State & Local, Historical, United States 

"Finally, a spending issue Democrats and Republicans can agree upon:  Atlas of Florida is a great buy!"--Lawton Chiles, Governor of the State of Florida "The new Atlas of Florida skillfully chronicles Florida's emergence as a megastate.  It is an invaluable resource for educators and business people who need the latest facts and figures about Florida's population, environment, economy, and political makeup.  But, like the state itself, this book is not all business. . . . Turn to any page and you're bound to learn something new."--Jim Smith, Secretary of the State of Florida "An invaluable reference volume. It is rich in information that should fill the needs of anyone looking for material on the state."--Florida Living The new Atlas of Florida, revised for the first time in ten years, is seasoned with the people of Florida, flavored with the patterns of their activities, and served in a full-color, oversized volume.  A handsome book for reference or reading, Atlas of Florida offers a complete overview of Florida life and history in visual form.  The all new Atlas of Florida gives you *FACTS The first Christmas in the present-day United States was celebrated in Tallahassee in 1539 by Hernando de Soto and his men. More money is spent per capita for lotto tickets in Florida counties with high per capita income than in counties with low per capita income (excluding border counties). Jacksonville's St. Johns River City Band is one of only two professional brass bands in the United States. *FIGURES 38.7 inches of rain fell in 24 hours in Yankeetown, Florida, on September 5, 1950. 100% of all limes produced in the United States are grown in Florida. In constant dollars, five times as much money is spent per student (K-12) today than in the 1950s, but teachers' salaries (also in constant dollars) were lower in 1990 than in 1969. *FESTIVALS Attend the international kite-flying festival in Sarasota in January, the swamp buggy races in Naples in February, the rattlesnake festival in San Antonio (near Tampa) in October, the Blue Angels Air Show  in Pensacola in November. *PHOTOGRAPHS The new Atlas contains more than 100 color photographs and 71 black and white photographs. *THE FEELING OF THE STATE 8% of all vascular plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, bird, and mammal species found in Florida exist nowhere else in the world. Florida has the second-longest coastline of any state.  (Alaska's is longer.) Until the mid-1920s, Tampa was the world's leading producer of cigars. Rollins College in Winter Park has a male and a female water skiing team. The Metro-Dade Art in Public Places program has attracted such  renowned contemporary artists to the state as Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen, Karel Appel, Romare Bearden, Robert Rauschenberg, and Alexander Calder. Contents, including special or new features Introduction Natural Environment Maps, color photographs, and descriptions of ecosystems and landforms; wildlife habitat types mapped from Landsat imagery; new section on weather and climate History and Culture Cigar manufacturing, sponge fishing, first map showing expansion of agriculture in south Florida; compendium of art museums, public art, dance, music, theater, film, folk art, religion, and language; new sections on Indians, exploration, and missions Population 1990 census data analyzed and displayed; details of growth in southeast Florida; place of origin of immigrants and in-migrants Economics Growth of regional malls; growth of high-tech industry; foreign ownership of land; updated cost-of-living figures by county Recreation and Tourism Major commercial and public attractions listed by region; economics of tourism; lists of men's and women's college sports and all professional sport teams and their locations, baseball spring training sites Infrastructure and Planning Roads and commuter information; energy; waste management; comprehensive planning and land acquisition programs Origin of Place Names In some Seminole tongues, Miami means great water, Pensacola means the place where the bearded people lived, Alachua means sinkhole; Chassahowitzka means place of the hanging pumpkins Statistics Index Edward A. Fernald, State Geographer of Florida, is associate vice president for academic affairs, director of the Institute of Science and Public Affairs, and professor of geography at the Florida State University. Elizabeth Purdum is a research associate at the ISPA and adjunct assistant professor of anthropology at FSU. James R. Anderson, Jr., is director of the Florida Resources and Environmental Analysis Center and an instructor of geography at FSU.  Peter A. Krafft is director of cartography for the Florida Resources and Environmental Analysis Center and an instructor of geography at FSU.  Published in cooperation with the Institute of Science and Public Affairs, the Florida State University - from Amzon