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Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County (formerly known as Dade County) is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the county population was 2,402,208 in 2005, making it the most populous county in the state and the eighth most populous county in the nation. The county seat is Miami, located in the northeastern part of the county.
51.4% of Miami-Dade County residents are foreign-born, a percentage greater than any other county in the United States.
Miami-Dade County is one of three counties that make up the South Florida metropolitan area.
History
Dade County was created in 1836. It was named after Major Francis L. Dade, a soldier killed in 1835 in the Second Seminole War, at what has since been named the Dade Battlefield. The county seat was originally at Indian Key in the Florida Keys. The name was changed to Miami-Dade County on July 22, 1997 after being approved by voters.
The second-costliest natural disaster to occur in the United States was the disastrous Hurricane Andrew, which hit this county early Monday morning on August 24, 1992. It struck the central part of the county from due east, south of Miami and very near Homestead, Kendall, and Cutler Ridge (now the Town of Cutler Bay). Damages numbered over 25 billion dollars in the county alone, and recovery has taken years in these areas where the destruction was greatest. This was the costliest natural disaster in US history until Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf region in 2005.
After the Cuban Revolution, exiles from Cuba migrated in large numbers to Dade County.
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