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Miami is a
coastal A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...
city in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
and the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...
in
South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...
. It is the core of the
Miami metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the lar ...
, which, with a population of 6.14 million, is the second-largest metropolitan area in the
Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...
after
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, and the ninth-largest in the United States. With a population of 442,241 as of the 2020 census, Miami is the second-most populous city in Florida, after
Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
. Miami has the third-largest skyline in the U.S. with over 300 high-rises, 70 of which exceed . 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 Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...
of $344.9 billion. In a 2018
UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...
study of 77 world cities, Miami was the third-richest city in the U.S. and the third-richest globally in
purchasing power Purchasing power refers to the amount of products and services available for purchase with a certain currency unit. For example, if you took one unit of cash to a store in the 1950s, you could buy more products than you could now, showing that th ...
. Miami is a majority-minority city with a
Hispanic and Latino Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to th ...
population of 310,472, or 70.2 percent of the city's population, as of 2020.
Downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and ...
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 The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
-affiliated hospital and health facilities, including
Jackson Memorial Hospital Jackson Memorial Hospital, also referred to as Jackson or abbreviated MJMH, is a non-profit, tertiary care hospital, and the primary teaching hospital of the University of Miami's School of Medicine. As of 2021, it is the largest hospital in t ...
, 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 Port of Miami, styled as PortMiami and formally known as the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world and one ...
, 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 New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, with over four million visitors in 2022. Miami has sometimes been called the "Gateway to Latin America" because of the magnitude of its commercial and cultural ties to
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
.


Toponymy

Miami was named after the Miami River, derived from
Mayaimi The Mayaimi (also Maymi, Maimi) were Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who lived around Lake Mayaimi (now Lake Okeechobee) in the Belle Glade culture, Belle Glade area of Florida from the beginning of the Common Era u ...
, the historic name of
Lake Okeechobee Lake Okeechobee ( ) is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the List of largest lakes of the United States by area, eighth-largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest ...
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''.


History

The
Tequesta The Tequesta, also Tekesta, Tegesta, Chequesta, Vizcaynos, were a Native American tribe on the Southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans and had largely migrated by the middle of the 18th century. Loca ...
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 Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
by the mid-1700s.


Settlement

In 1566, admiral
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (; ; 15 February 1519 – 17 September 1574) was a Spanish admiral, explorer and conquistador from Avilés, in Asturias, Spain. He is notable for planning the first regular trans-oceanic convoys, which became known as ...
, Florida's first governor, claimed the area for
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. A Spanish mission was constructed one year later. Spain, and briefly
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
, ruled Florida until it ceded it to the United States in 1821. In 1836, the U.S. built Fort Dallas on the banks of the Miami River as part of their development of the
Florida Territory The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish ...
and their attempt to suppress and remove the
Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...
s. As a result, the Miami area became a site of fighting in the
Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...
.


Founding

Miami is noted as the only major city in the United States founded by a woman.
Julia Tuttle Julia DeForest Tuttle (née Sturtevant; January 22, 1849 – September 14, 1898) was an American businesswoman who owned the property upon which Miami, Florida, was built. For this reason, she's called the "Mother of Miami." She's the only woman ...
, a local citrus grower and a wealthy
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
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 The Great Freeze was a period of back-to-back freezes during the winter of 1894–95 in the Southern United States, particularly notable for destroying much of the citrus crop in Northern Florida. Entire communities, such as Earnestville, fa ...
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 Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder ...
to extend his
Florida East Coast Railway The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México. Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a p ...
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.


20th century

During the early 20th century, migrants from the
Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...
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 prospered during the 1920s with an increase in population and development in infrastructure as northerners moved to the city. The legacy of
Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...
was embedded in these developments. Miami's chief of police at the time,
H. Leslie Quigg Howard Leslie Quigg (188726 September 1980) was an American policeman who was twice the chief of police in Miami, Florida, in the periods 1921-1928 and 1937–1944. Quigg was a member of the Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly short ...
, did not hide the fact that he, like many other white Miami police officers, was a member of the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
. Unsurprisingly, these officers enforced social codes far beyond the written law. Quigg, for example, "personally and publicly beat a colored bellboy to death for speaking directly to a white woman". The collapse of the
Florida land boom of the 1920s The first real estate bubble in Florida was primarily caused by the economic prosperity of the 1920s coupled with a lack of knowledge about List of Florida hurricanes, storm frequency and poor Building code, building standards. This pioneering e ...
, the 1926 Miami Hurricane, and the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
in the 1930s slowed development. When
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
began, Miami became a base for U.S. defense against German submarines due to its prime location on the southern coast of Florida. This brought an increase in Miami's population; 172,172 people lived in the city by 1940. The city's nickname, ''The Magic City'', came from its rapid growth, which was noticed by winter visitors who remarked that the city grew so much from one year to the next that it was like magic. After
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
rose to power in
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
following the
Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
in 1959, many wealthy Cubans sought refuge in Miami, further increasing the city's population. Miami's national profile expanded dramatically in the 1970s, particularly in 1972. The region hosted both the Democratic and
Republican National Conventions The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of ...
in the 1972 Presidential election. The
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
also made history with their undefeated "perfect" season. The area's educational and cultural institutions also developed significantly in this period, positioning the city to service a larger and increasingly international population. Miami developed new businesses and cultural amenities as part of the
New South New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a slogan in the history of the American South first used after the American Civil War. Reformers used it to call for a modernization of society and attitudes, to integrate more fully with th ...
in the 1980s and 1990s. At the same time, South Florida weathered social problems related to drug wars, immigration from
Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
and Latin America, and the widespread destruction of
Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a compact, but very powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures dama ...
. Racial and cultural tensions sometimes sparked, but Miami developed in the latter half of the 20th century as a major international, financial, and cultural center. It is the second-largest U.S. city with a Spanish-speaking majority (after
El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
), and the largest city with a
Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States aft ...
plurality.U.S. Census, 2010 (Ethnicity) and Census American Community Survey 2008 (language).


Geography

Miami and its suburbs are located on a broad plain between the
Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...
to the west and
Biscayne Bay Biscayne Bay is a lagoon with characteristics of an estuary located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The northern end of the lagoon is surrounded by the densely developed heart of the Miami metropolitan area while the southern end is large ...
to the east, which extends from
Lake Okeechobee Lake Okeechobee ( ) is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the List of largest lakes of the United States by area, eighth-largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest ...
southward to
Florida Bay Florida Bay is the bay located between the southern end of the Florida mainland (the Everglades, Florida Everglades) and the Florida Keys in the United States. It is a large, shallow estuary that while connected to the Gulf of Mexico, has limited ...
. The elevation of the area averages at around above sea level in most neighborhoods, especially near the coast. The highest points are found along the Miami Rock Ridge, which lies under most of the eastern Miami metro. The main portion of Miami is on the shores of Biscayne Bay, which contains several hundred natural and artificial
barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...
s, the largest of which contains
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
and
South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...
. The
Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
, a warm
ocean current An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of seawater generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contours, sh ...
, runs northward just off the coast, allowing Miami's climate to stay warm and mild all year.


Geology

The surface bedrock under the Miami area is called
Miami oolite The Miami Limestone, originally called Miami Oolite, is a geologic formation of limestone in southeastern Florida. Miami Limestone forms the Atlantic Coastal Ridge in southeastern Florida, near the coast in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami D ...
or Miami limestone. This bedrock is covered by a thin layer of soil, and is no more than thick. Miami limestone formed as the result of the drastic changes in sea level associated with recent
glacial period A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
s, or
ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
s. Beginning some 130,000 years ago, the Sangamonian Stage raised sea levels to approximately 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 In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
, stretching from the present Miami area to what is now the
Dry Tortugas Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park of the United States located about west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, in the United States. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the several Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most iso ...
. The area behind this reef line was a large lagoon. Miami limestone formed throughout the area from the deposition of oolites and the shells of
bryozoans Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary Colony (biology), colonies. Typically about long, they have a spe ...
. Starting about 100,000 years ago, the
Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin glaciation, also called the Wisconsin glacial episode, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated ...
began lowering sea levels, exposing the floor of the lagoon. By 15,000 years ago, the sea level had dropped below the current level. The sea level rose quickly after that, stabilizing at the current level about 4,000 years ago, leaving the
mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...
of South Florida just
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. Beneath the plain lies the
Biscayne Aquifer The Biscayne Aquifer, named after Biscayne Bay, is a surficial aquifer. It is a shallow layer of highly Permeability (earth sciences), permeable limestone under a portion of South Florida. The area it underlies includes Broward County, Florida, ...
, a natural underground source of fresh water that extends from southern
Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...
to
Florida Bay Florida Bay is the bay located between the southern end of the Florida mainland (the Everglades, Florida Everglades) and the Florida Keys in the United States. It is a large, shallow estuary that while connected to the Gulf of Mexico, has limited ...
. It comes closest to the surface around the cities of Miami Springs and
Hialeah Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Dade County in the Miami met ...
. Most of the
Miami metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the lar ...
obtains its drinking water from the Biscayne Aquifer. As a result of the aquifer, it is not possible to dig more than beneath the city without hitting water, which impedes underground construction, though some underground parking garages exist. For this reason, the
mass transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...
systems in and around Miami are elevated or at-grade. Most of the western fringes of Miami border the
Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...
, a tropical marshland covering most of the southern portion of Florida. Alligators that live in the marshes have ventured into Miami communities and onto major highways.


