Broward County Florida map | Fort Lauderdale and the Everglades divide

The Broward County Florida map makes the most sense as a sharp east-west contrast rather than as one uniformly urban county. Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, and other older Atlantic-side cities form a dense eastern corridor. Farther inland, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Coral Springs, Sunrise, and Weston extend the metropolitan footprint westward. Then, near the Sawgrass Expressway and the western development edge, continuous suburbia gives way abruptly to the Everglades Water Conservation Areas. That compressed urban belt beside an enormous protected wetland is the defining spatial pattern of Broward County.

Quick Facts

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 2,013,317 residents on July 1, 2025, up from 1,944,375 counted in the 2020 Census. Broward contains 1,202.73 square miles of land, yet the Broward County Planning Council notes that population is heavily concentrated in roughly 431 square miles east of the County’s Conservation Area. The county therefore combines the population scale of a major metropolitan center with a western land area that is largely outside the normal urban development pattern.

What the Map Shows

Fort Lauderdale is the county seat and sits slightly inland from the Atlantic along the New River. To the north, Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach continue the eastern city corridor; to the south, Dania Beach, Hollywood, and Hallandale Beach lead toward Miami-Dade County. U.S. 1 and I-95 run north-south through this side of the county, while A1A follows the narrower beach and barrier-island zone closer to the ocean. Those three lines create distinct coastal, inner-coastal, and freeway geographies within a relatively narrow band.

The inland cities form a second pattern. Pembroke Pines and Miramar anchor the southwest near Miami-Dade County. Sunrise, Plantation, and Davie occupy the central I-595 corridor, while Coral Springs, Coconut Creek, and Parkland orient the northwest toward Palm Beach County. Weston lies near I-75 at the western edge of suburban development. Grouping the cities this way reveals a multi-center metropolitan county rather than a set of suburbs radiating from Fort Lauderdale alone.

County Layout and Location

Broward County occupies southeastern Florida between Palm Beach County to the north and Miami-Dade County to the south, with the Atlantic Ocean on the east and Everglades country extending west toward the Hendry and Collier side of South Florida. This position places Broward in the middle of the continuous Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach metropolitan corridor. The administrative boundary reaches far west, but ordinary residential and commercial development is compressed onto the eastern coastal plain.

The road network mirrors that geometry. I-95 and Florida’s Turnpike provide two major north-south spines through the developed eastern half. I-595 runs west from the Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades side toward I-75, crossing Florida’s Turnpike, U.S. 441, University Drive, Flamingo Road, and other major arterials. I-75 serves Miramar, Pembroke Pines, and Weston before turning west across the Everglades, while SR 869/Sawgrass Expressway traces the northwestern urban edge and links the western suburbs back to the regional expressway system.

Local Context

The apparent emptiness of western Broward is one of the most important facts on the map. South Florida Water Management District manages the Water Conservation Areas as part of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, a landscape of sawgrass marsh, freshwater ponds, wet prairie, and other wetlands. Broward County planning material likewise emphasizes the concentration of residents east of the Conservation Area. Few western city labels are therefore not missing detail; they reflect a fundamental land-use boundary between metropolitan South Florida and the Everglades water-management landscape.

Water shapes the eastern side in a different way. The New River, Intracoastal Waterway, canals, and coastal inlets divide Fort Lauderdale and neighboring communities into a dense network of waterfront districts. Along the Atlantic, Fort Lauderdale Beach, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Hollywood Beach, and other coastal places occupy a narrow barrier-island setting. A location may appear close to the mainland on the map but still depend on a specific bridge or causeway, making waterways as important as road distance for understanding local access.

Port Everglades and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport form a major southeastern transportation cluster. Port Everglades is a Broward County-operated seaport located on Eller Drive in Fort Lauderdale, immediately inside the Atlantic entrance. Its location near the east end of I-595 ties cruise, cargo, and energy activity directly to the regional highway network. The airport sits nearby between Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood, so the Fort Lauderdale–Dania Beach–Hollywood corridor concentrates county government, aviation, port access, and interstate connections in a relatively small area.

Broward’s 31 municipalities also record different stages of metropolitan growth. County history identifies Dania as the first incorporated community in 1904, followed by Pompano in 1908 and Fort Lauderdale in 1911. Later growth pushed far west of the older coastal and railroad corridor into large suburban municipalities such as Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs, Miramar, and Sunrise. On the map, the shift from older eastern cities to planned western suburbs is visible in the broadening urban footprint before it reaches the Everglades conservation boundary.

Ways to Use This Map

A useful reading sequence begins with I-95 and the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood–Pompano Beach corridor. From there, follow I-595 west through Plantation, Sunrise, and Davie, then place Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Weston, and Coral Springs near the I-75/Sawgrass side of the developed region. Only after that should the broad western conservation area be added. This sequence makes the map’s strongest contrast—dense metropolitan settlement beside protected Everglades wetlands—immediately apparent.

• Compare urban belts: separate the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood–Pompano Beach eastern corridor from the Pembroke Pines–Miramar–Coral Springs western suburbs.
• Trace expressways: combine the north-south I-95/Turnpike routes with I-595, I-75, and the Sawgrass Expressway.
• Read coastal water: distinguish the Atlantic shoreline, Intracoastal Waterway, New River, canals, and barrier-island communities.
• Interpret the western gap: connect the absence of cities to the Everglades Water Conservation Areas rather than treating it as unused map space.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is most of Broward County urbanized?

Most residents live in a highly urbanized eastern corridor, but most of the county’s full geographic footprint is not continuous city. Broward planning material places the concentrated population east of the Conservation Area, while the broad western portion belongs to the Everglades water-conservation system. Population density and total land area therefore describe very different parts of the county.

What is Port Everglades?

Port Everglades is a Broward County-operated seaport in Fort Lauderdale near Dania Beach, Hollywood, and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. It sits near the Atlantic entrance and the eastern end of I-595, making it a major geographic anchor for the county’s cruise, cargo, and highway connections.

Why are there few western cities?

Much of western Broward is part of the Everglades Water Conservation Areas rather than ordinary developable suburbia. Continuous urban development reaches the I-75 and Sawgrass Expressway side of the county, then drops off sharply as the protected wetland and water-management landscape begins.

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts — Broward County, Florida — 2025 population estimate and 2020 land area
• Broward County Demographics Quick Facts — municipalities and county demographic structure
• Broward County Planning Council — Setting for Countywide Planning — developed eastern area and western Conservation Area
• Florida Department of Transportation — I-595 — Turnpike, U.S. 441, and major arterial connections
• South Florida Water Management District — Everglades — western wetland and water-management context
• Port Everglades — port location and Broward County operations

Related County Maps

• Palm Beach County Florida map
• Miami-Dade County Florida map
• Collier County Florida map
• Hendry County Florida map