North Carolina


	Fullname	State of North Carolina
	Flag	Flag of North Carolinasvg
	Flaglink	Flag Of North Carolina
	Seal	North Carolina state sealpng
	Map	Map of USA highlighting North Carolinapng
	Nickname	Tar Heel State Old North State
	Capital	Raleigh
	LargestCity	Charlotte
	Governor	Mike Easley (D)
		"http://wwwseattleluxurycom/encyclopedia/entry/Richard_Burr" class="copylinks">Richard Burr (R)
	PostalAbbreviation	NC
	OfficialLang	English
	AreaRank	28<sup>th</sup>
	TotalArea	139,509
	LandArea	126,256
	WaterArea	13,227
	PCWater	95
	PopRank	11<sup>th</sup>
	2000Pop	8,049,313
	DensityRank	17<sup>th</sup>
	2000Density	6380
	AdmittanceOrder	12<sup>th</sup>
	AdmittanceDate	November 21 , 1789
	TimeZone	-5/ -4
	Latitude	34°N to 36°21'N
	Longitude	75°30'W to 84°15'W
	Length	240
	Width	805
	HighestElev	2,039
	MeanElev	215
	LowestElev	( Sea Level ) 0
	ISOCode	US-NC

North Carolina is a State in the Southern United States Of America . Home to the First English Colony in the Americas , it was one of the original 13 states.

GEOGRAPHY

North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina on the south; Georgia on the southwest; Tennessee on the west; Virginia on the north; and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. The United States Census Bureau classifies North Carolina as a Southern state in the subcategory of being one of the South Atlantic States .

North Carolina consists of three geographic sections: the Coastal Plain , which occupies the eastern 45% of the state; the Piedmont region, which contains the middle 35%; and the Appalachian Mountains and foothills, which take up the remaining 20% of the state in the west.

The coastal plain begins in the east as a chain of narrow, sandy barrier islands known as the " Outer Banks ". The Outer Banks encompass two sounds — Albemarle Sound in the north and Pamlico Sound in the south; they are the two largest landlocked sounds in the United States. Inland the coastal plain is relatively flat, with rich soils which grow Tobacco , Soybeans , and Cotton . The major rivers of this section, such as the Tar River and Cape Fear River , tend to be slow-moving and wide.

Further inland is the "fall line," a series of hills which mark the end of the coastal plain and the beginning of the Piedmont. The Piedmont region of central North Carolina is North Carolina's most urbanized and densely-populated region. It consists of gently rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low isolated mountain ridges. Many small, deeply eroded mountain ranges and peaks are located in the Piedmont, including the Saura Mountains , Pilot Mountain , the Uwharrie Mountains , Crowders and Kings Mountains , the Brushy Mountains , and the South Mountains . The Piedmont ranges from about 300-400 feet (90-120 m) elevation in the east to over 1,000 feet (300 m) in the west. The major rivers of the Piedmont, such as the Yadkin and Catawba , tend to be fast-flowing, shallow, and narrow.

The western section of the state is part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Among the subranges of the Appalachians located in the state are the Great Smoky Mountains , Blue Ridge Mountains , Balsams, Pisgah s, and the Black Mountains . The Black Mountains are the highest mountains in the Eastern United States, and culminate in Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet (2,037 m). It is the highest point east of the Mississippi River . Due to the higher altitude in the mountains, the climate often differs starkly from the rest of the state. Winters in western NC typically feature significant snowfall and subfreezing temperatures more akin to a northern state than a southern one.

Areas under the management of the National Park Service include:

Appalachian National Scenic Trail

Blue Ridge Parkway

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Cape Lookout National Seashore

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site at Flat Rock

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site at Manteo

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in Greensboro

Moores Creek National Battlefield near Currie

Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail

Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail

Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

HISTORY

Native Americans and Lost Colony

North Carolina was originally inhabited by many different native peoples, including the Cherokee , Creek , Tuscarora , Lumbee and Catawba . North Carolina was the first American territory the English attempted to colonize. Sir Walter Raleigh , for whom the state capital is named, chartered two colonies on the North Carolina (then Virginia ) coast in the late 1580s , both ending in failure. The demise of one, the " Lost Colony " of Roanoke Island , remains one of the great mysteries of American history. Virginia Dare , the first English child to be born in North America, was born in North Carolina. Dare County is named for her.

Colonial period and Revolutionary War

The first permanent European settlers of North Carolina were English colonists migrating south from Virginia , following a rapid growth of the colony and the subsequent shortage of available farmland. Nathaniel Batts was documented as one of the first of these Virginian immigrants. He settled south of the Chowan River and east of the Great Dismal Swamp in 1655 .Fenn and Wood, ''Natives and Newcomers'', pp. 24-25 By 1663 , this northeastern area of the Province Of Carolina was experiencing full-scale English settlement.Powell, ''North Carolina Through Four Cenutries'', p. 105

During the same period, the English monarch Charles II gave the province to the Lords Proprietors , which was a group of noblemen who had helped restore Charles to the throne in 1660 . In 1712 , North Carolina became a separate colony. With the exception of the Earl Granville 's holdings, it became a royal colony seventeen years later. According to legend, on May 20 1775 , Mecklenburg County became the first North Carolina county to declare its independence from Great Britain. On April 12 1776 , the colony became the first to instruct its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence from the British crown. The dates of both of these independence-related events are memorialized on the state flag and state seal.

On November 21, 1789, North Carolina ratified the Constitution to become the twelfth state in the Union. It is one of the main reasons the United States Bill Of Rights exists. The state refused to ratify the constitution until some sort of declaration of the peoples rights was added. The North Carolina Government received a letter from Continental Army General George Washington stating that this was a wonderful idea. Thus, the Bill of Rights was added to the United States Constitution . North Carolina worked to establish its state and local governments. In 1840, it completed the State Capitol building in Raleigh , still standing today. In mid-century the state's rural and commercial areas were connected by construction of a 129 mile (208 km) wooden Plank road, known as a "farmer's railroad," from Fayetteville in the east to Bethania (northwest of Winston-Salem ).

Civil War

In 1860, North Carolina was a slave state. It refused to join the Confederacy until President Abraham Lincoln called on it for troops to invade South Carolina . The state was the site of few battles, but in the Civil War it provided 281,205 troops to the Confederacy—more than any other Confederate state. Approximately 40,000 of those troops never returned home, dead of battlefield wounds, disease and privation. Governor Zebulon Baird Vance , elected in 1862, tried to maintain state autonomy against president Jefferson Davis in Richmond. The state's troops served in virtually all the major battles of the Army Of Northern Virginia . The largest battle in the state was at Bentonville , which was a futile attempt by Confederate General Joseph Johnston to slow Union General William Tecumseh Sherman 's advance into the Carolinas in the spring of 1865 . In March of 1865, Sherman was able to capture his chief North Carolina objective when he took Goldsboro ; at the time it was the main railroad junction in North Carolina. Johnston surrendered one of the largest Confederate armies at Bennett Place , a farm house in what is now Durham , in late April 1865, weeks after General Robert E. Lee 's surrender at Appomattox . A small, integrated Guerrilla force of white and Cherokee Confederates under William Holland Thomas continued fighting in the mountains until May 10. This unit, called the "Thomas Legion," was never actually defeated by Union troops; it had the odd distinction of capturing a city ( Waynesville ) then voluntarily ceasing from hostilities.

DEMOGRAPHICS

According to the U.S. Census Bureau , as of 2005 , North Carolina has an estimated population of 8,683,242, which is an increase of 142,774, or 1.7%, from the prior year and an increase of 636,751, or 7.9%, since the year 2000. This exceeds the rate of growth for the United States as a whole. The growth comprises a natural increase since the last census of 248,097 people (that is 627,309 births minus 379,212 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 390,672 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 158,224 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 232,448 people.

North Carolina has 3 Metropolitan Combined Statistical Area s with a population over 1 million:

Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC - population 2,067,810

Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point - population of 1,473,679

Raleigh-Durham-Cary - population of 1,467,434

The racial makeup of the state is:

70.2% White Non-Hispanic

21.9% Black

4.1% Hispanic of any race

1.4% Asian

1.2% Native American

1.3% Mixed Race

The five largest ancestry groups in North Carolina are: African American (21.6%), Scots-Irish (13.9%), English (9.5%), German (9.5%), Irish (7.4%). Significantly, North Carolina has one of the largest Native American populations in the United States .

African-Americans

African-Americans are concentrated in the state's eastern Coastal Plain and in parts of the Piedmont Plateau where plantation agriculture was most dominant. Until the mid 1860s, North Carolina had more small farms and fewer plantations than adjacent South Carolina and Virginia. These " Yeoman " farmers were non-slave holding, private land owners of tracts of approximately 500 acres (2 km&²).

European-Americans

North Carolinians of Scots-Irish and British Ancestry are concentrated in the western mountains, coastal areas, and rural areas of the central Piedmont. In the Winston-Salem area, there is a substantial population of Germanic ancestry from the migration of Moravian s during the 18th Century .

