Broward County has a total area of 1,319.63 square miles (3,417.8 km2), of which 1,205.40 square miles (or 91.34%) is land and 114.24 square miles (or 8.66%) is water. It was originally named Everglades County, but then-Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Ion Farris amended the bill that established the county to be named Broward, after Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, Governor of Florida from 1905 to 1909. In 1915, Palm Beach County and Miami Dade County contributed nearly equal portions of land to create Broward County.
The Broward County School District is the fifth largest in the United States and is one of only seven national districts to demonstrate consistent improvement during the past few years. It has exceeded national averages in student performance scores in both reading and math and has gained recognition for its performance by the State Board of Education. Many of the schools in this county have received the "Five Star School Award" from the Florida Department of Education as schools that have shown evidence of exemplary community involvement.