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Hotels in Miami
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Miami
Miami is a major city located in the southeast corner of the U.S. state
of Florida. Miami and the surrounding metropolitan area sits between the
Miami River, Biscayne Bay, the Everglades and the Atlantic Ocean. It is
the second largest city in Florida and the county seat (and largest
city) of Miami-Dade County. It is also the largest city in the South
Florida metropolitan area, which is comprised of Miami-Dade County,
Broward County, and Palm Beach County making up the largest metropolitan
area in the Southeastern United States.
Miami was officially incorporated as a city on July 28, 1896 with a
population of just over 300. In 1940, 172,172 people lived in Miami,
Florida. According to the 2000 census the city of Miami had a population
of 362,470 while the larger metropolitan area had a population over 5
million. The U.S. Census Bureau estimate of the population of Miami in
2004 was 379,724.
Miami's explosive population growth in recent years has been driven by
internal migration from other parts of the country as well as by
immigration. Greater Miami is regarded as a cultural melting pot,
heavily influenced both by its very large population of ethnic Latin
Americans and Caribbean islanders (many of them Spanish- or Haitian
Creole-speaking).
The region's importance as an international financial and cultural
center has elevated Miami to the status of world city; because of its
cultural and linguistic ties to North, South, Central America, and the
Caribbean it is sometimes called "The Gateway of the Americas." Miami,
along with Atlanta, ranks as one of the most important business centers
in the Southeastern United States.
Two vessels of the U.S. Navy have been named USS Miami in honor of the
city.
Geography
The City of Miami and its suburbs are located on a broad plain between
the Florida Everglades and Biscayne Bay that also extends from Florida
Bay north to Lake Okeechobee. The elevation of the area never rises
above 15ft (4.5m) and averages at around 3ft (0.91m) above sea level in
most neighborhoods especially near the coast. The main portion of the
city lies on the shores of Biscayne Bay which contains several hundred
natural and artificially created barrier islands, the largest of which
contains the city of Miami Beach and its famous South Beach district.
The Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current, runs northward just 15 miles
(24.1km) off the coast, allowing the city's climate to stay warm and
mild all year.
The surface bedrock under the Miami area is called Miami oolite or Miami
limestone. This bedrock is covered by a thin layer of soil, and is no
more than 15 m (50 feet) thick. Miami limestone formed as the result of
the drastic changes in sea level associated with recent glaciations or
ice ages. Beginning some 130,000 years ago the Sangamon interglacial
raised sea levels to approximately 25 feet (7.5 m.) above the current
level. All of southern Florida was covered by a shallow sea. Several
parallel lines of reef formed along the edge of the submerged Florida
plateau, stretching from the present Miami area to what is now the Dry
Tortugas. The area behind this reef line was in effect a large lagoon,
and the Miami limestone formed thoughout the area from the deposition of
oolites and the shells of bryozoans. Starting about 100,000 years ago
the Wisconsin glaciation began lowering sea levels, exposing the floor
of the lagoon. By 15,000 years ago the sea level had dropped to 300 to
350 feet below the contemporary level. The sea level rose quickly after
that, stabilizing at the current level about 4000 years ago, leaving the
mainland of South Florida just above sea level.
Beneath the plain lies the Biscayne Aquifer [2], a natural underground
river that extends from southern Palm Beach County to Florida Bay, with
its highest point peaking around the cities of Miami Springs and
Hialeah. Most of the South Florida metropolitan area obtains its
drinking water from this aquifer. As a result of the aquifer, it is not
possible to dig more than 15 to 20ft (4.57 to 6.1m) beneath the city
without hitting water, impeding underground construction.
Most of the western fringes of the city extend into the Everglades, a
subtropical marshland located in the southern portion of the U.S. state
of Florida. This causes occasional problems with local wildlife such as
Alligators and Crocodiles venturing onto suburban communities and major
highways.
In terms of land area, the city of Miami is one of the smallest major
cities in the United States. According to the US Census Bureau, the city
encompasses a total area of 55.27 mi² (143.15 sq. km). Of that area,
35.67 sq. miles (92.68 sq. km) are land and 19.59 sq. miles (50.73 sq.
km) are water. Miami is slightly smaller in land area than San Francisco
and Boston.
Climate
The City of Miami, as well as the rest of Southern Florida has a warm,
humid subtropical climate year round, with occasional cold fronts during
the winter. The area does not experience temperate seasons and the year
is instead divided into a wet and dry season which alternates every six
months with the dry season taking place during the winter months and the
wet season coinciding with the summer's hurricane season.
The area owes its warm, humid climate to the Gulf Stream, which
moderates climate year-round. A typical summer day does not see
temperatures below 70ºF (21º C). As the morning progresses, humidity
builds as water evaporates culminating in near-daily afternoon showers
settling into a humid evening and cool night. During winter, humidity is
significantly lower allowing for cooler conditions to prosper.
Temperatures are generally moderated by cold fronts which dip down from
the northern states; average temperatures are around 60ºF (15ºC) and
lower depending on whether there is a cold front and rarely dip below
40ºF (4ºC). During the dry season, the Gulf Stream keeps the cold fronts
from adversly affecting Miami as they do in more northern areas of the
state of Florida.
Officially, Miami's warmest recorded temperature was 103ºF (39.4ºC) on
July 17, 2004, though summer humidity often places the heat index in the
110s (43 to 48ºC). The coldest recorded temperature in the city of Miami
was 27 °F (-2.8 °C) on February 3, 1917, though the coldest temperature
ever recorded in the metropolitan area was 20 °F (-6.6 °C) near
Homestead, Florida, on January 19, 1977. That same day, Miami
experienced its first and only recorded snowfall since weather records
began in the 1830s. [3]
The South Florida metropolitan area, which includes the cities of Miami,
Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, is the second largest metropolitan
area in the world after Tokyo that receives regular cyclonic activity.
Hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through November 30 but has
been known to start and end outside of these dates. The most likely time
for Miami to be hit is during the peak of the Cape Verde season which is
late August through the end of September [4]. Due to its location
between two major bodies of water known for tropical activity, Miami is
also statiscally the most likely major city to be struck by a hurricane
in the world, trailed closely by Nassau, Bahamas, and Havana, Cuba.
Despite this, the city has been fortunate in not having a direct hit by
a hurricane since 1950's Hurricane King, although many other hurricanes
have affected the city, including Hurricane Cleo in 1964, Betsy in 1965,
Andrew in 1992, Irene in 1999, and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005.
In addition, a tropical depression in October of 2000 passed over the
city creating record rainfall and flooding. Locally, the storm is
credited as the No Name Storm of 2000, though the depression went on to
become Tropical Storm Leslie upon entering the Atlantic Ocean.
Wikipedia.org
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