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The State of North Carolina
Flag of North Carolina State seal of North Carolina
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): Tar Heel State; Old North State
Motto(s): Esse quam videri

(Latin: To be, rather than to seem)
Map of the United States with North Carolina highlighted
Official language(s) English
Capital Raleigh
Largest city Charlotte
Largest metro area Charlotte metro area
Area  Ranked 28th in the US
 - Total 53,865 sq mi
(139,509 km²)
 - Width 150 miles (240 km)
 - Length 560[1] miles (900 km)
 - % water 9.5
 - Latitude 33° 50′ N to 36° 35′ N
 - Longitude 75° 28′ W to 84° 19′ W
Population  Ranked 10th in the US
 - Total 8,049,313
 - Density 165.24/sq mi 
63.80/km² (17th in the US)
Elevation  
 - Highest point Mt. Mitchell[2]
6,684 ft  (2,038 m)
 - Mean 705 ft  (215 m)
 - Lowest point Atlantic Ocean[2]
0 ft  (0 m)
Admission to Union  November 21, 1789 (12th)
Governor Mike Easley (D)
Lieutenant Governor {{{Lieutenant Governor}}}
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Dole (R)
Richard Burr (R)
Congressional Delegation List
Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Abbreviations NC US-NC
Website www.nc.gov
Nambrino/Sandbox Portal

North Carolina (IPA: /ˌnɔrθˌkɛrəˈlaɪnə/) is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southern region of the United States of America. The capital is Raleigh.

North Carolina was one of the original Thirteen Colonies, originally known as Carolina, and the home of the first English colony in the Americas. On 20 May 1861, it became the last of the Confederate states to secede from the Union, and was readmitted on 4 July 1868. It was also the location of the first successful manned powered heavier-than-air flight, by the Wright brothers, at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk in 1903. Today, it is a fast-growing state with an increasingly diverse economy and population. As of 1 July 2007, the population estimate is 9,061,032 (a 12% increase since 1 April 2000)[3].

North Carolina has a wide range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to almost 6,700 feet (2,042 m) in the mountains. The climate in the coastal and Piedmont regions of eastern and central North Carolina is similar to other southern states such as Georgia and South Carolina, while the climate in the western mountains is closer to that found in New England or the upper Midwest. While the coastal plains, especially the tidewater areas, are strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, the western, mountainous part of the state is more than 300 miles (500 km) from the coast, resulting in considerably less maritime influence. As such, the climate of the state ranges from a warm, humid subtropical climate near the coast to a humid continental climate in the mountains. Most of the state falls in the humid subtropical zone.

Contents

[edit] Geography

See also: Geography of the United States, East Coast of the United States, Geography of North Carolina, and List of counties in North Carolina
The Blue Ridge Mountains in the foreground with Grandfather Mountain in the extreme background as seen from Blowing Rock, NC.
The Blue Ridge Mountains in the foreground with Grandfather Mountain in the extreme background as seen from Blowing Rock, NC.
The Western North Carolina mountains as seen from Sunset Rock in Highlands, North Carolina.
The Western North Carolina mountains as seen from Sunset Rock in Highlands, North Carolina.
Bodie Island Lighthouse, one of the Outer Banks attractions.
Bodie Island Lighthouse, one of the Outer Banks attractions.

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 topographic map
North Carolina topographic map

North Carolina consists of three main 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. The extreme eastern section of the state contains The Outer Banks, a string of sandy, narrow islands which form a barrier between the Atlantic Ocean and inland waterways. The Outer Banks form two sounds—Albemarle Sound in the north and Pamlico Sound in the south. They are the two largest landlocked sounds in the United States. Immediately inland, the coastal plain is relatively flat, with rich soils ideal for growing tobacco, soybeans, melons, and cotton. The coastal plain is North Carolina's most rural section, with few large towns or cities. Agriculture remains an important industry. The major rivers of this section, the Neuse River, Tar River, Pamlico River, and the Cape Fear River, tend to be slow-moving and wide.

The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the "fall line", a line which marks the elevation at which waterfalls first appear on streams and rivers. The Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the state's most urbanized and densely populated section - all five of the state's largest cities are located in the Piedmont. It consists of gently rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges. A number of small, isolated, and deeply eroded mountain ranges and peaks are located in the Piedmont, including the Sauratown Mountains, Pilot Mountain, the Uwharrie Mountains, Crowder's Mountain, King's Pinnacle, 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. Due to the rapid population growth of the Piedmont, many of the farms and much of the rural countryside in this region is being replaced by suburbanization - shopping centers, housing developments, and large corporate office parks. Agriculture is steadily declining in importance in this region. 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, Great Balsam Mountains, Pisgah Mountains, and the Black Mountains. The Black Mountains are the highest in the Eastern United States, and culminate in Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet (2,037 m).[2] It is the highest point east of the Mississippi River. Although agriculture remains important, tourism has become the dominant industry in the mountains. One agricultural pursuit which has prospered and grown in recent decades is the growing and selling of Christmas Trees. Due to the higher altitude in the mountains, the climate often differs starkly from the rest of the state. Winters in western North Carolina typically feature significant snowfall and subfreezing temperatures more akin to a midwestern state than a southern one.

North Carolina has 17 major river basins. Five of the state's river basins - the Hiwassee, Little Tennessee, French Broad, Watauga and New - are part of the Mississippi River Basin, which drains to the Gulf of Mexico. All the others flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 17 basins, 11 originate within the state of North Carolina, but only four are contained entirely within the state's borders - the Cape Fear, Neuse, White Oak and Tar-Pamlico.[4]

[edit] Climate

Main article: Climate of North Carolina

The geographical divisions of North Carolina are useful when discussing the climate of the state.

The coastal plain is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean which keeps temperatures mild in winter and moderate in the summer. Daytime high temperatures on the coast average less than 89 °F (31.6 °C) during the summer. In the winter, the coast has the mildest temperatures in the state, with daytime temperatures rarely dropping below 40 °F (4.4 °C); the average daytime winter temperature in the coastal plain is usually in the mid-60's. Temperatures in the coastal plain rarely drop below freezing even at night. The coastal plain usually receives only one inch (2.5 cm) of snow and/or ice annually, and in some years there may be no snow or ice at all.

The Atlantic Ocean has less influence on the Piedmont region, and as a result the Piedmont has hotter summers and colder winters than the coast. Daytime highs in the Piedmont usually average over 90 °F (32.2 °C) in the summer. While it is not common for temperatures to reach over 100 °F (37.8 °C) in North Carolina, when it happens, the highest temperatures are to be found in the lower areas of the Piedmont, especially around the city of Fayetteville. Additionally, the weaker influence of the Atlantic Ocean means that temperatures in the Piedmont often fluctuate more widely than the coast.

