10 Interesting Facts About Orlando, Florida

We're all familiar with the main attractions in Orlando, Florida-Disney World, SeaWorld, the Universal Orlando Resort-but for better or worse these tourist draws often take attention away from the many other virtues of this great city. While Orlando is a top destination for domestic tourism, it's also the center of the 27th biggest metropolitan area in the U.S., with a population of over two million. With all these people, plus Orlando's beautiful Florida location, the city has a lot of things going for it. Here are 10 things about Orlando that you may not have known before.

1. Orlando is the seat of Orange County, so-named due to the fact that the region was once one of the most productive citrus-producing areas in the country. This agriculture has declined as the urban area has spread out over the years, but there are still many orange farms in the region.

2. Orlando is the second most popular destination in the U.S. for domestic tourism, with only Las Vegas placing higher. It has the greatest number of hotels and the second greatest number of hotel rooms (again, after Vegas).

3. In 1965, Walt Disney chose Orlando as the site for his planned Walt Disney World largely because its inland location made it less prone to hurricane damage than cities like Miami and Tampa, which were also under consideration. The resort opened in 1971.

4. No one is quite sure where the city of Orlando got its name, but the likely story is that the city is named after Orlando Reeves, an American soldier who died during the Second Seminole War. Other possible namesakes include a settler named Orlando Acosta (whose name was found scratched in a tree) and the character Orlando in Shakespeare's As You Like It.

5. Orlando had a humid subtropical climate, with a rainy season during the summer. The coolest month is January with an average high of 72, while the hottest months are July and August, which average 92. June, July, and August see nearly three times as much rain as the winter months, and this has a huge effect on determining the Orlando peak tourist seasons.

6. Although tourism is a major part of the Orlando economy, the city also benefits from its thriving high-tech industry, and it's a center of television, film, and gaming production.

7. Many films and television shows have been filmed completely or in part in Orlando-including Ernest Saves Christmas,Never Back Down,Passenger 57,Lethal Weapon 3,The Waterboy, Monster,Jaws 3,My Girl,Parenthood,Larry the Cable Guy, and the upcoming Transformers 3.

8. Many popular music acts have gotten their start in Orlando, including NSync, the Backstreet Boys, and Matchbox Twenty.

9. The tallest building in Orlando is the SunTrust Center. At 441 feet and 35 stories, the imposing structure completed in 1988 is also the tallest building in Central Florida.

10. The Orlando area receives an estimated 50 million tourists each year, with the vast majority being from elsewhere in the United States. The next most common group of tourists are from the United Kingdom.

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