Native Americans

Estimated population figures for American Indian and Alaska Natives in North Carolina as of 2004 is 110,198, or 1.3% of the total North Carolina population. Only five states ( California , Arizona , Oklahoma , New Mexico , and Texas ) have a larger Native American population than North Carolina. The total American Indian and Alaska Native population in the United States is 2,824,751, or 0.95% of total U.S. population.

To date, North Carolina recognizes eight Native American tribal nations within its state borders:

The Lumbee , are the largest Native American tribe east of the Mississippi River , the ninth largest tribal nation, and the largest non-reservation, non-federally, albeit state-recognized tribe in the U.S. The Lumbee comprise roughly one-half the state of North Carolina's indigenous population of 84,000 with a population of 52,614, and live in Robeson , Hoke , Scotland , and Cumberland counties. The Lumbee received state recognition in 1885, and have maintained a relationship with the federal government since 1888. Though they lack formal federal recognition, they were recognized as Native Americans by an Act Of Congress , known as the Lumbee Act, in 1956.

The Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians were federally recognized in 1868 and received state recognition in 1889. The Eastern Cherokee live in western Swain County , as well as Graham and Jackson counties, and have roughly 13,400 enrolled members, most of whom live on a reservation properly called the Qualla Boundary . The Reservation is slightly more than 56,000 acres, and is held in trust by the federal government specifically for the Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians .

The Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of Native Americans received state recognition in 1965. The tribe is comprised of a little more than 3,800 enrolled members who reside in northeastern North Carolina's Halifax and Warren counties.

The almost 2,000 members of the Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe are located in the southeastern North Carolina counties of Bladen and Columbus and received state recognition in 1971.

The Coharie Tribe of Indians are located in Sampson and Harnett counties, and have a population of 1,781 enrolled members. The Coharie received state recognition in 1911. North Carolina rescinded recognition in 1913 but reinstated it in 1971.

The Sappony Indians of Person received state recognition in 1911 and have 850 enrolled members.

The Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation have a population of 800 members who reside in Orange and Alamance counties and received state recognition in 2002.

The Meherrin are an Iroquoian -descent Native American tribe located primarily in rural northeastern Hertford , Bertie , and Gates counties, with a population of 557 enrolled members.

Latino and Asian-Americans

The state has one of the fastest growing Latino and Asian populations in the country; the populations have nearly quintupled and tripled respectively between 1990 and 2002 .

6.7% of North Carolina's population were reported as under 5, 24.4% under 18, and 12.0% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51% of the population.

Religion

North Carolina, like other Southern states, has traditionally been overwhelmingly Protestant, with the largest Protestant denomination being the Baptists. However, the rapid influx of Northerners and immigrants from Latin America is steadily increasing the number of Roman Catholics in the state, and the historically Protestant (especially Baptist) dominance is beginning to erode. The current religious affiliations of the people of North Carolina are shown below:

Christian – 88%

--- Protestant – 77%

-- Baptist – 40%

-- Methodist – 10%

-- Presbyterian – 3%

--Other Protestant or general Protestant – 24%

--- Roman Catholic – 10%

---Other Christian – 1% (such as Eastern Orthodox )

Non-Religious – 11% ( Atheists , Agnostics , and others)

Other Religions – 1% ( Judaism , Islam , Hinduism , Buddhism )

ECONOMY

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the state's 2003 total gross state product was $314 billion. Its 2003 per capita personal income was $28,071, 38^th in the nation. North Carolina's agricultural outputs include , the largest city in the state, is also the nation's largest banking presence outside of New York City .

Over the past century, North Carolina has grown to become a national leader in Agriculture , Financial Services , and Industry . The state's industrial output—mainly Textiles , Chemicals , Electrical Equipment , Paper and Paper Products —ranked eighth in the nation in the early 1990s . Tobacco , one of North Carolina's earliest sources of revenue, remains vital to the local economy. Recently, technology, research, and banking have been on the rise, especially with the creation of the Research Triangle Park between Raleigh and Durham in the 1950's, along with Charlotte 's newfound status as the second largest banking center in the United States . The state is also a center of American Motorsports , with many NASCAR racing teams and related industries located near Charlotte. NASCAR recently announced that the NASCAR Hall Of Fame will be built in Charlotte.

North Carolina is one of the largest film making states outside of '', '' One Tree Hill '', '' Cape Fear '', '' Maximum Overdrive '' and '' The Crow ''.