In the winter, the Piedmont is much less mild than the coast, with daytime temperatures that are usually in the mid 50's, and temperatures often drop below freezing at night. The region averages from 3-5 inches of snowfall annually in the Charlotte area to 6-8 inches in the Raleigh-Durham area. The Piedmont is especially notorious for sleet and freezing rain. It can be heavy enough in some storms to snarl traffic and collapse trees and power lines. Annual precipitation and humidity is lower in the Piedmont than either the mountains or the coast, but even at its lowest, the precipitation is a generous 40 in (102 cm) per year.

The Appalachian Mountains are the coolest area of the state, with daytime temperatures averaging in the low 40's and upper 30's for highs in the winter and often falling into the teens (−9 °C) or lower in winter nights. Relatively cool summers have temperatures rarely rising above 80 °F (26.7 °C). Snowfall in the mountains is usually 14–20 in (36–51 cm) per year, but it is often greater in the higher elevations. For example, during the Blizzard of 1993 more than 50 inches of snow fell on Mount Mitchell.

Severe weather is not a rare event in North Carolina. On average, the state receives a direct hit from a hurricane once a decade. Tropical storms arrive every 3 or 4 years. In some years several hurricanes or tropical storms can directly hit the state or brush across the coastal areas. Only Florida and Louisiana are hit by hurricanes more often. On average, North Carolina has 50 days of thunderstorm activity per year, with some storms becoming severe enough to produce hail and damaging winds. Although many people believe that hurricanes only menace coastal areas, the rare hurricane which moves inland quickly enough can cause severe damage. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo caused heavy damage in Charlotte and even as far inland as the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northwestern part of the state. North Carolina averages less than 20 tornadoes per year. Many of these are produced by hurricanes or tropical storms along the coastal plain. Tornadoes from thunderstorms are a risk, especially in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina.[5]

Monthly normal high and low temperatures (Fahrenheit) for various North Carolina cities.
City Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Asheville 46/26 50/28 58/35 66/42 74/51 80/58 83/63 82/62 76/55 67/43 57/35 49/29
Cape Hatteras 54/39 55/39 60/44 68/52 75/60 82/68 85/73 85/72 81/68 73/59 65/50 57/43
Charlotte 51/32 56/34 64/42 73/49 80/58 87/66 90/71 88/69 82/63 73/51 63/42 54/35
Greensboro 47/28 52/31 60/38 70/46 77/55 84/64 88/68 86/67 79/60 70/48 60/39 51/31
Raleigh 50/30 54/32 62/39 72/46 79/55 86/64 89/68 87/67 81/61 72/48 62/40 53/33
Wilmington 56/36 60/38 66/44 74/51 81/60 86/68 90/72 88/71 84/66 76/54 68/45 60/38
[1]

[edit] History

Main article: History of North Carolina

[edit] Native Americans, The Lost Colony and Permanent Settlement

Sir Walter Raleigh and his son
Sir Walter Raleigh and his son
Main articles: Native Americans in the United States and Roanoke Island

North Carolina was originally inhabited by many different native peoples, including the Cherokee, Tuscarora, Cheraw, Pamlico, Meherrin, Coree, Machapunga, Cape Fear Indians, Waxhaw, Saponi, Tutelo, Waccamaw, Coharie, and Catawba. In 1584, Elizabeth I, granted a charter to Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom the state capital is named, for land in present-day North Carolina (then Virginia).[6] Raleigh established two colonies on the coast in the late 1580s, both ending in failure. It was the second American territory the British attempted to colonize. 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.

Main article: Province of Carolina

As early as 1650, colonists from the Virginia colony moved into the area of Albemarle Sound. By 1663, Charles II granted a charter to establish a new colony on the North American continent which generally established its borders. He named it Carolina in honor of his father Charles I. [7] By 1665, a second charter was issued to attempt to resolve territorial questions. In 1710, due to disputes over governance, the Carolina colony began to split into North Carolina and South Carolina. The latter became a crown colony in 1729.

[edit] Colonial Period and Revolutionary War

Main article: American Revolutionary War

The first permanent European settlers of North Carolina were British colonists who migrated 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 migrants. He settled south of the Chowan River and east of the Great Dismal Swamp in 1655.[8] By 1663, this northeastern area of the Province of Carolina, known as the Albemarle Settlements, was undergoing full-scale British settlement.[9] During the same period, the English monarch Charles II gave the province to the Lords Proprietors, a group of noblemen who had helped restore Charles to the throne in 1660. The new province of "Carolina" was named in honor and memory of King Charles I (Latin: Carolus). In 1712, North Carolina became a separate colony. With the exception of the Earl Granville holdings, it became a royal colony seventeen years later.[10] Differences in the settlement patterns of eastern and western North Carolina, or the Low country and uplands, would affect the political, economic, and social life of the state from the eighteenth until the twentieth century. The Tidewater in Eastern North Carolina was settled largely by immigrants from England and the Highland Scots. The upcountry of western North Carolina was settled largely by Scots-Irish and German Protestants, the so-called "cohee". During the Revolutionary War the English and Highland Scots of eastern North Carolina tended to remain loyal to the British Crown, because of longstanding business connections with Great Britain. The Scots-Irish and German settlers of western North Carolina tended to favor American independence from 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, through the Halifax Resolves passed by the North Carolina Provincial Congress. The dates of both of these independence-related events are memorialized on the state flag and state seal.[11] Throughout the Revolutionary War, fierce guerilla warfare erupted between bands of pro-independence and pro-British colonists. In some cases the war was also an excuse to settle private grudges and rivalries. A major American victory in the war took place at King's Pinnacle along the North Carolina-South Carolina border. On October 7, 1780 a force of 1000 mountain men from western North Carolina (including what is today the State of Tennessee) overwhelmed a force of some 1000 British troops led by Major Patrick Ferguson. Most of the British soldiers in this battle were Carolinians who had remained loyal to the British Crown (they were called "Tories"). The American victory at Kings Mountain gave the advantage to colonists who favored American independence. It prevented the British Army from recruiting new soldiers from the Tories.

The road to Yorktown and America's independence from England led through North Carolina. As the British Army moved north from victories in Charleston and Camden, South Carolina, the Southern Division of the Continental Army and local militia prepared to meet them. Following General Daniel Morgan's victory over the British Cavalry Commander Banastre Tarleton at the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, southern commander Nathanael Greene led British Lord Charles Cornwallis across the heartland of North Carolina, and away from Cornwallis's base of supply in Charleston, North Carolina. This campaign is known as "The Race to the Dan" or "The Race for the River."[12]

Generals Greene and Cornwallis finally met at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in present-day Greensboro on March 15, 1781. Although the British troops held the field at the end of the battle, their casualties at the hands of the numerically superior American Army were crippling. Following this "Pyhrric victory", Cornwallis chose to move to the Virginia coastline to get reinforcements, and to allow the British Navy to protect his battered army. This decision would result in Cornwallis's eventual defeat at Yorktown, Virginia later in 1781. The Patriots' victory there guaranteed American independence.

