The abundance of lakes on the Florida peninsula is a result of the geology and geologic history of the State. An estimated 7,800 lakes in Florida are greater than 1 acre in surface area. Of these, 35 percent are located in just four counties (fig. 1): Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Polk. More detail at http://sjr.state.fl.us/minimumflowsandle… It includes info like this: The central Florida area is characterized by discontinuous highlands separated by broad valleys. One of the effects of the rise and fall of sea level was the formation of relict shoreline features such as beach ridges, which parallel the present-day Atlantic coastline (fig. 11). These beach ridges have had an effect on the shape, location, and orientation of lakes in central Florida.