The city of Orlando is the county seat of Orange County, Florida. According to the 2000 census, the city population was 185,951. A 2005 U.S. Census population count gave the city population as 213,223, making it the sixth largest city in Florida. It is also at the head of the Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Orlando-Kissimmee MSA is Florida's third-largest metropolitan area, behind Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater.

Some historians date Orlando's name to around 1836 when a soldier named Orlando Reeves allegedly died in the area, during the war against the Seminole Indian tribe. It seems, however, that Orlando Reeves (sometimes Rees) operated a sugar mill and plantation about 30 miles (50 km) to the north at Spring Garden in Volusia County, and pioneer settlers simply found his name carved into a tree and assumed it was a marker for his grave site. They then referred to the area as "Orlando's grave" and later simply "Orlando."
During the Second Seminole War, the U.S. Army established an outpost at Fort Gatlin, a few miles south of the modern downtown, in 1838. But it was quickly abandoned when the war came to an end.

Prior to being known as its current name, Orlando was known as Jernigan, after the first permanent settler, cattleman Aaron Jernigan, who acquired land along Lake Holden by the terms of the Armed Occupation Act of 1842. But most pioneers did not arrive until after the Third Seminole War in the 1850s. Most of the early residents made their living by cattle ranching.

Orlando remained a rural backwater during the American Civil War, and suffered greatly during the Federal Blockade. The Reconstruction Era brought a population explosion, which led to the city's incorporation in 1875.

The period from 1875 to 1895 is remembered as Orlando's "Gilded Era," when it became the hub of Florida's citrus industry. But a great freeze in 1894-1895 forced many owners to give up their independent groves, thus consolidating holdings in the hands of a few "citrus barons" which shifted operations south, primarily around Lake Wales in Polk County.

Orlando, as Florida's largest inland city, became a popular resort during the years between the Spanish-American War and World War I. The city was also host to several sanitariums, which serves as the basis for its hospitals today.

Perhaps the most critical event for Orlando's economy occurred in 1965 when Walt Disney announced plans to build Walt Disney World. Although Disney had considered the cities of Miami and Tampa for his park, one of the major reasons behind his decision not to locate in those cities was the threat of hurricanes. The famous vacation resort opened in October 1971, ushering in an explosive population and economic growth for the Orlando metropolitan area, which now encompasses Orange, Seminole, Osceola, and Lake counties. As a result, tourism became the centerpiece of the area's economy and Orlando is consistently ranked as one of the top vacation destinations in the world, now boasting more theme parks and entertainment attractions than anywhere else in the world.

Another major factor in Orlando's growth occurred in 1970, when the new Orlando International Airport was built from a portion of the McCoy Air Force Base. Four airlines began providing scheduled flights in 1970. The military base officially closed in 1974, and most of it is now part of the airport. The airport still retains the former Air Force Base airport code (MCO). It is considered a world-class facility, and it is one of the most heavily travelled airports in the world.

The SunTrust Center, the tallest building in Orlando at 441 ft. (134 m), was built in 1988. The next tallest buildings are the Orange County Courthouse (1997, 416 ft./127 m), the Bank of America Center (Formerly Barnett Plaza, 1988, 409 ft./123 m), Solaire at the Plaza (2006, 359 ft./109 m) and the Orlando International Airport ATC Tower (2002, 346 ft./105 m). The VUE at Lake Eola, currently under construction, will become the tallest building in Orlando upon completion at 513 ft. (140.5 m) tall.

The SeaWorld SkyTower, at 400 ft. (122 m) tall, is the tallest tower in Orange County that's not in Orlando proper. There are also several tall transmission towers in Orange County, the tallest of which is the WFTV transmission tower in Christmas at 1,617 ft. (491.6 m) tall.
Orlando has been the home and capital of pop music, mainstream music and alternative rock music, including Anberlin, Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, as well as Sam Rivers, Creed, Trivium, From First to Last, Matchbox Twenty, Seven Mary Three, There For Tomorrow, Mark Fenlon, DJ Icey, DJ KJ of K5, DJ Baby Anne, DJ Jimmy Joslin and DJ Scotty B. Sister Hazel, For Squirrels and Less Than Jake are from nearby Gainesville, as is superstar Tom Petty. Downtown Orlando is also the site of Club Paris, the dance club formerly owned by Paris Hilton.
Orlando has also been called Hollywood East because of numerous cinematic enterprises in the area. Until recently, Walt Disney Feature Animation operated a studio out of Disney/MGM Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort. Feature Animation-Florida was primarily responsible for the films Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and the early stages of Brother Bear and contributed on various other projects. Nickelodeon Studios, which through the 90s produced hundreds of hours of GAK-filled game shows targeted at children, no longer operates out of Universal Studios Florida. The Florida Film Festival in nearby Maitland is one of the most respected regional film festivals in the country and attracts budding filmmakers from around the world.

The Orlando Metropolitan Area is also home to a substantial theatre population. Several professional and semi-professional houses and many community theatres dot the area including Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, Orlando Repertory Theatre (Central Florida's only Professional Theatre for Young Audiences), Orlando Theatre Project, Starlight Dinner Theatre, Mad Cow Theatre, Theatre Downtown, The Osceola Center for the Arts, Winter Park Playhouse, Theatre Winter Haven, IceHouse Theatre, and Seaside Music Theatre.

Orlando is home to the Orlando Magic, an NBA pro basketball franchise that plays at Amway Arena in downtown Orlando. The team made it to the NBA Finals in 1995. Opened in 1989, Amway Arena is one of the oldest arenas in the NBA. It will be replaced by 2010 by the $480-million New Orlando Magic Arena. The Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League also play at Amway Arena.

Orlando was a stronghold of minor-league ice hockey throughout the 1990s, being home of the Orlando Solar Bears of the now-defunct International Hockey League. Historically successful, they won the Turner Cup championship in 2001 to end the IHL's final season. In 2002, the Atlantic Coast Hockey League formed with Orlando forming one of the charter franchises, the Orlando Seals, which won their Commissioner's Cup in 2003. They moved to the World Hockey Association 2 in 2003, then the Southern Professional Hockey League in 2004. The City of Orlando revoked their lease for the present Amway Arena, forcing them to sit out the 2004-05 season. They moved to Kissimmee and became the Florida Seals in November 2004.