Florida is a state.
Florida [ ˈflɒrᵻdə ] ( Spanish for `` land of flowers '' ) is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States . Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States . A peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico , the Atlantic Ocean , and the Straits of Florida , it has the longest coastline in the contiguous United States , approximately 1350 mi , and is the only state that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean . Since the first European contact was made in 1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León -- who named it La Florida ( [ la floˈɾiða ] `` land of flowers '' ) upon landing there in the Easter season , Pascua Florida -- Florida was a challenge for the European colonial powers before it gained statehood in the United States in 1845 .