Cityscape


Neighborhoods

Miami is split roughly into north, south, west, and Downtown areas. The heart of the city is
Downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and ...
, which is on the eastern side and includes the neighborhoods of
Brickell Brickell ( ) is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida, historically referenced at times as "Southside" (being south of the Miami River), located directly east of Interstate 95, south of the Miami River (Florida), Miami River, and north of Coconut Gr ...
,
Virginia Key Virginia Key is an barrier island in Miami, Florida. It is located in Biscayne Bay south of Brickell and north of Key Biscayne and is accessible from the mainland via the Rickenbacker Causeway. The island is mainly occupied by the Virginia Ke ...
,
Watson Island Watson Island is a neighborhood and man-made island in Biscayne Bay, in Miami, Florida. It is located Immediately east of the Central Business District and Arts & Entertainment District neighborhoods of downtown Miami and is connected to the m ...
, and
PortMiami The Port of Miami, styled as PortMiami and formally known as the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world and one ...
. Downtown Miami is Florida's largest and most influential central business district, with many major banks, courthouses, financial headquarters, cultural and tourist attractions, schools, parks, and a large residential population.
Brickell Avenue Brickell Avenue is a north–south road that is part of U.S. Route 1, in Miami, Florida, just south of the Miami River. North of the Brickell Avenue Bridge, U.S. Route 1 is known as Biscayne Boulevard. Brickell Avenue is the main road throug ...
has the largest concentration of international banks in the United States. Just northwest of Downtown is the Health District, which is Miami's center for hospitals,
research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...
s and
biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
, with hospitals such as
Jackson Memorial Hospital Jackson Memorial Hospital, also referred to as Jackson or abbreviated MJMH, is a non-profit, tertiary care hospital, and the primary teaching hospital of the University of Miami's School of Medicine. As of 2021, it is the largest hospital in t ...
,
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Bascom Palmer Eye Institute is the University of Miami School of Medicine's ophthalmic care, research, and education center. The institute is based in the Health District of Miami, Florida, and has been ranked consistently as the best eye hospi ...
, and the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
's Miller School of Medicine. The southern side of Miami includes the neighborhoods of
Coral Way Coral Way is a neighborhood within Miami, Florida that is defined by Coral Way (street), Coral Way, a road established by Coral Gables, Florida, Coral Gables founder George E. Merrick during the Florida land boom of the 1920s, 1920s. It is loca ...
,
The Roads The Roads is a neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is a triangular area located south of SW 11th Street, between SW 12th Avenue and SW 15th Road, just west of Brickell. The Roads is known for its old homes, historic private ...
, and
Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as "The Grove", is an affluent and the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhoods of Miami, neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by North Prospect Driv ...
. Coral Way is a historic residential neighborhood built in 1922 between Downtown and
Coral Gables Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Cora ...
, and is home to many old homes and tree-lined streets. Coconut Grove, settled in 1825, and annexed into Miami in 1925, is a historic neighborhood with narrow, winding roads and a heavy tree canopy. It is the location of Miami's City Hall at Dinner Key, the former Coconut Grove Playhouse, CocoWalk, and the Coconut Grove Convention Center. It is home to many
nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
s, bars, restaurants, and
bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...
shops, which makes it very popular with local
college student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school ...
s. Coconut Grove is known for its many parks and gardens, such as Vizcaya Museum, The Kampong, The Barnacle Historic State Park, and numerous other historic homes and estates. The western side of Miami includes the neighborhoods of
Little Havana Little Havana () is a Neighborhoods in Miami, neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the Capital (political), ...
, West Flagler, and Flagami. Although at one time a mostly Jewish neighborhood, today western Miami is home to immigrants from mostly Central America and
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. The west central neighborhood of
Allapattah Allapattah is a neighborhood, located mostly in the city of Miami, Florida in metropolitan Miami. , the county-owned portion of Allapattah, from State Road 9 to LeJeune Road, is being annexed by the city proper. A stretch in the neighborhood ...
is a multicultural community of many ethnicities. The northern side of Miami includes Midtown, a district with a great mix of diversity ranging from Caribbeans to Central Americans, South Americans and Europeans. The Edgewater neighborhood of Midtown is mostly composed of high-rise residential towers and is home to the
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is a performing arts center located in Miami, Florida. It is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. According to Arts Management Magazine, the Arsht C ...
. Wynwood is an art district with ten galleries in former warehouses, as well as a large outdoor mural project. The wealthier residents of Miami usually live in the Design District and the
Upper Eastside The Upper Eastside (alternatively called East Side and commonly referred to as Northeast Miami) is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida. It is north of Edgewater, east of Little Haiti, south of the village of Miami Shores, and sits on Biscayne Ba ...
, which has many 1920s homes as well as examples of
Miami Modern architecture Miami Modernist architecture, or MiMo, is a regional style of architecture that developed in South Florida during the post-war period. The style was internationally recognized as a regionalist response to the International Style. It can be seen ...
in the MiMo Historic District. The northern side of Miami also has notable African-American and
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
immigrant communities, including
Little Haiti Little Haiti (, ), is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is known historically as Lemon City, Little River and Edison. It is home to Haitian immigrant residents, as well as residents from the rest of the Caribbean. The area i ...
, Overtown (home of the Lyric Theater), and Liberty City.


Climate

Miami has a
tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''Am'') with hot and wet summers and warm and dry winters. Miami's sea-level elevation, coastal location, position just above the
Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, also known as the Northern Tropic, is the Earth's northernmost circle of latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun ...
, and proximity to the
Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
shape its climate. Average winter high temperatures, from December to March, range from . January is the coolest month with an average daily temperature of . Low temperatures fall below about 3 to 4 nights during the winter season, after the passage of
cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...
s that produce what little rainfall that falls in the winter. There are two basic seasons in Miami, a hot and wet season from May to October, and a warm and dry season from November to April. During the hot and wet season, daily thundershowers occur in the humid unstable air masses. The wet season in Miami is defined as the period during which the average daily
dew point The dew point is the temperature the air needs to be cooled to (at constant pressure) in order to produce a relative humidity of 100%. This temperature depends on the pressure and water content of the air. When the air at a temperature above the ...
temperature is above . The rainy season typically begins on the first day that occurs, or within a few days later. Daily rainfall in Miami decreases sharply when the average daily dew point falls to or below. In some years, a stalled front to the south of the Florida peninsula may cause rains to continue for a few more days. From 1956 to 1997, the date summer began ranged from April 16 to June 3, with a median date of May 21. In those same years, the date summer ended ranged from September 24 to November 1, with a median date of October 17. During summer, temperatures range from the mid-80s to low 90s °F (29–35 °C) and are accompanied by high humidity. The heat is often relieved in the afternoon by thunderstorms or a
sea breeze A sea breeze or onshore breeze is a wind that blows in the afternoon from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass. By contrast, a land breeze or offshore breeze is a wind that blows in the night from a landmass toward or onto a large ...
that develops off the Atlantic Ocean. Much of the year's of rainfall occurs during this period.
Dew point The dew point is the temperature the air needs to be cooled to (at constant pressure) in order to produce a relative humidity of 100%. This temperature depends on the pressure and water content of the air. When the air at a temperature above the ...
s in the warm months range from in June to in August. Historical temperature extremes range from on February 3, 1917, to on July 21, 1942. While Miami has never recorded snowfall at any official weather station since records have been kept, snow flurries fell in some parts of Miami on January 19, 1977. The coldest daytime maximum temperature on record is in December 1989 during the December 1989 United States cold wave. The warmest overnight low measured is on several occasions. Hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to 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 Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
season, which is mid-August to the end of September. Although tornadoes are uncommon in the area, one struck in
1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...
and another in
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
. Around 40% of homes in Miami are built upon
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
s and are considered as flood-risk zones. Miami falls within the Department of Agriculture's 10b/11a plant
hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
. Miami is one of the major coastal cities and major cities in the United States that will be most affected by
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. Globally, it is one of the most at-risk cities, according to a 2020 report by
Resources for the Future Resources for the Future (RFF) is an American nonprofit organization, founded in 1952, that conducts independent research into environmental, energy, and natural resource issues, primarily via economics and other social sciences. Headquartered in ...
. Global
sea level rise The sea level has been rising from the end of the last ice age, which was around 20,000 years ago. Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by , with an increase of per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had e ...
, which in Miami is projected to be to by 2070, will lead to an increase in storm damage, more intense flooding, and will threaten Miami's water supply. Other potential impacts of climate change include higher hurricane wind speeds and severe thunderstorms, which can bring about hail or tornadoes. Some protective efforts are in place, including nourishing beaches and adding protective barriers, raising buildings and roads that are vulnerable, and restoring natural habitats such as
wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
s. Miami Beach has invested $500 million to protect roads, buildings, and water systems. Real estate prices in Miami already reflect the increase in prices for real estate at a higher elevation within the city compared to real estate at a lower elevation.


Demographics

Miami is the largest city in
South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...
, the second-largest city in
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, and is the anchor of the largest metropolitan area in Florida: the
Miami metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the lar ...
, which has over 6 million residents. Despite Miami being home to less than a fourteenth (1/14) of the population of the metro area, it is an outlier compared to its neighbors, being nearly twice the size of the next-largest city in the metro:
Hialeah Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Dade County in the Miami met ...
. Miami has approximately a sixth of the population of its own county,
Miami-Dade Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous count ...
, which is the state's largest. Miami had rapid growth in the first half of the twentieth century. Its population grew from 1,681 in the 1900 census to 249,276 in the 1950 census. This made it Florida's largest city, a title it retained until the Jacksonville Consolidation, when the city of Jacksonville absorbed most of Duval County, nearly tripling its population. Since then, Miami has retained its spot as Florida's second-largest city. Throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, Miami experienced a certain amount of stagnation in its population, with expansion slowing during the 1950s and 1960s before nearly halting in the next three decades as suburbanization occurred. Miami grew by 34.3% in the 1950s and 1960s as its population reached 334,859 at the 1970 census. In the next three decades, it only grew 8.2%. By the time of the 2000 census, Miami's population stood at 362,470. In the 2000s and 2010s, spurred by high-rise construction in Downtown Miami, Edgewater, and Brickell, Miami's population began to grow quickly once more. An estimate by the American Community Survey found that the downtown population, from Brickell north to Midtown Miami, grew nearly 40% between 2010 and 2018. From 2000 to 2010, Miami's population grew by 10.2% and reached 399,457 in 2010. In the early 2010s, Miami's population crossed a milestone of 400,000 people. In the 2020 census, it had grown by a further 10.7%, up to a population of 442,241. In 1970, the Census Bureau reported Miami's population as 45.3% Hispanic, 32.9% non-Hispanic White, and 22.7% Black. Miami's explosive population growth has been driven by internal migration from other parts of the country, up until the 1960s. From 1970 to 2000, population growth in Miami was stagnant, as
non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...
Miamians left and significant immigration from Latin America, particularly
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, made up the balance. Miami's Hispanic majority solidified itself in this period of time, and in 1985, Miami elected its first Cuban-born mayor, Xavier Suarez. The non-Hispanic Black population of the city of Miami peaked in 1990 at almost 90,000, making up nearly a quarter of the population of Miami. Since then, Miami's non-Hispanic Black population has experienced a precipitous and steady decline. In the 2020 census, it was 52,447, only 11.7% of the population. Reasons for this include high costs in areas such as Liberty City and
Little Haiti Little Haiti (, ), is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is known historically as Lemon City, Little River and Edison. It is home to Haitian immigrant residents, as well as residents from the rest of the Caribbean. The area i ...
, compounded with
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
. The non-Hispanic White population began to rebound in the twenty-first century, as the monolithically Hispanic areas in the Western and Central parts of Miami experienced population stagnation. This caused them to begin to be outweighed by migration into the Downtown region, from Latin America and the rest of the United States. This caused the non-Hispanic White population to rise from a nadir of 11.8% at the time of the 2000 census to 11.9% at the time of the 2010 census. After this, the non-Hispanic White population grew significantly faster than Miami as a whole did during the 2010s. In the 2020 census, non-Hispanic Whites were 14.0% of the population of Miami and numbered 61,829, the highest number since the 1980s. The non-Hispanic White population of Miami surpassed the non-Hispanic Black population of Miami in the 2010s. In 2010, 34.4% of city residents were of Cuban origin, 15.8% had a
Central American Central America is a Subregion#North America, subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Ce ...
background (7.2%
Nicaraguan Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and ...
, 5.8% Honduran, 1.2%
Salvadoran Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly in the United States, with smalle ...
, and 1.0% Guatemalan), 8.7% were of
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
n descent (3.2% Colombian, 1.4%
Venezuelan Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...
, 1.2%
Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...
, 1.2%
Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
, 1.0% Chilean and 0.7%
Ecuadorian Ecuadorians () are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source o ...
), 4.0% had other Hispanic or Latino origins (0.5%
Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...
), 3.2% descended from
Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans (), most commonly known as Puerto Rico#Etymology, Boricuas, but also occasionally referred to as '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borinqueños'', '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borincan ...
, 2.4% were Dominican, and 1.5% had Mexican ancestry. In 2010, 5.6% of city residents were
West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West In ...
or
Afro-Caribbean American Caribbean Americans or West Indian Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to the West Indies in particular or Caribbean in general. Caribbean Americans are a multi-ethnic and multi-racial group that trace their ancestry further in tim ...
origin (4.4% Haitian, 0.4% Jamaican, 0.4% Bahamian, 0.1%
British West Indian The British West Indies (BWI) were the territories in the West Indies under British rule, including Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas ...
, and 0.1% Trinidadian and Tobagonian, 0.1% Other or Unspecified West Indian), 3.0% were
Black Hispanic Black Hispanic and Latino Americans, also called Afro-Hispanics, Afro-Latinos, Black Hispanics, or Black Latinos, are classified by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget, and other U.S. government agencies as Black ...
s, and 0.4% were Subsaharan African origin. In 2010, those of (non-Hispanic white) European ancestry were 11.9% of Miami's population. Of the city's total population, 1.7% were German, 1.6% Italian, 1.4% Irish, 1.0% English, 0.8% French, 0.6% Russian, and 0.5% were Polish. In 2010, those of Asian ancestry were 1.0% of Miami's population. Of the city's total population, 0.3% were Indian/
Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean or Indian-Caribbean people are people from the Caribbean who trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent. They are descendants of the Jahaji indentured laborers from British India, who were brought by the British, Dutch, and ...
(1,206 people), 0.3% Chinese/
Chinese Caribbean Chinese Caribbean people (sometimes Sino-Caribbean people ) are people who are of predominately of Han Chinese ethnic origins living throughout the Caribbean. There are small but significant populations of Chinese and their descendants in all cou ...
(1,804 people), 0.2% Filipino (647 people), 0.1% were other Asian (433 people), 0.1% Japanese (245 people), 0.1% Korean (213 people), and 0.0% were Vietnamese (125 people). In 2010, 1.9% of the population considered themselves to be of only American ancestry (regardless of race or ethnicity), while 0.5% were of Arab ancestry, in 2010. In a 2014
Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It ...
study, Christianity was the most-practiced religion in Miami (68%), with 39% professing attendance at a variety of churches that could be considered
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
, and 27% professing
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Followed by Judaism (9%);
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
,
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
,
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
, and a variety of other religions have smaller followings;
atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...
or no self-identifying organized religious affiliation was practiced by 21%. There has been a Norwegian Seamen's church in Miami since the early 1980s. In November 2011, Crown Princess of Norway Mette-Marit opened a new building for the church. The church was built as a center for the 10,000 Scandinavians that live in Florida. Around 4,000 of them are Norwegian. The church is also an important place for the 150 Norwegians that work at
Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...
in Central Florida. In a 2022 Point-In-Time Homeless Count, there were 3,440
homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...
people in Miami-Dade County, 970 of which were on the streets. In the city limits of Miami, there were 591 unsheltered homeless people on the streets, up from 555 in 2021. According to National Immigration Forum, the top countries of origin for Miami's immigrants are Latin America (86%): Cuba (741,666), Haiti (213,000), Colombia (166,338), Jamaica (144,445); Europe (6.1%): United Kingdom (23,334), Germany (15,611), Italy (14,240) and Asia (5.2%): India (23,602), China (21,580) and the Philippines (15,078).


Economy

Miami is a major center of commerce and finance and has a strong
international business International business refers to the trade of goods and service goods, services, technology, capital and/or knowledge across national borders and at a global or transnational scale. It includes all commercial activities that promote the transfer o ...
community. According to the 2020 ranking of world cities undertaken by the
Globalization and World Cities Research Network The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a British think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leic ...
(GaWC) based on the level of presence of global corporate service organizations, Miami is considered a Beta + level
world city A global city (also known as a power city, world city, alpha city, or world center) is a city that serves as a primary node in the global economic network. The concept originates from geography and urban studies, based on the thesis that glo ...
, along with
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, and
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. However, according to the U.S. census between 2015–2019, Miami lacks in terms of owner-occupied housing, computer and internet usage, education of bachelor's degree or higher, median household income, per capita income, while having a higher percentage of persons in poverty. In 2013, Miami had a Gross Metropolitan Product of $257 billion, ranking 11th in the United States and 20th worldwide in GMP. Several large companies are headquartered in Miami, including but not limited to
Akerman LLP Akerman is a United States–based law firm. It is among the 100 largest firms in the United States, according to rankings by ''The American Lawyer''. The firm has 25 offices across the United States and approximately 750 lawyers, with its large ...
,
Alienware Alienware Corporation is an American computer hardware subsidiary brand, but not of Dell. Their product range is dedicated to gaming computers and accessories and can be identified by their Extraterrestrial life, alien-themed designs. Alienware ...
,
Arquitectonica Arquitectonica is an international architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and urban planning design firm headquartered in Miami, Miami, Florida’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. The firm also has offices in ten other cities thr ...
, Brightstar Corporation,
Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in ...
,
Carnival Corporation Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...
,
Duany Plater-Zyberk DPZ CoDesign (DPZ) (formerly Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. and DPZ Partners) is an architecture and town planning firm based in Miami, Florida, founded in 1980 by the husband-and-wife team of Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. The firm advocat ...
,
Greenberg Traurig Greenberg Traurig is a multinational law firm, law and lobbying firm founded in Miami in 1967 by Mel Greenberg, Larry J. Hoffman, and Robert H. Traurig. As of 2025, it is the eighth-largest law firm in the United States. The firm has 49 locati ...
, Inktel Direct, Lennar Corporation,
Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is an American cruise line founded in Norway in 1966, headquartered in Miami, Florida, and incorporated in the Bahamas. It is the List of cruise lines, fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling ...
,
Oceania Cruises Oceania Cruises is a cruise line based in Miami, Florida, that operates seven cruise ships on worldwide itineraries. It typically offers cruises that last between 10 and 14 days, but it is also known for its long cruises lasting up to 195 day ...
, OPKO Health,
Parkjockey ParkJockey is an American parking revenue and access control startup that allows the real estate owners or operators to streamline parking operations using smart software and hardware technologies and data APIs. On the consumer-facing front, th ...
,
RCTV International RCTV International (formerly known as Coral Pictures or Coral International) is a subsidiary of Empresas 1BC. It was formed in Miami, Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region o ...
,
Royal Caribbean International Royal Caribbean International (RCI), formerly Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Florida, it is the l ...
, Sitel, Southern Wine & Spirits,
Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...
,
Vector Group In electrical engineering, a vector group, officially called a connection symbol, is the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) method of categorizing the high voltage (HV) windings and low voltage (LV) winding configurations of three-ph ...
,
Watsco Watsco, Inc. is a distributor of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies (HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC ) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, h ...
and World Fuel Services. In 2022, hedge fund
Citadel LLC Citadel LLC (formerly known as Citadel Investment Group, LLC) is an American multinational hedge fund and financial services company. Founded in 1990 by Kenneth Griffin, it has more than $65 billion in assets under management . The company has ...
and
market maker A market maker or liquidity provider is a company or an individual that quotes both a buy and a sell price in a tradable asset held in inventory, hoping to make a profit on the difference, which is called the ''bid–ask spread'' or ''turn.'' Thi ...
Citadel Securities Citadel Securities LLC is an American market making firm headquartered in Miami, Florida. It provides liquidity and trade execution to retail and institutional clients. The firm also trades futures, equities, credit, options, currencies, a ...
relocated their headquarters from Chicago to Miami. Over 1,400 multinational firms are located in Miami, with many major global organizations headquartering their Latin American operations (or regional offices) in the city including
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
. Companies based in nearby cities or unincorporated areas of
Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...
include,
Benihana is a chain of Japanese restaurants. Originally founded by Yunosuke Aoki as a cafe in Tokyo in 1945, Benihana spread to the United States in 1964 when his son Hiroaki "Rocky" Aoki opened its first restaurant in New York City. Benihana Inc., base ...
,
Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...
,
Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel (ship), funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue colo ...
, Navarro Discount Pharmacies,
Perry Ellis International Perry Ellis International is an American clothing, fashion, cosmetics and beauty company that includes a portfolio of brands distributed through multiple channels worldwide. The company focuses primarily on sportswear and casual clothing for nic ...
,
Ryder Ryder System, Inc. is an American transportation and logistics company, specializing in truck rental and leasing, fleet management, supply chain management, and transportation management. It also offers full-service leasing, rental and maint ...
,
Sedano's Sedano's Supermarkets is the United States’ largest Hispanic retailer and largest Hispanic-owned supermarket chain. With headquarters in Miami-Dade County, Sedano's employs approximately 3,000 associates and operates 35 stores across Florida in ...
,
UniMás UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. ...
, and
U.S. Century Bank U.S. Century Bank is a community bank in Miami-Dade County, Florida, with headquarters in the city of Doral. U.S. Century Bank is a Minority Depository Institution (MDI) operating in South Florida. As of December 2024, it has $2.6 billion in tot ...
. Miami is a major television production center, and the most important city in the United States for Spanish-language media.
Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...
and
UniMás UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. ...
have their headquarters in the Miami area. Univisión Studios and Telemundo Global Studios produce much of the original programming for their respective parent networks, such as
telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...
s, news, sports, and talk shows. In 2011, 85% of Telemundo's original programming was filmed in Miami. Miami is a significant music recording center, with the
Sony Music Latin Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is an American record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. Sony Latin was also a division of the Sony Discos label. History In ...
headquarters in the city, along with many other smaller record labels. Miami also attracts many artists for music video and film shoots. During the mid-2000s, Miami witnessed its largest real estate boom since the
Florida land boom of the 1920s The first real estate bubble in Florida was primarily caused by the economic prosperity of the 1920s coupled with a lack of knowledge about List of Florida hurricanes, storm frequency and poor Building code, building standards. This pioneering e ...
, and the city had well over a hundred approved high-rise construction projects. However, only 50 were actually built. Rapid high-rise construction led to fast population growth in Miami's inner neighborhoods, with
Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
,
Brickell Brickell ( ) is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida, historically referenced at times as "Southside" (being south of the Miami River), located directly east of Interstate 95, south of the Miami River (Florida), Miami River, and north of Coconut Gr ...
and Edgewater becoming the fastest-growing areas of Miami. Miami currently has the seven tallest, as well as fifteen of top twenty, skyscrapers in the state of Florida, with the tallest being the
Panorama Tower Panorama Tower is a mixed-use 85-story skyscraper in Miami, Florida, United States. Located in the Brickell district of Downtown Miami, it is the tallest building in Miami, and the tallest building in Florida. Construction on Panorama Tower ...
. The housing market crash of 2007 caused a foreclosure crisis in the area. Like other metro areas in the United States, crime in Miami is localized to specific neighborhoods.
Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...
(
IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...
: MIA) and
PortMiami The Port of Miami, styled as PortMiami and formally known as the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world and one ...
are among the nation's busiest ports of entry, especially for cargo from
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
and the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. PortMiami is the world's busiest cruise port. Miami International Airport is the busiest airport in Florida and the largest gateway between the United States and Latin America. Due to its strength in international business, finance and trade, Miami has among the largest concentration of international banks in the country, primarily along
Brickell Avenue Brickell Avenue is a north–south road that is part of U.S. Route 1, in Miami, Florida, just south of the Miami River. North of the Brickell Avenue Bridge, U.S. Route 1 is known as Biscayne Boulevard. Brickell Avenue is the main road throug ...
in
Brickell Brickell ( ) is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida, historically referenced at times as "Southside" (being south of the Miami River), located directly east of Interstate 95, south of the Miami River (Florida), Miami River, and north of Coconut Gr ...
, Miami's financial district. Miami was the host city of the 2003
Free Trade Area of the Americas The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA, , ALCA, Portuguese: ''Área de Livre Comércio das Américas'', ALCA, French: Zone de libre-échange des Amériques, ZLEA) was a proposed agreement to eliminate or reduce the trade barriers among all ...
negotiations. Miami is the home to the
National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...
and the headquarters of the
United States Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral, Florida, Doral in Greater Miami, Greater Miami, Florida, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providi ...
, responsible for military operations in Central and South America. Miami is also an industrial center, especially for stone quarrying and warehousing. These industries are centered largely on the western fringes of Miami near Doral and
Hialeah Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Dade County in the Miami met ...
. In the 2012 census, Miami had the fourth highest percentage of family incomes below the federal poverty line out of all large cities in the United States, behind
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
,
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, and
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, respectively. Miami is also one of the very few cities in the U.S. where the local government has gone bankrupt, in 2001. The Little Fire Ant, ''
Wasmannia auropunctata The little fire ant (''Wasmannia auropunctata''), also known as the electric ant, is a small (approx long), light to golden brown (ginger) social ant native to Central and South America, now spread to parts of Africa (including Gabon and Camero ...
'', is an
invasive agricultural pest A pest is any organism harmful to humans or human concerns. The term is particularly used for creatures that damage crops, livestock, and forestry or cause a nuisance to people, especially in their homes. Humans have modified the environment fo ...
in parts of Miami.


