Florida

Florida is more internationally diverse than many expect, especially in Miami, where Spanish is spoken as commonly as English in daily life, a real marker of the state’s deep Caribbean and Latin American roots. The state officially adopted “The Sunshine State” as its nickname in 1970, fitting for a place where warm weather runs almost all year and has shaped its economy and population for decades.

Beach culture is woven into daily life rather than treated as a special outing, and Orlando’s theme parks, along with the Kennedy Space Center on the Space Coast, add an international, high-tech layer to the state’s identity.

The Everglades hold wetland habitats found nowhere else in North America, and manatees drift through the warm springs of Crystal River.