Polk County is located in central Florida. Polk County was officially founded on February 8, 1861 and now contains 1,874 square miles of land area and 136 square miles of water surface. Polk County was named for President James Knox Polk. The county seat is Lake Wales.

Polk County is crossed east/west by Interstate 4, between Tampa and Orlando. Part of the Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is in Polk County. Polk County is one of the "big boys" in Florida agriculture as the largest producer of citrus fruits and products and third in volume in Florida for beef production. The county has also been a major producer of phosphate (for fertilizer) for many years. The Mosaic plant in New Wales is reputed to be the largest fertilizer manufacturing facility on Earth.

Polk County is also the home of Bok Tower Gardens and Cypress Gardens. The Detroit Tigers use Lakeland as a base of operations for their spring training program.