PortMiami

PortMiami The Port of Miami, styled as PortMiami and formally known as the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world and one ...
in Miami is the largest cruise ship port in the world. It has retained its status as the number one cruise and passenger port in the world for well over a decade, accommodating the largest cruise ships and the major cruise lines. In 2017, the port served 5,340,559 cruise passengers. The port is one of the nation's busiest cargo ports, importing 9,162,340 tons of cargo in 2017. Among
North American North America is a continent in the Northern and Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the sou ...
ports, it ranks second to
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
'
Port of South Louisiana The Port of South Louisiana () extends 54 miles (87 km) along the Mississippi River between New Orleans, Louisiana and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, centering approximately at LaPlace, Louisiana, which serves as the Port's headquarters location. ...
in cargo tonnage imported from
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
. The port sits on and has seven passenger terminals. China is the port's number one import country and number one export country. Miami has the world's largest amount of cruise line headquarters, home to
Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel (ship), funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue colo ...
,
Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in ...
,
Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is an American cruise line founded in Norway in 1966, headquartered in Miami, Florida, and incorporated in the Bahamas. It is the List of cruise lines, fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling ...
,
Oceania Cruises Oceania Cruises is a cruise line based in Miami, Florida, that operates seven cruise ships on worldwide itineraries. It typically offers cruises that last between 10 and 14 days, but it is also known for its long cruises lasting up to 195 day ...
, and
Royal Caribbean International Royal Caribbean International (RCI), formerly Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Florida, it is the l ...
. In 2014, the Port of Miami Tunnel opened, connecting the
MacArthur Causeway The General Douglas MacArthur Causeway is a six-lane causeway that connects Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami to South Beach via Biscayne Bay in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County. The highway is the singular roadway connecting ...
to PortMiami.


Tourism and conventions

Tourism is one of the Miami's largest private-sector industries, accounting for more than 144,800 jobs in
Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...
. Miami's frequent portrayal in music, film, and popular culture has made Miami and its landmarks recognizable worldwide. In 2016, it attracted the second-highest number of foreign tourists of any city in the United States, after New York City, and is among the top 20 cities worldwide by international visitor spending. More than 15.9 million visitors arrived in Miami in 2017, adding $26.1 billion to the economy. With a large hotel infrastructure and the newly renovated
Miami Beach Convention Center The Miami Beach Convention Center (originally the Miami Beach Exhibition Hall) is a convention center located in Miami Beach, Florida. Originally opened in 1958, the venue was renovated from 2015 to 2020 for $640 million. The re-imagined and enha ...
, Miami is a popular destination for annual conventions and conferences. Some of the most popular tourist destinations in Miami include
South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...
,
Lincoln Road Lincoln Road Mall is a pedestrian road running east–west parallel between 16th Street and 17th Street in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Once completely open to vehicular traffic, it now hosts a pedestrian mall replete with shops, rest ...
,
Bayside Marketplace Bayside Marketplace is a two-story open air shopping center located in Miami, Florida, United States. The center is situated on the banks of Biscayne Bay, with the City of Miami marina on one side. On January 1, 2024, a large police presence ...
,
Downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and ...
, and
Brickell City Centre Brickell City Centre is a large mixed-use complex consisting of two residential high-rise towers, two office buildings, a high-rise hotel, and an interconnected five-story shopping mall and lifestyle center covering located in the Brickell ...
. The Art Deco District in
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
is reputed as one of the most glamorous in the world for its
nightclubs A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and ...
, beaches, historical buildings, and shopping. Annual events such as the Miami Open,
Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, an ...
, the
Winter Music Conference The Winter Music Conference (WMC) is a week-long electronic music conference, held every March in Miami Beach, Florida, United States since 1985. It is also known as the premiere platform for electronic dance music. The conference brings togethe ...
, the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, and
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami is an annual fashion week held in Miami, Florida, United States. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami, not to be confused with Miami Fashion Week, is held every year during the Summer at the Raleigh Hotel at 1775 Collin ...
attract millions to the metropolis every year.


Culture

Miami enjoys a vibrant culture that is influenced by a diverse population from all around the world. Miami is known as the "Magic City" for seemingly popping up overnight due to its young age and massive growth. Miami is infamous for its drug war in the early 1980s and its outrun aesthetics. It is nicknamed the "Capital of Latin America" because of its high population of Spanish speakers. Miami has been the setting of numerous films and television shows, including '' Bad Boys'', ''
Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...
'', '' Cocaine Cowboys'', '' CSI: Miami'', ''
Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, ...
'', ''
Jane the Virgin ''Jane the Virgin'' is an American romantic comedy-drama and satirical telenovela developed by Jennie Snyder Urman. The series premiered October 13, 2014, on The CW and concluded on July 31, 2019. It is a loose adaptation of the Venezuelan te ...
'', ''Scarface'', ''
The Birdcage ''The Birdcage'' is a 1996 American comedy film produced and directed by Mike Nichols. Elaine May's screenplay adapted the 1978 French film ''La Cage aux Folles (film), La Cage aux Folles'', itself an adaptation of a La Cage aux Folles (play), 1 ...
'', '' Ballers'', '' South Beach Tow'', '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'', '' Ride Along 2'', '' Love & Hip Hop: Miami'', '' Kourtney & Kim Take Miami'', '' Family Karma'', ''
The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...
'', ''
2 Fast 2 Furious ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' is a 2003 action film directed by John Singleton from a screenplay by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, based on a story by Brandt, Haas, and Gary Scott Thompson. It is the sequel to '' The Fast and the Furious'' (2001) and ...
'', ''
Austin & Ally ''Austin & Ally'' is an American comedy television series created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert that aired on Disney Channel from December 2, 2011 to January 10, 2016. The series stars Ross Lynch, Laura Marano, Raini Rodriguez, and Cal ...
'', '' The Real CSI: Miami'', and ''
Dexter Dexter may refer to: People * Dexter (given name) * Dexter (surname) * Dexter (singer), Brazilian rapper Marcos Fernandes de Omena (born 1973) * Famous Dex, also known as Dexter, American rapper Dexter Tiewon Gore Jr. (born 1993) Places United ...
''. Several video games, including ''
Hotline Miami ''Hotline Miami'' is a 2012 top-down shooter game developed by Dennaton Games and published by Devolver Digital. Set in Miami in 1989, the game follows an unnamed silent protagonist—dubbed Jacket by fans—as he commits massacres against the ...
'', the
Gameloft Gameloft SE is a French video game company based in Paris, founded in December 1999 by Ubisoft co-founder Michel Guillemot. The company operates 18 development studios worldwide, and publishes games for mobile devices, video game consoles, and ...
racing game ''
Asphalt Overdrive Asphalt Overdrive was a 2014 endless running racing video game published by Gameloft and developed by their Madrid studio. The eleventh major game of ''Asphalt'' series. After a showcase in June 2014 at the E3 event, it was released in Septembe ...
'', '' Scarface: The World Is Yours'', and the fictional
Vice City ''Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' is a 2002 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the fourth main game in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2001's '' Grand Theft Auto III'', and the ...
in several video games across the ''
Grand Theft Auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is prima ...
'' series, most notably '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' and the upcoming '' Grand Theft Auto VI'', is based on Miami.


Entertainment and performing arts

In addition to annual festivals like the
Calle Ocho Festival The Calle Ocho Music Festival (''Festival de la Calle Ocho'') is a one-day street festival closing out Carnaval Miami. It takes place in March in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida, between SW 12th Avenue and 27th Avenue on SW 8th S ...
, Miami is home to many entertainment venues, theaters, museums, parks and performing arts centers. The newest addition to the Miami arts scene is the
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is a performing arts center located in Miami, Florida. It is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. According to Arts Management Magazine, the Arsht C ...
, home of the Florida Grand Opera and the second-largest performing arts center in the United States after
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
in New York City. The center attracts many large-scale operas, ballets, concerts, and musicals from around the world. Other performing arts venues in Miami include the Olympia Theater,
Wertheim Performing Arts Center The Wertheim Performing Arts Center (also known by the abbreviation WPAC, full name The Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center) is a performing arts center that opened in 1996. Situated on the main campus of Florida International Univers ...
, the
Fair Expo Center The Fair Expo Center is a convention center located in the neighborhood of University Park in an unincorporated area of western Miami-Dade County, Florida, adjacent to the campus of Florida International University. It has been built in stages s ...
, the Tower Theater, and the Bayfront Park Amphitheater. Another celebrated event is the
Miami International Film Festival The Miami Film Festival, formerly Miami International Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Miami, Florida, each March. Since 2015 the festival also runs a smaller Fall Festival, known as the Miami Film Festival GEMS, which presents ...
, taking place every year for 10 days around the first week of March, during which independent international and American films are screened across Miami. Miami has over a half dozen independent film theaters. Miami attracts a large number of musicians, singers, actors, dancers, and orchestral players. The city has numerous orchestras, symphonies and performing art conservatories. These include the Florida Grand Opera, FIU School of Music, Frost School of Music, and the
New World School of the Arts The New World School of the Arts (NWSA) is a public magnet high school and college in Downtown Miami, Florida. Its dual-enrollment programs in the visual and performing arts are organized into four strands: visual arts, dance, theatre (comprising ...
. Miami is a major fashion center, home to models and some of the top modeling agencies in the world. Miami hosts many fashion shows and events, including the annual
Miami Fashion Week Miami Fashion Week (MIAFW) is an annual fashion week held in Miami, Florida, United States. Miami Fashion Week, not to be confused with the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami or Miami Swim Week, takes place every year the first week of June. Miami ...
and the
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami is an annual fashion week held in Miami, Florida, United States. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami, not to be confused with Miami Fashion Week, is held every year during the Summer at the Raleigh Hotel at 1775 Collin ...
, held in the
Wynwood Art District The Wynwood Art District is a district of the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, Florida. It is home to over 10 galleries, museums and collections and is known for its street art. It is roughly bounded by North 36th Street (U.S. Route 27 in Florida, ...
. Miami's first boat-in movie theater opened in 2020.


Museums and visual arts

Some of the museums in Miami include the
Frost Art Museum The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum'' (''"Frost Art Museum") is an art museum located in the Modesto A. Maidique campus of Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1977 as The Art Museum at Florida Internat ...
, Frost Museum of Science,
HistoryMiami HistoryMiami Museum, formerly known as the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, is a museum located in Downtown Miami, Florida, United States. HistoryMiami Museum is the largest history museum in the State of Florida. HistoryMiami houses four p ...
, Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami Children's Museum, Pérez Art Museum,
Lowe Art Museum Lowe Art Museum is the art museum of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The museum is located on the campus of the University of Miami and is accessible by Metrorail (Miami-Dade County), Miami Metrorail at University station (Miami- ...
, and the
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, previously known as Villa Vizcaya, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick- International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present-day Coconut Grove neighbo ...
, a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
set on a 28-acre early 20th century estate in
Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as "The Grove", is an affluent and the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhoods of Miami, neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by North Prospect Driv ...
.


Cuisine

The cuisine of Miami is a reflection of its diverse population, with a heavy influence from
Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...
,
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
,
Soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
, and
Jewish cuisine Jewish cuisine refers to the worldwide cooking traditions of the Jewish people. During its evolution over the course of many centuries, it has been shaped by Jewish dietary laws (''kashrut''), Jewish festivals and holidays, and traditions cen ...
. By combining them with mainstream
American cuisine American cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes prepared in the United States. It has been significantly influenced by Europeans, Indigenous Americans, Africans, Latin Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and many other ...
, it has spawned a unique
South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...
style of cooking known as
Floribbean cuisine Floribbean cuisine refers to a fusion cuisine found in Florida with an emphasis on fresh regional ingredients and complex medleys of spices, especially strong flavors offset by milder ones. Floribbean-style cooking incorporates an exotic spic ...
. It is widely available throughout Miami and South Florida and can be found in restaurant chains such as Pollo Tropical. Cuban immigrants in the 1960s originated the
Cuban sandwich A Cuban sandwich () is a variation of a ham and cheese sandwich that likely originated before the turn of the 20th century in cafes catering to Cuban workers in Tampa or Key West, two early Cuban immigrant communities in Florida centered on the ...
and brought medianoche, Cuban espresso, Bistec de palomilla, and croquetas, all of which have grown in popularity among all Miamians and have become symbols of the city's varied cuisine. Today, these are part of the local culture and can be found throughout the city at window cafés, particularly outside of supermarkets and restaurants. Some of these locations, such as the Versailles restaurant in
Little Havana Little Havana () is a Neighborhoods in Miami, neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the Capital (political), ...
, are landmark eateries of Miami. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, and with a long history as a
seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...
, Miami is also known for its seafood, with many seafood restaurants located along the Miami River and in and around Biscayne Bay. The city is also the headquarters of restaurant chains such as
Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...
and
Benihana is a chain of Japanese restaurants. Originally founded by Yunosuke Aoki as a cafe in Tokyo in 1945, Benihana spread to the United States in 1964 when his son Hiroaki "Rocky" Aoki opened its first restaurant in New York City. Benihana Inc., base ...
.


