Orlando

Orlando (pronounced /ɔrˈlændoʊ/) is a major city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan region. The Greater Orlando metropolitan area has a population of 2,082,628 while the city-proper population is 230,519 (July 2008 estimate).[6] It is the fifth largest city in Florida by population. It wasincorporated on July 31, 1875, and became a city in 1885.
Originally the center of a major citrus-growing region, Orlando is now an urban city with various industries. The area is a major tourist destination and is the home of the Universal Orlando Resort, and SeaWorld. Orlando is also about 21 miles Northeast of Lake Buena Vista, Florida, home of the Walt Disney World Resort. These attractionshelped make Orlando the third most visited American city among travelers[7] in the year 2007. Since the establishment of destination tourism in the 1970s, the local economy has diversified, and today the region is the center of operations for companies servicing Central Florida. Orlando is also home to the University of Central Florida, the largest university campus by student enrollment in thestate of Florida and among the largest in the United States.[8]
In 2008, Orlando was listed as a "high sufficiency" world-city in the World Cities Study Group’s inventory by Loughborough University and is one category away from becoming a Gamma world city. According to Loughborough, Orlando now ranks alongside other cities such as Osaka, Glasgow, and Baltimore[9]

Pre-European history

BeforeEuropean settlers arrived in the area in 1836, Orlando was sparsely populated by the Creek and Apache Native American tribes. However, very little, if any, archaeological sites exist today.

Namesakes

Prior to being known by its current name, Orlando was known as Jernigan. This originates from the first permanent settler, Aaron Jernigan, a cattleman who acquired land along Lake Holden by theterms of the Armed Occupation Act of 1842.
Local legend says the name "Orlando" was derived when a soldier named Orlando Reeves died in the area during the Second Seminole War. It seems, however, that Orlando Reeves (sometimes Rees) operated a sugar mill and plantation about 30 miles (50 km) to the north at Spring Garden in Volusia County. Pioneer settlers simply found his name carved into a tree asOrlando Acosta and assumed it was a marker for his grave site. They then referred to the area as "Orlando Acosta's grave" and later simply Orlando. According to written evidence, Orlando Acosta was also a soldier, but most details of his life is uncertain. A memorial beside Lake Eola designates the spot where the city's namesake fell. Another popular local legend says the city was named after oneof the main characters in the Shakespeare play As You Like It. One of the main streets in downtown Orlando is named Rosalind Avenue, after Rosalind, the heroine of the play.
During the Second Seminole War, the U.S. Army established an outpost at Fort Gatlin, a few miles south of the modern downtown, in 1838, but it was quickly abandoned when the war came to an end.
Most pioneers did not arriveuntil after the Third Seminole War in the 1850s. Many early residents made their living by cattle ranching.

Incorporation

After Mosquito County was divided in 1845, Orlando became the county seat of the new Orange County in 1856. It remained a rural backwater during the Civil War, and suffered greatly during the Union blockade. The Reconstruction Era brought on a population explosion, whichled to Orlando's incorporation as a town on July 31, 1875, and as a city in 1885.[10]
The period from 1875 to 1895 is remembered as Orlando's Golden Era, when it became the hub of Florida's citrus industry. But the Great Freeze of 1894–95 forced many owners to give up their independent groves, thus consolidating holdings in the hands of a few "citrus barons" who shifted operations south,...