Miami

Miami is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the second-most populous city proper in Florida, with a population of 442,241 at the 2020 census. The Miami metropolitan area in South Florida has an estimated 6.46 million residents, ranking as the third-largest metropolitan area in the Southeast and sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Miami has the third-largest skyline in the U.S. with over 300 high-rises, 70 of which exceed 491 ft (150 m). It is the county seat of Miami-Dade County.

Miami is a major center and leader in finance, commerce, culture, arts, and international trade. Miami's metropolitan area is by far the largest urban economy in Florida, with a 2017 gross domestic product of $344.9 billion. In a 2018 UBS study of 77 world cities, Miami was the third-richest city in the U.S. and the third-richest globally in purchasing power. Miami is a majority-minority city, with 70.2 percent of the city's population identifying as Hispanic and Latino as of 2020.

Downtown Miami has among the largest concentrations of international banks in the U.S. and is home to several large national and international companies. The Health District is home to several major University of Miami-affiliated hospital and health facilities, including Jackson Memorial Hospital, the nation's largest hospital with 1,547 beds, and the Miller School of Medicine, the University of Miami's academic medical center and teaching hospital, and others engaged in health-related care and research. PortMiami, the city's seaport, is the busiest cruise port in the world in both passenger traffic and cruise lines.

The Miami metropolitan area is the second-most visited city or metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. after New York City, with over four million visitors in 2022. Due to its strong commercial and cultural ties to Latin America and majority-Hispanic population (at 70%), Miami has been called the "Gateway to Latin America" or even the "Capital of Latin America."

Miami was named after the Miami River, derived from Mayaimi, the historic name of Lake Okeechobee and the Native Americans who lived around it. Miami is sometimes colloquially referred to as The 305, Magic City, Gateway to the Americas, Gateway to Latin America, Capital of Latin America, and Vice City.

The Tequesta tribe occupied the Miami area for around 2,000 years before contact with Europeans. A village of hundreds of people, dating to 500–600 BCE, was located at the mouth of the Miami River. It is believed that the entire tribe migrated to Cuba by the mid-1700s. In 1566, admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Florida's first governor, claimed the area for Spain. A Spanish mission was constructed one year later. Florida was ruled by Spain for centuries—aside from a brief British interlude (1763–1783) that ended with Britain losing the territory back to Spain—until Spain ceded it to the United States in 1821, in exchange for U.S. recognition of Spanish sovereignty in Texas and the resolution of the border dispute along the Sabine River. In 1836, the U.S. built Fort Dallas on the banks of the Miami River as part of their development of the Florida Territory and their attempt to suppress and remove the Seminoles. As a result, the Miami area became a site of fighting in the Second Seminole War.

Miami is noted as the only major city in the United States founded by a woman. Julia Tuttle, a local citrus grower and a wealthy Cleveland native, was the original owner of the land upon which Miami was built. In the late 19th century, the area was known as "Biscayne Bay Country", and reports described it as a promising wilderness and "one of the finest building sites in Florida". The Great Freeze of 1894–1895 hastened Miami's growth, as the crops there were the only ones in Florida that survived. Julia Tuttle subsequently convinced railroad tycoon Henry Flagler to extend his Florida East Coast Railway to the region, for which she became known as "the mother of Miami". Miami was officially incorporated as a city on July 28, 1896, with a population of just over 300.

During the early 20th century, migrants from the Bahamas and African-Americans constituted 40 percent of the city's population. When landlords began to rent homes to African-Americans around Avenue J, what would later become NW Fifth Avenue, a gang of white men with torches marched through the neighborhood and warned the residents to move or be bombed. Miami’s economy was heavily based on seasonal tourism and construction work, which created a volatile job market of low-wage, temporary employment and contributed to pronounced income inequality even as the city promoted itself as a booming leisure destination.”Bennett, Evan P. (2024) “Working in the Magic City: Moral Economy in Early Twentieth-Century Miami,” Labour / Le Travail, 21(1): 123-152.