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As the largest metropolitan area in the State of Florida, Miami-Dade County is often referred to as the “Gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean.” Our community is located along the southeast tip of the Florida peninsula. It is bounded by Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Everglades National Park to the west, the Florida Keys to the south, and Broward County to the North.
Governed by an Executive Mayor and 13 commissioners elected from single-member districts, the day-to-day operations of the government are overseen by the Executive Mayor. More than one million people live in the unincorporated area of the county, with the rest of the population residing in municipalities. The total population of the 35 municipalities in 2003 was approximately 1,217,896. The City of Miami is the largest municipality, followed by Hialeah, Miami Gardens, Miami Beach, North Miami and Coral Gables. With a population of more than one million, our unincorporated area, if declared a city, would form the largest in Florida and one of the largest in the nation.
