Key west (island)
| Key West | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Waters | Gulf of Mexico | |
| Archipelago | Florida Keys | |
| Geographical location | 24 ° 33 ′ 0 ″ N , 81 ° 47 ′ 0 ″ W | |
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| length | 6.4 km | |
| width | 3.2 km | |
| surface | 13.6 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 6 m | |
| main place | Key West | |
Key West ( Spanish Cayo Hueso ) is an island in the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico . It forms the main part of the city of the same name, which consists of several islands .
history
The island was settled in pre-Columbian times, but little is known about its inhabitants.
In 1513, Juan Ponce de León explored La Florida , now Florida, for Spain . His team discovered this mangrove- covered island. They called it Los Martires (The Martyrs). The island now belonged to the Spanish colonial empire and was administered by the General Captain of Havana . In 1521, on a later trip, Ponce de Leon was struck by an Indian poisoned arrow and died along with numerous other missionaries . The English initially took over the island, but returned it to the Spanish twenty years later. However, neither side had real control during this time. Also during the English occupation the island by the Spanish officials "North Havana" was called and gave fishing - licenses for this territory.
In 1815 the Spaniards sold Cayo Hueso to Juan Pablo Salas . Since he could not achieve any economic success with it, he sold it to the American businessman John Simonton in 1819 for $ 2,000 . He recognized the potential of the island with its natural deep water harbor . He divided the island into four parts and sold three of them to various businessmen. At this time the island got its current name Key West . In the Spanish-speaking world it is still called Cayo Hueso ( German for bone island ) to this day .
Simonton contacted the US Navy and tried to make the area attractive to them. The Navy took a bite. In 1822, Navy officer Matthew C. Perry declared the island to be part of the United States of America on behalf of the US government .
geography
The island is about six kilometers long and three kilometers wide, the highest point is six meters above sea level. It has an area of 13.6 km².
Key West is the westernmost island of the Florida Keys, which can be reached by land via the Overseas Highway . The southernmost point of the heartland of the USA is also located on it.
Key West International Airport occupies the southeast of the island .
Web links
- Key West History , Florida Keys Travel Guide
- Cayo Hueso , EcuRed (Spanish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Overview of Key West ( Memento from June 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 886 kB) Monroe County (Florida) website , accessed on December 7, 2016