Tampa

Sister cities

• Barranquilla
• Córdoba
• Le Havre
• İzmir
• Oviedo
• Agrigento
• Granada
• Veracruz
• Ashdod

History

The shores of Tampa Bay have been inhabited for thousands of years. A variant of the Weeden Island culture developed in the area by about 2,000 years ago. Archeological evidence suggests that these residents relied on the sea for most of their resources, as a vast majority of inhabited sites have been found on or near the shoreline, with little evidence of farming. At the time of European contact in the early 16th century, several chiefdoms of the Safety Harbor culture dominated the area. Early Spanish explorers interacted most extensively with the Tocobaga, whose principal town was at the northern end of Old Tampa Bay near today's Safety Harbor in Pinellas County. While there is a substantial historical record of the Tocobaga, and the Calusa, who lived to the south, there is less surviving documentation describing the Pohoy, who lived near the mouth of the Hillsborough River near today's downtown Tampa. Evidence suggests that the language and culture of the Pohoy and other lesser-known groups around the bay were very similar to that of the Tocobaga. Expeditions led by Pánfilo de Narváez and Hernando de Soto landed near Tampa, but neither conquistador stayed long. There is no natural gold or silver in Florida, and the native inhabitants repulsed Spanish attempts to establish a permanent settlement or convert them to Catholicism. The fighting resulted in a few deaths, but the many more deaths were caused by infectious diseases brought from Europe, which devastated the population of Native Americans across Florida and the entire Western Hemisphere. The indigenous cultures of the Tampa Bay area collapsed by around 1600, leaving the west coast of Spanish Florida largely depopulated and ignored for more than 200 years. In the mid-18th century, events in the American…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Tampa has a total area of , including of land and (35.3%) of water. The highest point in Tampa is above sea level. Tampa is bordered by two bodies of water, Old Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Bay, which flow together to form Tampa Bay, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The Hillsborough River flows into Hillsborough Bay, passing directly in front of Downtown Tampa and supplying Tampa's main source of fresh water. The Palm River is a smaller river, flowing from just east of the city into McKay Bay, which is a smaller inlet, sited at the northeast end of Hillsborough Bay. Several residential and mixed-development high-rises have been constructed. Another of Mayor Iorio's initiatives was the Tampa Riverwalk, a mixed-use path along the Hillsborough River in downtown. Channelside was approved to undergo major renovations by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik along with Bill Gates and other investors. Several museums have opened, including new homes for the Tampa Bay History Center, the Glazer Children's Museum, and the Tampa Museum of Art. The breakdown of development for the rest of the plan is as follows: 39% residential units, 29% office space, 15% hotels, 8% retail, 7% other, and 2% cultural uses. Mayor Bob Buckhorn continued these developments, which are bearing fruit during the term of Mayor Jane Castor. Tampa is the site of several skyscrapers. Overall, there are 30 completed buildings that rise over high. Tampa also has 147 high-rises, second only to Miami in the state of Florida. The tallest building in the city is 100 North Tampa, formerly the AmSouth Building, which rises 42 floors and in Downtown Tampa. The structure was completed in 1992, and is the tallest building in Florida outside of Miami and…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  24,689
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  22,998
• White Ibis

  Eudocimus albus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  22,515
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  21,802
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  21,551
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,877
• Fish Crow

  Corvus ossifragus A.Wilson, 1812 · Aves
  18,769
• Laughing Gull

  Leucophaeus atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,432

Largest nearby schools

• FLORIDA CONNECTIONS ACADEMY
  Other · TAMPA · 5,126 students · 36.1:1 ratio
• ALONSO HIGH SCHOOL
  High · TAMPA · 2,795 students · 23.9:1 ratio
• PLANT HIGH SCHOOL
  High · TAMPA · 2,507 students · 23:1 ratio
• GAITHER HIGH SCHOOL
  High · TAMPA · 2,123 students · 22.3:1 ratio
• LETO HIGH SCHOOL
  High · TAMPA · 2,062 students · 22.9:1 ratio
• TAMPA BAY TECH HIGH SCHOOL
  High · TAMPA · 2,015 students · 21.4:1 ratio
• HILLSBOROUGH HIGH SCHOOL
  High · TAMPA · 1,891 students · 21.2:1 ratio
• SPOTO HIGH SCHOOL
  High · RIVERVIEW · 1,823 students · 24.3:1 ratio