Miami is a major city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. It is the county seat of Miami-Dade County. Miami is a gamma world city with an estimated population of 404,048. It is the largest city within the South Florida metropolitan area, which is the largest metropolitan area in the Southeastern United States with 5.4 million people. Miami and its surrounding cities make up the fifth largest urban area in the United States.
Miami's importance as an international financial and cultural center has elevated Miami to the status of world city. Because of Miami's cultural and linguistic ties to North, South, and Central America, as well as the Caribbean, Miami is many times referred to as "The Gateway of the Americas." Florida's large Spanish-speaking population and strong economic ties to Latin America also make Miami and the surrounding region an important center of the Hispanic world.
Miami is also home to one of the largest, most influential ports in the United States, the Port of Miami. The port is often called the "Cruise Capital of the World" and the "Cargo Gateway of the Americas". It has retained its status as the number one cruise/passenger port in the world for well over a decade accommodating the largest cruise ships and the major cruise lines.
Today, Miami is undergoing a massive building boom that ranks second worldwide (and first in the United States) for the most buildings under construction that will be over 492 feet (150 m), with over 24 of such buildings currently under construction. Miami's skyline also currently ranks third in the U.S. behind Chicago and New York City, and (18th in the world) according to the 2006 Almanac of Architecture and Design. Including other nearby neighborhoods and cities, the Miami area has over 80 highrise towers under construction, such as the Biscayne Wall in Downtown Miami, a row of skyscrapers being built along the west side of Biscayne Boulevard. Miami currently has the five tallest skyscrapers in the state of Florida with the tallest being the Four Seasons Hotel & Tower.
At only 35.68 square miles (92 km²) of land area, Miami has the second smallest population for a primary city with an urban area of one million or more in the U.S. (after Providence, Rhode Island, at 18.5 square miles (48 km²)). The city's small land area results in a major gap between the population rank of the city and urban area (The Urban Area is ranked 5th and the city is ranked 43rd). Also, the difference between the Urban and Metro population is very small, only 544,821. This is mainly because Miami's metro area is built densely on a very narrow and linear area, and it is blocked on the east and west by the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades National Park, respectively.
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