Miami is in the southeastern Florida, on Biscayne Bay. Miami Beach, 3.5 miles to the east, is on the Atlantic Ocean. New York City is 1,340 miles north and Los Angeles 2,820 miles northwest. The explorer Aviles was the first to visit the region, in 1567, but little effort was made toward a permanent settlement until 1836.
Henry Flagler extended the railroad from Palm Beach south to Miami in 1895, and the town began to grow shortly thereafter. Durnig the 1920s Miami had a runaway real-estate boom that subsequently collapsed. The past years, however, have seen a phenomenal growth of both the permanent and transient populations and the building of dozens of new and luxurious hotels in Miami Beach.
Miami and Miami Beach have become the tourist center not only of Florida, but probably of the entire nation. The summer finds almost as many people occupying the same rooms for a fraction of their wintertime rates. Latin Americans regard Miami as a summer resort, and all hotels have Spanish-speking personnel. Miami, no longer a winter resort exclusively, is busy the year round.
Greater Miami consists of Metropolitan and 26 municipalities with an area of 111.8 square miles within a radius of 35 miles of the center of Miami. These include such communities as Miami Beach, Miami Springs, North Miami, South Miami, Golden Beach, Surfside, Coral Gables, Hialeah, Miami Shores, and Opa Locka. The main business and shopping district of Miami is concentrated in a one-mile area; the various municipalities have their own shopping sections. Manufacturing and industry are principally in the northwest section, near Hialeah and Opa Locka.
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