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Broward County is a county located in the U.S. state of Floridamarker. As of 2000, the population is 1,623,018; this makes it the second most populated county in the state. According to 2007 U.S. Census estimates, its population has increased to 1,759,591 . Its county seat is Fort Lauderdale, Floridamarker .

It is also the sixteenth most populous county in the US.

Broward County is one of three counties that comprise the South Florida metropolitan areamarker.

History

County logo.
County was created in 1915. It was named for Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, Governor of Florida from 1905 to 1909. In 1915, Palm Beach County and Dade Countymarker contributed nearly equal portions of land to create Broward County. By the 1960s, Broward County was considered a leader in agriculture products and services within the State of Florida. The massive buildup of the South Floridamarker region since the mid 1970s transformed the region, evidenced by the closure of the last major agriculture center within the county (Waldrep Dairy Farmmarker) in 2003. It was one of the counties at the center of the 2000 U.S. Presidential election recount controversy. In 2002, it began an aggressive campaign of placing surveillance cameras along highways and traffic lights. Critics contend the cameras violate drivers' due process rights and two separate lawsuits have been filed over their use, one in Aventura filed in February, and one in Temple Terrace near Tampa, filed at the end of July. [11074]

Points of Interest

Broward boasts some notable attractions. The Museum of Discovery and Science is located in Ft. Lauderdale. The International Swimming Hall of Fame is located near the Atlantic Oceanmarker in Fort Lauderdalemarker. The International Game Fish Associationmarker has the Hall of Fame for Sport Fishing in Dania Beachmarker. Flamingo Gardensmarker is a botanical garden and wildlife sanctuary. Butterfly World is located in Coconut Creekmarker. Sawgrass Millsmarker, a large shopping mall, is located in Sunrisemarker. Also, the NHL's Florida Panthers play their games at the BankAtlantic Centermarker in Sunrise. There are also multiple entrances to Evergladesmarker parks. In Pompano Beachmarker is the Festival Flea Market Mall, America's largest indoor flea market. The African-American Research Library & Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdalemarker boasts more than 75,000 books and materials on the experiences of people of African descent in the Caribbean, Central and South America and the United States [11075].

Geography

Physical geography

Broward County is close to sea level in elevation averaging about 6 feet above sea level. It is rather new geologically and located at the eastern edge of the Florida Platform, a carbonate plateau created millions of years ago. Broward County is composed of Oolite limestone while western Broward is composed mostly of Bryozoa. Broward is among the last areas of Florida to be created and populated with fauna and flora, mostly in the Pleistocene.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,320 square miles (3,418 km²).Approximately two-thirds -- 847 square miles (2,194 km²) -- of the county's area lies in an undeveloped Everglades conservation area. 1,205 square miles (3,122 km²) of the county's area is land and 114 square miles (296 km²) of it is water. The total area is 8.66% water.

Broward approved the construction of Osborne Reefmarker, an artificial reef made of tires off the Fort Lauderdale beach, but it has proven an environmental disaster.[11076]

Adjacent Counties



Demographics

2000 Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,623,018 people, 654,445 households, and 411,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,346 people per square mile (520/km²). There were 741,043 housing units at an average density of 615 per square mile (237/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 70.57% White (58% were Non-Hispanic White,) 20.54% Black or African American, 0.24% Native American, 2.25% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 3.00% from other races, and 3.35% from two or more races. 16.74% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

In relation to ancestry, 9.4% were Italian, 7.4% Americanmarker, 6.8% German, 6.7% Irish, and 4% Englishmarker ancestry according to Census 2000. Furthermore, about 5.0% were Jamaicanmarker and 4.0% Haitianmarker alone, so 10.6% were generically West Indianmarker.

Notably, Broward was the only county in the nation outside the Northeast where Italian-Americans compose the largest ethnic group.

