Tampa

Major port and winter resort in western Florida, USA, at the head of Tampa Bay, 40 km/25 mi from the open sea of the Gulf of Mexico; population (2000) 303,400. It is the focus of the metropolitan area of Tampa-St Petersburg, a popular residential and retirement zone. Industries include fruit- and vegetable-canning, shipbuilding, shrimp-fishing, and the manufacture of fertilizers, chemicals, clothing, beer, and cigars.

Settled as a plantation in 1823, the community grew around Fort Brooke, built in 1824 to monitor American Indian Seminole activity. Economic growth was spurred in the 1880s by the discovery of phosphates east of the city, the arrival of the railroad, and the establishing of a cigar-making industry.

Educational institutions include Tampa College (1890), the University of Tampa (1931), and the University of South Florida (1956). Other features are the Tampa Museum of Art; the Museum of Science and Industry; Ybor City, a Latin-American quarter and Tampa's original cigar-manufacturing centre; and the Busch Gardens theme park.

Fort Brooke was taken from Confederate forces by Union troops in the Civil War 1861-65. During the Spanish-American War 1898, the city was a military base and embarkation point for Cuba.

The climate is mild and sub-tropical, with an average of 360 days of sunshine a year.

In 1994 the port handled a total tonnage of 47,084,630 (the 46th largest in the USA).