[edit] Antebellum Period

On November 21, 1789, North Carolina became the twelfth state to ratify the Constitution. In 1840, it completed the state capitol building in Raleigh, still standing today. Unlike many other Southern states, North Carolina never developed a dominant slaveholding aristocracy, and middle-class yeomen tended to control the state government. Most of North Carolina's slaveowners and large plantations were located in the eastern Tidewater. Western North Carolinians tended to be non-slaveowning subsistence farmers. In mid-century, the state's rural and commercial areas were connected by the construction of a 129–mile (208 km) wooden plank road, known as a "farmer' railroad," from Fayetteville in the east to Bethania (northwest of Winston-Salem).[13]

On October 25, 1836 construction began on the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad [14] to connect the port city of Wilmington with the state capital of Raleigh. In 1849 the North Carolina Railroad was created by act of the legislature to extend that railroad west to Greensboro, High Point, and Charlotte. During the Civil War the Wilmington-to-Raleigh stretch of the railroad would be vital to the Confederate war effort; supplies shipped into Wilmington would be moved by rail through Raleigh to the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.

During the antebellum period North Carolina was an overwhelmingly rural state, even by Southern standards. In 1860 only one North Carolina town, the port city of Wilmington, had a population of more than 10,000. Raleigh, the state capital, had barely more than 5,000 residents.

While slaveholding was less concentrated than in some Southern states, according to the 1860 census, 33% of the population of 992,622 were enslaved African Americans. They lived and worked chiefly on plantations in the eastern Tidewater. In addition, 30,463 free blacks lived in the state. They were also concentrated in the eastern coastal plain, especially around ports such as Wilmington and New Bern. Free African Americans had been allowed to vote until 1835.

[edit] Civil War

Main article: American Civil War

In 1860, North Carolina was a slave state with about one-third slaves, a smaller proportion than many Southern states. It refused to join the Confederacy until President Abraham Lincoln called on it to invade its sister-state, South Carolina. The state was the site of few battles, but it provided at least 125,000 troops to the Confederacy— far more than any other state. Approximately 40,000 of those troops never returned home, dying of disease, battlefield wounds, and privation. Elected in 1862, Governor Zebulon Baird Vance tried to maintain state autonomy against Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond.

Even after secession, some North Carolinians refused to support the Confederacy. This was particularly true of non-slave-owning farmers in the state's mountains and western Piedmont region. Some of these farmers remained neutral during the war, while some covertly supported the Union cause during the conflict. Even so, Confederate troops from all parts of North Carolina served in virtually all the major battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, the Confederacy's most famous army. The largest battle fought in North Carolina was at Bentonville, which was a futile attempt by Confederate General Joseph Johnston to slow Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's advance through the Carolinas in the spring of 1865.[15] In April 1865 Johnston surrendered to Sherman at Bennett Place, in what is today Durham, North Carolina. This was the last major Confederate Army to surrender. North Carolina's port city of Wilmington was the last Confederate port to fall to the Union. It fell in the spring of 1865 after the nearby Second Battle of Fort Fisher.

The first Confederate soldier to be killed in the Civil War was Private Henry Wyatt, a North Carolinian. He was killed in the Battle of Big Bethel in June 1861. At the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the 26th North Carolina Regiment participated in Pickett/Pettigrew's Charge and advanced the farthest into the Northern lines of any Confederate regiment. At Appomattox Court House in Virginia in April 1865, the 75th North Carolina Regiment, a cavalry unit, fired the last shots of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War. For many years, North Carolinians proudly boasted that they had been "First at Bethel, Farthest at Gettysburg, and Last at Appomattox."

[edit] Demographics

See also: Demographics of the United States
Historical populations
Census Pop.  %±
1790 393,751
—
1800 478,103 21.4%
1810 556,526 16.4%
1820 638,829 14.8%
1830 737,987 15.5%
1840 753,419 2.1%
1850 869,039 15.3%
1860 992,622 14.2%
1870 1,071,361 7.9%
1880 1,399,750 30.7%
1890 1,617,949 15.6%
1900 1,893,810 17.1%
1910 2,206,287 16.5%
1920 2,559,123 16%
1930 3,170,276 23.9%
1940 3,571,623 12.7%
1950 4,061,929 13.7%
1960 4,556,155 12.2%
1970 5,082,059 11.5%
1980 5,881,766 15.7%
1990 6,628,637 12.7%
2000 8,049,313 21.4%
Est. 2007 9,061,032 12.6%


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

  • The Metrolina: Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC - population 2,191,604
  • The Triangle: Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC- population of 1,565,223
  • The Piedmont Triad: Greensboro--Winston-Salem--High Point, NC - population of 1,513,576
North Carolina Population Density Map
North Carolina Population Density Map
Two thirds of North Carolina's population resides in the middle one third of its landmass. This implies that the middle one third of North Carolina is about four times more densely populated than the remaining two thirds.
Two thirds of North Carolina's population resides in the middle one third of its landmass. This implies that the middle one third of North Carolina is about four times more densely populated than the remaining two thirds.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2006, North Carolina has an estimated population of 8,856,505, which is an increase of 184,046, or 2.1%, from the prior year and an increase of 810,014, or 10.0%, 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 293,761 people (that is 749,959 births minus 456,198 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 527,991 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 180,986 people. Migration within the country produced a net increase of 347,005 people. Between 2005 and 2006, North Carolina passed New Jersey to become the 10th most populous state.[16]

North Carolina has historically been a rural state, with most of the population living on farms and in small towns. However, over the last 30 years the state has undergone rapid urbanization. Today the residents of North Carolina live primarily in urban and suburban areas, as is the case in most of the United States. In particular, the cities of Charlotte and Raleigh have become major urban centers, with large, diverse, mainly affluent and rapidly growing populations. Most of this growth in diversity has been fueled by immigrants from Latin America,[2] India, and Southeast Asia.[3]

The center of population of North Carolina is located in Randolph County, in the town of Seagrove.[17]

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

[edit] Ancestry Group

The largest ancestry groups in North Carolina are:

Ancestry Percentage Main article:
African (21.6%) Of Total) See African American
American (13.9%) See British American
English (9.5%) See English American
German (9.5%) See German American
Irish (7.4%) See Irish American
Scots-Irish (3.2%) See Scots-Irish American
Italian (2.3%) See Italian American
Scottish (2.2%) See Scottish American

[edit] Most populated counties

[4]

County Seat 2010 Projection
Mecklenburg Charlotte 1,259,084
Wake Raleigh 1,154,072
Guilford Greensboro 529,605
Forsyth Winston-Salem 350,784
Cumberland Fayetteville 311,777
Durham Durham 262,256
Buncombe Asheville 234,697
Gaston Gastonia 205,489
Union Monroe 203,527
New Hanover Wilmington 200,401


[edit] African Americans

African Americans make up a quarter of North Carolina's population. The number of middle-class blacks has increased since the 1970s. African Americans are concentrated in the state's eastern Coastal Plain and in parts of the Piedmont Plateau, where they had historically worked and where new job opportunities are. African American communities number by the hundreds in rural counties in the south-central and northeast, and in predominantly black neighborhoods in the cities: Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, Fayetteville, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.

