Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park
IUCN Category Ib (Wilderness Area)
Location of Everglades National Park
Location
Miami-Dade, Monroe, & Collier
counties, Florida, USA
Nearest city Florida City
Everglades CityNearest city: Florida
City
Everglades City
Coordinates 25°19′0″N 80°56′0″W / 25.31667°N
80.93333°W / 25.31667;
-80.93333Coordinates: 25°19′0″N
80°56′0″W / 25.31667°N 80.93333°W /
25.31667; -80.93333
Area
1,508,571 acres (6,104.97 km2)
1,494,970 acres (6,049.9 km2) federal
Established December 6, 1947 Established:
December 6, 1947
Visitors
1,074,764 (in 2007)
Governing
body
National Park Service
World
Heritage
Site
1979
Everglades National Park
is a national
park in the U.S. state of Florida. The largest
subtropical
wilderness
in
the United
States,[1] it contains the southern 25 percent
of the original Everglades marshland region
of southwestern Florida. It
is visited by
one million people each year,[2] and it is the
third-largest national park
in the lower
48 states after Death Valley National Park
and Yellowstone National Park.[3] It has been
declared an International Biosphere Reserve,
a World Heritage Site, and a Wetland of In-
ternational Importance.[4]
Unlike most other U.S. national parks,
Everglades National Park was created to pro-
tect a fragile ecosystem instead of safeguard-
ing a geographic feature. Thirty-six species
designated as threatened or protected live in
the park, including the Florida panther, the
American crocodile, and the West Indian
manatee. Protecting the largest U.S. wilder-
ness area east of the Mississippi River,[5] the
park is the most significant breeding ground
for tropical wading birds in North America,
and contains the largest mangrove ecosystem
in the western hemisphere.[5] More than
350 species of birds, 300 species of fresh and
saltwater fish, 40 species of mammals, and
50 species of reptiles live within Everglades
National Park.[6] All of southern Florida’s
fresh water is recharged by the park, includ-
ing that of the Biscayne Aquifer.[5]
The Everglades