The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago extending in a southwestward arc from the southeastern coast of Florida, approximately 15 miles south of Miami, to Key West and the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. The islands lie along the Florida Straits, dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and forming the southernmost portion of the continental United States.
The archipelago spans roughly 137 square miles, with more than 95 per cent of its land area falling within Monroe County, though a small section extends into Miami-Dade County. At the 2020 census, the population stood at 82,874, heavily concentrated in Key West, which holds nearly a third of the Keys’ residents. The southernmost point of Key West lies 93 miles from Cuba. Monroe County encompasses both the Keys themselves — from Key Largo to Dry Tortugas National Park — and a mainland section largely within Everglades National Park. The islands sit between 24.3 and 25.5 degrees north latitude, straddling the boundary between temperate and subtropical waters.
