The University of Florida (commonly referred to as Florida or UF) is an American (United States) public (Public university) land-grant (land-grant university), sea-grant (sea grant colleges), space-grant (space grant colleges) research university located on a convert2000acrekm2sing=on campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906. It is considered to be one of the "Public Ivy" universities— one of the top public universities in the United States and is currently ranked forty-seventh overall among all national universities, public and private, in the current 2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings (college and university rankings). As evaluated by the Academic Ranking of World Universities report (ARWU), Florida currently ranks among the worlds top 100 universities (fifty-eighth in 2009).

The University of Florida is an elected member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization composed of sixty-two American and Canadian research universities. It is one of three "research flagship universities" within the State University System of Florida, as designated by the Florida Legislature. Researchers at the university developed the sports drink Gatorade.

It is the second-largest Florida university by student population (List of largest United States university campuses by enrollment), and the most academically prestigious university in the state of Florida as measured by national and international rankings of American colleges and universities. The university is also the sixth largest single-campus university in the United States by student population (List of largest United States university campuses by enrollment), with 49,679 students enrolled for the fall 2009 semester. As of the 2007–2008 academic year, Florida ranked twelfth among all institutions in the number of new National Merit Scholar (National Merit Scholarship Program)s enrolled. The university has an annual budget of approximately $4.3 billion.

The University of Florida is the most academically comprehensive university in the state of Florida, as measured by the number of academic programs offered, and is home to seventeen academic colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. It offers multiple graduate professional programs—including business administration, engineering, law and medicine—on one contiguous campus, and administers 123 masters degree programs and seventy-six doctoral degree (Doctorate) programs in eighty-seven schools and departments.

The University of Floridas intercollegiate sports teams, known as the "Florida Gators," compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (Division I (NCAA)) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In their 104-year history, the universitys varsity sports teams have won twenty-four national team championships, nineteen of which are NCAA titles, and Gator athletes have won 219 individual national championships.