Lee County, Florida in the context of "Cape Coral, Florida"

Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its beaches, subtropical landscape, and winter resort economy.

Definitions of the region vary, though its boundaries are generally considered to put it south of the Tampa Bay area, west of Lake Okeechobee, and mostly north of the Everglades and to include Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. For some purposes, the inland counties of DeSoto, Glades, and Hendry, and the thinly populated mainland section of Monroe County, south of Collier, are also included.

The Caloosahatchee culture is an archaeological culture on the Gulf coast of Southwest Florida.

The Caloosahatchee culture region lasted from 500 BCE to 1750, and has been divided into five periods based on ceramic styles. Its territory consisted of the coast from what is now southern Sarasota County through all of Charlotte and Lee counties to the northern edge of Collier County, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Marco Island, and about 90 kilometres (56 mi) inland from the coast. The area from Charlotte Harbor to the Ten Thousand Islands has been informally called the Calusa region. At the time of first European contact, the Caloosahatchee culture region formed the core of the Calusa domain.

Charlotte Harbor Estuary, the second largest bay in Florida, is located on the Gulf of Mexico coast of west Florida with half lying in Charlotte County, Florida, a fourth in Sarasota County, and a fourth in Lee County. The harbor's mouth is located behind Gasparilla Island, one of the many coastal barrier islands on the southwest coast of Florida, with access from the Gulf of Mexico through the Boca Grande Pass between Gasparilla Island on the north and Lacosta Island on the south. Charlotte Harbor covers about 270 sq mi (700 km).

Charlotte Harbor Estuary is a natural estuary spanning the west coast of Florida from Venice to Bonita Springs on the Gulf of Mexico and is one of the most productive wetlands in Florida. The estuary has a large watershed, and includes Charlotte Harbor itself as well as the Peace River, Caloosahatchee River (via Pine Island Sound) and Myakka River basins. It covers 12,653 square kilometers (4,885 sq mi), the second largest open water estuary in the state.

Harrisia aboriginum (commonly known as the west-coast prickly apple, prickly applecactus, yellow prickly apple, and aboriginal prickly apple) is a species of columnar cactus endemic to peninsular Florida, on the Gulf Coast of the counties of Lee, Sarasota County, and Charlotte. Only 12 occurrences are known, and the species is threatened by horticultural collection, shading from fire suppression, competition from invasive flora, and most of all habitat destruction. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.