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About Gainesville

Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,214 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, which had a population of 339,247 in 2020.Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, the fourth-largest public university campus by enrollment in the United States as of the 2021–2022 academic year. The university is represented by the Florida Gators sports teams in NCAA competitions. == History == There is archeological evidence, from about 12,000 years ago, of the presence of Paleo Indians in the Gainesville area, although it is not known if there were any permanent settlements. A Deptford culture campsite existed in Gainesville and was estimated to have been used between 500 BCE and 100 CE. The Deptford people moved south into Paynes Prairie and Orange Lake during the first century and evolved into the Cades Pond culture. The Deptford people who remained in the Gainesville area were displaced by migrants from southern Georgia sometime in the seventh century. These migrants evolved into the Alachua culture and they built their burial mound on top of the Deptford culture campsite. When Europeans made first contact in the area, the Potano lived in the area. They were descendants of the Alachua culture people. European contact diminished the numbers of native peoples (through disease, enslavement, war) and Spanish colonists began cattle ranching in the Paynes Prairie area in the 18th century.