Broward County, Florida

Broward County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the is 1,623,018; this makes it the second most populated county in the state. According to 2006 estimates, its population had grown to 1,787,636. Its is.

It is also the.

Broward County is one of three counties that comprise the.

History
Broward County was created in 1915. It was named for, from 1905 to 1909. In 1915, and  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 region since the mid 1970s transformed the region, evidenced by the closure of the last major agriculture center within the county  in 2003. It was one of the at the center of the  recount controversy. In 2002, it began an aggressive campaign of placing along  and.

Points Of Interest
Broward boasts some notable attractions. The Museum of Science and Discovery is located in Ft. Lauderdale. The is located near the  in. The has the  in. is a botanical garden and wildlife sanctuary. is located in. , a large shopping mall, is located in. There are also multiple entrances to parks.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 3,418 (1,320 ). Approximately two-thirds -- 2,194 km² (847 sq mi) -- of the county's area lies in an undeveloped Everglades conservation area. 3,122 km² (1,205 sq mi) of the county's area is land and 296 km² (114 sq mi) of it is. The total area is 8.66% water.

Broward approved the construction of, an made of tires off the Fort Lauderdale beach, but it has proven an environmental disaster.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - south
 * - west
 * - northwest

2000 Census
As of the of 2000, there were 1,623,018 people, 654,445 households, and 411,645 families residing in the county. The was 520/km² (1,346/sq mi). There were 741,043 housing units at an average density of 237/km² (615/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 70.57%, 20.54% or , 0.24% , 2.25% , 0.06% , 3.00% from , and 3.35% from two or more races. 16.74% of the population were or  of any race.

410,387 residents of Broward County, or 25.3 percent of the total population, are foreign-born. 60,241 of these were born in, 47,445 in , 32,572 in , 12,776 in , 10,843 in , 9,189 in the , and 9,015 in the.

There were 654,445 households out of which 29.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were 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 for the county was $23,170. About 8.7% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the, 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 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 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 as their, while 16.33% spoke , 3.51% , 1.77% , and 1.13% of the population spoke  as their. 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 these immigrants are coming from Caribbean Islands where English is spoken, the change is not as fast as the rate of immigration would suggest.

2005 Census Report
U.S. Census Bureau 2005 Ethnic/Race Demographics:
 * : 49.9%
 * : 24.9%
 * or : 21.9%
 * : 3.8%
 * : 2.9%
 * : 1.4%
 * : 0.3%
 * : 0.1%

According to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau on, , the total population of Broward County had risen to 1.8 million people in 2005, and has increased by 10.1% between April 1, 2000-July 1, 2006. This number is accounted for by an increase to 442,355 (24.9%) in its black population and an increase to 364,121 (21.9%) of its non-black Hispanic population. A significant portion of the black population has resulted from, of whom are mainly s/s. Some s and s might also classify themselves as only. More black s immigrated to Broward County between 2001 and 2005 than any other in the United States. At the same time, s have continued to move into the county from neighboring Miami-Dade County and from Latin America, in particular, and. Also, 2.9% of Broward County's population is, though not high, it's a larger percentage than most of Florida's counties.

The population change is significant in at least one respect: The percentage of population identified as non-Hispanic white has now dropped to less than half, at 49.9%. As such, Broward County is now "".

Educational institutions
Broward County currently has the school district in the country and the second largest in the state after.

is one of the largest public library systems in the country, composed of 37 branch locations.

Government
The Broward County 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 and. 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.

Neighborhoods in incorporated areas (and recently annexed census-designated places)

 * in Deerfield Beach.
 * in North Lauderdale.
 * in Lauderhill.
 * in West Park.
 * in Dania Beach.
 * in Fort Lauderdale.
 * in Pompano Beach.
 * in Southwest Ranches.
 * in Deerfield Beach
 * in Dania Beach
 * in Dania Beach, and partially in Hollywood.
 * in Fort Lauderdale.
 * in Southwest Ranches.
 * in Davie.
 * in Southwest Ranches.
 * in Pompano Beach.
 * in West Park.
 * in Pompano Beach.
 * in Pompano Beach.
 * in Fort Lauderdale.
 * in West Park.
 * in Oakland Park.
 * in Hollywood.
 * in Fort Lauderdale.
 * in Pompano Beach.
 * in Deerfield Beach.
 * in Dania Beach.
 * in Coral Springs.
 * in Fort Lauderdale.
 * in Fort Lauderdale.
 * in Southwest Ranches.
 * in Cooper City.
 * in Pompano Beach.
 * in Lauderhill.
 * in Southwest Ranches.
 * in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
 * North of Prospect Road, in Fort Lauderdale. South of Prospect Road of Oakland Park, Florida.
 * in West Park.
 * in North Lauderdale.
 * in Lauderhill.

Politics
Over the past fifty years, Broward County has gone from solidly Republican to solidly Democratic. In 1972, Broward County residents voted overwhelmingly for over. In the past two presidential elections, however, the voters of Broward County backed the Democratic nominee over by strong majorities. Broward County is now one of the most reliably Democratic counties in the state. This change in voting tendencies is most likely due to the large migration of people from the liberal northern states as well as the fast growing number of / and in the area.

Street grid
A 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

 * [[Image:I-95.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:I-75.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:I-595.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:Florida's Turnpike shield.png|25px]]
 * [[Image:Florida's Turnpike shield.png|25px]]
 * [[Image:Toll Florida 869.svg|24px]]

Government links/Constitutional offices

 * Broward County Government / Board of County Commissioners
 * Broward County Supervisor of Elections
 * Broward County Property Appraiser
 * Broward County Sheriff's Office

Special Districts

 * Broward County Public Schools
 * Broward Health (formerly North Broward Hospital District)
 * South Broward Hospital District(Memorial Healthcare System)
 * South Florida Water Management District

Judicial branch

 * Broward County Clerk of Courts
 * Broward County Public Defender
 * Broward State Attorney's Office, 17th Judicial Circuit
 * Circuit and County Court for the 17th Judicial Circuit of Florida

Tourism links

 * Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau