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North Carolina is a state in the Southern United States. One of the original states, it is home to the first English colony in the Americas. It was also the location of the first successful flight of the Wright brothers' airplane — one of the first heavier than air flying machines.

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 turns into 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 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 Mountain, Kings Mountain, 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, Pisgahs, 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.

Ecology

Main Article: Wildlife of North Carolina

History

Main Article: History of North Carolina

Native Americans and Lost Colony

North Carolina was originally inhabited by many different native peoples, including the Cherokee, Tuscarora, Cheraw, Pamlico, Meherrin, Coree, Machapunga, Cape Fear, Waxhaw, Saponi, Tutelo, Waccamaw, Lumbee, Coharie, and Catawba. North Carolina was the first American territory the British 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 British 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 British settlement.Powell, North Carolina Through Four Centuries, 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. On May 20 1775, Mecklenburg County became the first North Carolina county to declare its independence from Great Britain with the issuance of the Mecklenberg Declaration (Because of its similarity to the more well-known United States Declaration of Independence which would appear eighteen months later, the document is generally thought to be spurious. 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. [http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/seals/nc_seal.htm" target="_blank" >*

During the Revolutionary War, Thomas Sumter formed and led a resistance group, recruiting men from South and North Carolina to fight the British Army. He and his troops fiercely fought the British and continuously disrupted supply chains and lines of communication.

Later, the Battle of Guilford Court House was a pivotal battle fought on March 15, 1781 inside the present-day city of Greensboro, North Carolina. The battle saw 1,900 British troops, under General Charles Cornwallis, routed by an American force, under Rhode Island native General Nathaniel Greene, numbering 4,400.

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. However, 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 in the Civil War it provided at least 125,000 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 Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond. Even after secession some North Carolinians refused to support the Confederacy; this was particularly true of non-slaveowning farmers in the state's mountains and western Piedmont region. Some of these farmers remained neutral during the war, while others covertly supported the Union cause during the conflict. Even so, Confederate troops from North Carolina served in virtually all the major battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, the Confederacy's largest and 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. 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 North Carolina's sole legion and was never actually defeated by Union troops. On May 6, 1865, Thomas' Legion fired "The Last Shot" of the Civil War east of the Mississippi River in White Sulphur Springs, North Carolina. It had the distinction of capturing a city (Waynesville) then voluntarily ceasing from hostilities. 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 a North Carolinian, Private Henry Wyatt, at the Battle of Big Bethel in 1861. At the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the 26th North Carolina Regiment participated in Pickett'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."

Demographics

Est
Historical populations
Census
year 		Population
1790 393,751
1800 478,103
1810 556,526
1820 638,829
1830 737,987
1840 753,419
1850 869,039
1860 992,622
1870 1,071,361
1880 1,399,750
1890 1,617,949
1900 1,893,810
1910 2,206,287
1920 2,559,123
1930 3,170,276
1940 3,571,623
1950 4,061,929
1960 4,556,155
1970 5,082,059
1980 5,881,766
1990 6,628,637
2000 8,049,313
2005 8,683,242

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 Areas with a population over 1 million:

  • The Metrolina: Charlotte/Gastonia/Rock Hill, NC-SC - population 2,067,810
  • The Piedmont Triad: Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point - population of 1,473,679
  • The Triangle: Raleigh/Durham/Cary - population of 1,467,434

The racial makeup of the state as of 2004 is:*

The five largest ancestry groups in North Carolina are: African American (21.6%), Scots & Scots-Irish (13.9%), English (9.5%), German (9.5%), Irish (7.4%). 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 km²).

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. Descendents of German ancestry, often of subsequent migration from Pennsylvania, can also be found in smaller numbers throughout the Piedmont. In the Winston-Salem area, there is a substantial population of Czech ancestry from the migration of Moravians during the 18th century.

Native Americans

Estimated population figures for Native American 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 Native American 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 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 Indians of Person County 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.

Hispanic and Asian-Americans

The state has one of the fastest growing Hispanic 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 Central America is steadily increasing the number of Roman Catholics in the state. The current religious affiliations of the people of North Carolina are shown below:

Economy

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the state's 2004 total gross state product was $336 billion*. Its 2003 per capita personal income was $28,071, 38th in the nation. North Carolina's agricultural outputs include poultry and eggs, tobacco, hogs, milk, nursery stock, cattle, sweet potatoes, and soybeans. However, North Carolina is the state most affected by outsourcing; one in five North Carolina manufacturing jobs has been lost to overseas competition.Fishman, China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World, p. 179

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. The textile industry, which was once a mainstay of the state's economy, has been steadily losing jobs to markets in Latin America and Asia for the past 25 years. 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 or leave farming altogether. 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 (with New York City being the largest). 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 California and New York. Movie studios are located in Shelby, Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, and Wilmington. Some of the films and television shows filmed in North Carolina include: Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, Cape Fear, Dirty Dancing, Firestarter, Being There, The Crow, Cabin Fever, Shallow Hal, and The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The television show most associated with North Carolina is the Andy Griffith Show, which aired on CBS-TV from 1960 to 1968. The fictional small town of Mayberry, North Carolina was modeled after the real-life town of Mount Airy, North Carolina, which is the hometown of actor Andy Griffith. The show is still popular in reruns and is frequently shown in syndication around the nation. Ironically, however, the show was not filmed in North Carolina, but in California.

