Duval County, Florida

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Duval County, Florida

Map
Location in the state of Florida
Florida's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	12 August 1822
Seat	Jacksonville
Area - Total - Land - Water	918 sq mi (2,378 km²) 774 sq mi (2,005 km²) 145 sq mi (376 km²), 15.74%
Population - (2006) - Density	825,687 1,028/sq mi (397/km²)
Website: coj.net

Duval County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 778,879. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 826,436 [1]. Its county seat is Jacksonville, Florida^[1].

1 History
2 Geography
- 2.1 Adjacent counties
- 2.2 National protected areas
3 Demographics
4 Cities and towns
5 Politics
6 References
7 External links
- 7.1 Government links
- 7.2 Tourism

[edit] History

Duval County was created in 1822 from St. Johns County. It was named for William Pope DuVal, Territorial Governor of Florida from 1822 to 1834. When Duval County was created it covered a massive area, from the Suwannee River on the west to the Atlantic Ocean on the east, north of a line from the mouth of the Suwannee River to Jacksonville on the St. Johns River. Alachua and Nassau Counties were created out of parts of Duval County in 1824. Clay County was created from part of Duval County in 1858. Part of St. Johns County south and east of the lower reaches of the St. Johns River was transferred to Duval County in the 1840s.^[2]

On October 1, 1968, the government of Duval County was consolidated with the government of the City of Jacksonville, although the Duval County cities of Atlantic Beach, Baldwin, Jacksonville Beach, and Neptune Beach are not included in the corporate limits of Jacksonville, and maintain their own municipal governments. In the early 1990s these three beach cities considered separating from Duval and forming Ocean County, an idea that had been discussed since consolidation, but after the 1995 election of Jacksonville mayor John Delaney, a resident and former Mayor of Neptune Beach, the idea was dropped.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 918 square miles (2,378 km²), of which, 774 square miles (2,004 km²) of it is land and 145 square miles (374 km²) of it is water, much of it in the Atlantic Ocean. The total area is 15.74% water. The topography is coastal plain; however there are some rolling hills.

[edit] Adjacent counties

[edit] National protected areas

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1830	1,970	—
1840	4,156	111%
1850	4,539	9.2%
1860	5,074	11.8%
1870	11,921	134.9%
1880	19,431	63%
1890	26,800	37.9%
1900	39,733	48.3%
1910	75,163	89.2%
1920	113,540	51.1%
1930	155,503	37%
1940	210,143	35.1%
1950	304,029	44.7%
1960	455,411	49.8%
1970	528,865	16.1%
1980	571,003	8%
1990	672,971	17.9%
2000	778,879	15.7%

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 778,879 people, 303,747 households, and 201,688 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,007 people per square mile (389/km²). There were 329,778 housing units at an average density of 426 per square mile (165/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 65.80% White, 27.83% Black or African American, 0.33% Native American, 2.71% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.31% from other races, and 1.96% from two or more races. 4.10% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 90.7% spoke English, 4.1% Spanish and 1.0% Tagalog as their first language.

There were 303,747 households out of which 33.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.50% were married couples living together, 15.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.60% were non-families. 26.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.30% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 32.40% from 25 to 44, 21.20% from 45 to 64, and 10.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 94.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,703, and the median income for a family was $47,689. Males had a median income of $32,954 versus $26,015 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,753. About 9.20% of families and 11.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.40% of those under age 18 and 11.60% of those age 65 or over.

According to the city's website, as of October 2004, there were 515,202 registered voters in Duval County.