Orlando Map
Orlando sits near the middle of the Florida peninsula, about as far from one coast as the other, on sandy high ground pocked with several hundred lakes.
Where is Orlando?
Orlando is in central Florida, roughly 55 miles west of the Atlantic at Cape Canaveral and about 85 miles northeast of Tampa on the Gulf side. That inland position is unusual for a large Florida city — almost every other one sits on salt water. Jacksonville is some 140 miles north, Miami about 220 miles southeast, and Tallahassee, the state capital, is far off in the panhandle around 250 miles northwest. Three interstates and the Florida Turnpike meet in the metro area, which is much of the reason the region became the state's tourism hub.
Orlando at a glance
| State | Florida |
| County | Orange County |
| Population (2024 estimate) | 334,854 |
| Rank among US cities | 58th of the 100 largest |
| Time zone | Eastern Time |
| Region | South — South Atlantic division |
Orlando in Florida
Orlando is the seat of Orange County, and its metropolitan area spills into Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties — the Florida county map shows how those four fit together in the center of the state. Walt Disney World, which opened in 1971, is not in Orlando at all: it lies about 20 miles southwest, mostly in Osceola and Orange counties on land bought quietly parcel by parcel. Florida's other large cities are coastal and mostly southern, so Orlando anchors the interior; the Florida state page shows the pattern, including the state's split between Eastern and Central time, which Orlando sits well east of.
Lakes, sand and the St. Johns
The lakes are the geography. Central Florida sits on limestone riddled with solution cavities, and where the roof of a cavity collapses the hole fills with water — the region has hundreds of these sinkhole lakes, including Lake Eola in the middle of downtown. The same karst produces occasional dramatic sinkholes under roads and houses. Orlando stands on a low sand ridge running down the spine of the peninsula, about 80 feet above sea level, which is high ground by Florida standards. Water drains off it in two directions: east and north into the St. Johns River, which runs north a few miles east of the city all the way to Jacksonville, and south through Shingle Creek toward the Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee and eventually the Everglades.
Cities near Orlando
Tampa and St. Petersburg are west across the peninsula, Jacksonville north, and Miami and Port St. Lucie south along the Atlantic side. The South Atlantic division page places Florida among its neighbors.