Editing Florida panhandle (section)

{{short description|Northwest region of Florida}}
{{for multi|a list of other political entities with similar geographic extensions|Salient (geography)|the British colony (1763–1783) and later the Spanish colony (1783–1821) that included modern-day Florida west of the [[Apalachicola River]] as well as portions of what are now [[Alabama]], [[Mississippi]], and [[Florida Parishes|Louisiana]]|West Florida}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2017}}
[[File:Panhandle Florida.png|thumb|Florida counties that may be included in the panhandle; the eastern extent of the panhandle is arbitrarily defined and may vary]]
[[File:1859 U.S. Coast Survey Map of St. George Sound, Florida Panhandle - Geographicus - StGeorgesSound-uscs-1859.jpg|thumb|right|220px| U.S. Coast Survey map or nautical chart of St. George Sound, Florida, the coast part of [[Tate's Hell State Forest]], just southwest of [[Tallahassee]], along the Florida panhandle (1859)]]

The '''Florida panhandle''' (also known as '''West Florida''' and '''Northwest Florida''') is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of [[Florida]]. It is a [[Salient (geography)|salient]] roughly {{convert|200|mi}} long, bordered by [[Alabama]] on the west and north, [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] on the north, and the [[Gulf of Mexico]] to the south. Its eastern boundary is arbitrarily defined. It is defined by its [[Culture of the Southern United States|southern culture]] and [[Rural area|rural]] demographics in contrast to urbanized central and southern Florida, as well as closer cultural links to Alabama and Georgia. Its major communities include [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]], [[Navarre, Florida|Navarre]], [[Destin, Florida|Destin]], [[Panama City Beach, Florida|Panama City Beach]], and [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]].

As is the case with the other eight U.S. states that have [[Salient (geography)#Panhandles in the United States|panhandle]]s, the geographic meaning of the term is inexact and elastic. References to the Florida panhandle always include the ten [[List of counties in Florida|counties]] west of the [[Apalachicola River]], a natural geographic boundary, which was the historic dividing line between the British colonies of [[West Florida]] and [[East Florida]]. These western counties also lie in the [[Central Time Zone (North America)|Central Time Zone]] (with the exception of [[Gulf County, Florida|Gulf County]], which is divided between the [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern]] and Central Time zones), while the rest of the state is in the Eastern Time Zone. References to the panhandle ''may'' also include some or all of eleven counties immediately east of the Apalachicola known as the [[Big Bend (Florida)|Big Bend]] region, along the curve of [[Apalachee Bay]].

Like the rest of [[North Florida]],<ref name="freedict">{{cite web|title=Deep South|work=The Free Dictionary|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Deep+South|access-date=May 25, 2018}}</ref> including [[North Central Florida]], the panhandle is more similar in culture and climate to the [[Deep South]] than the rest of the state, particularly than [[Central Florida]] and [[South Florida]] in the lower peninsula. The Florida panhandle is known for its conservative politics, religious adherence, and "piney woods".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=HvPjAAAAMAAJ&q=florida+panhandle+ultraconservative+politics+and+piney+woods A ''Newsweek'' article in 1972], referring to then United States Senator [[Lawton Chiles]], said "In 1958, he was elected to the state legislature from the ultraconservative piney-woods panhandle of Florida."</ref>

The largest city in the panhandle is [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]], the state capital, population 196,169 ([[2020 United States Census|2020]]). However, the largest city west of the Appalachicola river is [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]], which has a population of 54,312 (2020) and also has the largest [[Pensacola metropolitan area|Metropolitan area]] in the entire panhandle with a population of 511,502 (2020). This metro area includes the second- and third-largest communities in the region, [[Pensacola]] and [[Navarre, Florida|Navarre]]. The total population of the panhandle, as of the [[2010 United States census|2010 census]], was 1,407,925, just under 7.5% of Florida's total population as recorded in the same census. At roughly 70 persons per square mile, its population density is less than 20% of Florida's as a whole.<ref name="census1">{{cite web |title=Population estimates, July 1, 2019, (V2019) |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/FL,US/PST045219 |website=Census.gov |access-date=30 November 2020}}</ref>