North Carolina

North Carolina (State)

Area: 52,670 sq. mi.

Population: 7,323,000

Capital: Raleigh

Popular names: Tar Heel State, Old North State

North Carolina (named in honour of King Charles I), on the middle Atlantic coast, was one of the thirteen founding states. Some two-fifths of its area is occupied by the swampy coastal plain, off which are the long, narrow Outer Banks; another two-fifths is accounted for by the gently undulating Piedmont Plateau to the west; and beyond this are the Blue Ridge Mountains and Great Smoky Mountains, with Mount Mitchell (6684 ft), the highest peak in the eastern United States. The climate, particularly in the south-east, is subtropical, with hot summers and mild winters; to the west the summers are cooler. History In 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh founded the first English settlement on American soil on Roanoke Island, but this was later abandoned. Planned settlement began around 1660, with settlers moving in from Virginia. In 1689 the colony, hitherto known as the Carolinas, was divided into a northern and a southern part. On May 12th 1776 North Carolina became the first British colony in North America to resolve on independence, and on November 21st 1789 it joined the Union as the twelfth state. In 1834 the Cherokees living in the forests of the Appalachians were deported to reservations in Oklahoma on the "Trail of Tears". In April 1861, after the bombardment of Fort Sumter, the state joined the Confederation. On December 17th 1903 the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first powered flight in history at Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks.

Economy North Carolina is the largest producer of tobacco in the United States, and the tobacco industry, centered on Winston-Salem, is a major contributor to the economy, followed by textiles, furniture manufacture, papermaking and the electrical industry. The principal crops apart from tobacco are maize and soya beans. Tourism is an important source of revenue on the coast.