Sarasota County, Florida

Sarasota County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 325,957. The 2005 estimate for the county is 366,256. Its is.

History
Sarasota County was created in. The origin of the name is unknown. It may be named for a word in the  language, whose meaning may be "point of rocks", or an Indian word meaning "Place of the Dance." Some believe it was named after the daughter of famous explorer Hernando de Soto's daughter Sara. According the the Florida League of Cities, the name first appeared in print as "Zarazote" on a 1763 land grant map.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,878 (725 ). 1,480 km² (572 sq mi) of it is land and 398 km² (154 sq mi) of it (21.19%) is water.

Sarasota County is part of the.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - east
 * - south

Incorporated

 * 1) City of
 * 2) City of
 * 3) City of
 * 4) Town of

Primary and Secondary Education

 * - Public K-12 School district serving all of Sarasota County

Higher Education

 * - Public liberal arts college. 'Honors' college of the State of Florida.
 * - Branch campus of USF.
 * - A private, 4 year, not-for-profit, fully accredited college with concentrations in art and design.

Newspapers

 * - Also known as the Sarasota Herald Tribune. Primarily serves Sarasota County for news, but also serves, and  counties. Circulation is 110,817 daily and 132,185 on Sunday (2005 averages). Also operates an online news portal, HeraldTribune.com
 * Venice Gondolier Sun - Website
 * Pelican Press - Website

Television
Sarasota County is part of the Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota, the 12th largest DMA in the country. Most of the television stations are located in or  except:
 * - A local affiliate based in Sarasota.
 * - Local twenty-four hour news station based in Sarasota.
 * Various government and local access channels. Access 19 (Local Government channel), Education Channel (School Board) and BLAB TV (local programming)

Radio

 * WZSP-FM (105.3 La Zeta)

Airports

 * , in both (runway) and Sarasota County (terminal).
 * ,a general aviation airport in.

Major Highways and State Roads

 * [[Image:I-75.svg|30px]]- North-south, and has ten  within Sarasota County. Major north-south highway in Sarasota County. Connects the area with other cities such as  and . Interstate 75 heads east in Southern Sarasota County through  to cross  at a more manageable length.


 * '[[Image:US 41.svg|30px]] - The other main north-south road. Known as Tamiami Trail. Follows the general path of, but most closer to the coastline. is not.


 * [[Image:Florida 789.svg|30px]]








 * [[Image:Florida 72.svg|30px]]


 * [[Image:Florida 681.svg|30px]]

Public Transportation

 *  (SCAT) provides public transportation for Sarasota County, Florida. SCAT is operated by Sarasota County. It maintains 19 fixed-line bus routes plus a dial-a-ride paratransit service (SCAT Plus).

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 325,957 people, 149,937 households, and 94,460 families residing in the county. The was 220/km² (570/sq mi). There were 182,467 housing units at an average density of 123/km² (319/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 92.65%, 4.18% or , 0.22% , 0.77% , 0.03% , 1.14% from , and 1.02% from two or more races. 4.34% of the population were or  of any race. 89.7% spoke, 4.4% , 1.3% and 1.0%  as their first language.

Census Estimates for 2005 show the county population as being 87.5% non-Hispanic whites, 6.3% Latinos, 4.5% African-American and 1.1% Asian.(source=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/12115.html)

In 2000 there were 149,957 households out of which 18.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.70% were living together, 7.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.00% were non-families. 30.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.61.

In the county the population was spread out with 16.20% under the age of 18, 5.00% from 18 to 24, 21.70% from 25 to 44, 25.60% from 45 to 64, and 31.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females there were 90.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,957, and the median income for a family was $50,111. Males had a median income of $32,114 versus $25,721 for females. The for the county was $28,326. About 5.10% of families and 7.80% of the population were below the, including 12.70% of those under age 18 and 4.50% of those age 65 or over.


 * Population in Sarasota County as of 2006 had reached 369,535 people.

Government links/Constitutional offices

 * Sarasota County Government / Board of County Commissioners official website
 * Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections
 * Sarasota County Property Appraiser
 * Sarasota County Tax Collector
 * Sarasota County Sheriff's Office

Special districts

 * Sarasota County Public Schools
 * Southwest Florida Water Management District

Judicial branch

 * Sarasota County Clerk of Circuit Court & County Comptroller
 * Office of the State Attorney, 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida serving Sarasota, and  counties
 * Circuit and County Court, 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida serving Sarasota, Manatee and Desoto counties

Tourism links

 * Sarasota Chamber of Commerce