Central Florida

Central Florida
Region
Central Florida Images top from bottom, left to right: Orlando Skyline, Ocala National Forest, Daytona International Speedway, Walt Disney World, Kennedy Space Center, Tampa Skyline
Central Florida, part of the Florida megaregion
Country	United States
State	Florida
Largest city	Tampa
Population (2010)	8,211,912

Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay and Orlando area. It is one of Florida's three best known "directional" regions, along with North Florida and South Florida. It consist of the following counties: Brevard County, Citrus County, Hardee County, Hernando County, Hillsborough County, Indian River County, Lake County, Manatee County, Marion County, Orange County, Osceola County, Pasco County, Pinellas County, Polk County, Seminole County, Sumter County, and Volusia County.

Like many vernacular regions, Central Florida's boundaries are not official or consistent, and are defined differently by different sources. A 2007 study of Florida's regions by geographers Ary Lamme and Raymond K. Oldakowski found that Floridians surveyed identified Central Florida as comprising a large swath of peninsular Florida. This area encompassed the interior, including the Orlando metropolitan area, and coastal stretches from the Big Bend south to the Tampa Bay Area in the west and from Daytona Beach south to Martin County in the east. In addition, North Central Florida has emerged as a vernacular region representing the interior area in the northern part of the state.