More About Tampa
Tampa city on the west coast of Florida, seat of Hillsborough County and the central city of the state's second largest metropolitan area is a major industrial center and seaport, and since 1980 the city and its surrounding metropolitan region have become one of Florida's most important hubs of commerce and finance. It is the largest inlet of the Gulf of Mexico on the Florida Peninsula. Tampa is often associated with Saint Petersburg, which lies across the bay. However, Tampa's focus on industry and business distinguishes it from its sister city, a leading tourist destination.
Tampa serves as the economic hub of a large area of west central Florida, which produces phosphates, citrus fruits and their derivatives, vegetables, and livestock products. The Port of Tampa is the country's deepwater port closest to the Panama Canal and is among the nations busiest; products passing through the port include petroleum, ammonia, phosphate, scrap metal, and chemicals. The port also is home to a shrimp fleet and serves as a stop for cruise ships. A unique enterprise in Hillsborough County is the raising of tropical fish, and the region supplies most of the fish found in the nation's aquariums.
Tourism is important to the Tampa metropolitan region. Tampa, the business hub of the west coast, has been one of the major beneficiaries of the flood of people and money into Florida - and boasts an impressive cultural diet envied by many larger rivals. A small, stimulating city with an infectious, upbeat mood, its well worth a stop: in addition to its fine museums and Busch Gardens, one of the most popular theme parks in the state, it boasts in Ybor City the West Coast's hippest and most culturally eclectic quarter.
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