The area was originally inhabited by the Timucua people, and in 1564 was the site of the French colony of Fort Caroline, one of the earliest European settlements in what is now the continental United States. The Jacksonville Beaches communities are along the adjacent Atlantic coast.

Johns River in the First Coast region of northeastern Florida, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) south of the Georgia state line (25 mi or 40 km to the urban core/downtown) and 350 miles (560 km) north of Miami. With a population of 1,733,937, the Jacksonville metropolitan area ranks as Florida's fourth-largest metropolitan region.

As of 2020, Jacksonville's population is 949,611, making it the most populous city in the Southeastern United States and the largest in the South outside the state of Texas. Consolidation gave Jacksonville its great size and placed most of its metropolitan population within the city limits. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968. Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020.

Fernandina little theatre