Lake Manatee is located in Manatee County

Manatee County, Florida

Manatee County is a county in the state of Florida. According to the 2010 census by the U.S. Census Bureau there are 322,833 people living in Manatee Country.Manatee County is part of the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 in southwestern Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 On the Contenent of North America. Highway 64 crosses the eastern end of the lake, while the Lake Manatee State Park

Lake Manatee State Park

Lake Manatee State Park is a State Park in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the south shore of Lake Manatee. It is east of I-75 on State Road 64 in Bradenton. It is made up of pine flatwoods, Sand Pine scrub, marshes, and hardwood forests.Activities include canoeing and kayaking, camping,...

 is found at the southwestern end. The Manatee River

Manatee River

The Manatee River is a river in Manatee County, Florida. The river arises in the northeastern corner of Manatee County and flows into the Gulf of Mexico at the southern edge of Tampa Bay. The Manatee River has a watershed that is approximately . Lake Manatee, an artificial reservoir, is located...

 flows into the lake at the eastern end, then continues to the west, where it flows into Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...

. Lake Manatee is a major source of water for Bradenton

Bradenton, Florida

Bradenton is a city in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's 2007 population to be 53,471. Bradenton is the largest Principal City of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2007 estimated population of 682,833...

 and other cities in Manatee County, providing 32 million

Million

One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...

gallons per day.