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City (pop., 2000: 362,470), southeastern Florida, U.S., situated on Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River.
The southernmost large city in the continental U.S., it has a beach 7 mi (11 km) long. A Spanish mission was founded near the site in 1567, but permanent settlement did not begin until 1835, when U.S. forces built Fort Dallas for the removal of Seminole Indians to the West. The arrival of the railway in 1896 spurred development, and Miami was incorporated the same year. The city has been damaged by occasional hurricanes, notably in 1926 and 1935. Nearly 300,000 Cuban refugees have arrived since 1959 (see Cuba ), establishing "Little Havana" within the city. It is a major resort and retirement centre, and its port handles the world's largest number of cruise-ship passengers. It is also a banking centre. Educational institutions include the University of Miami and Florida International University.
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North American Indian people who live mostly in Oklahoma and Indiana, U.S. They call themselves Twitwee (Twatwa), which to them represents the call of the crane.
The name Miami is a derivation of their Ojibwa name, Oumami, meaning "People of the Peninsula." Their traditional homeland is spread across Illinois, northern Indiana, and Ohio. The Miami language belongs to the Little Turtle .