About Broward

Broward 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.

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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.

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Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,320 square miles (3,418 km²).Approximately two-thirds -- 847 square miles (2,194 km²) -- of the county's area lies in an undeveloped Everglades conservation area. 1,205 square miles (3,122 km²) of the county's area is land and 114 square miles (296 km²) 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

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