A series of small islands curving approx 240 km/150 mi SW around the tip of the Florida peninsula, USA; about 160 km/100 mi NE of Havana; include (NE to SW) Key Largo, Long Key, Key Vaca, Big Pine Key, Sugarloaf Key and Key West; tropical products (limes, pineapples, etc) in the S; tarpon fishing; tourism; Overseas Highway (1938) runs from the mainland to Key West, 198 km/123 mi long.
They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about 15 miles south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. At the nearest point, the southern tip of Key West is just 90 miles (145 km) from Cuba. As of the 2000 census the population was 79,535, with an average density of 223.66/km² (579.27/sq mi), although much of the population is concentrated in a few areas of much higher density, such as the city of Key West, which has 32% of the entire population of the Keys.The city of Key West is the county seat of Monroe County, which consists of a section on the mainland that is almost entirely in Everglades National Park, and the Keys islands from Key Largo to the Dry Tortugas.
Origins
The Florida Keys are the exposed portions of an ancient coral reef, with very little sand. The northernmost island arising from the ancient reef formation is Elliott Key, in Biscayne National Park. North of Elliott Key are several small transitional keys, composed of sand built up around small areas of exposed ancient reef.
The Florida Keys have taken their present form as the result of the drastic changes in sea level associated with recent glaciations or ice ages. This reef formed the Key Largo limestone that is exposed on the surface from Soldier Key (midway between Key Biscayne and Elliott Key) to the southeast portion of Big Pine Key and the Newfound Harbor Keys. The types of coral that formed Key Largo limestone can be identified on the exposed surface of these keys. Some of the dissolved limestone redeposited as a denser cap rock, which can be seen as outcrops overlying the Key Largo and Miami limestones throughout the Keys. The limestone that eroded from the reef formed oolites in the shallow sea behind the reef, and together with the skeletal remains of bryozoans, formed the Miami limestone that is the current surface bedrock of the lower Florida peninsula and the lower keys from Big Pine Key to Key West. To the west of Key West the ancient reef is covered by recent calcareous sand.
Major islands
U.S. Highway 1, the "Overseas Highway" runs over the inhabited islands of the Florida Keys.
Upper keys
Keys in Biscayne National Park (accessible only by boat) in Miami-Dade County
Transitional keys Soldier Key Ragged Keys Boca Chita Key Sands Key True Florida keys, exposed ancient coral reefs Elliott Key Adams Key Reid Key Rubicon Keys Totten Key Old Rhodes KeyKeys in Monroe County
Key Largo Plantation Key Windley Key Upper Matecumbe Key Lignumvitae Key Lower Matecumbe Key(Plantation Key through Lower Matecumbe Key are incorporated as Islamorada, Village of Islands. The "towns" of Key Largo, North Key Largo and Tavernier, all on the island of Key Largo, are not incorporated.)
Middle keys
Craig Key Fiesta Key Long Key (formerly known as Rattlesnake Key) Conch Key Duck Key Grassy Key Crawl Key Long Point Key Fat Deer Key Key Vaca Boot Key Knight's Key Pigeon Key(Key Vaca and Boot Key are incorporated in the city of Marathon)
Lower keys
Little Duck Key Missouri Key Ohio Key (also known as Sunshine Key) Bahia Honda Key Spanish Harbor Keys West Summerland Key No Name Key Big Pine Key Little Torch Key Middle Torch Key Big Torch Key Ramrod Key Summerland Key Knockemdown Key Cudjoe Key Sugarloaf Key Park Key Lower Sugarloaf Key Saddlebunch Keys Shark Key Geiger Key Big Coppitt Key East Rockland Key Rockland Key Boca Chica Key Key Haven (formerly known as Raccoon Key) Stock Island Key WestOutlying islands
These are accessible by boat.
among others the Marquesas Keys the Dry Tortugas (not shown on map)Transportation
Most islands are connected by the Overseas Highway.
History
Overseas Railway
The Keys were long accessible only by water. Flagler, a major developer of Florida's Atlantic coast, extended his Florida East Coast Railway down to Key West with an ambitious series of over-sea railroad trestles.
Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
One of the worst hurricanes to strike the U.S. made landfall near Islamorada in the Upper Keys on Labor Day, Monday Sept.
In 1935, new bridges were under construction to connect a highway through the entire Keys. the damaged tracks were never rebuilt, and the Overseas Highway (U.S. Highway 1) replaced the railroad as the main transportation route from Miami to Key West.
Seven Mile Bridge
One of the longest bridges when it was built, the Seven Mile Bridge connects Key Vaca (where the city of Marathon is located in the Middle Keys) to Bahia Honda Key (pronounced ba-EE-uh OWN-dah in Spanish and BAY-uh HON-duh locally) in the Lower Keys. The current bridge bypasses Pigeon Key, a small island that an older bridge crossed (a section of the old bridge remains for access to the island).
After the destruction of the Keys railway by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the railroad bridges, including the Seven Mile Bridge, were converted to automobile roadways. The Key West City Council repeatedly complained about the roadblocks, which were a major inconvenience for people traveling from Key West, and hurt the Keys' important tourism industry.
After various unsuccessful complaints and attempts to get a legal injunction against the blockade failed in federal court in Miami, on 23 April 1982 Key West mayor Dennis Wardlow and the city council declared the independence of the Keys, calling it the "Conch Republic".
Environment
The Keys are in the subtropics between 24 and 25 degrees north latitude. The climate and environment are closer to that of the Caribbean than the rest of Florida, though unlike the Caribbean's volcanic islands, the Keys were built by plants and animals.
The Upper Keys islands are remnants of large coral reefs, which became fossilized and exposed as sea level declined.
The natural habitats of the Keys are upland forests, inland wetlands and shoreline zones.
The climate is tropical and the Keys are the only frost-free place in Florida.
The Keys have distinctive plant and animals species, some found nowhere else in America, as the Keys define the northern extent of their ranges.
Some plants that seem to define the Keys are not native, including coconut palm, bougainvillea, hibiscus, and papaya.
The well-known and very sour Key lime (or Mexican lime) is a naturalized species, apparently introduced from the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where it had been previously been introduced from Malaysia by explorers from Spain.
The Keys are also home to unique animal species, including the Key deer, protected by the National Key Deer Refuge, and the American crocodile. About 70 miles (110 km) west of Key West is Dry Tortugas National Park, one of the most isolated and therefore well-preserved in the world.
The waters surrounding the Keys are part of a protected area known as the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Tropical cyclones
The Keys are regularly threatened by tropical storms and hurricanes, leading to evacuations to the mainland. The attitude proved dangerous when Hurricane Georges (pronounced zhorzh in French), after tearing up much of the Caribbean, caused damage and extensive flooding in the Lower Keys in 1998, before making landfall in Mississippi.
Tropical cyclones present special dangers and challenges to the entire Keys.
In the active hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, the Keys were under mandatory evacuation orders several times. In August, 2004, Hurricane Charley passed about 70 miles west of Key West, bringing tropical storm winds to the lower keys. The lower keys were evacuated in preparation for Hurricane Ivan in September, 2004 and Hurricane Dennis in July, 2005, but neither hurricane came close enough to the Keys to do much damage. Hurricane Katrina, which went on to devastate parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, moved through south Florida in August, 2005 and tracked southwest past Key West, causing minor damage and flooding. Hurricane Rita, which went on to destroy parts of Louisiana and Texas, grew from a tropical storm to a Category 2 hurricane as it moved westward from the Bahamas, passing south of Key West and causing damage and surge flooding as far north as Key Largo. In October, 2005, Hurricane Wilma became the most devastating hurricane to hit the Keys in decades when it passed just northwest of Key West. The city was left under 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 metres) of water from the storm surge, and major flooding was reported throughout the Keys up to Key Largo. A new ferry now takes riders between Key West and Fort Myers, due north on the mainland, along the western edge of Florida Bay.
Key West has long been noted as a gay vacation destination, and is home to the United States' first Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
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