Sarasota, Florida

Sarasota (/ˌsærəˈsoʊtə/) is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida on Sarasota Bay, a lagoon on the Gulf Coast. The population was 54,842 at the 2020 census. The two-county Sarasota metropolitan area has an estimated 935,000 residents, making it the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Florida and 61st-largest in the United States.

The Sarasota area was settled by Spanish explorers in the 16th century and officially established as a town in the late 19th century. Sarasota's development accelerated in the early 20th century, particularly with the influence of the Ringling family as the home of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Today, the city's economy is based on tourism, healthcare, education, and real estate. Its cultural attractions include the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota Opera, and numerous galleries and theaters. Sarasota city limits contain several barrier islands between Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, including Lido Key, St. Armands Key, Bird Key, and the northern portion of Siesta Key. Its coastline, including nearby Siesta Beach, draws visitors year-round.

The origin of the name is disputed and has fostered a number of theories. Two theories involve Hernando de Soto's visit to the area in 1539. One holds that he named it after his daughter, Sara; however, he had no children. George F. Chapline created this story in 1906, including an ill-fated romance between Sara and a Seminole prince. Another holds that it was named "Zara Soto", Arabic for the "Radiance of Soto". Other theories take into account the substantial beaches and indigenous mounds, with early Spanish explorers being reminded of the Sahara, combined with "zota", the indigenous word for "blue waters". Others claim that it comes from "sara-de-cota," meaning "an area of land easily observed" in the language of the Calusa indigenous tribe.

The area known today as Sarasota appeared on a sheepskin Spanish map from 1763 with the word Zarazote over present-day Sarasota and Bradenton. In 1776, a British map by Bernard Romans lists a "Boca Sarasota" in the local area. Maps in the 1700s showed the area as "Sarazota" or "Porte Sarasote". A fishing camp and trading post on Longboat Key was also called "Saraxota". The name Sarasota appears on the first maps of the state of Florida in 1839, after having passed into the ownership of the United States.

People from Sarasota are generally known as "Sarasotans".

Around 1883 to 1885, The Florida Mortgage and Investment Company of Edinburgh bought 60,000 acres for development in what is now Sarasota. Many Scottish people began to arrive in Sarasota in December 1885. The municipal government of Sarasota was established when it was incorporated as a town on October 14, 1902. John Hamilton Gillespie was the first Mayor of the town government. When reincorporated with a city form of government on May 13, 1913, A. B. Edwards became the first mayor of the city government. The city limits expanded significantly with the real estate rush of the early twentieth century, reaching almost 70 square miles (180 km²). The speculation boom began to crash in 1926 and the city limits began to contract, shrinking to less than a quarter of that area.

Sarasota has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa) with hot, humid summers and cooler, milder winters. The high temperatures and high humidity in the summer regularly push the heat index over 100 °F (38 °C). There are distinct rainy and dry seasons, with the rainy season lasting from March to November and the dry season from December to February. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.08 square miles (62.4 km²), of which 14.70 sq mi (38.07 km²) is land and 9.39 sq mi (24.3 km²) is water.

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is the name given to the many natural deep water sections as well as humanmade channels, canals, and cuts that link the entire Sarasota Bay system.