Sarasota County was created in 1921. The origin of the name is unknown. It may be named for a word in the indigenous Calusa language, whose meaning may be "point of rocks", or an Indian word meaning "Place of the Dance." Some believe it was named after the daughter of famous explorer Hernando de Soto's daughter Sara. According the the Florida League of Cities [2], the name first appeared in print as "Zarazote" on a 1763 land grant map.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 725 square miles (1,878 km²), of which, 572 square miles (1,480 km²) of it is land and 154 square miles (398 km²) of it (21.19%) is water.
Sarasota County is part of the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Some areas of Sarasota County, such as Casey Key near Nokomis, are very wealthy.As of the census² of 2000, there were 325,957 people, 149,937 households, and 94,460 families residing in the county. The population density was 570 people per square mile (220/km²). There were 182,467 housing units at an average density of 319 per square mile (123/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.65% White, 4.18% Black or African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.77% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.14% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 4.34% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 89.7% spoke English, 4.4% Spanish, 1.3% German and 1.0% French as their first language.
Towns and Cities in Sarasota County
City of Sarasota
City of North Port
City of Venice
Town of Longboat Key
Bee Ridge
Desoto Lakes
Englewood
Fruitville
Gulf Gate Estates
Kensington Park
Lake Sarasota
Laurel
Nokomis
North Sarasota
Osprey
Plantation
Ridge Wood Heights
Sarasota Springs
Siesta Key
South Gate Ridge
South Sarasota
South Venice
Southgate
The Meadows
Vamo
Venice Gardens
Warm Mineral Springs
Adjacent Counties
Manatee County, Florida - north
DeSoto County, Florida - east
Charlotte County, Florida - south
