The Florida Keys

The Florida Keys is located in Monroe County. There are five incorporated cities in the Florida Keys: Key West, Key Colony Beach, Layton,The citizens living in unincorporated Monroe County towns include the residents of Ocean Reef, and Big Pine Key/Lower Keys.

Geographically speaking, the Keys is an archipelago or cluster of islands extending from the southeastern Florida peninsula near Miami, running south and then curving west to Key West, and out to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. The islands lie in the Florida Straits, dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the west, and creating Florida Bay. At the nearest point, the southern tip of Key West is just 90 miles (145 km) from Cuba.

Key Biscayne is home to Miami Beach, and is actually attached at the north end to the mainland, therefore not considered part of the Keys by some Floridians. It is, however, part of the same geological formation, atop which sits coral rock islands, as well as partly-submerged mangrove islands. The city of Key West is the county seat of Monroe County, which covers mostly the Everglades on the mainland, and all of the islands from Key Largo south and west.

While most of eastern North America has had continuous development over the past 200 years, the Florida Keys, discovered much earlier, remained undeveloped until the middle of the twentieth century.

Glossary

Bayside
The Florida Bay side of U.S. Highway 1, generally the northwestern side. As you are traveling U.S. 1 from Miami to Key West, the right side. Term is used interchangeably with “gulfside.”

Gulfside
The Gulf of Mexico side of U.S. Highway 1, generally the northwestern side. Term is used interchangeably with “bayside.”

Mainland
The large, land mass that begins north of mile marker 113. Includes Miami, Washington, D.C., etc.

Mainland Monroe County
The 1,070,162 square acres (pop. 282) of Monroe County that is part of Florida’s southwest mainland. Mostly includes parts of Everglades National Park and Cape Sable.

Mile Markers (“MM”)
The green markers along U.S. 1 in the Florida Keys. They start at MM127 and end at MM0 in front of the Courthouse in Key West. Directions are frequently given like this: “I’m located at MM25½, Oceanside.”

Oceanside
The Atlantic Ocean side of U.S. Highway 1, generally the southeastern side. As you are traveling U.S. 1 from Miami to Key West, the left side.

Florida Keys (Monroe County) geographic & demographic information