City (pop., 2000: 248,232), west-central Florida, U.S. It lies near the tip of Pinellas Peninsula, adjacent to Tampa Bay .
Settled in 1876, it became in the late 1940s one of the first Florida cities to encourage tourists to spend their retirement years there. It is a winter resort and a centre for yachting and sport fishing. The city is connected by several bridges with a string of sandy islands (west) between the Gulf of Mexico and Boca Ciega Bay; seaside communities such as St. Pete Beach are located there. To the south, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge across the lower bay links the city to Bradenton and Sarasota.