North Port is a city in southern Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The population was 57,357 at the 2010 census.[5] It is part of the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was originally developed by General Development Corporation as the northern or Sarasota County part of its Port Charlotte development. GDC dubbed it North Port Charlotte, and it was incorporated under that name through a special act of the Florida Legislature in 1959. By referendum in 1974 the city's residents approved a change to simply North Port to proclaim its separate identity.[6][7]