Miami is a city and the seat of Miami-Dade county in Florida, in the United States of America.

Miami-Dade county blankets a land area of 5,040 sq km (1,946 sq mi) and is made up of 31 municipalities of which Miami is the largest, followed by Hialeah, Miami Beach, North Miami, and Coral Gables.

Miami is also the largest city and the Southern anchor of the Gold Coast Megalopolis, a metropolitan region that dominates Southern Florida. This 160-km (100-mi) continuous corridor of cities and suburbs is home to 3.9 million people and extends Northward from Homestead in Southern Miami-Dade County through Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, to the Northern reaches of Palm Beach County.

Miami grew rapidly in the early 20th century because of its resort and recreational opportunities. Since 1980, however, a more diversified economy has emerged in the city and the surrounding area. Miami’s population and economy are increasingly international in their orientation; the city’s connections to Latin America are particularly vital.

According to the 2000 census, whites constituted 66.6 percent of Miami’s population; blacks, 22.3 percent; Asians, 0.7 percent; Native Americans, 0.2 percent; and people of mixed heritage or not reporting race, 10.2 percent. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders numbered 130 at the time of the census. In recent decades the Hispanic, and especially the Cuban, population in Miami and the metropolitan area has grown rapidly. Hispanics, who may be of any race, made up 65.8 percent of the city’s people.

Miami took its name from the Miami River, which in turn was named for a Native American term believed to mean "big water".