410,387 residents of Broward County, or 25.3 percent of the total population, were foreign-born (45% of whom were naturalized citizens), of which 60,241 of these were born in Jamaicamarker, 47,445 in Haitimarker, 32,572 in Cubamarker, 12,776 in Perumarker, 9,189 in the United Kingdommarker, and 9,015 in the Dominican Republicmarker. However, in percentage form, the most common countries of foreign-born residents included Jamaica (15%), Haiti (12%), Cuba (8%), Colombiamarker (8%), Canadamarker (5%), Brazilmarker (4%), and Peru (3%).

There were 654,445 households out of which 29.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.1% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,691, and the median income for a family was $50,531. Males had a median income of $36,741 versus $28,529 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,170. About 8.7% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.3% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2005, Broward County led the nation's metropolitan areas in new AIDS diagnoses, with a reported rate 58.4 new AIDS diagnoses per 100,000 people. County officials think the numbers may stem from a new and successful HIV testing campaign that has resulted in many people being diagnosed with full-blown AIDS at the same time they've been diagnosed with HIV.[11077] Ironically, without the implementation of the new testing campaign, the reported numbers of new diagnoses would have probably been lower.

Languages

As of 2000, 71.27% of all residents spoke English as their first language, while 16.33% spoke Spanish, 3.51% French Creole, 1.77% French, 1.13% Portuguese, 0.89% Italian, and 0.56% of the population spoke German as their mother language. In total, 28.72% of the population spoke languages other than English at home.

With the huge influx of immigrants since 2000, these figures have become outdated. However, since so many of them are coming from the Anglophone Caribbean, where English is spoken, the change is not as fast as the rate of immigration would suggest.

2006 Census Report

U.S. Census Bureau 2006 Ethnic/Race Demographics:

According to the most recent estimates from the U.S. Census of 2006, the total population of Broward County had risen to almost 1.8 million people, and increased by 10.1% between April 1, 2000 and July 1, 2006. This number is accounted for by an increase to 441,678 (25.3%) in its black population and an increase to 408,335 (22.8%) of its non-black Hispanic population. A significant portion of the black population has resulted from immigration, of whom are mainly Afro-Caribbean/West Indiansmarker. Some Afro-Latinos and Afro-Brazilians might also classify themselves as only black. More black foreigners immigrated to Broward County between 2001 and 2005 than any other county in the United States. Also, 54,001 (3.0%) of Broward County's population is Asian, which is a higher figure than that of most counties in the state.

Educational institutions

Broward County currently has the sixth largest school district in the country and the second largest in the state after Miami-Dademarker.

  • Broward County Library is one of the largest public library systems in the country, composed of 37 branch locations. Faced with having to reduce spending by up to $160 million because of the recession, county administrators are exploring severe cuts in community services.


Government

The Broward County Charter provides for a separation between the legislative and administrative functions of government. The Board of County Commissioners is the legislative branch of Broward County Government.

The County Commission is composed of nine members elected by district. Each Commissioner must be a resident of the district for which he or she seeks election. Each year the Commission elects a Mayor and Vice Mayor. The Mayor's functions include serving as presiding officer, and as the County's official representative. The Commission appoints the County Administrator, County Attorney and County Auditor. The Commission also appoints numerous advisory and regulatory boards.

The County Commission meets in formal session the first four Tuesdays of each month at 10:00 a.m. in Room 422 of the Broward County Governmental Center. Over 507,000 cable subscribers in Broward County have access to television coverage of Commission meetings, which are broadcast live beginning at 10:00 a.m. each Tuesday, and rebroadcast at 5:00 p.m. the following Sunday. Meetings can also be viewed via webcasting at www.broward.org.