Dialect

The Miami area has a unique dialect of
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
, commonly called the "
Miami accent The Miami accent is an evolving American English accent or sociolect spoken in South Florida, particularly in Miami-Dade county, originating from central Miami. The Miami accent is most prevalent in American-born Hispanic youth who live in the ...
", that is widely spoken. The accent developed among second- or third-generation
Hispanics The term Hispanic () are people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an ethnic or meta-ethnic term. The term commonly appli ...
, including
Cuban Americans Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States after Mexican Americans, States ...
, whose first language was English. Some
non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...
,
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
and other races who were born and raised in the Miami area have tended to adopt it as well. It is based on a fairly standard American accent but with some changes, very similar to dialects in the Mid-Atlantic, especially those in the New York area and Northern New Jersey, including
New York Latino English American English as primarily spoken by Hispanic and Latino Americans on the East Coast of the United States demonstrates considerable influence from New York City English and African-American Vernacular English, with certain additional features ...
. Unlike
Virginia Piedmont The Piedmont region of Virginia is a part of the greater Piedmont physiographic region which stretches from the falls of the Potomac, Rappahannock, and James Rivers to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The region runs across the middle of the state fr ...
, Coastal Southern American, Northeast American dialects and Florida Cracker dialect, "Miami accent" is rhotic. It incorporates a rhythm and pronunciation heavily influenced by Spanish, where rhythm is syllable-timed. This is a native dialect of English, not learner English or
interlanguage An interlanguage is an idiolect developed by a learner of a second language (L2) which preserves some features of their first language (L1) and can overgeneralize some L2 writing and speaking rules. These two characteristics give an interlangu ...
. It is possible to differentiate this variety from an
interlanguage An interlanguage is an idiolect developed by a learner of a second language (L2) which preserves some features of their first language (L1) and can overgeneralize some L2 writing and speaking rules. These two characteristics give an interlangu ...
spoken by second-language speakers, in that the "Miami accent" does ''not'' generally display the following features: there is no
addition Addition (usually signified by the Plus and minus signs#Plus sign, plus symbol, +) is one of the four basic Operation (mathematics), operations of arithmetic, the other three being subtraction, multiplication, and Division (mathematics), divis ...
of before initial consonant clusters with , speakers do not confuse with , (e.g., ''Yale'' with ''jail''), and /r/ and /rr/ are pronounced as alveolar approximant /nowiki>/nowiki> instead of
alveolar tap The voiced alveolar tap or flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents a dental consonant, dental, alveolar consonant, alveolar, or postalveolar consonant, p ...
or
alveolar trill The voiced alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental consonant, dental, alveolar consonant, alveolar, and postalveolar consonant, postalve ...
in Spanish.


Sports

Miami's main five sports teams are Inter Miami of
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
(MLS), the
Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...
of
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB), the
Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...
of the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL), the
Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...
of the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA) and the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL). The Miami Open, an annual tennis tournament, was previously held in
Key Biscayne Key Biscayne () is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies south of Miami Beach and sout ...
before moving to
Hard Rock Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Southeastern United States, located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the Univers ...
after the tournament was purchased by
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
owner Stephen Ross in 2019. Miami is home to numerous
marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...
s,
jai alai Jai alai ( : ) is a Basque sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker, commonly referred to as a ''cesta''. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term ''jai alai'', coined by ...
venues, and
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...
s. The city streets have hosted professional auto races in the past, most notably the open-wheel Grand Prix of Miami, the sports car Grand Prix of Miami, and
Miami Grand Prix The Miami Grand Prix is a Formula One Grand Prix which was held for the first time during the season, with the event taking place at the Miami International Autodrome which is located around the grounds and private facilities of Hard Rock Stadi ...
of
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
. In 2015, Miami hosted a one-off Formula E race. The
Homestead–Miami Speedway Homestead–Miami Speedway (formerly known as the Homestead Motorsports Complex from 1995 to 1998) is a oval-shaped Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Homestead, Florida. It has hosted various major auto racing series thr ...
oval hosts
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
races. The Heat and the Marlins play within Miami's city limits, at the
Kaseya Center Kaseya Center is a multi-purpose arena on Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. The arena is home to the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. The arena was previously named American Airlines Arena from opening in 1999 until 2021, FTX ...
in
Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
and
LoanDepot Park LoanDepot Park (officially stylized as loanDepot park, and named Marlins Park until 2021) is a retractable roof stadium located in Miami, Florida, United States. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Miami Marlins. It is located on on ...
in
Little Havana Little Havana () is a Neighborhoods in Miami, neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the Capital (political), ...
, respectively. Marlins Park is built on the site of the old
Miami Orange Bowl The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, from 1937 until 2008. The stadium was located in the Little Havana neighborhood west of Greater Downtown Miami, downtown Miami. The venue was considered a landmark and ser ...
stadium. The
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
play at
Hard Rock Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Southeastern United States, located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the Univers ...
in suburban
Miami Gardens Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb of Miami and located north of downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from I-95 and Northeast 2nd Avenue to its east to Northwest 47th ...
, while the
Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...
play in nearby
Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...
at
Amerant Bank Arena Amerant Bank Arena (previously known as the National Car Rental Center, Office Depot Center, BankAtlantic Center, BB&T Center, and FLA Live Arena) is an indoor arena in Sunrise, Florida, United States. It is the home venue for the Florida Panth ...
.
Inter Miami CF Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami (), commonly referred to as Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (M ...
plays at
Chase Stadium Chase Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. Built on the site of the former Lockhart Stadium, the 21,550-seat stadium is the home pitch of Inter Miami CF of Major League Soccer (MLS) and its MLS Next ...
in nearby
Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...
, temporarily until a stadium is built at
Miami Freedom Park Miami Freedom Park is a 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium currently under construction in Miami, Florida, United States. It is planned to be the home of Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF. In spring of 2022, final approval was given by th ...
.
Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...
is another professional soccer club that plays in the
USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...
second tier of the
United States soccer league system The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Although sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by a system o ...
. The Club plays its home matches at the FIU Stadium on the campus of
Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...
(FIU) in Miami. The
Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...
, one of the major bowl games in the
College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...
of the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
, is played at Hard Rock Stadium every winter. The stadium has also hosted the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
. The Miami metro area has hosted the game ten times, five times at the current Hard Rock Stadium and five at the
Miami Orange Bowl The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, from 1937 until 2008. The stadium was located in the Little Havana neighborhood west of Greater Downtown Miami, downtown Miami. The venue was considered a landmark and ser ...
, tying New Orleans for the most games. Miami is also the home of many college sports teams. The two largest are the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...
, whose
football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...
plays at
Hard Rock Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Southeastern United States, located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the Univers ...
and
Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...
Panthers, whose
football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...
plays at FIU Stadium. The Hurricanes compete in the
Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
(ACC), while the Panthers compete in the
Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...
of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
. Miami is home to
Paso Fino The Paso Fino is a naturally gaited light horse breed dating back to horses imported to the Caribbean from Spain. ''Pasos'' are prized for their smooth, natural, four-beat, lateral ambling gait; they are used in many disciplines, but are especi ...
horses. Competitions are held at Tropical Park Equestrian Center. Miami hosted the 2024 Copa América final in July 2024. Miami will serve as one of eleven U.S. host cities for the
2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's Association football, soccer championship contested by the List of men's n ...
. The following are the major professional sports teams in the Miami metropolitan area:


Beaches and parks

The City of Miami has various lands operated by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
, the Florida Division of Recreation and Parks, and the City of Miami Department of Parks and Recreation. Miami's tropical weather allows for year-round outdoor activities. Miami has numerous marinas, rivers, bays, canals, and the Atlantic Ocean, which make boating, canoeing, sailing, and fishing popular outdoor activities. Biscayne Bay has numerous
coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...
s that make
snorkeling Snorkeling (American and British English spelling differences#Doubled in British English, British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of human swimming, swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing ...
and
scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...
popular. There are over 80 parks and gardens in the city. The largest and most popular parks are Bayfront Park and Museum Park (located in the heart of
Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
and the location of the Miami-Dade Arena and
Bayside Marketplace Bayside Marketplace is a two-story open air shopping center located in Miami, Florida, United States. The center is situated on the banks of Biscayne Bay, with the City of Miami marina on one side. On January 1, 2024, a large police presence ...
), Tropical Park,
Peacock Park Peacock Park is a public, urban park where Indian peacocks roam in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida on the shore of Biscayne Bay. History Among the first permanent settlers in South Florida were grocers Charles and Isabella Peac ...
,
Virginia Key Virginia Key is an barrier island in Miami, Florida. It is located in Biscayne Bay south of Brickell and north of Key Biscayne and is accessible from the mainland via the Rickenbacker Causeway. The island is mainly occupied by the Virginia Ke ...
, and
Watson Island Watson Island is a neighborhood and man-made island in Biscayne Bay, in Miami, Florida. It is located Immediately east of the Central Business District and Arts & Entertainment District neighborhoods of downtown Miami and is connected to the m ...
. Other popular cultural destinations in or near Miami include
Zoo Miami The Miami-Dade Zoological Park and Gardens, also known as Zoo Miami, is a zoological park and garden in Miami and is the largest zoo in Florida. Originally established in 1948 at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Zoo Miami relocated in 1980 as Mia ...
,
Jungle Island Jungle Island, formerly Parrot Jungle, is a relaunched eco-adventure park on Watson Island (Miami), Watson Island, Miami, Florida, United States. The park re-opened following a series of major renovations after the park incurred damage from Hurr ...
, the
Miami Seaquarium The Miami Seaquarium is a oceanarium located on the island of Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay, Miami-Dade County, Florida located near downtown Miami. Founded in 1955, it is one of the oldest oceanariums in the United States. In addition to m ...
,
Monkey Jungle Monkey Jungle is a primatarium and zoological park located in South Miami, Florida. Established in 1933 by Joseph DuMond for the exhibition and study of endangered monkeys in semi-natural habitats after releasing 6 Java Macaques into a subtropica ...
,
Coral Castle Coral Castle is an oolite limestone structure created by the Latvian-American eccentric Edward Leedskalnin (1887–1951). It comprises numerous large stones, each weighing several tons, sculpted into a variety of shapes, including slab walls ...
, Charles Deering Estate,
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is an botanic garden with extensive collections of rare tropical plants including Arecaceae, palms, cycads, flowering trees, and vines. It is located in the city of Coral Gables, Florida, Coral Gables, Miami-D ...
, and
Key Biscayne Key Biscayne () is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies south of Miami Beach and sout ...
. In its 2020 ParkScore ranking,
The Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...
reported that the park system in the City of Miami was the 64th best park system among the 100 most populous U.S. cities, down slightly from 48th place in the 2017 ranking. The City of Miami was analyzed to have a median park size of 2.6 acres, park land as percent of city area of 6.5%, 87% of residents living within a 10-minute walk of a park, $48.39 spending per capita of park services, and 1.3 playgrounds per 10,000 residents.


