North Carolina State Facts, Symbols and History

North Carolina Fast Facts

Capital: Raleigh (popularity) 380,753 (2008 est.)
metro population: 1,635,974

North Carolina population: 9,572,073 ( 2012 est.) (10th)

The North Carolina quarter the North Carolina quarter is 12th in the series and the second quarter to be released in the 2001 series sets off the famous 1903 photo of “First Flight”.The North Carolina Quarter commemorates the historic feat that took place on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, with the first successful flight of a heavier-than-air self-propelled airplane. The craft, called the Flyer, traveled a distance of about 37 meters (120 feet) on its first flight and took off even more as one of the most significant human successes in history.

Language: English, others

Largest Cities: (by population) Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville

Name: Using the Latin name Charles (Carolus), it was named for King Charles I of England

Statehood: November 21, 1789 (12th state)

Symbols of North Carolina

• Bird: cardinal
• Fish: channel bass
• Flag of North Carolina
• Flower: dogwood
• Gemstone: Emerald
• Motto: “To be, instead of to seem”
• Nickname: Tar Heel State – explanation
• Reptile: Eastern box turtle
• Song: “Old Northern State”
• State seal
• Wood: pine

North Carolina is a state in the eastern United States, one of the so-called South Atlantic states. The capital is the city of Raleigh. The major city is Charlotte. Population 9,848,060 (2013 data). See cities and towns in North Carolina.

The official nickname is the Tarheel State.

Originally inhabited by many Indian tribes, including the Cherokee, North Carolina was the first American territory that the British attempted to colonize. Sir Walter Raleigh, after whom the state capital is named, founded two colonies on the North Carolina coast in the late 1580s, but both colonies were unsuccessful. The demise of one, the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke Island, remains one of the great mysteries of American history.

The province in the 17th century was named Carolina in honor of King Charles I of England. By the end of the 17th century, several permanent settlements settled on its territory, which covered modern South Carolina and the State of Tennessee . In 1712, North Carolina became a separate colony. Seventeen years later, she again became Royal. In April 1776, North Carolina became the first colony to send delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence from the British crown.

• AbbreviationFinder: Demonstrates how the two-letter acronym of NC stands for North Carolina and a list of frequently used abbreviations related to the state of North Carolina.

North Carolina is one of the thirteen colonies that rebelled against British rule in the American Revolution. On November 21, 1789, North Carolina ratified the Constitution and became the twelfth state in the Union.

Between the American Revolutionary War and the American Civil War, North Carolina moved to establish state and local governments. In 1840, construction was completed on the state building of the Capitol in Raleigh, where it is still located.

In the middle of the century, rural and commercial areas of the state became more connected with the construction of a 129-mile (208-kilometer) wooden road made mainly of plank, known as the “farmer’s railroad”, from Fayetteville in the east to Bethania (northwest of Winston -Salem).

In 1860, North Carolina was a slave state with a population of just under 1 million. Approximately one third of the population were slaves. There were also approximately 30,000 free blacks living in the state. Somewhat divided over who to support, North or South in the Civil War, North Carolina was the last state to secede from the Union in 1861.

Governor Ellis, head of state at the start of the war in 1861, in response to President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops to put down the “rebellion,” replied, “You can’t get any troops from North Carolina.” However, under his leadership and later under his successor, Governor Zebalon Bird Vance Asheville, elected in 1862, the state did indeed contribute 125,000 troops to the Confederacy (Southern States), more than any other state in the South.

There were no major battles directly in North Carolina itself. All the troops of this state basically fought in all the major battles in northern Virginia. The biggest battle that took place in North Carolina was in Bentonville. It was a futile attempt by Confederate General Joseph Johnston to slow Union General Sherman’s advance into the Carolinas in the spring of 1865. General Johnston surrendered near Duram along with one of the largest Confederate armies at the end of April 1865. This happened a few weeks after General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox. North Carolina’s final surrender came at Waynesville in Western North Carolina in May, when the remnants of Thomas’ Cherokee Legion laid down their arms.

In the 20th century, North Carolina became a leader in agriculture and industry. The state’s industrial output—principally textiles, chemicals, electrical equipment, paper, and paper products—ranked eighth in the nation in the early 1990s. Tobacco, one of North Carolina’s earliest sources of income, remains vital to the local economy. More recently, technology has become a driving force in the state, especially with the creation of the Research Triangle between Raleigh and Duram in the early 1950s.