Florida's Regions
Florida is commonly divided into nine informal regions based on geography, culture, and economy. These are not official political boundaries — they overlap with tourism marketing districts and state planning regions — but they map closely to how Floridians and visitors describe the state.
Northwest Florida
The Panhandle: Pensacola to Tallahassee, sugar-white beaches, longleaf pine, and the Apalachicola River.
15 counties
Bay County
Seat: Panama City
Population
175,216
Land area
758 sq mi
Calhoun County
Seat: Blountstown
Population
13,648
Land area
567 sq mi
Escambia County
Seat: Pensacola
Population
321,905
Land area
656 sq mi
Franklin County
Seat: Apalachicola
Population
12,451
Land area
545 sq mi
Gadsden County
Seat: Quincy
Population
43,826
Land area
516 sq mi
Gulf County
Seat: Port St. Joe
Population
14,192
Land area
555 sq mi
Holmes County
Seat: Bonifay
Population
19,653
Land area
478 sq mi
Jackson County
Seat: Marianna
Population
47,409
Land area
918 sq mi
Leon County
Seat: Tallahassee
Population
292,198
Land area
667 sq mi
Liberty County
Seat: Bristol
Population
7,974
Land area
836 sq mi
Okaloosa County
Seat: Crestview
Population
211,668
Land area
930 sq mi
Santa Rosa County
Seat: Milton
Population
188,000
Land area
1,012 sq mi
Wakulla County
Seat: Crawfordville
Population
33,764
Land area
606 sq mi
Walton County
Seat: DeFuniak Springs
Population
75,305
Land area
1,058 sq mi
Washington County
Seat: Chipley
Population
25,473
Land area
580 sq mi
North Central Florida
Rolling sand-hills, karst springs, the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers, and the university city of Gainesville.
14 counties
Alachua County
Seat: Gainesville
Population
278,468
Land area
875 sq mi
Bradford County
Seat: Starke
Population
28,303
Land area
293 sq mi
Columbia County
Seat: Lake City
Population
69,698
Land area
797 sq mi
Dixie County
Seat: Cross City
Population
16,826
Land area
704 sq mi
Gilchrist County
Seat: Trenton
Population
17,864
Land area
349 sq mi
Hamilton County
Seat: Jasper
Population
14,004
Land area
514 sq mi
Jefferson County
Seat: Monticello
Population
14,510
Land area
598 sq mi
Lafayette County
Seat: Mayo
Population
8,226
Land area
543 sq mi
Levy County
Seat: Bronson
Population
42,915
Land area
1,118 sq mi
Madison County
Seat: Madison
Population
18,493
Land area
692 sq mi
Marion County
Seat: Ocala
Population
375,908
Land area
1,585 sq mi
Suwannee County
Seat: Live Oak
Population
43,770
Land area
686 sq mi
Taylor County
Seat: Perry
Population
21,569
Land area
1,043 sq mi
Union County
Seat: Lake Butler
Population
15,237
Land area
240 sq mi
Northeast Florida
The First Coast: Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Amelia Island, and the St. Johns River basin.
8 counties
Baker County
Seat: Macclenny
Population
28,259
Land area
585 sq mi
Clay County
Seat: Green Cove Springs
Population
218,245
Land area
601 sq mi
Duval County
Seat: Jacksonville
Population
995,567
Land area
762 sq mi
Flagler County
Seat: Bunnell
Population
115,378
Land area
485 sq mi
Nassau County
Seat: Fernandina Beach
Population
90,352
Land area
649 sq mi
Putnam County
Seat: Palatka
Population
73,321
Land area
722 sq mi
St. Johns County
Seat: St. Augustine
Population
273,425
Land area
601 sq mi
Volusia County
Seat: DeLand
Population
553,543
Land area
1,101 sq mi
Central Florida
The I-4 corridor and Space Coast: Orlando theme parks, chain-of-lakes country, and Kennedy Space Center.
10 counties
Brevard County
Seat: Titusville
Population
606,612
Land area
1,016 sq mi
Citrus County
Seat: Inverness
Population
153,843
Land area
584 sq mi
Hardee County
Seat: Wauchula
Population
25,327
Land area
637 sq mi
Highlands County
Seat: Sebring
Population
101,235
Land area
1,029 sq mi
Lake County
Seat: Tavares
Population
383,956
Land area
938 sq mi
Orange County
Seat: Orlando
Population
1,429,908
Land area
903 sq mi
Osceola County
Seat: Kissimmee
Population
388,656
Land area
1,327 sq mi
Polk County
Seat: Bartow
Population
725,046
Land area
1,874 sq mi
Seminole County
Seat: Sanford
Population
470,856
Land area
308 sq mi
Sumter County
Seat: Bushnell
Population
129,752
Land area
546 sq mi
Tampa Bay
Tampa, St. Petersburg, and the Gulf beaches around one of America's great natural harbors.
5 counties
Hernando County
Seat: Brooksville
Population
194,515
Land area
473 sq mi
Hillsborough County
Seat: Tampa
Population
1,459,762
Land area
1,020 sq mi
Manatee County
Seat: Bradenton
Population
399,710
Land area
743 sq mi
Pasco County
Seat: Dade City
Population
561,691
Land area
745 sq mi
Pinellas County
Seat: Clearwater
Population
959,107
Land area
274 sq mi
Southwest Florida
Sarasota to Naples: barrier islands, mangrove estuaries, and Big Cypress on the edge of the Everglades.
5 counties
Charlotte County
Seat: Punta Gorda
Population
186,847
Land area
680 sq mi
Collier County
Seat: Naples
Population
375,752
Land area
1,998 sq mi
DeSoto County
Seat: Arcadia
Population
33,976
Land area
637 sq mi
Lee County
Seat: Fort Myers
Population
760,822
Land area
785 sq mi
Sarasota County
Seat: Sarasota
Population
434,006
Land area
556 sq mi
Treasure Coast
The Indian River Lagoon, Sebastian Inlet, and the citrus and boating counties of Florida's central east coast.
3 counties
South Florida
The tri-county metropolis of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach — plus the sugar country and Everglades.
6 counties
Broward County
Seat: Fort Lauderdale
Population
1,944,375
Land area
1,210 sq mi
Glades County
Seat: Moore Haven
Population
12,126
Land area
774 sq mi
Hendry County
Seat: LaBelle
Population
39,619
Land area
1,153 sq mi
Miami-Dade County
Seat: Miami
Population
2,701,767
Land area
1,897 sq mi
Okeechobee County
Seat: Okeechobee
Population
39,644
Land area
774 sq mi
Palm Beach County
Seat: West Palm Beach
Population
1,492,191
Land area
1,970 sq mi
Florida Keys
A single-county archipelago: 125 miles of the Overseas Highway from Key Largo to Key West.
1 counties