About University of West Florida

The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is public university circles in Pensacola, Florida. Established in 1963 as share of the State University System of Florida, the university circles sits on the third largest campus in the State University System, at 1,600 acres (6.5 km²). The university’s mascot is Argie the Argonaut and its logo is the chambered nautilus.

Pensacola (/ˌpɛnsəˈkoʊlə/) is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida. As of 2019, the population was estimated to be 52,975. Pensacola is the principal city of the Pensacola Metropolitan Area, which had an estimated 502,629 residents as of 2019. Pensacola is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the Gulf Coast region, the largest amongst New Orleans and Tampa.

Pensacola is the site of the first Spanish pact within the borders of the continental United States in 1559, predating the establishment of St. Augustine by 6 years, although the harmony was solitary due to a hurricane and not re-established until 1698. Pensacola is a seaport on Pensacola Bay, which is protected by the barrier island of Santa Rosa and connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large United States Naval Air Station, the first in the United States, is located southwest of Pensacola near Warrington; it is the base of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team and the National Naval Aviation Museum. The main campus of the University of West Florida is situated north of the city center.

The Place was originally inhabited by Muskogean-speaking peoples. The Pensacola people lived there at the grow old of European contact, and Creek people frequently visited and traded from present-day southern Alabama and Mississippi and southeast of Louisiana. Spanish pioneer Tristán de Luna founded a short-lived concurrence in 1559. In 1698 the Spanish received a presidio in the area, from which the unbiased city gradually developed. The Place changed hands several time as European powers competed in North America. During Florida’s British rule (1763–1781), fortifications were strengthened.

It is nicknamed “The City of Five Flags”, due to the five governments that have ruled it during its history: the flags of Spain (Castile), France, Great Britain, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. Other nicknames include “World’s Whitest Beaches” (due to the white sand of Florida panhandle beaches), “Cradle of Naval Aviation”, “Western Gate to the Sunshine State”, “America’s First Settlement”, “Emerald Coast”, “Red Snapper Capital of the World”, and “P-Cola”.