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is a city in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's 2007 population at 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. It is the county seat of Manatee County. Bradenton is pronounced
Originally discovered by Hernando De Soto at Shaw's Point in 1539, the city took the name of Dr. Joseph Braden, whose nearby fortlike house was a refuge for early settlers during Indian attacks.
The current city of Bradenton was formed in 1943, when the Florida legislature merged the cities of Manatee (incorporated in 1888) and Bradentown (incorporated in 1903).