Broward County is one of the three counties that make up the Miami metropolitan area, which is home to 6.14 million people as of 2020. It is also one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the entire country.<ref name="CensusRaceEthnicity">Template:Cite web</ref> As of 2022, Broward County has a gross domestic product of $124.8 billion, the second-largest GDP of Florida's 67 counties and the 25th-largest for the nation's 3,033 counties.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The earliest evidence of Native American settlement in the Miami region came from about 12,000 years ago.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The first inhabitants settled on the banks of the Miami River, with the main villages on the northern banks.
The inhabitants at the time of first European contact were the Tequesta people, who controlled much of southeastern Florida, including what is now Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and the southern part of Palm Beach County. The Tequesta Indians fished, hunted, and gathered the fruit and roots of plants for food, but did not practice any form of agriculture. They buried the small bones of the deceased with the rest of the body, and put the larger bones in a box for the village people to see. The Tequesta are credited with making the Miami Circle.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Throughout his term as governor, Broward championed Everglades drainage and was remembered for his campaign to turn the Everglades into "useful land". This opened up much of today's urban Broward County for development, first as agricultural land and later as residential. A year before Broward became governor, Dania became the first incorporated community of what is now Broward County, followed by Pompano in 1908, and Fort Lauderdale in 1911.
In 1915, Palm Beach and Dade counties contributed nearly equal portions of land to create Broward County.<ref name="Greater Fort Lauderdale" />
Broward County began a huge development boom after its incorporation, with the first "tourist hotel", in Fort Lauderdale, opening in 1919. A year later, developers began dredging wetlands in the county to create island communities.<ref name="Greater Fort Lauderdale" />
Land boom and rapid growth
By 1925, the boom was considered to have reached its peak, but the 1926 Miami hurricane caused economic depression in the county.<ref name="Greater Fort Lauderdale" /> The county saw another population and development boom post-World War II when the transformation from agricultural to urbanized residential area began.
The effects of a national recession hit the county in 1974 and the population growth finally slowed. This is from a peak growth percentage change of 297.9% which saw the population of Broward grow from 83,933 as of 1950 to 333,946 in 1960.<ref name="ReferenceA">Template:Cite web</ref> The population subsequently experienced an 85.7% population growth which brought the population to a total of 620,100 in 1970.<ref name="ReferenceA" />
Recent history
The structure of the Broward County government was signed into law in 1975 with the passage of the Broward County charter.<ref name="Greater Fort Lauderdale" /> In the same year, the Seminole Tribe of Florida incorporated as a governing entity and began organizing cigarette sales, bingo and land leases that would bring millions of dollars in annual revenue in later years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1976, Interstate 95 was completed through Broward County.
On January 19, 1977, snow fell in South Florida for the first time in recorded history. Snow was seen across all of South Florida as far south as Homestead and even on Miami Beach. Snow was officially reported by weather observers in West Palm Beach, LaBelle, Hollywood, and Royal Palm Ranger Station in southern Miami-Dade County.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Source-attribution</ref>
In the year 1980, the US census reported over 1 million people living in Broward County.
In the year 2000, the US census reported a total population of 1,623,018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The town of South West Ranches was incorporated this year.
On March 1, 2005, West Park became Broward County's 31st municipality to be incorporated.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On October 24, 2005, Hurricane Wilma hit South Florida leaving the entire area damaged and causing almost universal power outages. Wilma was the most damaging storm in Broward County since Hurricane King in 1950. Broward experienced wind speeds between Template:Convert which endured for about five hours.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On February 14, 2018, the city of Parkland became the scene of a deadly mass shooting perpetrated by a 19-year-old former student of Stoneman Douglas High School. The trial of the perpetrator of the shooting, Nikolas Cruz, was held at the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida in Broward County in 2022 with Judge Elizabeth Scherer presiding. Cruz was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Of developable land in Broward County, approximately Template:Convert, the majority is built upon, as the urban area is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Everglades Wildlife Management Area to the west. Within developable land, Broward County has a population density of 3,740 per square mile (1,444 per square kilometer).
Broward approved the construction of Osborne Reef, an artificial reef made of tires off the Fort Lauderdale beach, but it has proven to be an environmental disaster.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Broward County Charter 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. Commissioners must be a resident of the district where they seek election. Each year the Commission elects a mayor and vice mayor. The mayor's functions are primarily ceremonial; 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 Government-access television (GATV) coverage of Commission meetings, which are broadcast live beginning at 10:00 a.m. each Tuesday, and rebroadcast at 5:30 p.m. the following Friday. Meetings can also be viewed via webcasting at www.broward.org.
Broward County has been a Democratic stronghold since 1992, voting for the party's presidential nominee in every election since then. It is now considered one of the most reliably Democratic counties in the state,<ref name="Broward Power">State:Broward Power. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved November 14, 2006.</ref><ref>2008 General Election ResultsTemplate:Webarchive. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved November 11, 2008.</ref> still generally voting for Democrats even in statewide landslide losses, in presidential and gubernatorial elections.
It gave greater than 60% support to the Democratic party nominee in every election since 1996 until 2024. In 2024, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris won below 60% of the vote in the county for the first time since 1992. It had also given Democrat Charlie Crist less than 60% of the vote in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election.
From 1948 to 1988, the county leaned Republican, voting for the Republican nominee in every election except 1976, even supporting Republican Barry Goldwater by a 56–44 margin while he lost the national election in a landslide.
Unlike Miami-Dade County to the south, where many of the immigrants are Republican-leaning Cuban-Americans, Cubans comprise only a small proportion of the immigrant population in Broward County. The county's population is also over 25% African American, a predominantly Democratic-leaning group.
According to the Secretary of State's office, Democrats maintain a plurality among registered voters in Broward County. The county is also one of the few counties in the state where Independents outnumber Republicans.
Broward's code of ordinances consists of resolutions, administrative rules and regulations passed in order to secure a responsive and efficient form of local government.<ref>Broward Legal Directory, Broward County Florida Laws and Ordinances, accessed February 21, 2021</ref>
The county maintains a distinctive rule regarding communication between the county and bidders for county contracts, known as the Cone of Silence.<ref>Broward County, Finance and Administration Services Department, Cone of Silence, accessed January 16, 2020</ref> This rule prevents staff involved in a purchasing process from communicating with bidders from the time when the solicitation is issued, and County Commissioners from the time when bids are opened, until the vote to award the contract or the time when all bids are rejected.<ref>Board of County Commissioners, Ordinance No. 2004-31, enacted August 24, 2004, accessed February 21, 2021</ref>
When Chalk's International Airlines existed, its headquarters was on the grounds of the airport in an unincorporated area.<ref>"Administration." Chalk's International Airlines. March 31, 2004. Retrieved on December 17, 2011. "Chalk's International Airlines 704 SW 34th Street Ft Lauderdale, Fl. 33315"</ref> When Bimini Island Air existed, its headquarters were in an unincorporated area.<ref>"Contact Us." Bimini Island Air. Retrieved on July 12, 2011. "Bimini Island Air, Inc./Ltd. 3000 NW 59 Street Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309"</ref>
The Broward County Library is one of the largest public library systems in the country, comprising 38 branch locations. There are also five municipal public libraries in the county that are not part of the Broward County Library system: Ethel M. Gordon Oakland Park Library, Lighthouse Point Library, Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library, Richard C. Sullivan Public Library of Wilton Manors, and Parkland Public Library.
Library Resources
Broward County libraries provide endless amount of resources to the public. For high-schoolers looking to prepare themselves for college, the library offers college readiness & SAT/ACT prep courses. For adults looking to learn computer skills, adult computer classes are also offered. These resources are free of cost, therefore, all it takes is registering to participate. In addition to the many resources offered at the library, bus passes are also sold at most Broward County libraries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> If you want to enjoy some of these resources, you can simply download the app to utilize them on the go. There are nine apps available for download: Broward County Library (BCL WoW), Freegal Music, Hoopla, Overdrive, Libby, Axis 360, RBdigital Magazines, Rosetta Stone, and Brainfuse.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Additionally, with 23 miles of beach, Broward County is a popular destination for scuba diving, snorkeling, and droves of young Spring break tourists from around the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport serves as the primary airport of the Broward County area. The airport is bounded by the cities Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Dania Beach,<ref name="Zoning Map"/> Template:Convert southwest of downtown Fort Lauderdale and Template:Convert north of Miami. The airport is near cruise line terminals at Port Everglades and is popular among tourists bound for the Caribbean. Since the late 1990s, FLL has become an intercontinental gateway, although Miami International Airport still handles most long-haul flights. FLL is ranked as the 19th busiest airport (in terms of passenger traffic) in the United States, as well as the nation's 14th busiest international air gateway and one of the world's 50 busiest airports. FLL is classified by the US Federal Aviation Administration as a "major hub" facility serving commercial air traffic. In 2017 the airport processed 32,511,053 passengers<ref name="ACI">Template:Cite web</ref> (11.3% more than 2016) including 7,183,275 international passengers (18.6% more than 2016).
A street grid 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 Beach and Hallandale Beach.
Municipality populations are based on the 2020 US census using their QuickFacts with 5,000 residents and above, while municipalities under 5,000 people are based on their US Decennial Census.<ref name="QuickFacts">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Census">Template:Cite web</ref>
In the 1980s, the Broward County Commission adopted a policy of having all populated places in the county be part of a municipality.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Municipalities were often reluctant to annex neighborhoods which were not projected to yield enough tax revenue to cover the costs of providing services to those neighborhoods.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2001 the Broward County Legislative Delegation adopted a policy encouraging the annexation of all unincorporated areas in Broward County into municipalities by October 1, 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Formerly unincorporated neighborhoods that have been annexed into existing municipalities or combined to form new municipalities Template:As of include:
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