 osceola county (, ) is a county located in the u.s. state of florida. as of the 2010 census, the population was 268,685. its county seat is kissimmee. osceola county is included in the orlando-kissimmee-sanford, fl metropolitan statistical area. ==etymology== osceola county is named for the indian leader osceola, whose name means "black drink cry [asi yaholo]". == history == osceola county was created in 1887. on july 21, 1821, florida was divided into two counties, named escambia county to the west and st. john's county to the east. in 1824, the southern part of st. john's county became mosquito county, with enterprise as the county seat. when florida became a state in 1845, mosquito county was renamed orange county. in 1844, brevard county was carved out from mosquito county. on may 12, 1887, osceola was named a county, having been created from both orange and brevard counties. osceola county reached all the way down to lake okeechobee until 1917 when okeechobee county was formed. since the late 20th century, osceola county has experienced a significant influx of immigrants from puerto rico, and in the 2000 u.s. census puerto rican was the largest self-reported ancestry group.{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image:census-2000-data-top-us-ancestrie
1887_establishments_in_Florida Charter_counties_in_Florida Florida_counties Greater_Orlando Osceola_County,_Florida Populated_places_established_in_1887