North Carolina (State)

State of North Carolina
Coordinates 35°30’NB, 80°0’WL
General
Surface 139.509 km²
(9,5% water)
Residents 9.656.401
(76,5 inhabitants/km²)
Capital city Raleigh
Politics
Governor Roy Cooper (D)
Other
Time zone Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5)
Joined 21 november 1789
Nickname Tar Heel State
Website nc.gov

North Carolina (Dutch: North Carolina) is one of the southern states of the United States. It was one of the original thirteen states to create the Union and to free themselves from British colonial rule. The state is bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west on the other side of the mountains, and Georgia and South Carolina to the south. North Carolina is located to the east on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Both Carolinas were originally named after King Charles I of England. The capital of North Carolina is Raleigh.

History

The Cherokee

The original inhabitants of the Americas were American Indians, including the Cherokee, who are considered to be among the Five Civilized Nations. Around 1830 they were forced to ‘move’ to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma, and this grueling journey cost many lives. However, some of them managed to hold their own in the inhospitable mountains on the western side of the state, and others returned later. Their descendants still live in the state. In the 19th century, the surviving members of the tribe bought an area of ​​570 km² known as the Qualla Boundaryto re-establish their sovereign tribal bond there. So this is not a reservation in the sense that the land has been granted to them by the US government. The heritage of the tribe still exists and attracts many visitors. There is even another educational center, the New Kituwah Language Academy, which only teaches Cherokee.

The British

The area was the first area where the British attempted to establish a colony in the 1580s at the hands of Sir Walter Raleigh, after whom the state capital is named. His settlements on Roanoke Island —the first in the new land—were not heard of later, however. Subsequent settlements were best known for their production of turpentine and wood tar from the pine forests. There is a Tar river and the inhabitants of the state are still known as Tar heels. In the 18th centurya number of settlements were founded and in 1712 the colony was split into north and south. The two parts have a fairly different character to this day.

After Independence

South Carolina was a slave state par excellence and the first state to secede from the Union, starting the American Civil War. North Carolina did not secede until all its neighbors did, and reluctantly, in 1861. Ironically, the surrender of the south took place in this very state, and the state suffered greatly from the Civil War.

Near the village of Kitty Hawk, the first powered flight was made in 1903 by the Wright brothers.

The Reconstruction and the Jim Crow years after with renewed repression of the black population followed. The state was lagging behind the rest of the country. It was mainly an area of ​​tobacco growers and poverty. That only changed after 1960. The changes made by the Civil Rights Movement have been quite smooth compared to other states in the South where tensions were running high. In 1960, the Greensboro sit-ins took place. A technological change of major importance to the entire South and also to North Carolina was the arrival of air conditioning. Without this equipment, the summer months are a time when hard work is a tough task, it is too hot and humid for that.

After the 1960s, technology made its appearance. Between the cities of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary, the Research Triangle Park with its many advanced research institutions sprang up, and the Triangle (the triangular ‘edge city’) of the state became a sizable metropolis.

Geography

According to JIBIN123.COM, the state of North Carolina is sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean to the east with a wadden coast called the ‘ Outer Banks ‘ and the Smoky Mountains to the west that resemble the Ardennes or Vosges, although they are quite inaccessible in places. In between is a hilly landscape that is fairly heavily mixed wooded. Towards the coast, the landscape changes into lowlands with peat bogs called pocosin.

The climate is warm and humid in summer with temperatures hovering around 35-37 °C. In winter there can be snow or ice, but it doesn’t get really cold. There is quite a lot of precipitation, about 1350 mm per year. Humidity is high and the state is occasionally ravaged by hurricanes and whirlwinds. The climate is also characterized by relatively large temperature fluctuations from day to day (from cold to warm to cold within a week, for example).

State Capitol in Raleigh (photo: J. Folmer 2003)

Administrative division

According to COUNTRYAAH, North Carolina is divided into 100 counties.

