Pinellas is the name of a peninsula located roughly halfway down the west coast of
Florida. It forms the western boundary of
Tampa Bay and comprises the bulk of
Pinellas County. There is a city named
Pinellas Park
Pinellas Park is a city located in central Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 53,093 at the 2020 census. Originally home to northern transplants and vacationers, the hundred year old city has grown into the fourth largest ...
in south Pinellas. The peninsula is bounded on the north by
Pasco County, Florida, on the northeast by
Hillsborough County, and on the east and south by Tampa Bay. It is bounded on the west by the
Intracoastal Waterway and the
Gulf of Mexico. The Pinellas peninsula connects to the south with
Manatee County
Manatee County is a county in the Central Florida portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 399,710. Manatee County is part of the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county s ...
via the
Sunshine Skyway Bridge and connects with Hillsborough County on the east via the
Courtney Campbell Causeway, the
Howard Frankland Bridge
The W. Howard Frankland Bridge is the central bridge spanning Old Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg, Florida to Tampa, Florida. It is one of three bridges connecting Hillsborough County and Pinellas County; the others being Gandy Bridge and Cour ...
, and the
Gandy Bridge.
Overview
The name derives from ''La Punta de Pinal de Jimenez'' ("Jimenez's Point of Pines"), the name given the entrance to Tampa Bay by Spanish explorers in 1757. The first settlers in the area include Antonio Maximo Hernandez, the McMullen family and
Odet Philippe. Maximo Point is the location of Maximo's fishing camp. McMullen's descendants still live in the area.
Philippe Park, a Pinellas County park, and the Philippe Parkway were named for Philippe. Now highly urbanized, the peninsula was once renowned for its wildlife, including the
American black bear
The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), also called simply a black bear or sometimes a baribal, is a medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bear ...
, the
Florida panther
The Florida panther is a North American cougar (''P. c. couguar'') population in South Florida. It lives in pinelands, tropical hardwood hammocks, and mixed freshwater swamp forests. It is known under a number of common names including Costa R ...
, and many species of birds.
Pinellas County is the most densely populated county in Florida. Its population is greater than that of the individual population of the states of
Wyoming,
Montana,
Delaware,
South Dakota,
Alaska,
North Dakota, or
Vermont, and the
District of Columbia.
There are 3,347 people per square mile in Pinellas County. The next closest county with a highly concentrated population is Broward with 1,445 people per square mile.
{{Coord, 27.876394, -82.7778579, display=title
Landforms of Pinellas County, Florida
Geography of the Tampa Bay area
Peninsulas of Florida