Tampa

Sitting on the Tampa Bay close to the Gulf of Mexico, Tampa is a city in west-central Florida established in 1824 by the United States Army. Its name is believed to have been derived from the language of the local Calusa tribe and supposedly means "sticks of fire" – probably in reference to many lightning strikes in the area during summer. The city serves as the seat of Hillsborough County. Its inhabitants, who are called Tampans or Tampanians, were about 346,000 in total in 2011. It forms a part of the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Area.

Nicknamed the "Cigar City," Tampa developed rapidly in part as a result of the cigar industry's arrival there in late 19th century. Cigar-making continued to be the mainstay of the economy for the first decades of the 20th century. Retail, finance, real estate, professional sports, healthcare and tourism are some of the industries that are central to the city's economy today. The area is home to several Fortune 1000 companies, including TECO Energy, Raymond James Financial and OSI Restaurant Partners. The port of Tampa is the largest (by tonnage handled) in Florida and the seventh-largest in the country. It is surpassed only by Miami in Florida in terms of cruise ship handling.

Tampa is a great city for enjoying the outdoors. It is clean and modern with several exciting attractions and activities on offer. The attractions include the Florida Aquarium, Adventure Island, and Busch Gardens. Forbes ranked Tampa the fifth-best outdoor city in 2008.