Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 112,136. Lakeland is a principal city of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area.
European-American settlers arrived in Lakeland from Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina in the 1870s. The city expanded in the 1880s with the arrival of rail service, with the first freedmen railway workers settling here in 1883. They and European immigrants also came because of land development opportunities with farming, citrus, cattle and phosphate industry developing. Lakeland is home to the 1,267-acre Circle B Bar Reserve.
As a visitor and a resident, there is a dynamic array of things to see and do in Lakeland on any given day. You might want to start by taking a stroll around the historic Francis Langford Promenade at Lake Mirror, stopping to take in the beauty of our majestic Hollis Garden—a classical botanical garden that is part of Lakeland's parks system—or by taking a brisk walk on one of the City’s many multi-use paths. You might want to wrap up your day with a leisurely picnic at one of the picnic tables around Lake Morton—a designated bird sanctuary and home to Lakeland's iconic swans—followed by a trip to the Lakeland Public Library and Polk Museum of Art (located just off of Lake Morton).