West Florida was a region on the north shore of the
Gulf of Mexico, which underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. The province was established by the British in 1763 out of lands ceded from the Spanish and French. As its name suggests, it was formed out of the Western part of formerly
Spanish Florida (
East Florida formed the eastern part), along with lands taken from
French Louisiana; West Florida's
capital was
Pensacola. The colony included most of what is now the
Florida Panhandle, plus parts of the modern U.S. states of Louisiana,
Mississippi, and
Alabama.