Law and government

The government of the City of Miami uses the mayor-commissioner type of system. The city commission consists of five commissioners that are elected from single member districts. The city commission constitutes the governing body with powers to pass ordinances, adopt regulations, and exercise all powers conferred upon the city in the city charter. The mayor is elected at large and appoints a city manager. The City of Miami is governed by Mayor
Francis Suarez Francis Xavier Suarez ( ; born October 6, 1977) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 43rd List of mayors of Miami, mayor of Miami since 2017. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previousl ...
and 5 city commissioners that oversee the five districts in the city. The commission's regular meetings are held at
Miami City Hall Miami City Hall is the local government headquarters for the City of Miami, Florida. It has been located in the former Pan American Airlines Terminal Building on Dinner Key, which was designed by Delano & Aldrich and constructed in 1934 for th ...
, which is located at 3500 Pan American Drive on Dinner Key in the neighborhood of
Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as "The Grove", is an affluent and the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhoods of Miami, neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by North Prospect Driv ...
. In the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, Miami is represented by Republicans
Maria Elvira Salazar Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
and Mario Diaz-Balart, along with Democrat
Frederica Wilson Frederica Smith Wilson (born Frederica Patricia Smith, November 5, 1942) is an American politician who has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 2011, representing . Located in South Florida, Wilson's congressional dis ...
.


City Commission

#
Francis Suarez Francis Xavier Suarez ( ; born October 6, 1977) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 43rd List of mayors of Miami, mayor of Miami since 2017. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previousl ...
– Mayor of the City of Miami * Miguel Angel Gabela – Miami Commissioner, District 1 ::
Allapattah Allapattah is a neighborhood, located mostly in the city of Miami, Florida in metropolitan Miami. , the county-owned portion of Allapattah, from State Road 9 to LeJeune Road, is being annexed by the city proper. A stretch in the neighborhood ...
and
Grapeland Heights Grapeland Heights is a neighborhood in the city of Miami, Florida, United States. It is just east of Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international ...
* Damian Pardo – Miami Commissioner, District 2 ::
Arts & Entertainment District The Arts & Entertainment District, or previously known as Omni, is a neighborhood of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami, Florida. It is bound roughly by North 19th Street to the north, North 10th Street to the south, North West 2nd Avenue to ...
,
Brickell Brickell ( ) is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida, historically referenced at times as "Southside" (being south of the Miami River), located directly east of Interstate 95, south of the Miami River (Florida), Miami River, and north of Coconut Gr ...
,
Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as "The Grove", is an affluent and the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhoods of Miami, neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by North Prospect Driv ...
,
Coral Way Coral Way is a neighborhood within Miami, Florida that is defined by Coral Way (street), Coral Way, a road established by Coral Gables, Florida, Coral Gables founder George E. Merrick during the Florida land boom of the 1920s, 1920s. It is loca ...
,
Downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and ...
, Edgewater,
Midtown Miami Midtown Miami is the collective term for the Wynwood and Edgewater neighborhoods of Miami, Florida. It is located north of Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes co ...
, Park West and the South part
Upper Eastside The Upper Eastside (alternatively called East Side and commonly referred to as Northeast Miami) is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida. It is north of Edgewater, east of Little Haiti, south of the village of Miami Shores, and sits on Biscayne Ba ...
* Joe Carollo – Miami Commissioner, District 3 ::
Coral Way Coral Way is a neighborhood within Miami, Florida that is defined by Coral Way (street), Coral Way, a road established by Coral Gables, Florida, Coral Gables founder George E. Merrick during the Florida land boom of the 1920s, 1920s. It is loca ...
,
Little Havana Little Havana () is a Neighborhoods in Miami, neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the Capital (political), ...
and
The Roads The Roads is a neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is a triangular area located south of SW 11th Street, between SW 12th Avenue and SW 15th Road, just west of Brickell. The Roads is known for its old homes, historic private ...
* Manolo Reyes – Miami Commissioner, District 4 ::
Coral Way Coral Way is a neighborhood within Miami, Florida that is defined by Coral Way (street), Coral Way, a road established by Coral Gables, Florida, Coral Gables founder George E. Merrick during the Florida land boom of the 1920s, 1920s. It is loca ...
, Flagami and West Flagler * Christine King – Miami Commissioner, District 5 :: Buena Vista, Design District, Liberty City,
Little Haiti Little Haiti (, ), is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is known historically as Lemon City, Little River and Edison. It is home to Haitian immigrant residents, as well as residents from the rest of the Caribbean. The area i ...
, Little River, Lummus Park, Overtown, Spring Garden and Wynwood and northern part of the
Upper Eastside The Upper Eastside (alternatively called East Side and commonly referred to as Northeast Miami) is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida. It is north of Edgewater, east of Little Haiti, south of the village of Miami Shores, and sits on Biscayne Ba ...
* Arthur Noriega – City Manager * Victoria Méndez – City Attorney * Todd B. Hannon – City Clerk


Politics

For much of the 20th century, Miami and its surrounding area,
Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...
, were solidly Democratic, reflecting the city's diverse population and liberal political leanings. However, in recent election cycles, a notable shift has occurred. The 2020 presidential election marked a turning point, with Trump making substantial gains among Hispanic voters, especially within the Cuban-American community. This shift was reflected in Miami-Dade County, where Trump only lost the county by seven points and lost the city by 19 points, a 21 point shift to the right from 2016. Then in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election,
Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician, attorney, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the 46th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Pa ...
won the county for the first time for a Republican candidate since 2002 and only lost the city of Miami by one-and-a-half points. That trend continued in the 2024 presidential election in Florida, with Trump winning the county by eleven points, a rare occurrence for a Republican presidential candidate. This was the first time a Republican candidate had won Miami-Dade County since 1988, a major political transformation in what had traditionally been a Democratic stronghold.


Education


Colleges and universities

Miami-Dade County has over 200,000 students enrolled in local colleges and universities, placing it seventh in the nation in per capita university enrollment. In 2010, the city's four largest colleges and universities,
Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (MDC) is a public university, public college located in Miami, Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1959, MDC operates eight campuses and numerous outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade Count ...
,
Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...
,
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
, and
Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is located within the Archdiocese of Miami. Th ...
, graduated 28,000 students. Miami is also home to both for-profit and nonprofit organizations that offer a range of professional training and other, related educational programs. ''Per'' Scholas, for example is a nonprofit organization that offers free professional certification training directed towards successfully passing
CompTIA The Computing Technology Industry Association, more commonly known as CompTIA, is an American trade association that issues temporary vendor-neutral professional certifications for the information technology (IT) industry. Certifications All ce ...
A+ and Network+ certification exams as a route to securing jobs and building careers. Colleges and universities in and around Miami: *
Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is located within the Archdiocese of Miami. Th ...
,
Miami Shores Miami Shores or Miami Shores Village is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The village is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,567, up from 10,493 in 2010. History By the early ...
*
Broward College Broward College is a public college based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Miramar, Florida, Pembroke Pines, Florida and Davie, Florida. It is a member of the Florida College System, and offers several associate and baccalaureate degree programs. H ...
,
Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...
*
Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university is a member of the State University System of Florida and has s ...
,
Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. Many people with a Boca Raton Address, ...
*
Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...
, University Park *
Florida Memorial University Florida Memorial University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black college in Miami Gardens, Florida. Founded as the Florida Baptist Institute, today it claims a focus on broader Christ ...
,
Miami Gardens Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb of Miami and located north of downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from I-95 and Northeast 2nd Avenue to its east to Northwest 47th ...
* Keiser University,
Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...
*
Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (MDC) is a public university, public college located in Miami, Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1959, MDC operates eight campuses and numerous outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade Count ...
, Miami *
Miami International University of Art & Design Miami International University of Art & Design (formerly the International Fine Arts College) was a private, for-profit art school in Miami, Florida. It was owned and operated by the non-profit Education Principle Foundation (aka Colbeck Foundat ...
*
Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a Private university, private research university in Florida with its main campus in Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida, Davie, Florida, United States. The university consists of 14 colleges, offering over ...
, Davie * Palm Beach Atlantic University,
West Palm Beach West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...
* Palm Beach State College, Lake Worth Beach * St. Thomas University,
Miami Gardens Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb of Miami and located north of downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from I-95 and Northeast 2nd Avenue to its east to Northwest 47th ...
*
Southeastern College Southeastern College is a private institution of higher learning with campuses in Miami Lakes, Florida, Miami Lakes and West Palm Beach, Florida. Southeastern College is institutionally accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schoo ...
,
West Palm Beach West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...
*
Talmudic University of Florida Yeshiva V'Kollel Beis Moshe Chaim is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox yeshiva and a kollel located in Miami Beach, Florida. Its rosh yeshiva is Rabbi Yochanan Zweig, an alumnus of Ner Israel Rabbinical College. It is also known as the ''Talmudic Uni ...
,
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
* University of Fort Lauderdale, Lauderhill *
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
,
Coral Gables Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Cora ...


Primary and secondary schools

Public schools in Miami are governed by
Miami-Dade County Public Schools Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is the public school district serving Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida. Founded in 1885, it is the largest school district in Florida, the largest in the South ...
, which is the largest school district in Florida and the fourth-largest in the United States. In September 2008 it had a student enrollment of 385,655 and over 392 schools and centers. The district is the largest minority public school system in the country, with 60% of its students being of Hispanic origin, 28%
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
West Indian American Caribbean Americans or West Indian Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to the West Indies in particular or Caribbean in general. Caribbean Americans are a multi-ethnic and multi-racial group that trace their ancestry further in tim ...
, 10% White (non-Hispanic) and 2% non-white of other minorities. The Miami city limits is home to several key high schools:
Design and Architecture High School Design and Architecture Senior High School (DASH) is a magnet secondary school in the heart of the Design District in Miami, Florida, United States. '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked DASH as the 15th best public high school in the nation i ...
, ranked seventh highest on the "Gold Medal" by list '' US News and World Report'', MAST Academy, Coral Reef High School, and the
New World School of the Arts The New World School of the Arts (NWSA) is a public magnet high school and college in Downtown Miami, Florida. Its dual-enrollment programs in the visual and performing arts are organized into four strands: visual arts, dance, theatre (comprising ...
. M-DCPS is also one of a few public school districts in the United States to offer optional
bilingual education In bilingual education, students are taught in two (or more) languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The t ...
in Spanish, French, German,
Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; , ; , ), or simply Creole (), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it ...
, and
Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...
. Miami is home to several well-known Roman Catholic, Jewish and non-denominational private schools. The
Archdiocese of Miami The Archdiocese of Miami (, , ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in South Florida in the United States. It is the metropolitan see for the Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Miami, Ecclesiastical Province of Miami, which ...
operates the area's Catholic private schools, which include Immaculata-Lasalle High School (in the Miami city limits), St. Theresa School (Coral Gables), Monsignor Edward Pace High School (Miami Gardens), and St. Brendan High School (in Westchester), among numerous other Catholic elementary and high schools. Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School was in the Miami city limits until its closure in 2016. Catholic preparatory schools operated by religious orders in the area are
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School Belen Jesuit Preparatory School ( Spanish: ''Colegio Preparatorio Jesuita Belén'') is a private, Catholic, all-male, preparatory school run by the Antilles Province of the Society of Jesus in Tamiami, Page 1anPage 2/ref> unincorporated Mi ...
(Tamiami) and Christopher Columbus High School (Westchester) for boys and
Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart is a Catholic college preparatory day school for girls, founded in 1961 in Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida. Description Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart was founded in 1961. Its oldest building, El Jar ...
(Miami city limits) and
Our Lady of Lourdes Academy Our Lady of Lourdes Academy is a Catholic all-girls high school in the unincorporated community of Ponce-Davis in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It has been managed by the Immaculate Heart of Mary since its 1963 foundation. In 200 ...
(Ponce-Davis) for girls. Non-denominational private schools in Miami are Ransom Everglades,
Gulliver Preparatory School Gulliver Preparatory School or simply Gulliver Prep, is a private co-educational school. Its management offices are in Kendall, Florida, a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Its previous administrative offices were in Coral ...
, The Cushman School, and Miami Country Day School. Other schools in the area include Samuel Scheck Hillel Community Day School,
Dade Christian School Dade Christian School is a private school, private Christian school that enrolls kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade students in Country Club, Florida, Miami, Florida. The school was founded as a segregation academy in response to the ...
, Dawere International High School,
Palmer Trinity School Palmer Trinity School is an independent, college-preparatory, coeducational Episcopal day school located on 60 acres in Palmetto Bay, Florida (a Miami suburb). The school currently enrolls 800 students in grades 6–12. Palmer Trinity is the ...
, Westminster Christian School, and Riviera Schools.


