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Miami is a major city in the southeast corner of the Florida, in the United States. Miami and the surrounding metropolitan area are situated on northern Biscayne Bay between the Everglades and the Atlantic Ocean. By population, Miami is the second-largest city in Florida (after Jacksonville), and the county seat and largest city of Miami-Dade County. It is also the largest city in the South Florida metropolitan area, which comprises Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County, making up the largest metropolitan area in the Southeastern United States and the sixth largest in the country as a whole.

Miami was officially incorporated as a city on July 28 1896, with a voting population of just over 300. In 1940, 172,172 people lived in the city. According to the 2000 census, the city proper had a population of 362,470, while the larger metropolitan area had a population over 5,000,000. 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, ranks along with Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, and New Orleans, 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 and climate

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 (4.5 m) and averages at around 3ft (0.91 m) 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 (24.1 km) 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 throughout 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, 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 6.1 m) 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.

The city is located at .

Climate

Miami, like the rest of South Florida, has a warm, humid subtropical climate year-round, and borders on a true tropical climate. The city occasionally experiences brief cold fronts during the winter, otherwise is warm or hot year round. The area does not experience temperate seasons and the year is instead divided into two six-month seasons. The wet season, which is hot and humid, lasts from May to October, when it gives way to the dry season, which features balmy temperatures besides scant rainfall. The Hurricane season largely coincides with the wet season.

In addition to its sea-level elevation, coastal location and position just above the Tropic of Cancer, 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 75ºF (21º C). Temperatures in the high 80s to low 90s (30-35 °C) accompanied by high humidity are often relieved by afternoon thunderstorms, which are followed by more moderate temperatures, though still within very muggy conditions. During winter, humidity is significantly lower allowing for cooler weather to develop. Average minimum temperatures during that time are around 60ºF (15ºC), rarely dipping below 40ºF (4ºC), and the equivalent maxima usually range between 80 and 70 °F (27-21 °C). During the dry, cool season, the Gulf Stream helps to moderate the effect of the cold fronts that often bring freezing temperatures to the more northerly portions of Florida.

Officially, Miami has never recorded a triple-digit temperature, the all-time maximum being 98ºF (37ºC), set on August 15, 1956, though extreme summer humidity often boosts the heat index to the 110s (43 to 48ºC). The coldest temperature ever recorded in the city of Miami was 31 °F (-1 °C) on January 20, 1977. That same day, scattered snow flurries hit the area, Miami's first and only recorded snowfall since weather records began in the 1830s.

Miami receives abundant rainfall, one of the highest among major U.S. cities. It receives annual rainfall of 150 cm (60 inches). 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, although hurricanes can develop beyond those 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. Due to its location between two major bodies of water known for tropical activity, Miami is also statistically 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 Hurricane Cleo in 1964. However, many other hurricanes have affected the city, including 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.