County Inhabitants
1 July, 2007
County Seat Inhabitants
1 July, 2007
Alamance 145.360 Graham 14.390
Alexander 36.396 Taylorsville 1822
Alleghany 10.915 Sparta 1783
Anson 25.202 Wadesboro 5104
Ashe 25.531 Jefferson 1363
Avery 17.776 Newland 654
Beaufort 45.771 Washington 10.055
Bertie 18.601 Windsor 2132
Bladen 32.301 Elizabethtown 3773
Brunswick 99.214 Bolivia 182
Buncombe 226.771 Asheville 73.875
Burke 88.975 Morganton 17.108
Cabarrus 163.262 Concord 64.653
Caldwell 79.454 Lenoir 17.876
Camden 9490 Camden
Carteret 63.238 Beaufort 4192
Caswell 23.261 Yanceyville 2125
Catawba 155.646 Newton 13.284
Chatham 61.455 Pittsboro 2543
Cherokee 26.499 Murphy 1565
Chowan 14.635 Edenton 4992
Clay 10.238 Hayesville 462
Cleveland 98.453 Shelby 21.351
Columbus 54.046 Whiteville 5218
Craven 96.746 New Bern 28.170
Cumberland 306.518 Fayetteville 171.853
Currituck 23.960 Currituck
Dare 33.776 Manteo 1296
Davidson 156.530 Lexington 20.338
Davie 40.516 Mocksville 4587
Duplin 52.979 Kenansville 900
Durham 256.500 Durham 217.847
Edgecombe 52.647 Tarboro 10.296
Forsyth 338.774 Winston-Salem 215.348
Franklin 57.222 Louisburg 3698
Gaston 202.535 Gastonia 71.059
Gates 11.737 Gatesville 303
Graham 7858 Robbinsville 703
Granville 55.045 Oxford 8602
Greene 20.405 Snow Hill 1577
Guilford 465.931 Greensboro 247.183
Halifax 55.060 Halifax 328
Harnett 108.721 Lillington 3215
Haywood 56.430 Waynesville 9879
Henderson 100.810 Hendersonville 11.953
Hertford 23.206 Winton 898
Hoke 42.422 Raeford 3455
Hyde 5172 Swan Quarter
Iredell 151.445 Statesville 26.122
Jackson 36.751 Sylva 2428
Johnston 157.437 Smithfield 12.544
Jones 10.127 Trenton 262
Lee 57.973 Sanford 28.675
Lenoir 56.761 Kinston 22.346
Lincoln 73.106 Lincolnton 10.703
Macon 32.608 Franklin 3938
Madison 20.309 Marshall 831
Martin 23.598 Williamston 5423
McDowell 43.537 Marion 5092
Mecklenburg 867.067 Charlotte 671.588
Mitchell 15.786 Bakersville 351
Montgomery 27.451 Troy 3386
Moore 84.435 Carthage 2021
Nash 92.949 Nashville 4580
New Hanover 190.432 Wilmington 99.623
Northampton 20.830 Jackson 651
Onslow 162.745 Jacksonville 74.614
Orange 124.313 Hillsborough 5551
Pamlico 12.577 Bayboro 695
Pasquotank 40.543 Elizabeth City 19.505
Pender 49.865 Burgaw 4068
Perquimans 12.498 Hertford 2140
Person 37.356 Roxboro 8684
Pitt 152.068 Greenville 76.058
Polk 19.036 Columbus 979
Randolph 140.145 Asheboro 24.176
Richmond 45.985 Rockingham 8887
Robeson 128.149 Lumberton 21.763
Rockingham 92.421 Wentworth 2761
Rowan 137.383 Salisbury 28.736
Rutherford 63.012 Rutherfordton 4031
Sampson 63.641 Clinton 8847
Scotland 36.364 Laurinburg 15.493
Stanly 59.195 Albemarle 15.483
Stokes 46.072 Danbury 112
Surry 72.380 Dobson 1455
Swain 13.643 Bryson City 1391
Transylvania 29.984 Brevard 6687
Tyrrell 4121 Columbia 801
Union 184.675 Monroe 31.633
Vance 42.992 Henderson 15.897
Wake 832.970 Raleigh 375.806
Warren 19.410 Warrenton 740
Washington 12.915 Plymouth 3589
Watauga 44.541 Boone 13.843
Wayne 113.590 Goldsboro 37.639
Wilkes 66.844 Wilkesboro 3171
Wilson 76.754 Wilson 47.804
Yadkin 37.797 Yadkinville 2860
Yancey 18.456 Burnsville 1644

Politics

The executive branch of the state is headed by a governor, who is directly elected by the voters in the state. The current governor of North Carolina is Democrat Roy Cooper, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2017.

The legislature is made up of the North Carolina House of Representatives (North Carolina House of Representatives) with 120 members and the North Carolina Senate (North Carolina Senate) with 50 members.

Media

The television series One Tree Hill is set in North Carolina, in the fictional town of Tree Hill.

From North Carolina

  • James Polk (1795-1849), President of the USA.
  • Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), President of the USA.
  • Max Roach (1924-2007), muzikant.
  • Chuck Brown (1936-2012), muzikant.
  • Don Schollander (1944), swimmer.

Miscellaneous

  • North Carolina is sometimes referred to as “the Old North State”. The plural “Old North states” refers to the 23 northern states.

Flag of North Carolina