The Miami metropolitan area, also known as South Florida, SoFlo, SoFla, the Gold Coast, the Tri-County Area, or Greater Miami, and officially the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the largest metropolitan area in Florida. With a population of 6.18 million, its population exceeds 31 of the nation's 50 states as of 2023. It comprises the three most populated counties in the state, Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County, which rank as the first, second, and third-most populous counties in the state, respectively. Miami-Dade County, with 2,701,767 people in 2020, is the seventh-most populous county in the United States.
Satellite image of the Miami metropolitan area in January 2023
Biscayne National Park in Miami-Dade County on 28 April 2005
Downtown Miami in November 2014
Fort Lauderdale in November 2015
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.
Image: Anhinga Trail boardwalk
Image: South Beach 20080315
Image: Ft Lauderdale Skyline
Image: Miami Freedom Tower by Tom Schaefer