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Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay and Orlando area. It is one of Florida's three best known "directional" regions, along with North Florida and South Florida. ==Geography== Like many vernacular regions, Central Florida's boundaries are not official or consistent, and are defined differently by different sources. A 2007 study of Florida's regions by geographers Ary Lamme and Raymond K. Oldakowski found that Floridians surveyed identified Central Florida as comprising a large swath of peninsular Florida.〔Lamme & Oldakowski, p. 329.〕 This area encompassed the interior, including the Orlando metropolitan area, and coastal stretches from the Big Bend south to the Tampa Bay Area in the west and from Daytona Beach south to Martin County in the east. In addition, North Central Florida has emerged as a vernacular region representing the interior area in the northern part of the state.〔 Central Florida is one of Florida's three most common directional regions, the others being North Florida and South Florida. Lamme and Oldakowski note that the directional region is more commonly used in the interior areas rather than on the coast.〔Lamme & Oldakowski, p. 335.〕 In fact, while coastal areas often have their own regional vernacular identities such as the Space Coast and the Nature Coast, no vernacular regions were reported on the interior of the state other than Central Florida.〔 Enterprise Florida, the state's economic development agency, identifies "Central Florida" as one of eight economic regions used by the agency and other state and outside entities, including the Florida Department of Transportation. This definition covers much of the same area as in Lamme and Oldakowski's survey, with some exceptions. It excludes the Tampa Bay Area and North Central Florida, as well as the southern coastal counties (the Treasure Coast, which is included in "Southeast" or "South Florida"). The Central region includes the Orlando metropolitan area (Orange, Lake, Osceola, and Seminole Counties), Marion and Sumter Counties in the interior, and Volusia and Brevard Counties on the coast.〔''Charting the Course'', p. 2.〕 The central cities of both metropolitan areas (Orlando and Tampa) are in close proximity (), and as a result, their two metropolitan areas blend together in the area of Lakeland to make up a larger contiguous population center often referred to as the I-4 corridor. This is a population concentration that stretches from Tampa Bay on the west coast to Daytona Beach and Cape Canaveral on the east coast of the state. With the exception of hill terrain in southern Lake County, Hernando County, Pasco County and Polk County, Central Florida is mostly flatland with significant amounts of open space and over 1,500 lakes and ponds. There is a mixture of wetlands, Cypress, Oak, Maple and Pine forests, pastures, prairies and coastline.〔()〕 Major rivers include the St. Johns River, the Ocklawaha River, the Halifax River, and the Econlockhatchee River. Major lakes include Lake Apopka, Lake Tohopekaliga, East Lake Tohopekaliga, Lake Louisa, Lake Monroe, Lake Jessup, and the Butler Chain of Lakes. There are over of coastline in Central Florida along the Atlantic Coast. Major beaches include Canaveral National Seashore, New Smyrna Beach, Daytona Beach, Cocoa Beach, and Indiatlantic Beach near Melbourne. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Central Florida」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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