Cities, towns, villages, and unincorporated areas

Incorporated



# Incorporated Community Designation Date incorporated Population
2 Coconut Creekmarker City 49,890
26 Cooper Citymarker City 30,062
4 Coral Springsmarker City 126,875
23 Dania Beachmarker City 28,831
22 Daviemarker Town 90,329
3 Deerfield Beachmarker City 76,478
16 Fort Lauderdalemarker City 183,606
31 Hallandale Beachmarker City 37,145
8 Hillsboro Beachmarker Town 2,334
24 Hollywoodmarker City 141,740
17 Lauderdale Lakesmarker City 31,879
11 Lauderdale-by-the-Seamarker Town 5,990
18 Lauderhillmarker City 67,073
15 Lazy Lakemarker Village 39
7 Lighthouse Pointmarker City 11,262
5 Margatemarker City 56,002
28 Miramarmarker City 108,240
10 North Lauderdalemarker City 42,335
13 Oakland Parkmarker City 42,300
1 Parklandmarker City 22,183
30 Pembroke Parkmarker Town 5,487
27 Pembroke Pinesmarker City 146,828
20 Plantationmarker City 86,138
6 Pompano Beachmarker City 102,745
12 Sea Ranch Lakesmarker Village 1,392
25 Southwest Ranchesmarker Town 7,203
19 Sunrisemarker City 89,787
9 Tamaracmarker City 59,923
29 West Parkmarker City 12,713
21 Westonmarker City 65,793
14 Wilton Manorsmarker City 12,879


Neighborhoods in incorporated areas (and recently annexed census-designated places)



Unincorporated areas and census-designated places



Politics

Over the past fifty years, Broward County has gone from solidly Republican to solidly Democratic. In the 1972 U.S. presidential election, Broward County residents voted overwhelmingly for Richard Nixon over George McGovern. From the 1992 U.S. presidential election onward, however, voters of Broward County backed the Democratic presidential nominee over the Republican nominee by strong majorities. Broward County is now the most reliably Democratic county in the state, with the exception of the much less populous Gadsden Countymarker (where African Americans are a majority). This change in voting tendencies is most likely due to the continuous flow from large migration of snowbirds and transplanted people from the liberal Northeast and other blue states, as well as a growing LGBT community, and also naturalized U.S. citizen born in places such as Latin America, the Caribbeanmarker, Canadamarker, Europe, Asia, and Israelmarker.

Presidential elections results
Year Republican Democrat
2008 32.3% 225,453 67.2% 474,579
2004 34.6% 244,674 64.2% 453,873
2000 30.9% 177,939 67.4% 387,760
1996 28.3% 142,870 63.5% 320,779
1992 30.9% 164,832 51.8% 276,361
1988 50.0% 220,316 49.5% 218,274
1984 56.7% 254,608 43.3% 194,584
1980 55.9% 229,693 35.6% 146,323
1976 47.1% 161,411 51.6% 176,491
1972 72.4% 196,528 27.3% 74,127
1968 54.5% 106,122 29.1% 56,613
1964 55.5% 85,264 44.5% 68,406
1960 58.8% 68,294 41.2% 47,811


Transportation

Street grid

A street grid stretches throughout Broward County. Most of this grid is loosely based on three primary eastern municipalities, (from South to North) Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach. Deerfield Beach -- another primary eastern municipality -- has its own street grid, as do two smaller municipalities -- Dania and Hallandale.

Major Freeways and Tollways



Railroads

Airports



Public Transportation



Greenways System

Construction is underway on a network of recreational trails to connect cities and points of interest in the county. [11078] [11079]

References

  1. http://www.census.gov/popest/counties/tables/CO-EST2005-01-12.xls
  2. Notes on Florida Geography, Florida International University
  3. 2006 Broward County Demographics
  4. 2006 Demographics of Some Other Race
  5. Broward County, Florida -- ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2006
  6. State:Broward Power. St. Petersburg Times Last accessed November 14, 2006.
  7. 2008 General Election Results. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 2008-11-11.


External links

Government links/Constitutional offices

Special Districts



Judicial branch



Tourism links



Official sites

  • The Broward Alliance (Broward County's official public/private partnership for economic development)



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