridge now arcs over the bay, replacing the former drawbridge, during World War II, Clearwater became a major training base for US troops destined for Europe and the Pacific
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Gulf of Mexico
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The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. The U. S. states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas border the Gulf on the north, Atlantic and Pacific coasts, or sometimes the south coast, in juxtaposition to the Great Lakes region being the north coast. One of the seven main areas is the Gulf of Mexico basin. The Gulf of Mexico formed approximately 300 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics, the Gulfs basin is roughly oval and is approximately 810 nautical miles wide and floored by sedimentary rocks and recent sediments. It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits between the U. S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba, with the narrow connection to the Atlantic, the Gulf experiences very small tidal ranges. The size of the Gulf basin is approximately 1.6 million km2, almost half of the basin is shallow continental shelf waters. The basin contains a volume of roughly 2,500 quadrillion liters, the consensus among geologists who have studied the geology of the Gulf of Mexico, is that prior to the Late Triassic, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist. It was created by the collision of plates that formed Pangea. As interpreted by Roy Van Arsdale and Randel T. Cox, geologists and other Earth scientists agree in general that the present Gulf of Mexico basin originated in Late Triassic time as the result of rifting within Pangea. The rifting was associated with zones of weakness within Pangea, including sutures where the Laurentia, South American, first, there was a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic phase of rifting during which rift valleys formed and filled with continental red beds. Second, as rifting progressed through Early and Middle Jurassic time and it was at this time that tectonics first created a connection to the Pacific Ocean across central Mexico and later eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. This flooded the basin created by rifting and crustal thinning to create the Gulf of Mexico. While the Gulf of Mexico was a basin, the subsiding transitional crust was blanketed by the widespread deposition of Louann Salt. Initially, during the Late Jurassic, continued rifting widened the Gulf of Mexico and progressed to the point that sea-floor spreading, at this point, sufficient circulation with the Atlantic Ocean was established that the deposition of Louann Salt ceased. During the Late Jurassic through Early Cretaceous, the occupied by the Gulf of Mexico experienced a period of cooling. The subsidence was the result of a combination of stretching, cooling. Initially, the combination of stretching and cooling caused about 5–7 km of tectonic subsidence of the central thin transitional
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Pasco County, Florida
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Pasco County is a county located in the U. S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 464,697 and its county seat is Dade City, and its largest city is New Port Richey. The county is named for Samuel Pasco, Pasco County is included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Tampa Bay Area and is primarily a bedroom community for Tampa. It includes numerous parks and trails including along rivers, the Gulf of Mexico, lakes, several nudist resorts are located in Pasco. West Pasco includes retirement areas, commercial fishing, and suburbs of Tampa, east Pasco is transitioning from forested and agricultural areas to suburban developments. The Suncoast Parkway and U. S.19 both pass through Pasco, Pasco County was created on June 2,1887, from the southern third of Hernando County. The same legislation also created Citrus County from the third of Hernando County. The county was named for Samuel Pasco, who had just been elected to the United States Senate, Dade City was named the temporary county seat until a popular vote was held in 1889, at which time voters made Dade City the permanent county seat. As early as 1917, residents of the part of the county proposed forming a separate county or merging with Pinellas County. The issue was resolved in the late 1970s with the construction of identical government centers in both Dade City and New Port Richey. The earliest towns were Anclote, Blanton, Dade City, Earnestville, Fort Dade, Macon, Lacoochee, Saint Leo, Citrus was an important industry when the county was formed, although a decline followed a freeze in 1895. Several large sawmills operated in the county in the part of the twentieth century. The county has experienced significant population growth since the 1960s, the growth began along the Gulf coast but is now occurring most rapidly in areas north of Tampa. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 868 square miles. The population density was 463 people per square mile, there were 173,717 housing units at an average density of 233 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 93. 70% White,2. 07% Black or African American,0. 35% Native American,0. 94% Asian,0. 03% Pacific Islander,1. 52% from other races, and 1. 38% from two or more races. 5. 69% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,27. 30% of all households were made up of individuals and 15. 90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the family size was 2.77
