Alachua County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. Its county seat is Gainesville. Alachua County is best known as the home of the University of Florida and much of its economy revolves around the university. Alachua County is part of the Gainesville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Alachua County has a total area of approximately 969 square miles of which 90% is land and 10% water. As of the 2000 census, there were 217,955 people, 87,509 households, and 47,779 families residing in Alachua County, FL.