General
Population (2008 estimate): 9,222,414 (10th in country)
Size: 48,710 square miles (28th in country)
Persons per square mile (2008 estimate): 190
GDP (2007 estimate): $371 billion (10th in the country and the same as Sweden, the twentieth largest GDP in the world!)
Capital: Raleigh
Nickname: Tar Heel State -- the origin is clothed in mystery, but it probably evolved from the fact that during the Colonial period, the colony’s chief exports were tar, pitch and turpentine.
Origin of Name: North Carolina is named in honor of King Charles I of England, from the Latin “Carolus.”
Song: “The Old North State” by Judge William Gaston
Business
Private nonfarm establishments (2006) 222,431
Private nonfarm employment (2006) 3,524,814
Private nonfarm employment, percent change (2000-2006) 4.1%
Nonemployer establishments (2006) 604,618
Total number of firms (2002) 642,597
Black-owned firms, percent (2002) 8.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native owned firms, percent (2002) 0.9%
Asian-owned firms, percent (2002) 2.1%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander owned firms, percent (2002) 0.0%
Hispanic-owned firms, percent (2002) 1.4%
Women-owned firms, percent (2002) 27.1%
Manufacturers shipments, 2002 ($1000) 156,821,943
Wholesale trade sales, 2002 ($1000) 104,331,152
Retail sales, 2002 ($1000) 88,821,486
Retail sales per capita (2002) $10,686
Accommodation and foodservices sales, 2002 ($1000) 11,237,386
Building permits, 2007 85,777
Federal spending, 2007 ($1000) 65,862,884
Gross state product, 2008: $35,719 (per capita)
Percent change in state real GDP, 2007-08: 0.1%
Unemployment rate, August 2009: 10.8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis
County Government
Counties: 100
County Seat: Term for the town or city where county government conducts business (like a state’s capital city)
Governing Body: County Board of Commissioners – elected by citizens of the county; serve 2-4 year terms; 2-7 member board
Geography
Absolute Location: Between 33 degrees North and 37 degrees North latitude; between 75 degrees West and 85 degrees West longitude.
Relative Location: North Carolina is located in the southeast region of the United
States. The state is bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, South Carolina to the south, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean forms North Carolina’s eastern border.
Landforms: There are three distinct landforms of the Southeast and of North Carolina: the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont, and the Appalachian Mountains. The Coastal Plain is low, flat to gently sloping land that extends along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Much of the Southeast lies within in the Coastal Plain. The Piedmont, characterized by hilly, rolling land, borders the Coastal Plain. The Piedmont extends from Virginia to Alabama. The Appalachian Mountains, the largest range in the eastern United States, stretch from Canada to northern Alabama.
Time Zone: North Carolina is located in the Eastern Time Zone.
For more information on North Carolina's geography, visit North Carolina: A Quick Facts Map.
Last updated Sept. 21, 2009.