Escambia County

County in northwest Florida; area 1,709 sq km/660 sq mi; population (1990) 262,800. The westernmost county in the state, it is situated in the Florida panhandle, bounded to the south by the Gulf of Mexico and to the west and north by the state of Alabama. Its administrative headquarters is Pensacola. The lowlands of its south are dominated by Pensacola's naval activities and Gulf Coast tourism. The rest of the county, in rolling hills, is largely rural and agricultural, with dairy, peanut, cotton, and truck farms and some timber production.