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New Port Richey, Florida
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New Port Richey is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, by 1914 the area around Orange Lake was being called new Port Richey and the older part of Port Richey was called old Port Richey. In 1915 a separate post office was established for the residents of the part of Port Richey. The post office was named New Port Richey, and the name became official, the first postmaster was Gerben DeVries. The growth of the city came about after George Sims purchased the Port Richey Land Company and he built a home in New Port Richey in 1916. The first Chasco Fiesta was held in 1922 to raise money for the local library, the event was revived in 1947 and has been held annually since then. It includes a street parade and a boat parade on successive Saturdays. In 1924 New Port Richey was incorporated, the first mayor was Dr. Elroy M. Avery, an educator, historian, and prolific author who came to New Port Richey from Cleveland after he retired in 1919. The first act of the city council was to accept Enchantment Park as a gift from George Sims, the park was renamed Sims Park. The main attractions of the city were the park, the Pithlachascotee River, in the mid-1920s the city hoped to become a winter home for Hollywood stars. In fact, Thomas Meighan, an actor in silent movies, built a large home on the river in 1928. He hoped to make movies in New Port Richey, gene Sarazen, one of the top golfers in the 1920s, also built a home in New Port Richey. He invented the modern sand wedge in a garage in New Port Richey, other Hollywood figures such as Ed Wynn visited New Port Richey. Songwriter Irving Berlin and bandleader Paul Whiteman made down payments on property, in 1926, a new theater named for Thomas Meighan opened, and in 1927, the Hacienda Hotel, a 55-room Spanish-style luxury hotel, was completed. Moon Lake Gardens and Dude Ranch, which featured a game preserve of 7,000 acres. The end of the 1920s Florida land boom ended the aspirations of New Port Richey to become a haven for Hollywood celebrities, most of the population of western Pasco County is in unincorporated areas. Pasco-Hernando State College began offering classes in New Port Richey in 1972, Gulf View Square shopping mall opened in 1980. In 1995, New Port Richey became sister cities with Cavalaire-sur-Mer on the French Riviera, cavalaire Square in downtown was named in honor of that relationship
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Osceola County, Florida
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Osceola County is a county located in the U. S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 268,685, Osceola County is included in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla. Osceola County is named for the Indian leader Osceola, whose name means Black Drink Cry, Osceola County was created in 1887. On July 21,1821, Florida was divided into two counties, named Escambia County to the west and St. Johns County to the east, in 1824, the southern part of St. Johns County became Mosquito County, with Enterprise as the county seat. In 1844, Brevard County was carved out from Mosquito County, when Florida became a state in 1845, Mosquito County was renamed Orange County. On May 12,1887, Osceola was named a county, Osceola County reached all the way down to Lake Okeechobee until 1917 when Okeechobee County was formed. S. Census Puerto Rican was the largest self-reported ancestry group, Osceola County is a charter county, and a subdivision within the State of Florida. Voters approved the County Charter in March 1992, and it took effect on October 1,1992, the structure of County government under the charter does not depart dramatically from the structure of a County government outlined in the Florida Statutes. Osceola County Government is governed by three sets of elected officials, each of which independently directs separate branches of County Government and these include, the five-member County Commission, five separate Constitutional Officers, and a number of Judicial Officers. Each independent officer has discretion to administer his or her own programs, the County Commission exercises oversight only over its own departments. Osceola County has five districts each represented by a commissioner. All the commissioners compose the Board of Commissioners that appoint a County Manager, there also is a Commission Auditor and County Attorney. Board of County Commissioners District 1 - Peggy Choudhry District 2 - Viviana Janer District 3 - Brandon Arrington District 4 - Cheryl Grieb District 5 - Fred Hawkins, Jr. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,506 square miles. The population density was 203 people per square mile, there were 128,170 housing units at an average density of 60 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 38. 2% Non-Hispanic White,13. 0% Non-Hispanic Black or African American,0. 7% Native American,3. 0% Asian,0. 2% Pacific Islander, and 2. 5% from two or more races. 47. 8% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race, majority of which are Puerto Ricans,36. 72% of the county population is affiliated with a religious congregation. There are 206 religious congregations in the county,19. 10% of all households were made up of individuals and 7. 00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older
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Orange County, Florida
