The Florida Keys are an archipelago of about 1,700 islands in the southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about 15 miles south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. The islands lie along the Florida Straits, dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the west, and defining one edge of Florida Bay. At the nearest point, the southern tip of Key West is just 94 miles from Cuba.

The keys are chiefly limestone and coral formations. The larger islands of the group are Key West, Key Largo, Sugarloaf Key, and Boca Chica Key. The keys, distributed between Miami-Dade and Monroe counties for administrative purposes, were devastated in a 1935 hurricane. Several of the islands are popular vacation resorts, and fishing and tourism are the leading industries.

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