Supplementary education

The
Miami Hoshuko is a hoshuko, supplementary Japanese school in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It holds classes in the First Baptist Church of Coral Park () in Westchester, Florida, Westchester, and it has its office in Doral, Florida, Doral.
, is a part-time Japanese school for Japanese citizens and ethnic Japanese people in the area. Previously it was located on
Virginia Key Virginia Key is an barrier island in Miami, Florida. It is located in Biscayne Bay south of Brickell and north of Key Biscayne and is accessible from the mainland via the Rickenbacker Causeway. The island is mainly occupied by the Virginia Ke ...
, at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Currently the school holds classes in Westchester and has offices in Doral."


Media

Miami has one of the largest television markets in the nation and the second largest in the state of Florida after
Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...
. Miami has several major newspapers, the main and largest newspaper being ''
The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe countie ...
''. ''
El Nuevo Herald ''El Nuevo Herald'' is a newspaper published daily in Spanish in Southeast Florida, United States. Its headquarters is in Doral. ''El Nuevo Heralds sister paper is the ''Miami Herald'', also produced by the McClatchy Company. About ''el Nuevo ...
'' is the major and largest Spanish-language newspaper. ''The Miami Herald'' and ''El Nuevo Herald'' are Miami's and South Florida's main, major and largest newspapers. The papers left their longtime home in Downtown Miami in 2013. The newspapers are now headquartered at the former home of
U.S. Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral in Greater Miami, Florida, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning, ope ...
in Doral. Other major newspapers include ''
Miami Today ''Miami Today'' is a weekly newspaper headquartered in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida. The newspaper reports on business, government and civic life in Miami-Dade County commentating on the economy, real estate and development, ...
'', headquartered in Brickell, ''
Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami metropolitan area, and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired ...
'', headquartered in Midtown, ''
Miami SunPost ''The Miami SunPost'' was a free weekly community-style newspaper published in Miami, Florida, and distributed in a print edition and an on-line edition every Thursday. The paper covered local news, politics, business, culture, society, and the ...
'', '' South Florida Business Journal'', and '' The Miami Times''. An additional Spanish-language newspaper, ''
Diario Las Americas Diario (Italian, Spanish "Diary") and ''El Diario'' (Spanish, "The Daily") may refer to: Newspapers, periodicals and websites :''Alphabetical by country'' * ''El Diario'' (Argentina) * ''Diario'' (Aruba) * ''El Diario'' (La Paz), Bolivia *'' Diari ...
'' also serves Miami. Student newspapers from the local universities include the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
's ''
The Miami Hurricane ''The Miami Hurricane'' is the official student newspaper at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. Founded in 1929, ''The Miami Hurricane'' is published each Tuesday with timely online updates daily by a staff of mostly undergraduat ...
'',
Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...
's '' The Beacon'',
Miami-Dade College Miami Dade College (MDC) is a public college located in Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1959, MDC operates eight campuses and numerous outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest institution in the Florida Colle ...
's ''The Metropolis'', and
Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is located within the Archdiocese of Miami. Th ...
's ''The Buccaneer''. Many neighborhoods and neighboring areas have their own local newspapers, such as the ''Aventura News'', ''Coral Gables Tribune'', ''Biscayne Bay Tribune'', ''Biscayne Times'', and the ''Palmetto Bay News''. A number of magazines circulate throughout the greater Miami area, including ''
Miami Monthly ''Miami Monthly'' was a South Florida, Southeast Florida's city/regional magazine, publishing news and information on the people, politics, life, culture and Style (visual arts), style of the greater Miami area. According to its website, the Mi ...
'', Southeast Florida's only city/regional, and '' Ocean Drive'', a hot-spot social scene glossy. Miami is the headquarters and main production city of many of the world's largest television networks, record label companies, broadcasting companies and production facilities, such as
Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...
,
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...
,
Univision Communications TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American mass media, media company headquartered in Miami and Mexico City that owns American Spanish language broadcast network Univision and free-to-air channels in Mex ...
, Mega TV,
Universal Music Latin Entertainment Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group, is a record company specialized in producing and distributing Latin music in Mexico, the United States, and Puerto Rico. UMLE includes famous Latin music labels such as Uni ...
,
RCTV International RCTV International (formerly known as Coral Pictures or Coral International) is a subsidiary of Empresas 1BC. It was formed in Miami, Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region o ...
and
Sunbeam Television Sunbeam Television Corporation is a privately held broadcasting company based in Miami, Florida, that owns three television stations in the United States. Since the company's founding in 1953, it has been under the control of the Ansin family. ...
. In 2009, Univision announced plans to build a new production studio in Miami, dubbed Univision Studios. Univision Studios is headquartered in Miami, and will produce programming for all of Univision Communications' television networks. Miami is the twelfth largest radio market and the seventeenth largest television market in the United States. Television stations serving the Miami area include WAMI (
UniMás UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. ...
O&O), WBFS (
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
), WSFL (
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
), WFOR (
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
O&O),
WHFT WHFT-TV (channel 45) is a religious television station in Miami, Florida, United States, owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The station's studios and broadcast transmitter, transmitter are located at the Lakeside Park ...
( TBN),
WLTV WLTV-DT (channel 23) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, serving as the local Univision outlet. It is one of two flagship stations of the Spanish-language network (the other being WXTV-DT in the New York City market). W ...
(
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...
O&O),
WPLG WPLG (channel 10) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by Berkshire Hathaway as its sole broadcast property. WPLG's studios are located on West Hallandale Beach Boulevard in Pembro ...
( ABC),
WPXM WPXM-TV (channel 35) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, serving as the market's Ion Television outlet. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company alongside independent station WSFL ...
(
Ion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...
),
WSCV WSCV (channel 51) is a television station licensed to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, serving as the Telemundo outlet for the Miami area. It is one of two flagship stations of the Spanish-language network (the other being WNJU in the ...
(
Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...
),
WSVN WSVN (channel 7) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Serving as the flagship station of locally based Sunbeam Television, it has studios on the 79th Street Causeway in North Bay Villag ...
(
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
),
WTVJ WTVJ (channel 6) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Fort Lauderdale–licensed WSCV (channel 51), a flag ...
(
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
O&O), WPBT (
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
), and WLRN (also PBS).


Transportation

In the 2016
American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
, 72.3% of working city of Miami residents commuted by driving alone, 8.7% carpooled, 9% used public transportation, and 3.7% walked. About 1.8% used all other forms of transportation, including taxicab, motorcycle, and bicycle. About 4.5% of working city of Miami residents worked at home. In 2015, 19.9% of city of Miami households were without a car, which decreased to 18.6% in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Miami averaged 1.24 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8 per household.


Expressways and roads

Miami's road system is based along the numerical Miami grid where
Flagler Street Flagler Street is a main east–west road in Miami. Flagler Street is the latitudinal baseline that divides all the streets on the Miami-Dade County grid plan as north or south streets (the east-west division is along Miami Avenue). Fla ...
forms the east–west baseline and
Miami Avenue Miami Avenue is a main north–south street running through Coconut Grove, Brickell, Downtown, and Midtown in Miami, Florida. It is the meridian road dividing the street grid of Miami and Miami-Dade County into east and west avenues. Route ...
forms the north–south meridian. The corner of Flagler Street and Miami Avenue is in the middle of Downtown in front of the Downtown
Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...
(formerly the
Burdine's Burdines was an American department store chain founded in 1898 by William M. and John Burdine. It operated exclusively in Florida, with its flagship store and headquarters both located in Miami. It evolved from a carriage-trade shop into a ful ...
headquarters). The Miami grid is primarily numerical so that, for example, all street addresses north of Flagler Street and west of Miami Avenue have "NW" in their address. Because its point of origin is in Downtown, which is close to the coast, the "NW" and "SW" quadrants are much larger than the "SE" and "NE" quadrants. Many roads, especially major ones, are also named (e.g., Tamiami Trail/SW 8th St), although, with exceptions, the number is in more common usage among locals. With few exceptions, within this grid north–south roads are designated as Courts, Roads, Avenues or Places (often remembered by their acronym), while east–west roads are streets, Terraces, Drives or occasionally Ways. Major roads in each direction are located at one mile intervals. There are 16 blocks to each mile on north–south avenues, and 10 blocks to each mile on east–west streets. Major north–south avenues generally end in "7" – e.g., 17th, 27th, 37th/Douglas Aves., 57th/Red Rd., 67th/Ludlam, 87th/Galloway, etc., all the way west beyond 177th/Krome Avenue. One prominent exception is 42nd Avenue, LeJeune Road, located at the half-mile point instead. Major east–west streets to the south of Downtown are multiples of 16, though the beginning point of this system is at SW 8th St, one half-mile south of Flagler ("zeroth") Street. Thus, major streets are at 8th St., 24th St./Coral Way, 40th St./Bird, 56th/Miller, 72nd/ Sunset, 88th/N. Kendall, 104th (originally S. Kendall), 120th/Montgomery, 136th/Howard, 152nd/Coral Reef, 168th/Richmond, 184th/Eureka, 200th/Quail Roost, 216th/Hainlin Mill, 232nd/Silver Palm, 248th/Coconut Palm, etc., well into the 300s. Within the grid, odd-numbered addresses are generally on the north or east side, and even-numbered addresses are on the south or west side. All streets and avenues in
Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...
follow the Miami grid, with a few exceptions, most notably in
Coral Gables Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Cora ...
,
Hialeah Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Dade County in the Miami met ...
, Coconut Grove and
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
. One neighborhood,
The Roads The Roads is a neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is a triangular area located south of SW 11th Street, between SW 12th Avenue and SW 15th Road, just west of Brickell. The Roads is known for its old homes, historic private ...
, is named as such because its streets run off the Miami grid at a 45-degree angle, and therefore are all named roads.
Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...
is served by four Interstate Highways (
I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end ...
,
I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...
, I-195, I-395) and several U.S. Highways including U.S. Route 1, U.S. Route 27, U.S. Route 41, and U.S. Route 441.
Some of the major Florida State Roads (and their common names) serving Miami are: * SR 112 (Airport Expressway):
Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...
to MIA *
Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike The Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (HEFT), designated as unsigned State Road 821 (SR 821), is the southern extension of Florida's Turnpike, a controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of Florida maintained by Florida's T ...
(SR 821):
Florida's Turnpike Florida's Turnpike, designated as unsigned highway, unsigned State Road 91 (SR 91), is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE). Spanning approximate ...
mainline (SR 91)/
Miami Gardens Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb of Miami and located north of downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from I-95 and Northeast 2nd Avenue to its east to Northwest 47th ...
to U.S. Route 1/ Florida City * SR 826 (Palmetto Expressway):
Golden Glades Interchange The Golden Glades Interchange, located in Miami Gardens and North Miami Beach, Florida, United States, is the confluence of six major roads serving eastern and southern Florida. It is named after the original name of North 167th Street, Gold ...
to U.S. Route 1/ Pinecrest * SR 836 (Dolphin Expressway): Downtown to SW 137th Ave via MIA * SR 874 (Don Shula Expressway): 826/Bird Road to Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike/ Kendall * SR 878 (Snapper Creek Expressway): SR 874/ Kendall to U.S. Route 1/Pinecrest &
South Miami South Miami is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 12,026 as of the 2020 census. History South Florida had been roamed by Native Americans ( ...
* SR 924 (Gratigny Parkway) Miami Lakes to Opa-locka Miami has six major
causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...
s that span over Biscayne Bay connecting the western mainland, with the eastern barrier islands along the Atlantic Ocean. The Rickenbacker Causeway is the southernmost causeway and connects Brickell to
Virginia Key Virginia Key is an barrier island in Miami, Florida. It is located in Biscayne Bay south of Brickell and north of Key Biscayne and is accessible from the mainland via the Rickenbacker Causeway. The island is mainly occupied by the Virginia Ke ...
and
Key Biscayne Key Biscayne () is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies south of Miami Beach and sout ...
. The
Venetian Causeway The Venetian Causeway crosses Biscayne Bay between Miami on the mainland and Miami Beach on a barrier island in the Miami metropolitan area. The man-made Venetian Islands and non-bridge portions of the causeway were created by materials wh ...
and
MacArthur Causeway The General Douglas MacArthur Causeway is a six-lane causeway that connects Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami to South Beach via Biscayne Bay in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County. The highway is the singular roadway connecting ...
connect
Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
with
South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...
. The
Julia Tuttle Causeway Julia may refer to: People *Julia (given name), including a list of people with the name *Julia (surname), including a list of people with the name *Julia gens, a patrician family of Ancient Rome *Julia (clairvoyant) (fl. 1689), lady's maid of Qu ...
connects Midtown and
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
. The 79th Street Causeway connects the
Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...
with North Beach. The northernmost causeway, the Broad Causeway, is the smallest of Miami's six causeways and connects
North Miami North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University. Originally the "Town of A ...
to
Bay Harbor Islands Bay Harbor Islands is a town in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The town is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. It is separated from the mainland by Biscayne Bay. The population was 5,922 at the 2020 US census. Histo ...
and
Bal Harbour Bal Harbour is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The village is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 3,093 at the 2020 US Census. History Since the 1920s, the Detroit-based Miami Beach Heights Corpo ...
. In 2007, Miami was identified as having the rudest drivers in the United States, the second year in a row to have been cited, in a poll commissioned by automobile club AutoVantage. Miami is also consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States for pedestrians.


