Escambia County, Florida

Escambia County is the westernmost in the  of. The 2000 population was 294,210. The 2005 estimate for the county is 296,772. Its is.

History
Escambia County was created in. It was named for the, whose name in turn comes from a word for "" or "exchange." Escambia County and were Florida's original two counties with the  being the boundary between the two.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,268 (876 ). 1,715 km² (662 sq mi) of it is land and 552 km² (213 sq mi) of it (24.35%) is water.

The county includes the island of, which is separate from proper.

Escambia County is part of the.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north (this is one of the very few instances in the United States where two counties with the same name, but located in adjoining states, share a common border)
 * - east
 * - west

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 294,410 people, 111,049 households, and 74,180 families residing in the county. The was 172/km² (444/sq mi). There were 124,647 housing units at an average density of 73/km² (188/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 72.35%, 21.40% or , 0.90% , 2.21% , 0.12% , 0.85% from , and 2.16% from two or more races. 2.70% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 111,049 households out of which 29.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.80% were living together, 15.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.20% were non-families. 26.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.70% 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 2.98.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.50% under the age of 18, 12.20% from 18 to 24, 29.00% from 25 to 44, 22.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 98.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,234, and the median income for a family was $41,708. Males had a median income of $31,054 versus $22,023 for females. The for the county was $18,641. About 12.10% of families and 15.40% of the population were below the, including 23.70% of those under age 18 and 9.60% of those age 65 or over.

Education
Public and  schools in Pensacola are administered by the.

Print
The largest daily newspaper in the area is the . There is also a weekly newspaper called .

Television
One major network is broadcast from Pensacola, viz., affiliate. Several major networks are broadcast from nearby, such as affiliate ,  affiliate , and  affiliate. The following is a list of stations in the,  /  - ,  market  (Nielsen DMA#59) '''

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Radio
Radio stations in the /  market'  (Arbitron#123) ''

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Politics
Like the rest of the, Escambia County was traditionally a Democratic stronghold when it came to local, state and congressional races. The county backed  in the 1968 presidential election and, since then, has trended strongly Republican, much like the areas that surround it.

Government links/Constitutional offices

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

Special districts

 * Escambia County School District
 * Northwest Florida Water Management District

Judicial branch

 * Escambia County Clerk of Courts
 * Public Defender, 1st Judicial Circuit of Florida serving Escambia,, , and counties
 * Office of the State Attorney, 1st Judicial Circuit of Florida
 * Circuit and County Court for the 1st Judicial Circuit of Florida