North Port city officials understandably like to tout its top rankings: Fourth-largest land-mass city in Florida; fourth-fastest growing city in the state. Indeed, North Port's 56,000 residents account for 80 percent of the growth in
Sarasota County's schools. Among North Port's residents are nearly 7,000 ethnically diverse foreign-born residents, including 3,000 Ukranians who have built five churches in town.