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Southeast Florida is a land of contrasts: millions of people, many from different lands creating an unmatched cultural melting pot, and millions of acres of subtropical wilderness and protected marine life.
For every urbanized island, like Miami Beach or Key West, there are hundreds of unspoiled islands  inhabited by wading birds and native wildlife. Southeast Florida’s major cities are relatively young, yet the region’s Native American history dates back more than 10,000 years.
This region’s inland landscape is dominated by The Everglades, millions of acres of sawgrass, mangroves and hammocks that provide habitat to a remarkable array of flora and fauna. At the southern tip of the state, off the string of islands called the Florida Keys, the fragile coral reef is protected in Biscayne National Park and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. The Keys are also home to National Wildlife Refuges that protect the region’s unique wildlife and  habitats, including the critically endangered key deer, great white herons, roseate spoonbills and endangered American crocodiles. Other noteworthy natural attributes include St. Lucie Inlet State Preserve, a barrier island that is home to manatees and birds; the Loxahatchee River canoe trail, Florida’s only nationally-designated Wild and Scenic River; Fairchild Tropical Garden in suburban Miami with 83 acres of subtropical flora and fauna; and Bahia Honda State Park in the Keys, known for beautiful beaches and rare plants. West of Greater Fort Lauderdale the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation offers visitors a look at wild sawgrass prairies and swamps and Native American culture. Visitors can get a concentrated version of Florida ecoscapes at Fort Lauderdale’s Museum of Discovery and Science, home to the world’s largest captive Atlantic coral reef.
Southeast Florida’s kaleidoscope of diversity extends to its people. Greater Miami’s sizeable Hispanic population includes Cubans, Nicaraguans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Dominicans and others from South and Central America. Among the black community are Jamaicans, Bahamians, Haitians and newcomers from Trinidad and Tobago. The second-largest Jewish community in the U.S. lives in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Emigrés from Asian countries live here. Some of the region’s longtime residents include Miccosukee and Seminole Native American tribes, “crackers” who have been part of the rural Southeast for generations and the colorful “conchs” of the Keys. This diversity can be explored at such institutions as the Historical Museum of Southern Florida in Miami-Dade; the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum and Seminole Okalee Indian Village and Museum in Fort Lauderdale; the Sanford L. Ziff Jewish Museum of Florida; and the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Palm Beach County. Historical neighborhoods to visit include downtown Stuart in Martin County; quaint Homestead in south Miami-Dade County; Little Havana and Little Haiti in Miami; and downtown Key West.
Southeast Florida’s prehistory reaches much further back. The recent discovery of a 38-foot circle at the mouth of the Miami River is believed to be a key part of a village once inhabited by the Tequesta Native Americans. They also lived on land at the 420-acre Deering Estate at Cutler in south Miami-Dade County, site of fossil bones and human remains. |