North Carolina personal Income Tax is divided into 4 brackets, ranging from 6.0 percent to 8.25 percent. The state Sales Tax is 4.5 percent. Most taxable sales or purchases are subject to the state tax as well as the 2.5 percent local tax rate levied by all counties, for a combined 7 percent. Mecklenburg County has an additional 0.5 percent Local Tax for public transportation, bringing sales taxes there to a total 7.5 percent. Effective January 1, 2006, the total local rate of tax in Dare County increased to 3.5 percent, producing a combined state and local rate there of 8 percent. The Property Tax in North Carolina is a locally assessed tax, collected by the counties. The three main elements of the property tax system in North Carolina are Real Property , Motor Vehicle s and Personal Property (inventories and household personal property are exempt).

TRANSPORTATION

Airports

Asheville Regional Airport

Charlotte Douglas International Airport

Fayetteville Regional Airport - Grannis Field

Hickory Regional Airport

Piedmont Triad International Airport (Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point)

Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Wilmington International Airport

Goldsboro Wayne County Airport

Lake Norman Regional Airport

Major highways

LAW AND GOVERNMENT

The Governor , Lieutenant Governor , and eight elected department heads form the North Carolina Council Of State . Ten other department heads appointed by the governor form the North Carolina Cabinet . The state's current Governor is Democrat Mike Easley .

The session, the current President Pro Tempore of the Senate is Democrat Marc Basnight (the Lieutenant Governor Of North Carolina is the President of the Senate); The House Speaker is Democrat James B. Black . The prior term's power sharing Co-Speaker arrangement is no longer in effect, as the House Democrats won a decided victory and majority of the seats in the 2004 election.

In 2005, the state Legislature voted to implement a State Lottery , nullifying North Carolina's reputation as the "anti- Lottery " state, where owning a Lottery ticket, even from another state, was once a felony. The lottery began selling tickets March 31, 2006. North Carolina remains a Control State , although beer and wine can be sold by retailers.

The Supreme Court Of North Carolina is the state's highest Appellate Court ; it numbers seven justices. The North Carolina Court Of Appeals is the only intermediate appellate court in the state; it consists of fifteen judges who rule in rotating panels of three. Together, the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals constitute the Appellate division of the court system.

The Trial division includes the Superior Court and the District Court. All Felony criminal cases, civil cases involving more than $10,000 and misdemeanor and infraction appeals from District Court are tried in Superior Court. A Jury of 12 hears the criminal cases.

Civil cases—such as Divorce , Custody , child support and cases involving less than $10,000—are heard in District Court, along with criminal cases involving Misdemeanor s and infractions. The trial of a Criminal Case in District Court is always without a jury. The District Court also hears juvenile cases involving children under the age of 16 who are delinquent and children under the age of 18 who are undisciplined, dependent, neglected or abused. Magistrates accept guilty pleas for minor misdemeanors, accept guilty pleas for Traffic Violation s, and accept waivers of trial for worthless-check cases among other things. In civil cases, the magistrate is authorized to try small claims involving up to $4,000 including landlord eviction cases.

State constitution

Main article: North Carolina Constitution

North Carolina has had three Constitution s:

, 1776 , as the first constitution of the independent state. The Declaration of Rights was ratified the preceding day.

Acts after North Carolina was readmitted into the Union. It was a major reorganization and modification of the original into fourteen articles. It also introduced Township s which each county was required to create, the only Southern state to do so.

1971 : minor consolidation of the 1868 constitution and subsequent amendments.

IMPORTANT CITIES AND TOWNS

EDUCATION

Colleges and universities

PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAMS

Despite having over eight million people, the disbursement of North Carolina's population over three major metropolitan areas left the state unable to attract any Major Professional Sports League teams until recently. North Carolina remains without a Major League Baseball team despite numerous efforts to attract a team to the state (including a current push to relocate the Florida Marlins to Charlotte). Although more populous New Jersey also does not have an MLB team, North Carolina is the most populous state without a team from each of the major leagues either within or very close to the state's borders. For amateurs, the state holds the State Games Of North Carolina each year.

MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS

The USS ''North Carolina'' was named in honor of the state.

Today, North Carolina is home to Fort Bragg , near Fayetteville ; it is the largest and most comprehensive Military Base in the United States and is the headquarters of the XVIII Airborne Corps , 82nd Airborne Division , and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command . Next to Fort Bragg is Pope Air Force Base . North Carolina is also home to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune which, when combined with nearby Marine bases MCAS Cherry Point , Camp Geiger, Camp Johnson, Stone Bay and Courthouse Bay, makes up the largest concentration of Marines and sailors in the world.

Interesting city names

Small towns/areas with interesting names: