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Broward County, Florida
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Broward County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. 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, Florida.
It is also the fifteenth most populous county in the US.
Broward County is one of three counties that comprise the South Florida metropolitan area.
ard County was created in 1915.
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Encyclopedia
Broward County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. 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, Florida.
It is also the fifteenth most populous county in the US.
Broward County is one of three counties that comprise the South Florida metropolitan area.
History
Broward 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 County 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 Florida region since the mid 1970s transformed the region, evidenced by the closure of the last major agriculture center within the county (Waldrep Dairy Farm) 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.
Points of Interest
Broward boasts some notable attractions. The Museum of Science and Discovery is located in Ft. Lauderdale. The International Swimming Hall of Fame is located near the Atlantic Ocean in Fort Lauderdale. The International Game Fish Association has the Hall of Fame for Sport Fishing in Dania Beach. Flamingo Gardens is a botanical garden and wildlife sanctuary. Butterfly World is located in Coconut Creek. Sawgrass Mills, a large shopping mall, is located in Sunrise. There are also multiple entrances to Everglades parks. In Pompano Beach is the , America's largest indoor flea market. The African-American Research Library & Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale 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 .
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,320 square miles (3,418 kmē).Approximately two-thirds -- 847 square miles (2,194 kmē) -- of the county's area lies in an undeveloped Everglades conservation area. 1,205 square miles (3,122 kmē) of the county's area is land and 114 square miles (296 kmē) of it is water. The total area is 8.66% water.
Broward approved the construction of Osborne Reef, an artificial reef made of tires off the Fort Lauderdale beach, but it has proven an environmental disaster.
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/kmē). There were 741,043 housing units at an average density of 615 per square mile (237/kmē). 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, 10.6% were West Indian (about 5.0% Jamaican and 4.0% Haitian alone), 9.4% Italian, 7.4% American, 6.8% German, 6.7% Irish, and 4% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 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 Jamaica, 47,445 in Haiti, 32,572 in Cuba, 12,776 in Peru, 10,843 in Mexico, 9,189 in the United Kingdom, and 9,015 in the Dominican Republic. However, in percentage form, the most common countries of foreign-born residents included Jamaica (15%), Haiti (12%), Cuba (8%), Colombia (8%), Canada (5%), Brazil (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. 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:
- White (non-Hispanic): 48.7%
- Black (non-Hispanic): 25.3%
- Hispanic or Latino of any race: 22.8%
- Some other race: 4.3%
- Asian: 3.0%
- Two or more races: 1.3%
- American Indian and Alaska Native: 0.4%
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.1%
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-Caribbeans/West Indians. 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.
The population change is significant in at least one respect: The percentage of population identified as non-Hispanic white (as of 2005) has now dropped to less than half, at 49.9%. As such, Broward County is now "minority-majority". As of 2006, the non-Hispanic white population is now estimated by the U.S. Census to comprise 48.7% of Broward residents.
Educational institutions
Broward County currently has the sixth largest school district in the country and the second largest in the state after Miami-Dade.
Broward County Library is one of the largest public library systems in the country, composed of 37 branch locations.
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
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 County (where African Americans are a majority). This change in voting tendencies is most likely due to the continuous flow from large migrations 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. citizens born in places such as Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, Europe, and Israel.
Presidential elections results | Year | Republican | Democrat |
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| 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
External links
Government links/Constitutional offices
Special Districts
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- (Memorial Healthcare System)
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Judicial branch
Tourism links
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- local newspaper for Broward County, Florida fully and openly available in the
Official sites
- (Broward County's official public/private partnership for economic development)
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