Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville
City of Jacksonville and Duval County
Official seal of Jacksonville
Nickname(s): 
"Jax",[1] "The River City",[2] The Bold New City of the South
Motto(s): 
Where Florida Begins, It's Easier Here
Location within Duval County
Location within Duval County
Jacksonville is located in Florida
Jacksonville
Jacksonville
Location within Florida
Jacksonville is located in the United States
Jacksonville
Jacksonville
Location within the United States
Coordinates: 30°20′13″N 81°39′41″W / 30.33694°N 81.66139°W / 30.33694; -81.66139[3]
CountryUnited States
StateFlorida
CountyDuval
FoundedJune 15, 1822 (June 15, 1822)
IncorporatedFebruary 9, 1832 (1832-02-09)
Consolidated[4]October 1, 1968 (1968-10-01)
Named forAndrew Jackson
Government
 • TypeStrong Mayor–Council
 • BodyJacksonville City Council
 • MayorDonna Deegan (D)
 • City Council
Members
  • Ken Amaro (R)
  • Mike Gay (R)
  • Will Lahnen (R)
  • Kevin Carrico (R)
  • Joseph Carlucci (R)
  • Michael Boyland (R)
  • Jimmy Peluso (D)
  • Reginald Gaffney Jr. (D)
  • Tyrona Clark-Murray (D)
  • Ju'Coby Pittman (D)
  • Raul Arias (R)
  • Randy White (R)
  • Rory Diamond (R)
  • Rahman Johnson (D)
  • Terrance Freeman (R)
  • Ron Salem (R)
  • Nicholas Howland (R)
  • Matt Carlucci (R)
  • Chris Miller (R)
Area
 • Total874.46 sq mi (2,264.84 km2)
 • Land747.30 sq mi (1,935.49 km2)
 • Water127.16 sq mi (329.35 km2)
Elevation16 ft (5 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total949,611
 • Estimate 
(July 2022)[6]
971,319
 • Rank31st in North America
11th in the United States
1st in Florida
 • Density1,270.73/sq mi (490.63/km2)
 • Urban
1,247,374 (US: 40th)
 • Urban density2,175.9/sq mi (840.1/km2)
 • Metro1,733,937 (US: 39th)
Demonym(s)Jaxon, Jacksonvillian
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes
32099, 32201–32212, 32214–32241, 32244–32247, 32250, 32254–32260, 32266, 32267, 32277, 32290
Area code(s)904, 324
FIPS code12-35000
GNIS feature ID0295003[8]
WebsiteCity of Jacksonville

Jacksonville is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. It is the seat of Duval County,[9] with which the City of Jacksonville consolidated in 1968. It is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020.[10]

City-county consolidation greatly increased Jacksonville's official population and extended its boundaries, placing most of Duval County's population within the new municipal limits; Jacksonville grew to 900 square miles (2,300 km2).[11]

As of July 2022, Jacksonville's population was 971,319, while the population of Duval County was about 1 million.[11][12] After consolidation, Jacksonville became the most populous city in Florida and the Southeastern United States, and the largest in the South outside the state of Texas.[13] With a population of 1,733,937, the Jacksonville metropolitan area ranks as Florida's fourth-largest metropolitan region.[7] The metropolitan area consists of Clay County, St. Johns County, Nassau County, and Baker County.

Jacksonville straddles the St. Johns River in the First Coast region of northeastern Florida, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) south of the Georgia state line (25 mi or 40 km to the urban core/downtown) and 350 miles (560 km) north of Miami.[14] The Jacksonville Beaches communities are along the adjacent Atlantic coast. The area was originally inhabited by the Timucua people, and in 1564 was the site of the French colony of Fort Caroline, one of the earliest European settlements in what is now the continental United States. Under British rule, a settlement grew at the narrow point in the river where cattle crossed, known as Wacca Pilatka to the Seminole and the Cow Ford to the British. A platted town was established there in 1822, a year after the United States gained Florida from Spain; it was named after Andrew Jackson, the first military governor of the Florida Territory and seventh President of the United States.

Harbor improvements since the late 19th century have made Jacksonville a major military and civilian deep-water port. Its riverine location facilitates Naval Station Mayport, Naval Air Station Jacksonville, the U.S. Marine Corps Blount Island Command, and the Port of Jacksonville, Florida's largest seaport by volume.[15] Jacksonville's military bases and the nearby Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay form the third largest military presence in the United States.[16] Significant factors in the local economy include services such as banking, insurance, healthcare and logistics. As with much of Florida, tourism is important to the Jacksonville area, particularly tourism related to golf with the PGA Tour headquarters located in nearby Ponte Vedra Beach.[17][18] People from Jacksonville are known as Jacksonvillians and, informally, as Jaxsons or Jaxons (both derived from Jax, the shortened nickname for the city).[19][20][21][22][23]

  1. ^ "PRICED OUT OF JAX: Jacksonville's rental crisis featured on 60 Minutes". ActionNewsJax. March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  2. ^ "A River Runs Through It". Jacksonville Historical Society. July 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  4. ^ "Consolidation". The Jacksonville Historical Society. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  5. ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  6. ^ "City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2022". US Census Bureau.
  7. ^ a b "2020 Population and Housing State Data". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  8. ^ "Jacksonville, Florida". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  9. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  10. ^ "Geography and Demography". City of Jacksonville and Duval County Government. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  11. ^ a b "QuickFacts: Jacksonville city, Florida". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  12. ^ "QuickFacts: Duval County, Florida". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023.
  13. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 50,000 or More, Ranked by July 1, 2019 Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019". United States Census Bureau, Population Division. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  14. ^ "Distance from Jacksonville, FL to Miami, FL". check-distance.com. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  15. ^ "JAXPORT FY23 Statistics" Jacksonville Port Authority
  16. ^ "Port of Jacksonville" Archived March 8, 2021, at the Wayback Machine World Port Source, Port Detail
  17. ^ Harding, Abel (April 3, 2010). "Golf tourism a boon for Northeast Florida". The Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on April 8, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  18. ^ "Jacksonville". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  19. ^ Donges, Patrick (April 17, 2014). "What Do You Call Someone From Jacksonville?". news.wjct.org. WJCT. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  20. ^ Hillyer, Reiko (December 29, 2014). Designing Dixie: Tourism, Memory, and Urban Space in the New South. University of Virginia Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-8139-3671-0.
  21. ^ Ennis Armon Davis (2015). Jacksonville. Arcadia Publishing. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-4671-1468-4.
  22. ^ Aloszka, John (March 22, 2021). "The River is Calling". Folio 2.0 / EU Jacksonville. Archived from the original on March 24, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2021. And while there may be some division among Jaxsons when it comes to what should eventually fill the newly renamed Riverfront Plaza, Downtown leaders are wasting no time programming the space for the summer.
  23. ^ "About The Jaxson". www.thejaxsonmag.com. 2021. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2021. Jaxson" is a traditional term for someone from Jacksonville, Florida... Launched by Modern Cities in association with WJCT Public Broadcasting, The Jaxson is a multimedia project dedicated to urbanism and culture on Florida's First Coast.