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 km²) or less. Relatively few blacks live in the state's mountains and rural areas of the western Piedmont. In some mountain counties, the black population has historically numbered in the few dozens at most.

North Carolina was the site of the famous Greensboro sit-ins of 1960, important events in the moral education of America in Civil Rights Movement.

[edit] European Americans

North Carolinians of Scots-Irish, Scottish and English 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 German ancestry from the migration of members of the Moravian Church during the mid-18th century. The coastal region attracted a history of European immigration, like Swiss-Germans who settled New Bern in the late 18th century. A small group of Ukrainians settled in Pender County during the early 20th century.[18]

[edit] Native Americans

Estimated population figures for Native American in North Carolina as of 2004 is 110,198. Only five states (California, Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas) have a larger Native American population than North Carolina.[19] The total Native American and Alaska Native population in the United States is 2,824,751, or 0.95% of the total.

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

  • The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians were federally recognized in 1868 and received state recognition in 1889. The Eastern Cherokee live in eastern 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 (230 km²), 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 mid-atlantic North Carolina counties of Bladen, and Columbus and received state recognition in 1971.
  • The Coharie Tribe of Native Americans 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 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.
    • Not officially a Native American tribe according to the federal government, the Lumbee tribe would have the largest amount of descendants in the state, mainly concentrated in the Southeastern portions of the state in Robeson, Scotland, Cumberland and nearby counties.

[edit] Hispanics/Latinos

Since 1990 the state has seen a boom in the number of Hispanics/Latinos. Once chiefly employed as migrant labor, the increase in Hispanics since 1990 can be attributed in part to the ease of access to low skilled jobs that are the first step on the economic ladder. As a result growing numbers of Hispanics are settling in the state, mainly from Mexico, Central America, and the Dominican Republic. Hispanic neighborhoods are found in the cities and there are sizable populations of Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans in North Carolina. In 2005, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that 300,000 — roughly 65 percent of North Carolina’s Latino population — are illegal immigrants, based on the Census Bureau’s population estimates.[20] The population has grown from 77,726 in 1990 to 517,617 in 2005, an average increase of 13.5% per year.[20]

[edit] Asian Americans

The state has one of the most rapid growing Asian American, specifically Indian and Vietnamese, populations in the country; the populations nearly quintupled and tripled, respectively, between 1990 and 2002. The earliest record of Asian immigration in North Carolina goes back to the mid 1800s when the first Chinese Americans were hired as agricultural workers. The famous Chinese-Malay American Siamese twins - Eng and Chang Bunker - settled in Wilkesboro, North Carolina in 1839. Japanese Americans, Filipino Americans, and Koreans arrived in the early and mid 20th century. Recent estimates suggest that the state's Asian American population has increased significantly since 2000. The Hmong population in North Carolina has grown by 12,000 since the 1980s.[21]

[edit] Religion

North Carolina, like other Southern states, has traditionally been overwhelmingly Protestant, with the largest Protestant denomination being the Southern Baptists. However, the rapid influx of northerners and immigrants from Latin America is steadily increasing the number of Roman Catholics and Jews in the state, and the numerical dominance of the Baptist Church is beginning to decline. This is especially evident in the urban areas of the state, where the population is more culturally diverse and the bulk of the growth has occurred. However, in many rural counties the Southern Baptists remain the dominant Christian church. The second-largest Protestant church in North Carolina are the Methodists, who are strong in the northern Piedmont, and especially in populous Guilford County. There are also substantial numbers of Quakers in Guilford County, and northeastern North Carolina. The Presbyterians have historically had a strong presence in Charlotte, the state's largest city. The current religious affiliations of the people of North Carolina are shown below:

[edit] Economy

See also: Economy of the United States and Economic history of the United States

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the state's 2006 total gross state product was $375 billion.[22] Its 2005 per capita personal income was $31,029, 36th in the nation.[23] North Carolina's agricultural outputs include poultry and eggs, tobacco, hogs, milk, nursery stock, cattle, sweet potatoes, and soybeans. However, North Carolina has recently been affected by offshoring and industrial growth in countries like China; one in five manufacturing jobs in the state has been lost to overseas competition.[24] There has been a distinct difference in the economic growth of North Carolina's urban and rural areas. While large cities such as Charlotte, Raleigh, Cary, and others have experienced rapid population and economic growth over the last thirty years, many of the state's small towns have suffered from loss of jobs and population. Most of North Carolina's small towns historically developed around textile and furniture factories. As these factories closed and moved to low-wage markets in Asia and Latin America, the small towns that depended upon them have suffered.

[edit] Agriculture and manufacturing

Over the past century, North Carolina has grown to become a national leader in agriculture, financial services, and manufacturing. The state's industrial output—mainly textiles, chemicals, electrical equipment, paper and pulp/paper products—ranked eighth in the nation in the early 1990s. The textile industry, which was once a mainstay of the state's economy, has been steadily losing jobs to producers in Latin America and Asia for the past 25 years, though the state remains the largest textile employer in the United States.[25] Over the past few years, another important Carolina industry, furniture production, has also been hard hit by jobs moving to Asia (especially China). Tobacco, one of North Carolina's earliest sources of revenue, remains vital to the local economy, although concerns about whether the federal government will continue to support subsidies for tobacco farmers has led some growers to switch to other crops like wine or leave farming altogether.[26] North Carolina is the leading producer of tobacco in the country.[27] Agriculture in the western counties of North Carolina (particularly Buncombe and surrounding counties) is presently experiencing a revitalization coupled with a shift to niche marketing, fueled by the growing demand for organic and local products.

[edit] Finance, Technology and Research

Charlotte's growing skyline
Charlotte's growing skyline

Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city, continues to experience rapid growth, in large part due to the banking & finance industry. Charlotte is now the second largest banking center in the United States (after New York), and is home to Bank of America and Wachovia. The Charlotte metro area is also home to 5 other Fortune 500 companies.

