Pensacola is a city in the Florida Panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. It is the principal city of the Pensacola Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had 511,503 residents in 2020. Pensacola is the first settlement established by Europeans in the United States, in 1559. Pensacola was first settled by the Spanish Empire in 1559, predating the establishment of St. Augustine by six years, and was abandoned due to a significant hurricane and not re-established until 1698.