Florida Fun Facts
Information About Florida, Florida Geography, and Florida Schools

Florida’s capital is Tallahassee and the largest city is Jacksonville. Florida residents are known as “Floridians.”

Florida’s unofficial nickname is the “ Sunshine State.” Florida’s state song is “ Swanee River.” The song was written by Stephen C. Foster.

One of Florida’s state symbols is the Mockingbird. The Mockingbird’s scientific name literally means “mimic of many tongues,” because the Mockingbird is known for mimicking the calls of other birds. Florida’s state flower is the Orange Blossom and the state tree is the Palmetto Palm.

Florida is especially known for its sunny weather, which has resulted in the growth of one of Florida’s main industries, growing fruit. Florida is famous for its orange and grapefruit trees. Florida’s sunny days and warm climate also bring about another major industry, tourism.

Florida is bordered by Georgia and Alabama. Florida is a peninsula and surrounded by water except for one side. These bodies of water are the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

There were 2,242,212 K12 students in the Florida public schools in 1996. Out of those students 185,614 were first grade students. There were also 120,471 K12 public school teachers in the Florida public schools system. There were a total of 2,801 Florida public schools in 1996. (Source: IES National Center for Education Statistics)