The information and biotechnology industries have been steadily on the rise since the creation of the Research Triangle Park (RTP) in the 1950s. Located between Raleigh and Durham (mostly in Durham County), its proximity to local research universities has no doubt helped to fuel growth. Meanwhile, beginning in the 1980s,

The North Carolina Research Campus underway in Kannapolis (approx. 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Charlotte) promises to enrich and bolster the Charlotte area in the same way that RTP changed the Raleigh-Durham region.[28] Encompassing 5,800,000 square feet ({{Convert}} no longer accepts sqm as code. Please use m2 instead. Please refer to {{convert}}'s talk page for the reasoning behind this. Sorry for any inconvenience.), the complex is a collaborative project involving Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and N.C. State University, along with private and corporate investors and developers. The facility incorporates corporate, academic, commercial and residential space, oriented toward research and development (R&D) and biotechnology. Similarly, in downtown Winston-Salem, the Piedmont Triad Research Park is undergoing an expansion. Approximately thirty miles to the east of Winston Salem's research park, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina A&T State University have joined forces to create the Gateway University Research Park, a technology-based research entity which will focus its efforts on areas such as nanotechnology, biotechnology & biochemistry, environmental sciences, and genetics among other science-based disciplines.

[edit] Film and the arts

Film studios are located in Shelby, Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem. Some of the best-known films and television shows filmed in the state include: All the Real Girls, Being There, Blue Velvet, Bull Durham, The Color Purple, Cabin Fever, Cape Fear, The Crow, Dawson's Creek, Dirty Dancing, Evil Dead 2, The Fugitive, The Green Mile, Hannibal, The Last of the Mohicans, Nell, One Tree Hill, Patch Adams (film), Shallow Hal, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and 28 Days. The television show most associated with North Carolina is The Andy Griffith Show, which aired on CBS-TV from 1960 to 1968. The series is set in the fictional small town of Mayberry, North Carolina, and was based on the real-life town of Mount Airy, North Carolina, although it was filmed in California. Mount Airy is the hometown of actor Andy Griffith. The show is still popular in reruns and is frequently shown in syndication around the nation. North Carolina is also home to some of the Southeast's biggest film festivals, including the National Black Theatre Festival and the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, and the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina.

The School of Filmmaking at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem is a unique arts conservatory that combines rigorous professional training with unparalleled facilities, equipment and resources. All Second, Third and Fourth Year productions are entered into film and video festivals worldwide, and several have won major awards, including the Student Academy Award, the Angelus Award and the Cine Eagle Award. The best Fourth Year productions are also screened on film in front of large industry audiences at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles in June each year. School of the Arts alumni have performed in or behind the scenes of Broadway shows, film, television and regional theatre, and are members of the world’s finest symphony orchestras and opera and dance companies. They have won or been nominated for all of the major awards in the entertainment industry, including Tony, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and others. Some well-known alumni of the NCSA School of Drama are Jada Pinkett Smith, Mary-Louise Parker, Catherine Dent, and Tom Hulce.

[edit] Tax revenue

See also: Taxation in the United States and State tax levels

North Carolina personal income tax is slightly progressive, with four incremental brackets ranging from 6.0% to 8.25%. The state sales tax is 4.25%.[29] Most taxable sales or purchases are subject to the state tax as well as the 2.5% local tax rate levied by all counties, for a combined 6.75%. Mecklenburg County has an additional 0.5% local tax for public transportation, bringing sales taxes there to a total 7.25%. The total local rate of tax in Dare County is 3.5%, producing a combined state and local rate there of 7.75%.[30] In addition, there is a 29.9¢ tax per gallon of gas, a 30¢ tax per pack of cigarettes, a 79¢ tax on wine, and a 48¢ tax on beer. There are also additional taxes levied against food and prepared foods, normally totaling 2% and 8% respectively. The property tax in North Carolina is locally assessed and collected by the counties. The three main elements of the property tax system in North Carolina are real property, motor vehicles and personal property (inventories and household personal property are exempt). Estimated at 10.5% of income, North Carolina’s state/local tax burden percentage ranks 23rd highest nationally (taxpayers pay an average of $3,526 per-capita), just below the national average of 10.6%.[31] North Carolina ranks 40th in the Tax Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index with neighboring states ranked as follows: Tennessee (18th), Georgia (19th), South Carolina (26th) and Virginia (13th).[31]

[edit] Transportation

[edit] International/Major regional airports

Main article: List of airports in North Carolina

[edit] Mass transit

LYNX light rail car in Charlotte
LYNX light rail car in Charlotte

Several cities are served by mass transit systems. The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) operates historical trolleys, express shuttles and bus service serving Charlotte and its immediate suburbs. In 2007 it opened the LYNX light rail line connecting Charlotte with suburban Pineville.

The Fayetteville Area System of Transit (FAST) serves the city with ten bus routes and two shuttle routes.

Within Raleigh, the Capital Area Transit system operates 27 bus routes. The Triangle Transit Authority operates buses that serve the region and connect to municipal bus systems in Durham and Chapel Hill; efforts for the city of Raleigh to build a light rail from the downtown areas of Raleigh to the downtown area of Durham failed as TTA's projected ridership did not meet federal standards. The Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA) bus system runs within Durham. The Triangle Transit Authority operates buses that serve the region and connect to municipal bus systems in Raleigh and Chapel Hill, which has its own bus service, Chapel Hill Transit.

Greensboro is serviced by the Greensboro Transit Authority (GTA), which operates 14 bus routes. Additionally, the Higher Education Area Transit (HEAT) system provides service to students who attend the following institutions: Bennett College, Elon University School of Law, Greensboro College, Guilford College, Guilford Technical Community College, North Carolina A&T State University, and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The HEAT service provides transportation between campuses and various other destinations, including downtown Greensboro.

Winston-Salem Transit Authority (WSTA) operates 30 bus routes around the city of Winston-Salem; additionally, WSTA recently completed construction of a central downtown mult-modal transportation center with 16 covered bus bays adjacent to a large enclosed lobby/waiting area. There are future plans being discussed for a $52 million streetcar system connecting Piedmont Triad Research Park/Downtown with Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART) is the Triad's 10-county regional organization with the goal of enhancing all forms of transportation through regional cooperation. PART Express Bus provides express shuttle service to each major Triad city from Piedmont Triad International Airport, while Connections Express connects the Triad to Duke and UNC Medical Centers. PART is also administering and developing several rail service studies that include both commuter and intercity rail.

Wilmington's Wave Transit operates six bus lines within the city as well as five shuttles to nearby areas and a downtown trolley.

[edit] Major highways

Main article: North Carolina Highway System

The North Carolina Highway System is comprised of a vast network of Interstate highways, U.S. routes, and state routes. North Carolina has the second largest state-maintained highway network in the United States.[32] Major highways include:

[edit] Politics and government

The governor, lieutenant governor, and eight elected executive department heads form the Council of State. Ten other executive department heads appointed by the governor form the North Carolina Cabinet. The state's current governor is Democrat Mike Easley. The North Carolina General Assembly, or Legislature, consists of two houses: a 50-member Senate and a 120-member House of Representatives. For the 2007–2008 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 Joe Hackney.

