South Florida
Clockwise from top:Downtown Miami seen fromBiscayne Bay,South Beach inMiami Beach, DowntownFort Lauderdale,Mallory Square inKey West,Freedom Tower inMiami, andAnhinga Trail inEverglades National Park
Country	United States
State	Florida
Largest city	Miami
Population  (2020)	9,484,409[1]

South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened toSoFlo,^[2][3] is thesouthernmost region of theU.S. state ofFlorida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others areCentral Florida andNorth Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of thecontinental United States and the only region of the continental U.S. that includes some areas with atropical climate.

South Florida is dominated by theMiami metropolitan area and theEverglades. It also contains theFlorida Keys; three U.S. national parks:Biscayne,Dry Tortugas, andEverglades; and multiple cities.

As with all vernacular regions, South Florida has no official boundaries or status and is defined differently by different sources. A 2007 study of Florida's regions by Ary Lamme and Raymond K. Oldakowski found that Floridians surveyed identified "South Florida" as comprising the southernmost sections of peninsular Florida, meaning fromJupiter, Florida south. That area includes theMiami metropolitan area, defined asMiami-Dade,Broward, andPalm Beach counties, theFlorida Keys, and the interior region known as theGlades.

The term South Florida most commonly refers to the Miami metro’s tri-county area, interpretations vary on the inclusion of some other parts of Florida within the South Florida region, such as the inclusion ofSouthwest Florida and theTreasure Coast.Southwest Florida, representing the state'sGulf Coast, has emerged as a directional vernacular region. Respondents from as far northwest as theTampa Bay area identified their region as being in Central Florida.^[4] Confusing the matter further, theUniversity of South Florida, named in part because of its status as the state's southernmost public university at the time of its 1957 founding, is located inTampa.Florida State Road 70 bisects approximately in theCentral Florida region from west to east. However, Tampa is not considered South Florida region.^[5]

Enterprise Florida, the state'seconomic development agency, identifies "Southeast Florida" as one of eight economic regions used by the agency and other state and outside entities, including theFlorida Department of Transportation. Some entities alternately designate this region "South Florida".^[6] Its definition includes much of the same territory as Lamme and Oldakowski's report, except the Gulf Coast and much of the interior Glades region. It includesMonroe County and the three metropolitan counties ofMiami-Dade,Broward, andPalm Beach, as well as the three "Treasure Coast" counties ofIndian River,St. Lucie, andMartin to the north.^[7]

The demographics of South Florida residents can be segmented as following:

Over 87.2% of all foreigners residing in South Florida come from Latin America.

South Florida is politically diverse, with multiple congressional districts in the region supporting both theDemocratic andRepublican parties. As evidenced by the2020 United States presidential election, supporters of the Democratic Party are mostly concentrated in urban areas, as well as areas to the west of and including downtown Key West, rural communities surroundingImmokalee, and the areas surroundingBelle Glade, while supporters of the Republican Party reside in the most costal regions of the Miami area north ofPompano Beach, most of the Everglades, most of the regions betweenPort St. Lucie andRiviera Beach, Southwest Florida, and a supermajority of the region's inland and rural areas.^[8]

Largestcities in South Florida by population:

TheMiami accent is aregional accent of theAmerican Englishdialect spoken in South Florida, particularly inMiami-Dade,Broward,Palm Beach, andMonroe counties. The accent was born in centralMiami, but has expanded to the rest of South Florida in the decades since the 1960s. The Miami accent is most prevalent in American-born South Floridian youth.^[11][12][13]

The Miami accent is based on a fairlystandard American accent but with some changes very similar to dialects in theMid-Atlantic (especially theNew York area dialect,Northern New Jersey English, andNew York Latino English.) Unlike Virginia Piedmont, Coastal Southern American, and Northeast American dialects, the "Miami accent" isrhotic; it also incorporates a rhythm and pronunciation heavily influenced by Spanish (wherein rhythm issyllable-timed).^[14]

Lamme and Oldakowski identify several demographic, political, and cultural elements that characterize South Florida and distinguish it from other areas of the state. Many of its differences appear to be driven by its proportionately higher level of migration from the northern U.S. states and from theCaribbean andLatin America, particularly in the densely populated Miami area.^[15] Politically, South Florida is moreliberal than the rest of the state. While less than 10% of people in either North or Central Florida felt their area was liberal, over a third of South Floridians described their region as such.^[16] 38% characterized the area as conservative; 26% as moderate.^[16] This tracks with South Florida's demographics, and Lamme and Oldakowski's findings parallel Barney Warf and Cynthia Waddell's research on Florida's political geography during the2000 Presidential election.^[16][17] The economy in South Florida is very similar to that in Central Florida. Compared to the more diversified economy in North Florida,tourism is by far the most significant industry in South and Central Florida, with a much smaller but vibrant agricultural industry.^[18]

Lamme and Oldakowski's survey also found some cultural indicators distinguishing South Florida. South Florida is the only region of the state where ethnic foods are as popular as generalAmerican cuisine.^[19]Floribbean cuisine is afusion cuisine which developed in South Florida, drawing influence from Floridian, Caribbean, Asian and Latin American cuisines. Additionally, while there was little geographical variation for most styles of music, there was regional variation for bothcountry andLatin music. Country was significantly less popular in South Florida than in North or Central Florida, while Latin was more popular than in the other regions.^[19]

The Anthony J. Catanese Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions atFlorida Atlantic University notes the unusual growth pattern of South Florida. Unlike many areas with centralized cities surrounded by development, most of South Florida is preserved natural area and designated agricultural reserves, with development restricted to a dense, narrow strip along the coast. The developed area is highly urbanized and increasingly continuous and decentralized, with no particular dominant core cities. The center projects this pattern to continue in the future.^[20]

There have been several proposals for partitioning the state of Florida to form a separate state of South Florida. Such proposals have usually been made as political statement rather than serious attempts at secession. Reasons often stated are cultural, ethnic, economic, and financial frustrations with the state government inTallahassee, which is inNorth Florida.^[21]

In 2008, theNorth Lauderdale City Commission passed a resolution calling for a new state of South Florida to be formed fromPalm Beach,Broward,Miami-Dade andMonroe Counties.^[22][21]

In 2014,South Miami's city commission passed a resolution in favor of splitting the state in half, with a northern boundary drawn to include the counties ofBrevard,Orange,Polk,Hillsborough, andPinellas, which roughly includes parts ofTampa Bay andOrlando areas. In total, the proposed State of South Florida would have included 24 counties.^[23][24][25]

• Miami metropolitan area
• Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas

• Lamme, Ary J.; Oldakowski, Raymond K. (November 2007). "Spinning a New Geography of Vernacular Regional Identity: Florida in the Twenty-First Century".Southeastern Geographer.47 (2):320–340.doi:10.1353/sgo.2007.0029.S2CID 129577530.
• Warf, Barney; Waddell, Cynthia (January 2002). "Florida in the 2000 Presidential Election: Historical Precedents and Contemporary Landscapes".Political Geography.21 (1):85–90.doi:10.1016/S0962-6298(01)00063-4.
• Anthony J. Catanese Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlantic University (2006)."Charting the Course: Where is South Florida Heading?"(PDF).Florida Atlantic University. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on December 16, 2011. RetrievedMarch 23, 2012.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)

Wikivoyage has a travel guide forSouth Florida.

• Populations of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Area (and rankings)

• Geography of Florida
• South Florida
• Broward County, Florida
• Metropolitan areas of Florida
• Miami-Dade County, Florida
• Miami metropolitan area
• Palm Beach County, Florida
• Monroe County, Florida
• Proposed states and territories of the United States
• Regions of Florida

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