Tampa Bay - Definition and Overview

Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary on the western coast of Florida. Two prominent cities are located along the shores of the bay, Tampa and Saint Petersburg. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge crosses the mouth of Tampa Bay.

The term "Tampa Bay" is also informally used as the name of the entire metropolitan area encompassing Tampa, Saint Petersburg, Clearwater and several other, smaller cities. The Tampa Bay Area settlers were originally from Spain. The Native Americans from this region are known as Seminoles. This is where the Florida State Seminoles got their nickname.