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Florida, Puerto Rico

Florida, Puerto Rico
Coat of arms of Florida, Puerto Rico
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): "Pueblo de la Piña Cayenalisa", "La Tierra del Río Encantado", "Tierra de los Mogotes"
Anthem: "Florida jardín hermoso"
Location of Florida in Puerto Rico
Location of Florida in Puerto Rico
Coordinates: 18°21′49″N 66°34′17″W / 18.36361°N 66.57139°W / 18.36361; -66.57139Coordinates: 18°21′49″N 66°34′17″W / 18.36361°N 66.57139°W / 18.36361; -66.57139
Country United States
Territory Puerto Rico
Founded 1971
Government
 • Mayor Hon. José Gerena Polanco (PNP)
 • Senatorial dist. 3 - Arecibo
 • Representative dist. 13
Area
 • Total 10 sq mi (26 km2)
Population (2010)
 • Total 12,680
 • Density 1,300/sq mi (490/km2)
Demonym(s) Florideños
Time zone AST (UTC-4)
Zip code 00650

Florida (Spanish pronunciation: [floˈɾiða], Flowery) is a municipality of Puerto Rico located north of Ciales, south of Barceloneta, east of Arecibo, and west of Manatí. Florida is spread over one ward and Florida Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Florida was founded first as a barrio of Barceloneta in 1881 when a priest, Father Carrión, the mayor of Barceloneta, and other dignitaries arrived at a terrain of almost 4 acres. They decided to establish a new barrio and the owner of the place, Don Manuel Cintrón granted the land while he retained a piece of it. The barrio was first called "Florida Adentro".

During the 20th century, several efforts were made to declare Florida as a municipality. First, on April 14, 1949, House Representative Francisco Díaz Marchand presented a project to create a legislative commission that would study the economic and social conditions of the barrio, to determine the suitability of it as an independent municipality. The project was unsuccessful. On 1960, Manuel Frías Morales presented a law that would permit the study to establish the municipality but it didn't succeed either.

Finally, on June 14, 1971, the Senate of Puerto Rico and Governor Don Luis A. Ferré approved the law that officially created the municipality of Florida. It is thus the youngest municipality established in the island.

It consists of three horizontal stripes, with the following colors and widths: green the superior and white the inferior, with five modules of width each one, the center one red, with a width of one module.


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