There are 67 counties in the U.S. state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, which became a territory of the U.S. in 1821 with two counties complementing the provincial divisions retained as a Spanish territory, Escambia to the west and St. Johns to the east. Both counties are divided by the

Suwannee River The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset hig ...

. All of the other counties were apportioned from these two original counties. Florida became the 27th U.S. state in 1845, and its last county was created in 1925 with the formation of

Gilchrist County Gilchrist County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Florida. Organized in 1925 from the western part of Alachua, it is the last county to be formed in the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,86 ...

from a segment of

Alachua County Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida since 1906, when the campus ope ...

. Florida's counties are subdivisions of the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

. Florida's largest county is

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

, the seventh largest county in the nation, with a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census. In 1968, counties gained the power to develop their own

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

s. All but two of Florida's

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

s are

incorporated municipalities A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local government, local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) city, cities, county, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be use ...

: the exceptions are Crawfordville, county seat of rural

Wakulla County Wakulla County is a County (United States), county located in the Big Bend (Florida), Big Bend region in the North Florida, northern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33, ...

, and

East Naples East Naples is an unincorporated community in Collier County, Florida, United States. East Naples has been the county seat since 1962, when the Collier County Courthouse was moved from Everglades (see Old Collier County Courthouse). East Naples is ...

, located outside

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

city limits in

Collier County Collier County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 375,752; an increase of 16.9% since the 2010 United States Census. Its county seat is East Naples, where the county offices were moved from E ...

. The names of Florida's counties reflect its diverse cultural heritage. Some are named for Confederate political leaders and Spanish explorers, marking the influence of Spanish sovereignty, while others are named for Christian saints, Native American sites, as well as political leaders of the United States. Natural features of the region, including rivers, lakes and flora, are also commonly used for county names. Florida has counties named for participants on both sides of

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and ...

is partially named for

Francis L. Dade Francis Langhorne Dade (1793? – December 28, 1835) was a Brevet Major (United States), Major in the U.S. 4th Infantry Regiment, United States Army, during the Second Seminole War. Dade was killed in a battle with Seminole Indians that came t ...

, a major in the U.S. Army at the time; Osceola County is named for the war's native Muscogee- Seminole resistance leader Osceola. Population figures are based on the 2021 vintage

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

population estimates. The population of Florida is 21,781,128, an increase of 1.1% from 2020. The average population of Florida's counties is 325,091;

is the most populous (2,662,777) and Liberty County is the least (7,900). The average land area is 805 sq mi (2,085 km²). The largest county is Palm Beach County (2,034 sq mi, 5,268 km²) and the smallest is Union County (240 sq mi, 622 km²). The total area of the state is 65,795 sq miles, of which the land area constitutes while the water area constitutes 11,868 sq miles. (2020 Census) The

Federal Information Processing Standard The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of publicly announced standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military, American ...

(FIPS) is used by the U.S. government to uniquely identify counties, and is provided for each entry. These codes link to the United States Census Bureau's "quick facts" for each county. Florida's FIPS code of 12 is used to distinguish from counties in other states. For example, Alachua County's unique nationwide identifier is 12001. __TOC__

Counties

Former counties

Fayette County was created in 1832 from the portion of Jackson County east of the Chipola River, with county seat at Ochesee (now in

Calhoun County Calhoun County is the name of several counties in the United States of America named after U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun: * Calhoun County, Alabama * Calhoun County, Arkansas * Calhoun County, Florida * Calhoun County, Georgia * Calhoun Count ...

east of Altha). In 1834 it was merged back into Jackson County.

Renamed counties

Five counties in Florida have been renamed. Most renamings occurred between 1845 and 1861, during the first sixteen years of Florida's statehood. One occurred in 1997, when Dade County changed its name to

Proposed counties

References

; Specific ; General *''Atlas of Florida'', revised edition. Edward A. Fernald & Elizabeth D. Purdum, editors (University Press of Florida, 1996). "Evolution of Counties", pp. 98–99. {{DEFAULTSORT:List of counties in Florida

Counties

Counties

Former counties

Renamed counties

Proposed counties

See also

Further reading

References