Public transportation

Public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...
in Miami is operated by
Miami-Dade Transit Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) is the primary public transit authority of Miami, Florida and the greater Miami-Dade County area. It is the largest transit system in Florida and the 15th-largest transit system in the United States. As of , the system ...
and SFRTA, and includes
commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
(
Tri-Rail Tri-Rail is a commuter rail service linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida, United States. The ''Tri'' prefix in the name refers to the three counties served by the railroad: Palm Beach County, Palm Beach, Broward Count ...
), heavy-rail
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
(
Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the List ...
), an elevated
people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small-scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks ...
(
Metromover Metromover is a fare-free automated people mover system operated by Miami-Dade Transit in Miami, Florida, United States. Metromover serves the Downtown Miami, Brickell, Park West and Arts & Entertainment District neighborhoods. Metromover con ...
), and buses ( Metrobus). Miami has Florida's highest transit ridership as about 17% of Miamians use transit on a daily basis. The average Miami public transit commute on weekdays is 90 minutes, while 39% of public transit riders commute for more than 2 hours a day. The average wait time at a public transit stop or station is 18 minutes, while 37% of riders wait for more than 20 minutes on average every day. The average single trip distance with public transit is , while 38% travel more than in each direction. Miami's heavy-rail rapid transit system,
Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the List ...
, is an elevated system comprising two lines and 23 stations on a -long line. Metrorail connects the urban western suburbs of
Hialeah Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Dade County in the Miami met ...
, Medley, and inner-city Miami with suburban
The Roads The Roads is a neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is a triangular area located south of SW 11th Street, between SW 12th Avenue and SW 15th Road, just west of Brickell. The Roads is known for its old homes, historic private ...
,
Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as "The Grove", is an affluent and the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhoods of Miami, neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by North Prospect Driv ...
,
Coral Gables Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Cora ...
,
South Miami South Miami is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 12,026 as of the 2020 census. History South Florida had been roamed by Native Americans ( ...
, and urban Kendall via the central business districts of
Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...
, the Health District, and Downtown. A free, elevated
people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small-scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks ...
,
Metromover Metromover is a fare-free automated people mover system operated by Miami-Dade Transit in Miami, Florida, United States. Metromover serves the Downtown Miami, Brickell, Park West and Arts & Entertainment District neighborhoods. Metromover con ...
, operates 21 stations on three different lines in greater Downtown Miami, with a station at roughly every two blocks of Downtown and Brickell. Several expansion projects are being funded by a transit development sales tax surcharge throughout Miami-Dade County.
Tri-Rail Tri-Rail is a commuter rail service linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida, United States. The ''Tri'' prefix in the name refers to the three counties served by the railroad: Palm Beach County, Palm Beach, Broward Count ...
, a commuter rail system operated by the
South Florida Regional Transportation Authority South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), based in Pompano Beach, Florida, provides public transport services in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. The organization was created on July 1, 2003, by the Florida Legisla ...
(SFRTA), runs from
Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...
northward to
West Palm Beach West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...
, making eighteen stops throughout
Miami-Dade Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous count ...
, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. The
Miami Intermodal Center Miami Intermodal Center (MIC) is an intermodal passenger transport, intermodal rapid transit, commuter rail, local bus, and intercity bus transportation hub in Miami-Dade County, Florida, just outside the Miami city limits near the Grapeland ...
is a massive transportation hub servicing
Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the List ...
,
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
,
Tri-Rail Tri-Rail is a commuter rail service linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida, United States. The ''Tri'' prefix in the name refers to the three counties served by the railroad: Palm Beach County, Palm Beach, Broward Count ...
,
Brightline Brightline (reporting mark BLFX) is an intercity rail route in the United States that runs between Miami and Orlando, Florida. Part of the route runs on track owned and shared by the Florida East Coast Railway. Brightline is the only privat ...
, Metrobus,
Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...
,
taxis A taxis (; : taxes ) is the motility, movement of an organism in response to a Stimulus (physiology), stimulus such as light or the presence of food. Taxes are innate behavioural responses. A taxis differs from a tropism (turning response, often ...
, rental cars,
MIA Mover The MIA Mover is an automated people mover (APM) system which opened at the Miami International Airport (MIA) in metropolitan Miami, Florida, United States on September 9, 2011. The MIA Mover is designed to quickly transport landside passenge ...
, private automobiles, bicycles and pedestrians adjacent to Miami International Airport. Miami Intermodal Center was completed in 2010, and is serving about 150,000 commuters and travelers in the Miami area. Phase I of
MiamiCentral MiamiCentral is a train station in Miami, Florida. Located in Downtown Miami, the station provides access to the Brightline inter-city rail service and the Tri-Rail commuter rail service. The station is part of a mixed-use complex, which ...
Station was completed in 2012, and the Tri-Rail part of Phase II was completed in 2015, but the construction of the Amtrak part remains delayed. Two new light rail systems, Baylink and the Miami Streetcar, have been proposed and are currently in the planning stage. BayLink would connect Downtown with
South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...
, and the Miami Streetcar would connect Downtown with Midtown. Miami is the southern terminus of
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's Atlantic Coast services, running two lines, the
Silver Meteor The ''Silver Meteor'' is a Long-distance Amtrak routes, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Miami, Florida. Introduced in 1939 as the first diesel-powered streamliner between New York and Florida, it was t ...
and the
Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...
, both terminating in New York City. The Miami Amtrak Station is located in the suburb of
Hialeah Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Dade County in the Miami met ...
near the Tri-Rail/Metrorail Station on NW 79 St and NW 38 Ave. Current construction of the Miami Central Station will move all Amtrak operations from its current out-of-the-way location to a centralized location with
Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the List ...
,
MIA Mover The MIA Mover is an automated people mover (APM) system which opened at the Miami International Airport (MIA) in metropolitan Miami, Florida, United States on September 9, 2011. The MIA Mover is designed to quickly transport landside passenge ...
,
Tri-Rail Tri-Rail is a commuter rail service linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida, United States. The ''Tri'' prefix in the name refers to the three counties served by the railroad: Palm Beach County, Palm Beach, Broward Count ...
,
Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...
, and the
Miami Intermodal Center Miami Intermodal Center (MIC) is an intermodal passenger transport, intermodal rapid transit, commuter rail, local bus, and intercity bus transportation hub in Miami-Dade County, Florida, just outside the Miami city limits near the Grapeland ...
all within the same station closer to Downtown. The station was expected to be completed by 2012, but experienced several delays and was later expected to be completed in late 2014, again pushed back to early 2015.


Airports

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...
serves as the primary international airport of the Greater Miami Area. One of the busiest international airports in the world because of its centric location, Miami International Airport caters to over 45 million passengers a year. The airport is a major hub and the largest international gateway for
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
. Miami International is the second busiest airport by passenger traffic in Florida, the United States' third-largest international port of entry for foreign air passengers, behind New York's
John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is ...
and
Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its Greater Los Angeles, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westcheste ...
. The airport's extensive international route network includes non-stop flights to over seventy international cities in North and
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
,
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
,
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
,
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
, and the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. Nearby
Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport is a major public airport located in Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States, roughly southwest of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale and north of Mi ...
and Palm Beach International Airport also serve commercial traffic in the Miami area. Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport in Opa-locka and Miami Executive Airport in an unincorporated area southwest of Miami serve general aviation traffic in the Miami area.


Cycling and walking

The city government under former mayor Manny Diaz took an ambitious stance in support of
bicycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of bicycle pedal, pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the ...
in Miami for both recreation and commuting. In 2010, Miami was ranked as the 44th-most bike-friendly city in the U.S., according to ''
Bicycling Magazine ''Bicycling'' is a cycling magazine published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania. __TOC__ History ''Bicycling'' started in 1961 as ''Northern California Cycling Association Newsletter'', a four-page mimeographed newsletter (8 ½ x 14) starte ...
''. A 2011 study by
Walk Score Walk Score, a subsidiary of Redfin, provides walkability analysis and apartment search tools. Its flagship product is a large-scale, public access walkability index that assigns a numerical walkability score to any address in the United States, U ...
ranked Miami the eighth-most walkable of the 50 largest cities in the U.S.


Public safety


International relations


Sister cities

*
Agadir Agadir (, ; ) is a major List of cities in Morocco, city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River, Souss River flows into the ocean, and south of Casabla ...
, Morocco (since 1995) *
El Jadida El Jadida (, ) is a major port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, located south of the city of Casablanca, in the province of El Jadida and the region of Casablanca-Settat. It has a population of 170,956 as of 2023. The fortified city, b ...
, Morocco (since 1995) *
Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...
, Colombia (since 2015) *
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
, Colombia (since 1971) *
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, Argentina (since 1979) *
Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...
, Japan (since 1990) *
Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...
, Taiwan (since 1987) *
Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
, Peru (since 1977) *
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, Spain (since 2014) *
Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...
, Spain (since 1993) * Nice, France (since 1986) * Palermo, Italy (since 1997) * Qingdao, China (since 2005) * Salvador, Bahia, Salvador, Brazil (since 2006) * San Salvador, El Salvador (since 1991) * Santiago, Chile (since 1986) * Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (since 1987) * Southampton, United Kingdom (since 2019)


Cooperation agreements

* Lisbon, Portugal * Yeruham, Israel


Notable people


Notes


References


Further reading

* Elizabeth M. Aranda, Sallie Hughes, and Elena Sabogal, ''Making a Life in Multiethnic Miami: Immigration and the Rise of a Global City.'' Boulder, Colorado: Renner, 2014.


External links


City of Miami – official site

Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau
{{Portal bar, Florida, Geography, United States, North America, Cities Miami, 1825 establishments in Florida Territory Cities in Florida Cities in Miami-Dade County, Florida Cities in Miami metropolitan area County seats in Florida Populated coastal places in Florida on the Atlantic Ocean Populated places established in 1825 Port cities and towns of the Florida Atlantic coast Seaside resorts in Florida