Pensacola

Pensacola is a city in Escambia County, Florida, United States. It is the county seat of Escambia County. "Pensacola", however, both in casual conversation and references, often refers not only to the City proper, but includes the urban areas of unincorporated Escambia County, into which the city's population has long since expanded.

As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 54,734.[1] However, the greater Pensacola area had a population of 437,125. It is the largest metropolitan area in the Florida Panhandle and the second largest on the Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Tampa, after Mobile, Alabama.

Pensacola is a sea port on Pensacola Bay, which connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large United States Navy airbase, the first in the United States, is located southwest of Pensacola (near the community of Warrington) and is home to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team and the National Museum of Naval Aviation.

Pensacola is nicknamed "The City of Five Flags" due to the five flags that have flown over it during its history: the flags of Spain (Castile), France, Great Britain, the Confederate States of America, and the United States. Other nicknames include "World's Whitest Beaches", "Cradle of Naval Aviation", "Western Gate to the Sunshine State", "America's First Settlement", "Redneck Riviera" and "Red Snapper Capital of the World".