Geography of North Carolina, US

The Southeastern United States is home to the state of North Carolina. The state is the ninth-largest and the 28th-largest in the country. With Virginia on its northern border, Atlantic Ocean on its eastern, Georgia and South Carolina on its southern, Tennessee on its western border, it is surrounded by four states: The state's capital is Raleigh, and its major city is Charlotte. At 2,595,027 people in 2020, the Charlotte metro region will be the most populous in North Carolina, 21st most populous nationwide, and the nation's second largest financial center after New York City. With a projected 2020 population of 2,043,867, the Raleigh-Durham-Cary combined statistical area is the second-biggest in North Carolina and the 32nd-largest in the United States. Research Triangle Park, the state's largest research park, is also located here.

The Hardaway Site in North Carolina has the state's oldest known human remains, dating back 10,000 years. Before Europeans arrived, North Carolina was home to Native American tribes who spoke the Carolina Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan languages. The Thirteen Colonies included North Carolina, which was founded in 1729 as a royal colony. Charles, the Latin word for "Charles," is the name of the first English colony in North Carolina. Benjamin Franklin appointed James Davis, the first postmaster of colonial North Carolina, in 1755. On April 12, 1776, North Carolina passed the Halifax Resolves, which was the first official declaration of independence from Great Britain by an American Colony during the Revolutionary War.

North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the Constitution of the United States on November 21, 1789. It was on this date in 1861 that North Carolina declared its secession from the United States, making it one of eleven states to do so. It was re-admitted to the Union on July 4, 1868, following the Civil War. At Kitty Hawk on the North Carolina Outer Banks, Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft on December 17, 1903. First in Flight" is the phrase on North Carolina's state license plates, coupled with "First in Freedom" in reference to the Mecklenburg Declaration and the Halifax Resolves, to celebrate this achievement.

The broad variety of terrain and elevations in North Carolina are what set the state apart. The Appalachian Mountains rise in the west and gradually give way to the Piedmont and the Atlantic coastal plain in the east. Mount Mitchell in North Carolina is the highest point east of the Mississippi River at 6,684 feet (2,037 m). The humid subtropical climate zone covers the majority of the territory, but the western, mountainous region has a highland subtropical climate.

Geography of North Carolina

As a result, North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina (south), Georgia (west), Tennessee (north), and Virginia (east), as well as the Atlantic Ocean. Census data shows that North Carolina is located in the South Atlantic region of the southern United States.

The Atlantic coastal plain, the Piedmont region in the middle, and the Appalachian Mountains in the west make up North Carolina's three main geographic regions. Coastal Plain Longleaf pines and Albemarle Sound, the native habitat of the venus flytrap, and Albemarle Sound, a string of sandy, narrow barrier islands separated from the mainland by sounds or inlets, make up the coastal plain's Outer Banks and Inner Coastal Plain, respectively.

There are so many shipwrecks near Cape Hatteras that it has been dubbed "the Graveyard of the Atlantic" since records began in 1526. Beaufort Inlet, where the Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground in 1718, is the most notable location for a shipwrecked pirate ship.

The Atlantic Seaboard fall line, the elevation at which waterfalls on streams and rivers first appear, marks the transition from the coastal plain to the Piedmont region. Six of North Carolina's most populous cities can be found in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina. It is characterized by rolling farmland that is punctuated by hills and short mountain ridges. Mountain ranges and peaks in the Piedmont, such as the Sauratown Mountains, Pilot Mountain and the Uwharrie Mountains, Crowder's Mountain and King's Pinnacle, the Brushy Mountains and the South Mountains, are small, isolated and highly eroded. Between 300 feet (91 meters) in the east and 1,500 feet (460 meters) in the west, the Piedmont is an area with a wide range of elevation.

The Blue Ridge Mountains, which make up a portion of the Appalachian Mountain chain, go through the western part of the state. The Great Smoky Mountains and the Black Mountains are two of the state's Blue Ridge Mountain subranges. It is the Black Mountains' Mount Mitchell (6684 feet/2,037 m) that marks the highest peak east of the Mississippi with an elevation of 6,684 feet (2,037 m).

Seventeen main river basins can be found in the state of North Carolina. More than half of the basins in West Virginia are connected to the Gulf of Mexico, while the other half are connected to the Atlantic Ocean. One-fifth of the 17 basins originate in North Carolina, but only four—the Cape Fear, Neuse, White Oak, and Tar–Pamlico basins—are wholly enclosed within the state's borders.

Economy of North Carolina

The overall gross state product of North Carolina in 2018 was $496 billion. North Carolina's median household income was $46,693, according to data from the American Community Survey 2010–2014. In terms of median household income, it came in at number 41 out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. At 17.6 percent, North Carolina had the fifteenth highest poverty rate in the country, with 13 percent of families falling below the federal poverty level.

Because of the abundance of hydroelectric power, the state's mild climate, and the variety of its soils, it has a remarkably diverse economy. State is third in population among South Atlantic states, but leads in both agriculture and industry. Tobacco output in North Carolina is the highest in the country. The state's largest city, Charlotte, is a significant textile and trade hub. Jobs in the "Old North State" have expanded across a wide range of industries, according to a Forbes report from 2013. Industry employment in North Carolina's capital region has increased by 17.9 percent since 2001 in the STEM fields. Because of the state's expanding technology industry, Raleigh was named as the third best city for technology in 2020. While North Carolina's entire economic output was $424.9 billion in 2010, state debt was $2.4 billion at one point in 2012, while the state's overall debt was estimated to be $57.8 billion at another point in 2012. In 2011, there were about 4.5 million people in the civilian labor force, and about 4.1 million people were employed.

Flue-cured tobacco and sweet potatoes are the state's top exports, while pigs, hogs, trout, and turkeys are the state's second-best exports. North Carolina also came in second place for Christmas tree output in the three most recent USDA surveys (2002, 2007, and 2012).

In 2010, Forbes Magazine ranked North Carolina as the third-best state for business, and Chief Executive Magazine named it the second-best state. Since 2000, North Carolina's urban and rural communities have grown at different rates. While the state's urban areas have seen consistent job growth, low unemployment, and rising earnings, many of North Carolina's rural counties have seen job losses, rising poverty, and population losses as the state's manufacturing base has dwindled. Over the past five years, half of North Carolina's 100 counties have seen a decrease in population, according to one estimate. The state's urban areas, on the other hand, are seeing an increase in population.