Okeechobee County

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Okeechobee County

Okeechobee County was created in 1917 from Osceola, Palm Beach, and

St. Lucie

Counties. It is positioned in south central Florida, just west of the

Fort Pierce region and

is named for the great lake that it surrounds. The chief industry is

agriculture, and the

farms generate a huge amount of winter vegetables due to the natural

soils of the county.

Beside agriculture and dairying, Okeechobee County has a very little

industry of any

kind. The county is home to many local animals and plants sustained by

the distinctive

environment surrounding Lake Okeechobee.

Lake Okeechobee is the second major freshwater lake within the United

States. It is

not very deep, with an average depth of only 14 feet. Fishing is a

year round business.

This lake has an outer surface area of 730 square miles. Its size is

448,000 acres and can

hold about 1.05 trillion gallons of water. The chief sources of inflow

to the lake is

precipitation making up 39 percent, the Kissimmee River, which

contributes 31 percent,

and the Harney Pond and Indian Prairie Fish Eating and Taylor Creeks

add 30 percent.

Okeechobee County's financial system is supported by agriculture. The

counties

principal industries are dairy and beef livestock. The county's yearly

income from the

agriculture industry is around $ 149,681,000. The county has 418 farms

with 72,712

acres under cultivation and grazing land. With 133,000 heads of cattle

the county ranks

first in the state. The county also ranks first in the number of dairy

cows, with 23 dairies

having 32,000 dairy cows. These dairies gener...

... middle of paper ...

...ls. Also, fuel oil

and LP gas is accessible

in all districts. Okeechobee has 12,593 households and the average

house purchase price

is $89,830. The county's residents in 2000 was 35,910 and the number

inhabitants is

projected to reach as high as 45,273 by the year of 2015. According to

the county

population, 70.7 percent are white, 5.3 percent are black, 1 percent

are Native Americans,

0.6 percent are Asians, 13 percent are Hispanic, and 9.4 percent are

mixed races or other.

Okeechobee County is perhaps one the most important counties in

Florida. It is

mostly known for Lake Okeechobee, but is serves other purposes also.

It strengthens

Florida's tourism industry, and leads the state in beef and dairy

production. No doubt,

without Okeechobee County, Florida would not be complete.

More about Okeechobee County

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