Miami Sports and Concert Events

Miami

Miami is a city located in southeast Florida in Miami-Dade County on the Miami River, between the Florida Everglades and the Atlantic Ocean, in the United States. It is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, as well as its largest. As of the 2000 census, the city proper had a total population of 362,470. Native Americans are known to have settled in the Miami region for about 10,000 years. Its most noteworthy early inhabitants were the Tequesta people, who controlled an empire covering most of South Florida. Although Ponce de Leon attempted to settle the area in the early 1500s, his men could not defend the territory against the natives, so they kept to the more sparsely populated north. For most of the colonial period, Miami was only briefly visited by traveling Europeans when it was visited at all. On July 28, 1896, the City of Miami was incorporated with 344 citizens. Because of its proximity to Latin America, Miami serves as the headquarters of Latin American operations for many multinational corporations, including American Airlines, Cisco, Disney, Exxon, FedEx, Microsoft, Oracle, SBC Communications and Sony. Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami are among the nation's busiest ports of entry, especially for cargo from South America and the Caribbean. Additionally, downtown Miami has the largest concentration of international banks in the country. Miami was also the host city of the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations. Tourism is also an important industry: the beaches of Greater Miami draw visitors from across the country and around the world, and the Art Deco nightclub district in South Beach (located in Miami Beach) is widely regarded as one of the best in the world. In addition to these roles, Miami is also an industrial center, especially for stone quarrying and warehousing. Several large companies are headquartered in or around Miami, including Burger King, Norwegian Cruise Line, Ryder System, and Wachovia. Miami is served by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, among the various colleges and universities presemt in Miami are: Barry University, Johnson and Wales University, International Fine Arts College, University of Miami, Florida International University, Florida Memorial College, Miami-Dade College, Burger King University. The professioansl sports teams operating out of Miami are: Florida Marlins (MLB) (NL), Miami Dolphins (NFL), Miami Heat (NBA), Florida Panthers (NHL). Miami is also the site of the Orange Bowl, an annual collegiate football championship played at Pro Player Stadium. The city has hosted the Super Bowl several times. There are also two well-known but largely disused sporting venues in Miami: Miami Arena and the Orange Bowl Stadium.