Fort Lauderdaleis a city in theU.S. stateofFlorida, 28 miles (45km) north ofMiami.The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5°F (24.2°C), and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors.The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts.
Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by theUnited Statesduring theSecond Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant ColonelJames Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort.