How many lakes does Florida have?

I was told be a colleague some years back that the number is over 5000. ______________________________________ This is what I found on-line at Florida Quick Facts:

Coastline - 1,197 Statute Miles

Tidal Shoreline - 2,276 Statute Miles

Beaches - 663 Miles

Florida has more than 11,000 miles of rivers, streams & waterways

Longest River - St. Johns at 273 miles

Largest Lake - Lake Okeechobee at 700 square miles

(the 2nd largest freshwater lake in the United States)

Number of Lakes greater than 10 acres - Aprox. 7,700

Number of First Magnitude Springs - 27

(Florida has more first magnitude springs than any other state.)

Number of Islands Greater than 10 Acres - Aprox. 4,500

(Florida ranks 2nd in the nation by this measure and only Alaska ranks higher.) I e-mailed the governer of Florida for my state report(i'm in 5th grade)and he said there is about 7,700 lakes.