Alachua County, Florida

Alachua County is a located in the  of. The 2006 estimate for the county is 227,120. Its is. Alachua County is best known as the home of the, and much of its economy revolves around the university.

History
The Alachua area appears to have been the first area occupied by the immigrant s, the original s, about 1740. Their first town was situated on or near the old Alachua plain, now called in homage to, chief of the Alachua settlements upon his death in 1812.

The meaning of Alachua is suggested by a passage in the journal of Lieutenant Diego Peña, who on his expedition to and  in 1716, traversed the region, and of the area between the  and s in southern  remarks:

The 21st day I left the said site (adjacent to the Itchtucknee River) and camped at a place they call Aquilachua this day I marched five leagues. In this day's march no creeks were encountered but there are good springs of water, and the first (is) named Usichua, (and) the other Usiparachua, and another Afanochua.

That the springs without effluent streams were s is consistent with the area, which has many. The names of these watering places all possess the terminator chua, which suggests that chua is the n name for sinkhole. This inference is not inconsistent with the general opinion of residents of the county, that the name Alachua means sinkhole.

Alachua County proper was created in. The original was  located near the current site of the city of. In, the new railroad from to  bypassed Newnansville, and Gainesville, a new town that was located on the railroad, began to draw business and residents away from Newnansville. Gainesville became the county seat the following year.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 969.12 sqmi. 874.25 sqmi of it is land and 94.94 sqmi of it (9.79%) is water. Alachua County is part of the.

Adjacent Counties
 * - north
 * - north
 * - east
 * - southeast
 * - southwest
 * - west
 * - northwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 217,955 people, 87,509 households, and 47,779 families residing in the county. The was 249.31/sq mi (94.93/km²). There were 95,113 housing units at an average density of 108.79/sq mi (42.01/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 73.47%, 19.30% or , 0.25% , 3.54% , 0.03% , 1.40% from , and 2.02% from two or more races. 5.73% of the population were or  of any race. 11.2% were of, 9.8% , 9.3% , 9.1% and 5.0%  ancestry according to. 88.9% spoke and 5.6%  as their first language.

There were 87,509 households out of which 25.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.80% were married couples living together, 12.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.40% were non-families. 29.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.20% under the age of 18, 23.20% from 18 to 24, 27.70% from 25 to 44, 19.30% from 45 to 64, and 9.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 95.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,426, and the median income for a family was $46,587. Males had a median income of $31,971 versus $26,059 for females. The for the county was $18,465. About 12.20% of families and 22.80% of the population were below the, including 19.40% of those under age 18 and 9.70% of those age 65 or over.



Education
The entire county of Alachua is served by the, which has some 47 different institutions in the county. Alachua county is also home to the and.

Incorporated

 * 1) City of
 * 2) City of
 * 3) City of
 * 4) City of
 * 5) City of
 * 6) Town of
 * 7) Town of
 * 8) City of
 * 9) City of

Politics
Alachua County is one of the most reliably "blue" counties in Northern Florida, voting for the Democratic candidate for in the past four elections, and narrowly going for the elder  in the  landslide election.

Landfills
Alachua County is also the site of numerous landfills, both open and closed. The names of the closed landfills are Southwest Landfill, Southeast Landfill, Northwest Landfill, Northeast Landfill, and Northeast Auxiliary Landfill.

Government links/Constitutional offices

 * Alachua County / Board of County Commissioners
 * Alachua County Supervisor of Elections
 * Alachua County Property Appraiser
 * Alachua County Sheriff's Office
 * Alachua County Tax Collector

Special districts

 * Alachua County Public Schools
 * Suwannee River Water Management District
 * St. Johns River Water Management District
 * Alachua County Library District

Judicial branch of State

 * Alachua County Clerk of Courts
 * Office of the State Attorney, 8th Judicial Circuit of Florida serving Alachua,, , , and  Counties
 * Circuit and County Court for the 8th Judicial Circuit of Florida

Conservation and environmental organizations

 * Alachua Conservation Trust

Tourism links

 * Alachua County Convention and Visitors Bureau