South Florida

South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of the continental United States and the only region of the continental U.S. that includes some areas with a tropical climate. South Florida is dominated by the Miami metropolitan area and the Everglades, and contains the Florida Keys, three U.S. national parks, Biscayne, Dry Tortugas, and Everglades, and multiple cities. While the term 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 of Southwest Florida and the Treasure Coast. Composition 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 from Jupiter, Florida south. That area includes the Miami metropolitan area, defined as Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, the Florida Keys, and the interior region known as the Glades. Southwest Florida, representing the state's southern Gulf Coast, has emerged as a directional vernacular region. Respondents from as far northwest as the Tampa Bay area identified their region as being in Southwest or Central Florida. Confusing the matter further, the University 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 in Tampa. Florida State Road 70 bisects approximately the southern third of Florida from west to east.