Miami is a global city in southeastern Florida, in the United States.
Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county
in Florida. Miami is the largest city within the Miami metropolitan
area, which is the seventh-largest metro area in the United States with
over 5.4 million residents. The Miami Urbanized Area was the fifth most
populous urbanized area in the U.S. in the 2000 census with a population
of 4,919,036. The United Nations estimated that in 2007, Miami had
become the fourth largest urbanized area in the country, behind New York
City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
The Miami area was first inhabited for more than one thousand years by
the Tequesta Indians, but was later claimed for Spain in 1566 by Pedro
Menéndez de Avilés. A Spanish mission was constructed one year later in
1567. In 1836, Fort Dallas was built, and the Miami area subsequently became a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War.

Miami is partitioned into many different sections, roughly into North,
South, West and Downtown. The heart of the city is Downtown Miami and is
technically on the eastern side of the city. This area includes
Brickell, Virginia Key, Watson Island, and the Port of Miami. Downtown is South Florida’s central business district, and home of many major banks, financial headquarters, cultural and tourist attractions, and high-rise residential towers.

The southern side of Miami includes Coral Way and Coconut Grove. Coral
Way is a historic residential neighborhood built in 1922 connecting
Downtown with Coral Gables, and is home to many old homes and tree-lined
streets. Coconut Grove was established in 1825 and is the location of
Miami’s City Hall in Dinner Key, the Coconut Grove Playhouse,
CocoWalk, many nightclubs, bars, restaurants and bohemian shops, and as
such, is very popular with local college students. It is a historic
neighborhood with many parks and gardens such as Villa Vizcaya, The
Kampong, The Barnacle Historic State Park, and home of the Coconut Grove Convention Center, many of the country’s most prestigious private schools, and numerous historic homes and estates.

The western side of Miami includes Little Havana, West Flagler, and
Flagami, and is home to many of the city’s traditionally immigrant
neighborhoods. Although at one time a mostly Jewish neighborhood, today
western Miami is home to immigrants from mostly Central America and
Cuba, while the west central neighborhood of Allapattah is a
multicultural community of many ethnicities.
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 second-largest
performing arts center in the United States after the Lincoln Center in New York City,
and is the home of the Florida Grand Opera. In it, is the Ziff Ballet
Opera House, the center’s largest venue, the Knight Concert Hall, the
Carnival Studio Theater and the Peacock Rehearsal Studio. The center
attracts many large scale operas, ballets, concerts, and musicals from
around the world and is Florida’s grandest performing arts center. Other
performing arts venues in Miami include the Gusman Center for the
Performing Arts, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Colony Theatre, Lincoln Theatre, New World Symphony House, Actor’s Playhouse
at the Miracle Theatre, Jackie Gleason Theatre, Manuel Artime Theater,
Ring Theatre, Playground Theatre, Wertheim Performing Arts Center, the
Fair Expo Center and the Bayfront Park Amphitheater for outdoor music
events.

The city is home to numerous museums as well, many of which are in
Downtown. These include the Bass Museum, Frost Art Museum, Historical
Museum of Southern Florida, Jewish Museum of Florida, Lowe Art Museum,
Miami Art Museum, Miami Children’s Museum, Miami Science Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Wolfsonian-FIU Museum and the Miami Cultural Center, home of the Main Miami Library. Other popular cultural
destinations in the area include Jungle Island, Miami MetroZoo, Miami
Seaquarium, and parks and gardens in and around the city; there are over
80 parks in Miami. The largest and most popular parks are Bayfront Park
and Bicentennial Park, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Tropical
Park, Watson Island, Morningside Park and Key Biscayne.
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