Miami is a major city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. The city covers 55.27 square miles (143.15 km²) and 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. Miami and its surrounding cities make up the fifth largest urban area in the United States.
Miami is one of the country’s most important financial centers. It is the major center of regional commerce, and boasts a strong international business community. According to the ranking of world cities undertaken by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC) and based on the level of presence of global corporate service organizations, Miami is considered a “Gamma World City.”
Because of its proximity to Latin America, Miami serves as the headquarters of Latin American operations for over 1400 multinational corporations, including American Airlines, Cisco, Disney, Exxon, FedEx, Microsoft, Oracle, SBC Communications, Sony, and Visa International. Several large companies are headquartered in or around Miami, including but not limited to: Alienware, AutoNation, Bacardi, Brightstar Corporation, Burger King, Carnival Cruise Lines, Citrix Systems, DHL, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Ryder Systems, and Spirit Airlines. Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami are among the nation’s busiest ports of entry, especially for cargo from South America and the Caribbean. Additionally, downtown Miami has the largest concentration of international banks in the country. Miami was also the host city of the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, and is one of the leading candidates to become the trading bloc’s headquarters. This effort has been guided by Florida FTAA.
Tourism is also an important industry in Miami. The beaches of Greater Miami draw visitors from across the country and around the world, and the Art Deco nightclub district in South Beach (in Miami Beach) is widely regarded as one of the most glamorous in the world. However, it is important to note that Miami Beach is not a part of the city of Miami. Even major TV networks sometimes forget this, as when Good Morning America visited Miami Beach and Charles Gibson thanked the mayor of Miami (but he was standing next to the mayor of Miami Beach). In addition to these roles, Miami is also an industrial center, especially for stone quarrying and warehousing.