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 vehicles and personal property (inventories and household personal property are exempt).

Transportation

Airports

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 North Carolina General Assembly consists of two houses: a 50-member Senate and a 120-member House of Representatives. For the 2005–2006 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 misdemeanors 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 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.

Federal Apportionments

North Carolina currently has 13 US House of Representative districts, which when combined with its two US Senate seats, gives it 15 electoral votes.

State constitution

Main article: North Carolina 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.

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. On June 19, 2006 the Carolina Hurricanes, a National Hockey League (NHL) 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. For amateurs, the state holds the State Games of North Carolina each year.

Club Sport League
Carolina Panthers Football National Football League
Carolina Hurricanes Ice hockey National Hockey League
Charlotte Checkers Ice hockey Minor League Hockey; East Coast Hockey League
Fayetteville FireAntz Ice hockey Minor League Hockey; Southern Professional Hockey League
Charlotte Bobcats Basketball National Basketball Association
Raleigh Cougars Basketball United States Basketball Association
Charlotte Sting Basketball Women's National Basketball Association
Fayetteville Patriots Basketball NBA Development League
Asheville Tourists Baseball Minor League Baseball; South Atlantic League
Burlington Indians Baseball Minor League Baseball; Appalachian League
Carolina Mudcats Baseball Minor League Baseball; Southern League
Charlotte Knights Baseball Minor League Baseball; International League
Durham Bulls Baseball Minor League Baseball; International League
Greensboro Grasshoppers Baseball Minor League Baseball; South Atlantic League
Hickory Crawdads Baseball Minor League Baseball; South Atlantic League
Kannapolis Intimidators Baseball Minor League Baseball; South Atlantic League
Kinston Indians Baseball Minor League Baseball; Carolina League
Winston-Salem Warthogs Baseball Minor League Baseball; Carolina League
Carolina Dynamo Soccer USL Premier Development League
Carolina Lady Dynamo Soccer W-League
Charlotte Eagles Soccer USL Second Division
Charlotte Lady Eagles Soccer W-League
Wilmington Hammerheads Soccer USL Second Division
Raleigh CASL Elite Soccer USL Premier Development League
Cary FC (temp. name) Soccer USL First Division; 2007 expansion

Miscellaneous topics

The USS North Carolina, a World War Two battleship, was named in honor of the state.

Haw River, NC is the location of the untimely death of blood plasma pioneer Dr. Charles Drew, on April 1st, 1950. He was driving a group of his colleagues to a medical conference in Alabama when he apparently dozed off at the wheel, resulting in a crash and the mortal wounds that were the cause of his death. An urban myth developed that he had been denied treatment and allowed to bleed to death, because of his being black, but eyewitnesses, including one of his fellow doctors who was at the hospital, have testified that nothing of the sort happened, as detailed in this article from the Raleigh News and Observer *.

Armed Forces Installations

Interesting city names

Towns/areas with interesting names:

A city with an interesting, but unofficial acronym:

See also

References

Surveys

  • 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
  • Fleer; Jack D. North Carolina Government & Politics University of Nebraska Press, 1994
  • Hawks; Francis L. History of North Carolina 2 vol 1857
  • 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)
  • Hugh Talmage Lefler and Albert Ray Newsome, North Carolina: The History of a Southern State University of North Carolina Press (1954, 1963, 1973)
  • 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).

External links

1789 establishments | North Carolina | Former British colonies

Notes

كارولاينا الشمالية | Carolina del Norte | North Carolina | Северна Каролина | Carolina del Nord | Severní Karolína | North Carolina | North Carolina | Põhja-Carolina | Carolina del Norte | Norda Karolino | Ipar Carolina | کارولینای شمالی | Caroline du Nord | Carolina Thuaidh | North Carolina | Carolina do Norte | 노스캐롤라이나 주 | Sjeverna Karolina | Nord-Karolina | North Carolina | Цæгат Каролинæ | Norður-Karólína | Carolina del Nord | צפון קרוליינה | ჩრდილოეთი კაროლინა | Karolina Gledh | Carolina Septentrionalis | Ziemeļkarolīna | Šiaurės Karolina | Észak-Karolina | Северна Каролина | North Carolina | ノースカロライナ州 | Nord-Carolina | Nord-Carolina | Carolina del Nòrd | شىمالىي كارولىنا شىتاتى | Karolina Północna | Carolina do Norte | Северная Каролина | North Carolina | North Carolina | North Carolina | Severná Karolína | Severna Karolina | Северна Каролина | Pohjois-Carolina | North Carolina | มลรัฐนอร์ทแคโรไลนา | North Carolina | Північна Кароліна | 北卡罗莱那州

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "North Carolina".

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