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 misdemeanors and lesser 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 violations, 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. Magistrates also perform civil marriages.

[edit] State constitution

Main article: North Carolina Constitution

The state constitution governs the structure and function of the North Carolina government. It is the highest legal document for the state and subjugates North Carolina law. Like all state constitutions in the United States, this constitution is subject to federal judicial review. Any provision of the state constitution can be nullified if it conflicts with federal law and the United States Constitution.

North Carolina has had three constitutions:

  • 1776: Ratified December 18, 1776, as the first constitution of the independent state. The Declaration of Rights was ratified the preceding day.
  • 1868: Framed in accordance with the Reconstruction 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 townships which each county was required to create, the only southern state to do so.
  • 1971: Minor consolidation of the 1868 constitution and subsequent amendments.

[edit] Federal apportionments

North Carolina currently has 13 congressional districts, which, when combined with its two U.S. Senate seats, gives the state 15 electoral votes. In the 109th Congress, the state was represented by six Democratic and seven Republican members of congress, plus two Republican Senators. The Democrats picked up one seat (District 11) in the 2006 election for the 110th Congress.

[edit] Politics

See also: Politics of the United States

North Carolina is politically dominated by the Democratic and Republican political parties. Third parties have had difficulty making inroads in state politics, including the Green Party and Libertarian Party. They have both run candidates for office with neither party successfully electing a candidate to a state office. The Libertarian party is currently engaged in a lawsuit with the state over ballot access.[33] Historically, North Carolina has been politically divided between the eastern and western parts of the state. Before the Civil War, the eastern half of North Carolina supported the Democratic Party, primarily because the region contained most of the state's slave owners and large cash crops. The western half of the state tended to support the Whig party, which was generally seen as being more moderate on the issue of slavery and was more supportive of business interests. Following the Civil War, the Republicans, backed by the victorious U.S. Army, controlled the state government. When federal troops were removed in the 1870s, the Democratic Party quickly gained control of the state government.

In 1894, the Republican and Populist parties formed an alliance, called an electoral fusion, which resulted in control of the state legislature and governorship. However, in 1898 the state's Democratic Party, in a blatantly racist campaign, regained control of the state government. Using the slogan, "White Supremacy", and backed by influential newspapers such as the Raleigh News and Observer under publisher Josephus Daniels, the Democrats ousted the Populist-Republican majority. With some notable exceptions, North Carolina then became a part of the "Solid Democratic South". However, some counties in the western Piedmont and Appalachian Mountains continued to vote Republican, continuing a tradition that dated from their opposition to secession before the Civil War. In 1952, aided by the presidential candidacy of popular war hero Dwight Eisenhower, the Republicans were successful in electing a U.S. Congressman, Charles R. Jonas. Republicans slowly made gains in the 1960s, and in 1972, aided by the landslide re-election of Richard Nixon, the Republicans elected their first governor and U.S. Senator of the twentieth century.

The Senator, Jesse Helms, played a major role in reviving the Republicans and turning North Carolina into a two-party state. Under his banner, many conservative Democrats in the central and eastern parts of North Carolina left the Democrats and began to vote increasingly Republican, at least at the national level. In part, this was due to dissatisfaction with the national Democratic Party's stance on the issues of civil rights and racial integration, and later to the leftward tilt on social issues such as prayer in school, gun rights, abortion rights, and gay rights. From 1968–2004 (excepting Jimmy Carter's election in 1976), North Carolina has voted Republican in every presidential election. At the state level, however, the Democrats still control most of the elected offices in the state government, and state and local elections are highly competitive compared to previous historical eras (for example, eastern North Carolina routinely elects a sizable number of Republican sheriffs and county commissioners, which did not happen until the 1980s). The Republicans hold both U.S. Senate seats, but the Democrats retain the governorship, majorities in both houses of the state legislature, state supreme court, and a 7-6 majority of U.S. House seats as of January 2007.

Modern North Carolina politics center less around the old east-west geographical split, and more on a growing urban-suburban-rural divide. Many of the state's rural and small-town areas are now heavily Republican, while growing urban centers such as Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham and Greensboro are increasingly Democratic. The suburban areas around the cities usually hold the power, and vote both ways. Two Presidents of the United States were born and raised in North Carolina, but both men began their political careers in neighboring Tennessee, and were elected President from that state. The two men were James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson. A third U.S. President, Andrew Jackson, may also have been born in North Carolina. However, as he was born almost precisely on the state line with South Carolina, both states claim him as a native son, and historians have debated for decades over the precise site of Jackson's birthplace. On the grounds of the old state capitol building in Raleigh is a statue dedicated to the Presidents who were born in the state; Jackson is included in the statue.

North Carolina remains a control state. This is probably due to the state's strongly conservative Protestant heritage. Four of the state's counties - Clay, Graham, Mitchell, and Yancey, which are all located in rural areas - remain "dry" (the sale of alcoholic beverages is illegal).[5] However, the remaining 96 North Carolina counties allow the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, as is the case in most of the United States. Even in rural areas, the opposition to selling and drinking alcoholic beverages is declining, as the decreasing number of "dry" counties indicates.

North Carolina is one of the 12 states to decriminalize marijuana. In 1997 Marijuana and Tetrahydrocannabinols were moved from a schedule I to schedule IV . Transfer of less than 5 grams is not considered sale, and up to 1 1/2 ounces is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or community service, at the judge's discretion, rather than imprisonment or a felony charge. [34]

In 2005, the state legislature voted to implement a state lottery, thus altering North Carolina's reputation as the "anti-lottery" state, where owning a lottery ticket from another state was once a felony. By 2005, every state surrounding North Carolina had a lottery in operation. The North Carolina Education Lottery began selling tickets on March 31, 2006. The lottery has had unexpectedly low sales since its inception.[6]

[edit] Education

[edit] Elementary and secondary education

Elementary and secondary public schools are overseen by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, which is headed by the North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction, who is also secretary of the North Carolina State Board of Education. This body holds most of the legal authority for making public education policy.[35] North Carolina has 115 public school systems, each of which is overseen by a local school board. A county may have one or more systems within it. The largest school systems in North Carolina are the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Wake County Public School System, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Cumberland County Schools,and Guilford County Schools. The state has also established charter schools, which fall outside the ordinary structure.

