Editing Monroe County, Florida (section)

==Geography==
According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|3738|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|983|sqmi}} (26.3%) is land and {{convert|2754|sqmi}} (73.7%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> It is the largest county in Florida by total area.

More than 99.9 percent of the Monroe County population lives in the island chain known as the [[Florida Keys]].

Two thirds of the large area in what local residents call "mainland Monroe" is uninhabited by virtue of being part of the [[Everglades National Park]], and the remainder by the [[Big Cypress National Preserve]] in the northeastern interior. The area, officially named [[Cape Sable]] [[Census county division|Census County Division]], is virtually uninhabited. This area has 87.4 percent of the county's land area (859.6 out of {{convert|983|sqmi|km2|0|abbr=on}}), but it had only 0.022 percent of the county's population (18 out of 82,170) as of the 2021 American Community Survey. The Census Bureau defines this area as [[census tract|Census Tract]] 9800 of Monroe County, Florida.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://censusreporter.org/profiles/14000US12087980000-census-tract-9800-monroe-fl/|title=Census Tract 9800, Monroe, FL|website=Census Reporter|access-date=December 16, 2022}}</ref>

In mainland Monroe, the only three populated places appearing on detailed maps and in the [[USGS]] geographic name database are [[Flamingo, Monroe County, Florida|Flamingo]], [[Pinecrest, Monroe County, Florida|Pinecrest]], (not to be confused with much larger [[Pinecrest, Florida|Pinecrest]] of neighboring [[Miami-Dade County, Florida|Miami-Dade County]]), and [[Trail City, Florida|Trail City]]. Flamingo, on the south coast and at the end of [[State Road 9336 (Florida)|State Road 9336]] (Flamingo Lodge Highway), is the location of the Flamingo Lodge and the Flamingo Ranger Station (with Visitor Center & Marina). {{convert|7|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} northeast on the highway is the West Lake Trail (station). Pinecrest, located in the northern interior of the county (in the Big Cypress National Preserve) on Loop Road (given that name since it forms a loop with [[U.S. Highway 41 in Florida|U.S. Highway 41]] further north), hosts the Loop Road Education Center. Trail City is {{convert|4|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} west of Pinecrest on Loop Road. Loop Road can be found on most maps as CR 94, although the roadway no longer has a numbered designation and is now managed by the National Park Service.

Between the south coast of Florida's mainland and the Florida Keys is [[Florida Bay]], which is encompassed by the Everglades National Park and contains numerous islets or keys.

The county is coterminous with the Key West-Key Largo, Florida Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA), with [[Key Largo, Florida|Key Largo]] and [[Key West, Florida|Key West]] designated as [[Principal city|principal cities]]. The μSA was first defined in 2003 as the Key West-Marathon, Florida Micropolitan Statistical Area. The name was changed to Key West, Florida Micropolitan Statistical Area in 2006, and to Key West-Key Largo, Florida Micropolitan Statistical Area in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 21, 2023 |title=Revised Delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Guidance on the Uses of the Delineations of These Areas |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/OMB-Bulletin-23-01.pdf |access-date=July 28, 2023 |website=Executive Office of the President |page=103}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 2020 |title=Metro Area History 1950–2020 |url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/metro-micro/geographies/reference-files/2020/historical-delineation-files/metro_area_history_1950_2020.xls |website=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=July 28, 2023 |at=Row 2549}}</ref> The μSA is part of the [[Miami metropolitan area#Miami-Port Saint Lucie-Fort Lauderdale Combined Statistical Area|Miami-Port Saint Lucie-Fort Lauderdale Combined Statistical Area]].

===Adjacent counties===
* [[Collier County, Florida|Collier County]] – north (on mainland)
* [[Miami-Dade County, Florida|Miami-Dade County]] – east (on mainland) and north (over water)

===Protected areas===
{{div col}}
* [[Bahia Honda State Park]]
* [[Big Cypress National Preserve]]
* [[Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge]]
* [[Curry Hammock State Park]]
* [[Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park]]
* [[Dry Tortugas National Park]]
* [[Everglades National Park]]
* [[Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park]]
* [[Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge]]
* [[Indian Key State Historic Site]]
* [[John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park]]
* [[Key West National Wildlife Refuge]]
* [[Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park]]
* [[Long Key State Park]]
* [[National Key Deer Refuge]]
* [[San Pedro Underwater Archaeological Preserve State Park]]
* [[Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park]]
{{div col end}}