Fort Lauderdale

Sister cities

• Kaohsiung
• Gold Coast
• Mar del Plata
• Medellín
• Belo Horizonte
• Haifa
• La Romana
• Rimini
• Panama City
• Quepos
• Agogo
• Margarita Island

History

The area of present-day Fort Lauderdale was inhabited for at least 2,000 years by Indigenous peoples associated with the Tequesta culture. Contact with Spanish explorers in the 16th century contributed to the decline of Native populations in South Florida through the introduction of Eurasian diseases, including smallpox, to which Indigenous communities had little immunity. Disease, warfare, and regional displacement contributed to the decline of the Tequesta and neighboring peoples over the following two centuries. The area was then incorporated within the Spanish Empire during the 16th century. By 1763, Native populations in South Florida had been greatly reduced, and surviving groups were reported to have migrated to Cuba when Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain under the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years' War. Florida remained under British control until 1783, when Spain regained Florida with the Treaty of Paris (1783) that followed the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War. The area remained sparsely settled until the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Before the city developed, the area was commonly known as the "New River Settlement". In the 1830s, there were approximately 70 settlers living along the New River. William Cooley, the local Justice of the Peace, was a farmer and wrecker, who traded with the Seminole Indians. On January 6, 1836, while Cooley was leading an attempt to salvage a wrecked ship, a band of Seminoles attacked his farm, killing his wife and children, and the children's tutor. The other farms in the settlement were not attacked, but all the white residents in the area abandoned the settlement, fleeing first to the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne, and then to Key West. The first United States stockade…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and of which is water (9.87%). Fort Lauderdale is known for its extensive network of canals; there are of waterways within the city limits. The city of Fort Lauderdale is adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, includes of beaches, and borders the following municipalities: On its east: * Lauderdale-by-the-Sea * Sea Ranch Lakes On its south: * Hollywood * Dania Beach On its southwest: * Davie On its west: * Plantation * Lauderhill * Lauderdale Lakes On its northwest: * North Lauderdale * Oakland Park * Tamarac On its north: * Wilton Manors * Pompano Beach The northwestern section of Fort Lauderdale is separate from the remainder of the city, connected only by the Cypress Creek Canal as it flows under I-95. This section of Fort Lauderdale borders the cities of Tamarac and Oakland Park on its south side. Oakland Park also borders Fort Lauderdale on the west side of its northeastern portion. The greater portion of Fort Lauderdale in the south is bordered, along its north side by Wilton Manors. Off the coast of Fort Lauderdale is the Osborne Reef, an artificial reef made of discarded tires that has proven to be an ecological disaster. The dumping began in the 1960s, with the intent of providing habitat for fish, while disposing of trash from the land. However, in the rugged and corrosive environment of the ocean, nylon straps used to secure the tires wore out, cables rusted, and tires broke free. The tires posed a particular threat after breaking free from their restraints. The tires then migrated shoreward, and ran into a living reef tract, washed up on its slope, and killed many things in their path. In recent years, thousands of tires have also washed up on nearby beaches,…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  19,029
• Species 2482593

  Species 2482593
  18,165
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,695
• Boat-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus major Vieillot, 1819 · Aves
  12,282
• White Ibis

  Eudocimus albus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,662
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,657
• Fish Crow

  Corvus ossifragus A.Wilson, 1812 · Aves
  11,276
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,142