FLORIDA (Sp. °flowery,'" a name given to the country by Juan Ponce de Leon because he discovered it on Easter Day, Sp. Pascua florida or de fibres, •flowery Easter,° or, ac cording to some authorities, on account of the exuberance of flowers which he saw), the southeasternmost State of the North Ameri can Union, sometimes called °the Everglade State," and also °the Peninsular State.° Boundaries, Area, It is situated be tween lat. 24° 30' and N. and long. 79° 48' and 87° 38' W. Alabama and Georgia bound it on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the east. On the south Florida Strait, which connects the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic, separates the peninsula from Cuba and the Bahamas. West of the peninsula and south of the western ex tension of the State is the Gulf of Mexico. The extreme western boundary is the Perdido River which separates it from Alabama.
Florida is mainly a peninsula of irregularly rectangular form. The northern part is con tinental, and extends about 400 miles from east to west. From north to south the peninsula extension is about 375 miles in length, and nearly 100 miles in width, the total length of the State north and south being about 450 miles. From Biscayne Bay, near its southeastern ex tremity, stretches a series of islets or keys, the most important being Key West, situated at the lower end of the chain. Its area is 58,666 square miles, 3,805 being lakes, lagoons and rivers. Its coastline, excluding islands is 1,145 miles, 470 miles of it facing the Atlantic Ocean.
Geology.— The oldest formation recognized in Florida is the Vicksburg limestone of the Oligocene period. It is composed of the shells of foraminifera and also of larger shells and is in most places of a thickness of several hun dred feet. Over this Vicksburg limestone especially in the northwestern part of the State are the so-called Alum Bluff and Chattahoochee formations lying at or near the surface. On the Hillsborough and Manatee rivers these forma tions are visible. The Miocene formations in the State consist of the Jacksonville limestone and Choctawhatchee shell marls. They lie at or near the surface along the Apalachicola River and from Jacksonville south. Marine shell marls, hard rock and pebble phosphate deposits of the Pliocene period are frequent in the southern part of the State and are exposed on the Caloo sahatchee. Coral formations abound along the Keys. Under the Everglades lie the Miami oolite limestone, and oolite deposits are also frequent in the southern Keys. More recent formations are shell mounds, sand dunes, In dian mounds, etc. From the above it is seen
that the only foundation rock throughout the State is limestone, topped by other limestone, shell marls, sands, days, etc. For many years it was thought that the State was made up ex clusively of alluvial deposits, then a theory of coral formation was broached about 1850 only to give way 30 years later to the demon strations of Eugene A. Smith and others, who showed conclusively the exact geological age and construction of the several underlying strata. Since 1907 the official survey under the State geologist, E. H. Sellard, has solved many of Florida's geological problems.
Topography.— The physical features of the State are decidedly dissimilar to those of the other Southern States. The geological upheaval resulting in its formation left neither table-land nor mountain from which to view ocean and gulf, the most elevated portion of the State barely reaching the dignity of a hill country. The northwestern part, continuing the Ala bama uplands, is a hilly rolling country sinking to a flat strip of coast. The east is part of the Atlantic coastal plain. The peninsula is a surface of sand and marsh. A ridge running north and south forms a divide and separates the streams to the east and west. Its greatest elevation is almost 300 feet. From the central ridge low sand-terraces decline each way to the sea, with countless swamps and lakes at their bases. On the higher levels the terraces are covered with a magnificent growth of large pine trees; on the lower levels are prairies and marshes timbered with cypress-trees, and in which are "hammocks," which are dry eleva tions covered with a great variety of hardwood and cabbage-palms. The basins of the draining streams are mostly marshy jungles of cane brake and vines and semi-tropical trees. In the southernmost portion are the remarkable Ever glades, forming a district 160 by 60 miles in extent, estimated at 5,000 square miles, both land and water, and overflowed marsh hidden by tall grass, and thickly dotted with dry "ham mocks," covered by a jungle of vines and shrubs, pine and palmetto. The eastern part is a maze of these islands and small shallow bayous. The Everglades are separated from the gulf by extensive cypress swamps; the forests extend down the west coast, narrowing ont around the cape, and stretch up along the Atlantic coast. The Everglades are now being drained and many hundreds of acres of fertile lands are being put under cultivation there. See EIT.R GLADES.