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1. The population of Florida is 18,537,900 (2009 est).
2. The coastline is 1,197 miles, with 663 miles of beaches.
3. During the age of dinosaurs, the Florida peninsula was underwater and did not exist as a land mass. Therefore, no dinosaur remains were ever deposited in Florida.
4. The first record of Europeans in Florida was the Juan Ponce de Leon expedition in 1513.
5. Saint Augustine is the oldest European settlement in North America.
6. Orlando attracts more visitors than any other amusement park destination in the United States. 
7. Cape Canaveral is America’s launch pad for space flights.
8. Florida is not the southernmost state - Hawaii is farther south. 
9. A museum in Sanibel owns 2 million shells and claims to be the world’s only museum devoted solely to mollusks. 
10. The Benwood, on French Reef in the Florida Keys, is known as one of the most dived shipwrecks in the world. 
11. The United States city with the highest rate of lightning strikes per capita is Clearwater. 
12. Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators where the drink was first developed. 
13. Dr. John Gorrie of Apalachicola invented mechanical refrigeration in 1851.
14. Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green invented the first suntan cream in 1944 by cooking cocoa butter in a granite coffee pot on his wife’s stove. 
15. Key West has the highest average temperature in the United States.
16. Miami installed the first bank automated teller machine especially for rollerbladers. 
17. Nearly 80 percent of the states intake of sweet Atlantic white shrimp is harvested in Amelia Island waters.
18. Fort Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America because the city has 185 miles of local waterways. 
19. Islamorada is billed as the Sports fishing Capital of the World. 
20. During the 1991 Gulf War the busiest military port in the country was Jacksonville. From this location the military moved more supplies and people than any other port in the country. 
21. Hurricane Andrew, which devastated Homestead, Florida City, and the surrounding area in 1992, was Florida’s most devastating hurricane and the costliest natural disaster in American history at that time.
22. Florida is the second largest producer of oranges in the world following Brazil.
23. More than 90 percent of all Florida oranges are squeezed into orange juice. 
24. Florida is the top travel destination in the world. The tourism industry has an economic impact of $57 billion on Florida’s economy.
25. Florida ranks low in terms of the tax burden placed on residents. Based on income, property and other state and local tax collections, the Tax Foundation research organization ranks Florida among the lowest tax states.
26. Florida has more than 1,250 golf courses, more than any other state.
27. Florida has more than 400,000 hotel rooms.
28. Florida is home to 26 billionaires who are among the richest in the world.
29. The most expensive zip code in Florida is 33109 – Fisher Island off Miami Beach with average sale price of $2.8 million.
30. Tourism is the largest industry in Floirida with over 82 million visitors in 2009.

Heather Dodok, President, Florida Condo Connections LLC