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Orange County is a county in the state of Florida, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,145,956, Orange County is the central county Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The land that is Orange County was part of the first land to emerge from below the Early Oligocene sea 33. 9–28.4 million years ago and is known as Orange Island. In 1821, two counties formed Florida, Escambia to the west and St. Johns to the east, in 1824, the area to the south of St. Johns County became Mosquito County, and Enterprise was named the county seat. This massive county took up much of central Florida, Mosquito County was renamed Orange County in 1845 when Florida became a state. Several counties, such as Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Orange County was renamed from Mosquito County for the fruit that constituted the countys main product. At its peak in the early 1970s, some 80,000 acres were planted in citrus in Orange County, there was the dark green foliage of orange trees and the scent of the orange blossoms when in bloom. Fewer commercial orange groves remained by the end of the twentieth century, the majority of groves were destroyed by the freezing temperatures experienced in successive winters of 1985-1986, in particular by the January 1985 cold wave, the worst since 1899. The financial setbacks, not the first in the regions history, were too challenging for many growers. Economically destroyed, many walked away from the land and its obligations, one of the regions major land owners and growers was the Tropicana company. They, however, also rather than try to come back from these seemingly endless generational decimation. However, several packing facilities and wholesalers are still in Orange County, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,003 square miles, of which 903 square miles is land and 100 square miles is water. S. 24. 85% of all households were made up of individuals and 6. 08% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.19. In the county, the population was out with 23. 6% under the age of 18,12. 8% from 18 to 24,29. 8% from 25 to 44,24. 1% from 45 to 64. The median age was 33.7 years, for every 100 females there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 males, the median income for a household in the county was $50,138, and the median income for a family was $57,473. Males had an income of $40,619 versus $31,919 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,490, about 10. 0% of families and 13. 4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17. 2% of those under age 18 and 9. 4% of those aged 65 or over
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Polk County, Florida
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Polk County is located in the State of Florida. The county population was 602,095, as of the 2010 census and its county seat is Bartow, and its largest city is Lakeland. Polk County comprises the Lakeland-Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area and this MSA is the 87th most populous metropolitan statistical area and the 89th most populous primary statistical area of the United States as of July 1,2012. The center of population of Florida is located in Polk County, Polk County is home to one public university, one state college, and four private universities. One Fortune 500 company – Publix Super Markets — has headquarters in the county, the first people to call Polk County home arrived close to 12,000 years ago during the last ice age as the first paleo-indians following big game southward arrived on the peninsula of Florida. These Indians thrived on the peninsula and it is estimated there were over 250,000 in 1492 when Columbus set sail for the New World. As was common elsewhere, contact with Europeans had an effect on the Indians. Smallpox, measles, and other diseases, to which the Indians had no immunity, caused widespread epidemic and those who had not succumbed to diseases such as these were often either killed or enslaved as Spanish explorers and settlers arrived. Within a few hundred years, nearly the entire population of Polk County had been wiped out. The remnants of these Indians joined with refugee Creek Indians from Georgia, for around 250 years after Ponce De Leon arrived on the peninsula, the Spanish ruled Florida. In the late 17th century, Florida went through a period in which the French. After the American Revolution, the peninsula reverted to Spanish rule. In 1819, Florida became a U. S. territory as a result of the Adams-Onis Treaty, while Florida gained statehood in 1845, it was not until 1861 that Polk County was created from the eastern half of Hillsborough County. It was named in honor of former United States President James K. Polk, following the Civil War, the county commission established the county seat on 120 acres donated in the central part of the county. Bartow, the county seat, was named after Francis S. Bartow, Colonel Bartow was buried in Savannah, Georgia with military honors, and promoted posthumously to the rank of Brigadier General. The original name of the town was Fort Blount, several other towns and counties in the South changed their name to Bartow. The first courthouse built in Bartow was constructed in 1867 and it was replaced twice, in 1884 and in 1908. As the third courthouse to stand on the site, the present structure houses the Polk County Historical Museum, growth in Polk County is driven by proximity to both the Tampa and Orlando metropolitan areas along the Interstate 4 corridor
Don Fuqua
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