North Carolina is a state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km).
Pop. (2000) 8,049,313, a 21.4% increase since the 1990 census.
Capital, Raleigh.
Largest city, Charlotte.
Motto,Esse Quam Videri [To Be Rather than to Seem].
State bird, cardinal.
State flower, dogwood.
State tree, pine.  North Carolina, in the warm temperate zone, has a generally mild climate, with abundant and well distributed rainfall. The state's congenial climate, its many miles of beaches, and its beautiful mountains attract large numbers of visitors and vacationers each year. Chief among the tourist attractions are the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the Cape Lookout National Seashore, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Great Smoky Mts. National Park. Wildlife abounds in national forests (the state has four) and in the Dismal Swamp. Places of historic interest include Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, on Roanoke Island; the Wright Brothers National Memorial, at Kitty Hawk; Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, at Flatrock; and Guilford Courthouse and Moores Creek national military parks. Western North Carolina includes Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Clyde, Sylva, Franklin just to name a few. Most people visit Westner North Carolina to see the mountains, but soon fall in love with the beauty those mountains provide. While all four seasons are found in Western North Carolina - Summer and Winter are shorter; Spring and Fall are longer giving residents the best of all four! If you haven't experienced a Spring or Fall in WNC, you haven't seen anything as beautiful. We are in Winter now and have a few inches of snow on the ground, we average only 12 inches per year. We also maintain an average temperature of 50 degrees annually. *Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2003. |