See also: List of school districts in North Carolina

[edit] Colleges and universities

For more details on this topic, see List of colleges and universities in North Carolina

In 1795, North Carolina opened the first public university in the United States - the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. More than 200 years later, the University of North Carolina system encompasses 16 public universities including the three largest East Carolina University, North Carolina State University, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The system also supports several well-known historically black colleges and universities such as North Carolina A&T State University, Winston-Salem State University, and North Carolina Central University. Along with its public universities, North Carolina has 58 public community colleges in its community college system.

North Carolina's private universities and colleges include Mount Olive College, Davidson College, Duke University, High Point University, Elon University,Gardner-Webb University, Wake Forest University, and Campbell University.

[edit] Sports and recreation

Main article: Sports in North Carolina

[edit] Professional sports

Charlotte Bobcats Arena is home to the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA.
Charlotte Bobcats Arena is home to the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA.

Despite having over eight million people, North Carolina's population being spread out over three major metropolitan areas precluded attracting any major professional sports leagueteams until the late 1980s. The first franchise from a major professional sports league to be created in North Carolina were the NBA's Charlotte Hornets, which began play in the 1987-1988 NBA season. North Carolina remains without a Major League Baseballteam despite numerous efforts to attract a team to the state (including the 2006 push to relocate the Florida Marlinsto Charlotte). North Carolina lacks its own team, and only one neighboring state (equally sized Georgia) has a team, the Atlanta Braves.

On June 19, 2006, the Carolina Hurricanes, a National Hockey League franchise based in Raleigh, won the Stanley Cup. The Hurricanes are the first professional sports team from North Carolina to win their sport's highest championship. Home games are played in the RBC Center, which was named by the Royal Bank of Canada. The National Football League (NFL) is represented by the Carolina Panthers, who play home games in the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. The NBA is represented by the Charlotte Bobcats; home games are played in the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte. The Carolina Railhawks are a men's professional soccer team in the United Soccer Leagues, due to compete in their first season in 2007. Home field is the SAS Stadium in Cary. North Carolina was home to the now defunct AFL teams the Charlotte Rage from 1992 to 1996 and the Carolina Cobras from 2000 to 2004. The Rage's home games were played in the Charlotte Coliseum. The Cobras' home games were played in the RBC Center from 2000 to 2002. They then moved to the Charlotte Coliseum until being terminated by the league. The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) is represented by the Fayetteville Guard who plays at Crown Coliseum.

The state is also a center of American motorsports, with more than 80% of NASCAR racing teams and related industries located in the Piedmont region. The largest race track in North Carolina is the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina where the NASCAR's Nextel Cup holds three major races each year. NASCAR recently began construction on the NASCAR Hall of Fame will open late 2008 in Uptown Charlotte. There are also many motocross and off-road races in North Carolina. Many of NASCAR's most famous driver dynasties, the Pettys, Earnhardts, Allisons, Jarretts and Waltrips all live within an hour of Charlotte.

From the 1930s to the early 1990s, the Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion, under the Crockett family, operated almost entirely out of Charlotte. Mid Atlantic was a long-time member of the National Wrestling Alliance and many of their top stars appeared on national television on NWA and later WCW events. Many retired or still-current wrestlers live in the Charlotte/Lake Norman area, including Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Matt and Jeff Hardy and Stan Lane.

North Carolina has become a hot bed for professional bull riding PBR. It is the home of the 1995 PRCA World Champion Bull Rider Jerome Davis. It is also home to several professional stock contractors and bull owners including Thomas Teague of Teague Bucking Bulls. The Southern Extreme Bull Riding Association SEBRA headquarters are located in Archdale, North Carolina.

The North Carolina Hare scramble Association hosts 16 races each year throughout North Carolina. In addition, the GNCC Racing series makes two stops in North Carolina, in Morganton and Yadkinville, the only other state to host 2 GNCCs is Ohio. For sport amateurs, the state holds the State Games of North Carolina each year.

North Carolina is a state known for minor league sports, notably the setting of the 1987 comedy Bull Durham about the Durham Bulls of the class A Carolina League. The state boasts over 30 minor league baseball teams in six different minor leagues, including the triple-A International League teams in Charlotte and Durham. There is a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams throughout the state. North Carolina has became a top golf destination for players across the nation, notably in Pinehurst, and the community of Southern Pines of Moore County which is home to over 50 golf courses.

[edit] Recreation

The Blue Ridge Mountains of the Shining Rock Wilderness Area
The Blue Ridge Mountains of the Shining Rock Wilderness Area

Due to geography, rich history, and growing industry, North Carolina provides a large range of recreational activities from swimming at the beach[36] to skiing in the mountains. North Carolina offers fall colors, freshwater and saltwater fishing, hunting, birdwatching, agritourism, ATV trails, ballooning, rock climbing, biking, hiking, skiing, boating and sailing, camping, canoeing, caving (spelunking), gardens, and arboretums. North Carolina has theme parks, aquariums, zoos, museums, historic sites, lighthouses, elegant theaters, concert halls, and fine dining.[37]

North Carolinians enjoy outdoor recreation utilizing numerous local bike paths, 34 state parks, and 14 national parks, including:

[edit] Other information

[edit] Famous food and drinks from North Carolina

A nationally-famous cuisine from North Carolina is pork barbecue. However, there are strong regional differences and rivalries over the sauces and method of preparation used in making the barbecue. Eastern North Carolina pork barbecue uses a vinegar-based sauce; the "capital" of eastern Carolina barbecue is usually considered to be the town of Wilson, North Carolina, near Raleigh. Western North Carolina pork barbecue uses a ketchup-based sauce; the "capital" of western Carolina barbecue is usually considered to be the town of Lexington, North Carolina, south of Winston-Salem. A third type of pork barbecue in North Carolina is "Shelby" barbecue, so named because it is made in the town of Shelby, North Carolina. Shelby pork barbecue uses a sauce which is a combination of ketchup and vinegar. North Carolina is the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola, first produced in 1890 in New Bern, North Carolina. Regional soft drinks created and still based in the state are Sundrop and Cheerwine. Krispy Kreme, a popular chain of doughnut stores, was started in North Carolina; the company's headquarters are in Winston-Salem. Despite its name, the hotsauce Texas Pete was created in North Carolina; its headquarters are in Winston-Salem. The Hardees fast-food chain was started in Greenville, North Carolina. Another fast-food chain, Bojangles', was started in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has its corporate headquarters there. A popular North Carolina restaurant chain is Golden Corral. Started in 1973, the chain was founded in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

[edit] Ships named for the state

The USS North Carolina, a World War II battleship, was named in honor of the state. Now decommissioned, it is part of the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial in Wilmington. The ship served in several battles against the forces of Imperial Japan in the Pacific theater of World War Two. Another USS North Carolina, a nuclear attack submarine, is to be commissioned in 2007[38].

