Orlando is a city in central Florida and one of the world's most recognized tourist destinations. Orlando attracts visitors featuring its numerous leading theme parks, a delightful climate, along with extensive convention facilities. Orlando's evolution is split into two eras: before and after the opening of the Walt Disney World theme park in 1971. Prior to that year, the quiet town functioned mainly as a service center for the surrounding citrus growing region and as the seat of sparsely-populated Orange County. After the opening of Disney World, the Orlando area quickly became a thriving metropolis that was home to both a major tourist playground and high technology industry.
Orlando is situated near the center of the low-lying Florida Peninsula in the heart of a lake-studded region. The city's climate is humid subtropical. Winter daytime temperatures in the lower 20°s C (lower 70°s F) have contributed substantially to the city's tourist industry. But Orlando's interior location-about 80 km (about 50 mi) from the cooling sea breezes of the Atlantic coast-gives it some of Florida's hottest summer temperatures. Daytime temperatures during the summer are in the lower 30°s C (lower 90°s F) and are accompanied by high humidity and frequent afternoon thunderstorms. The city's annual precipitation is about 1200 mm (about 48 in), and the months with the most rain are June through September.
The city is named for Orlando Reeves, a soldier who was killed during the second of the Seminole Wars (1835-1842).
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