Fort Lauderdale is a coastal city in Florida, located 30 miles (48 km) north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It serves as the county seat and is the most populous city in Broward County, with a population 182,760 as of the 2020 census. This makes it the tenth-most populous city in Florida. Fort Lauderdale ranks as the third-most populous city in the Miami metropolitan area, following Miami and Hialeah, which had a combined metro population of 6,166,488 in 2019. Founded in 1838 and incorporated in 1911, the city was named after a series of forts constructed by the United States during the Second Seminole War. These forts were named after Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), the younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. The city's development began around 50 years after the forts were abandoned. Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were built: the first at the fork of the New River, the second at Tarpon Bend on the New River between what are now the Colee Hammock and Ri...