[edit] State symbols

Strawberry, North Carolina state red berry
Strawberry, North Carolina state red berry
Main article: North Carolina state symbols

[edit] Armed Forces installations

According to Governor Easley, North Carolina is the "Most military friendly state in the nation".[40] Fort Bragg, near Fayetteville 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. Serving as the airwing for Fort Bragg is Pope Air Force Base also located near Fayetteville, NC. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune which, when combined with nearby Marine bases Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, MCAS New River, Camp Geiger, Camp Johnson, Stone Bay and Courthouse Bay, makes up the largest concentration of Marines and sailors in the world. MCAS Cherry Point in Cherry Point, NC is home of the MC Harrier, USN F/A-18 Hornet, and USN F/A-18E/F Super Hornet squadrons Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is located in Goldsboro, NC. Also at this base is the Special Mission Training Center. One of the largest concentration of United States Coast Guard is at Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City. Other Coast Guard stations include, CG Station Hobuken, CG Station Oregon Inlet, CG Station Emerald Isle, CG Station Hatteras, CG Station Oak Island, CG Station Wrightsville Beach, and CG Station Ocracoke. Also there is the CG Base Fort Macon located at Atlantic Beach. There is a Marine Safety Unit located in Wilmington.


[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ North Carolina Climate and Geography. NC Kids Page. North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State (May 8, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-07.
  2. ^ a b c Elevations and Distances in the United States. U.S Geological Survey (29 April 2005). Retrieved on 2006-11-06.
  3. ^ national and state population estimates. Annual Population Estimates 2000 to 2006. US Census Bureau (2006-12-22). Retrieved on 2006-12-22.
  4. ^ Watersheds. NC Office of Environmental Education (2007-02-16).
  5. ^ NOAA National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved on 2006-10-24.
  6. ^ Randinelli, Tracey. Tanglewood Park. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt, 16. ISBN 0-15-333476-2. 
  7. ^ http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/NC/HISTORY/HISTORY.HTM North Carolina State Library - North Carolina History
  8. ^ Fenn and Wood, Natives and Newcomers, pp. 24-25
  9. ^ Powell, North Carolina Through Four Centuries, p. 105
  10. ^ Lefler and Newsome, (1973)
  11. ^ The Great Seal of North Carolina. NETSTATE. Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
  12. ^ Lefler and Newsome, (1973)
  13. ^ Lefler and Newsome, (1973)
  14. ^ NC Business History
  15. ^ Lefler and Newsome, (1973)
  16. ^ Table 1: Estimates of Population Change for the United States and States, and for Puerto Rico and State Rankings: July 1, 2005 to July 1, 2006. United States Census Bureau. December 22, 2006. Last accessed December 22, 2006.
  17. ^ State Centers.
  18. ^ Amanda Greene, "Small Group Fights to Save Historic Orthodox Church," Greensboro News and Record, 17 December 2007
  19. ^ State Rankings -- Statistical Abstract of the United States. U.S. Census Bureau (2004-07). Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
  20. ^ a b Martinez, Rick (2005-12-12). Immigration Hits ‘Critical Mass’ in NC. Carolina Journal. Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
  21. ^ See a report on immigration by The Center for New North Carolinians of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, entitled Ethnic Groups in North Carolina. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
  22. ^ Gross State Product. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2006-06-23). Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
  23. ^ Per Capita Personal Income. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (September 2006). Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
  24. ^ Fishman, China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World, p. 179
  25. ^ http://www.soc.duke.edu/NC_GlobalEconomy/textiles/overview.php
  26. ^ NC Department of Commerce Wine and Grape Industry web site.
  27. ^ (April 29, 2007) Time for tobacco burning out in N.C.. Associated Press. 
  28. ^ North Carolina Research Campus. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
  29. ^ Sales and Use Tax. North Carolina Department of Revenue (10/18/06). Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
  30. ^ http://www.dornc.com/taxes/sales/dare_county_rate.html
  31. ^ a b The Facts on North Carolina’s Tax Climate. Tax Foundation. Retrieved on 2006-12-18.
  32. ^ NCDOT Quick Facts. North Carolina Department of Transportation (July 2005). Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  33. ^ Hogarth, Susan (2005). Special LPNC Announcement: First victory in LPNC Lawsuit!!!. Libertarian Party of North Carolina. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
  34. ^ North Carolina State Legislature. (NC § 90‑94) / (NC § 90‑95 subs 4).
  35. ^ North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
  36. ^ Best of North Carolina Beaches.
  37. ^ What To Do Across North Carolina. VisitNC.com (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-18.
  38. ^ NAVY NAMES FOURTH VIRGINIA CLASS SUBMARINE. Retrieved on 2007-12-22. “North Carolina (SSN 777) will be built by General Dynamics Electric Boat Division”
  39. ^ Secretary of State of North Carolina.
  40. ^ State of North Carolina - Office of the Governor (2006-05-13). "GOV. EASLEY VOWS TO KEEP N.C. MOST MILITARY FRIENDLY STATE IN THE NATION". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.

[edit] Further reading

  • William S. Powell and Jay Mazzocchi, eds. Encyclopedia of North Carolina (2006) 1320pp; 2000 articles by 550 experts on all topics; ISBN 0-8078-3071-2
  • James Clay and Douglas Orr, eds., North Carolina Atlas: Portrait of a Changing Southern State (University of North Carolina Press, 1971).
  • Crow; Jeffrey J. and Larry E. Tise; Writing North Carolina History University of North Carolina Press, (1979) online
  • Fleer; Jack D. North Carolina Government & Politics University of Nebraska Press, (1994) online political science textbook
  • Marianne M. Kersey and Ran Coble, eds., North Carolina Focus: An Anthology on State Government, Politics, and Policy, 2d ed., (Raleigh: North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research, 1989).
  • Lefler; Hugh Talmage. A Guide to the Study and Reading of North Carolina History University of North Carolina Press, (1963) online
  • Hugh Talmage Lefler and Albert Ray Newsome, North Carolina: The History of a Southern State University of North Carolina Press (1954, 1963, 1973), college textbook
  • Paul Luebke, Tar Heel Politics: Myths and Realities (University of North Carolina Press, 1990).
  • William S. Powell, North Carolina through Four Centuries University of North Carolina Press (1989), college textbook.
  • Shannon Moore, Matt and Jeff Hardy are some of the most well known wrestlers in the WWE from Cameron, North Carolina

[edit] Primary sources

  • Hugh Lefler, North Carolina History Told by Contemporaries (University of North Carolina Press, numerous editions since 1934)
  • H. G. Jones, North Carolina Illustrated, 1524-1984 (University of North Carolina Press, 1984)
  • North Carolina Manual, published biennially by the Department of the Secretary of State since 1941.

[edit] External links

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Preceded by
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Coordinates: 35.5° N 80° W

[edit] NC Community Groups links

  • Living History Groups