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Tampa
is a United States city in Hillsborough County, on the
west coast of Florida. It serves as the county seat for
Hillsborough County.. The population of Tampa in 2000
was 303,447. According to the 2008 Census estimate, the
city has a population of 382,088.
Tampa is a part of the Tampa-St.
Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area, most commonly
referred to as the "Tampa-St.
Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA." The four-county
area is composed of roughly 2.7 million residents, making
it the second largest metropolitan statistical area
in the state, and the third largest in the Southeastern
United States behind Miami and Atlanta. The Tampa Bay
Partnership and U.S. Census data showed an average annual
growth of 2.47 percent, or a gain of approximately 97,000
residents per year. Between 2000 and 2006, the Greater
Tampa Bay Market has experienced a combined growth rate
of 14.8 percent, growing from 3.4 million to 3.9 million
and hitting the 4 million people mark on April 1, 2007.
The Tampa Bay Designated Market Area(DMA) is the second
largest media market in the state of Florida and the
thirteenth largest DMA Market in the United States which
includes the Greater Tampa Bay Metro market and also
inland surrounding counties.
In 2008 Tampa was ranked as the 8th cleanest
city in America by Yahoo! Real Estate. A 2004 survey
by the NYU newspaper ranked Tampa as a top city for 20-somethings.
Geography & Climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city
has a total area of 170.6 square miles (441.9 km²),
of which 112.1 square miles (290.3 km²) is land
and 58.5 square miles (151.6 km²) (34.31%) is water.
The highest point in the city is only in the forties.
Tampa is bordered by two bodies of water: Old Tampa Bay
and Hillsborough Bay, which both flow to form Tampa Bay,
which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The Hillsborough
River flows out into Hillsborough Bay, passing directly
in front of Downtown Tampa and supplying Tampa with its
main source of water. The Palm River is a smaller river
flowing from just east of the city into Hillsborough
Bay.
Climate
Tampa has a humid subtropical climate, with
hot summer days and a threat of winter frost only about
every 2-3 years. Highs usually range between 65 and
95 °F (18 and 35 °C) year round. Surprisingly
to some, Tampa's official recorded high has never hit
100 °F (38 °C) - the all-time record high temperature
is 99 °F (37 °C), recorded on June 5, 1985.
In the winter, the low rarely drops
below freezing (32 °F
, 0 °C), an occurrence which happens, on average,
once every other year. Since the Tampa area is home to
a diverse range of freeze-sensitive agriculture and aquaculture,
cold snaps are a major worry. The lowest temperature
ever recorded in Tampa was 18 °F (-7.8 °C) on
December 13, 1962.[27] Usually, the highs are around
70 °F (20 - 22 °C) with sunny skies in the winter,
with the occasional passage of a cold front bringing
the temperature down for a few days.
The 1977 snowfallIn the Great Blizzard of 1899, Tampa
suffered its one and only known blizzard, with "bay
effect" snow coming off Tampa Bay. The
last measurable snow in Tampa fell on January 19, 1977.
The accumulation amounted to all of 0.2 inches (5.1
mm), but the city, unprepared for and unaccustomed
to wintry weather, came to a virtual standstill for
a day.
Temperatures are hot from around
mid-May through mid-October, which coincides approximately
with the rainy season. Summer days usually have highs
in the low 90s °F
(32-34 °C) with high humidity. The summer nighttime
temperature usually drops into the mid 70s °F (21
- 23 °C).
Thunderstorms are a common summertime feature in Tampa.
These afternoon boomers can sometimes become severe,
bringing gusty winds, small hail, and torrential rain.
Tornadoes are rare, but not unheard of. The biggest danger
they bring is lightning.
The Tampa Bay area is recognized
as the "Lightning
Capital of North America". Every year, Florida averages
10 deaths and 30 injuries from lightning strikes, with
several of these usually occurring in or around Tampa.
With each thunderstorm capable of unleashing thousands
of individual bolts, weather safety experts recommend
staying inside until the weather clears.
The most common summertime weather pattern is for heat-produced
thermals to turn puffy white cumulus clouds into threatening
thunderheads over the interior of the Florida peninsula.
The typical wind pattern usually pushes these storms
slowly westward toward the Tampa area. Sometimes they
rain themselves out before making it to the coast; on
many summer days in Tampa Bay, a stormy afternoon is
followed by a pleasantly clear and cooler (though not
exactly cool) evening. But occasionally the storms survive
to move out over the Gulf of Mexico at night, where they
can be seen from the beaches as spectacular light shows.
A westerly or southwesterly wind flow, however, will
bring even more humidity than usual into the air. On
those days, rain and thunder can strike anywhere at any
time around Tampa Bay.
Because of these regular summer storms,
Tampa has a pronounced wet season, averaging 20.6 inches
(524 mm) between July and September, but only 6.2 inches
(157 mm) between November and January. The wettest month
is August, which averages 7.6 inches (193 mm). (August
and especially September rain totals are augmented by
tropical systems, which easily can dump many inches of
rain in one day.) November is Tampa's driest month, averaging
only 1.6 inches (41 mm). During the winter, most of the
area's precipitation is delivered by the occasional cold
front. Yearly precipitation averages 44.8 inches (1137
mm).
Demographics
As of the census[1] of 2000, there
were 303,447 people, 124,758 households, and 71,236
families residing in the city. The population density
was 2,707.8 people per square mile (1,045.4/km²). There were 135,776 housing units
at an average density of 1,211.6/sq mi (467.8/km²).
The racial makeup of the city was 64.22% White (51.0%
White Non-Hispanic), 26.07% Black or African American,
0.38% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.15% Asian,
0.09% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 4.17%
from other races, and 2.92% from two or more races. Hispanic
or Latino of any race were 19.29% of the population.
There were 124,758 households out of which 27.6% had
children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.4%
were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 42.9% were non-families.
33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and
10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age
or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the
average family size was 3.07.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.6%
under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from
25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 34.7 years
old. For every 100 females there were 95.3 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.
In 2006, the median income for a household in the city
was $39,602, and the median income for a family was $45,823.
Males had a median income of $40,461 versus $29,868 for
females. The per capita income for the city was $26,522.
20.1% of the population and 16.4% of families were below
the poverty line. 31% of those under the age of 18 and
13.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty
level.
As of 2000, English spoken as a first
language accounted for 77.43% of all residents, while
22.56% spoke other languages as their mother tongue.
The most significant was Spanish speakers who made up
17.76% of the population, while French came up as the
third most spoken language, which made up 0.63%, and
Italian was at fourth, with 0.56% of the population.
A 2006 study by UCLA suggests that Tampa
has one of the highest GLBT populations per capita with
6.1% of citizens polled identifying as gay, lesbian,
or bisexual. The Tampa Bay metropolitan area also ranks
5th of all major metropolitan areas .
Special Thanks to : Wikipedia, the
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