North Carolina

North Carolina is one of the 50 states of the United States. The capital of North Carolina is Raleigh and the biggest city in the state is Charlotte. North Carolina is split into 100 counties and these counties have many cities and towns.

North Carolina was one of the original thirteen colonies and was where the first English colony in America lived. As of July 1, 2014, there are about 10,146,788 people living in the state.

In 2018, North Carolina was ranked number one on Forbes' Best States for Business ranking for a second year in a row.

Geography
North Carolina touches South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on the west, Virginia on the north, and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. There are three main parts in North Carolina: the coastal plain, the piedmont, and the mountains. The coastal plain is the eastern part of the state, the piedmont is the middle, and the mountains are the western part of the state. North Carolina also has some islands that are called The Outer Banks. They are in the ocean to the east of the state.

North Carolina has many different kinds of weather in different parts of the state throughout the year.

Coastal Plain (East North Carolina)
The eastern part of the state is touched by the Atlantic Ocean, and usually has nice temperatures all year long with the summer average high temperature usually not above 90 °F in the summer and not under 40 °F in the winter. However, it can get as hot as the low 100s °F and as cold as 20 °F. Most years there is less than one inch of snow and some years pass with no snow at all. The coastal plain usually gets a tropical storm every 3 or 4 years.

Piedmont (Middle North Carolina)
The average temperature normally does not go above 90 °F in most parts of the Piedmont in summer, but can go over 100 °F when there is a heat wave. Ice pellets and freezing rain are normal in this part of North Carolina, but the mountain ranges protect the Piedmont from the worst winter weather. Snow in this region rarely lasts more than 48 hours before melting. Weak tornadoes are often seen in the Piedmont, but only 140 people have died by tornadoes from 1950-2012 in the entire state.

Mountains (West North Carolina)
The average temperature almost never goes above 80 °F in the summer and is usually in the high 30’s or low 40’s in the winter in the mountain region of North Carolina. About 14 to 20 inches of snow fall each year with some of the higher elevations getting 50 inches each winter. The wettest part of the mountains gets 90 inches of rain.

The Beginning
Before the English came, about 30 Native American groups lived in North Carolina. In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh started two colonies in what is now known as North Carolina, but they did not last long. One of these, the Roanoke Colony later became known as the Lost Colony and is still known as one of the great unsolved mysteries of early American history to this day. Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the America, was born in the Roanoke Colony.

The first permanent settlers in North Carolina came from the state of Virginia in 1655 because there was not enough farmland in Virginia. Later the land was cut up into present-day North Carolina and South Carolina. The name "Carolina" comes from the Latin for Charles (Carolus) after King Charles I.

The American Revolutionary War
North Carolina was an important state during the American Revolutionary War.

The Civil War
In 1860, North Carolina was a slave state. About 1/3 of the people in the state were slaves. North Carolina fought as part of the Confederacy during the Civil War, but it was the last state to leave the Union. The state sent about 125,000 troops to fight in the war and about 40,000 of them died. Even during the war some people in North Carolina did not support the Confederacy, mostly because the Confederacy believed in slavery. The first Confederate soldier to be killed was from North Carolina.

Farming and Manufacturing
Farms in North Carolina grow many different foods such as grapes, peanuts, Christmas trees, poultry and eggs, wheat, corn, cucumbers, apples, greens, tobacco, hogs, milk, cattle, sweet potatoes, and soybeans. North Carolina grows more tobacco than any other state in the country. Furniture making is an important industry in North Carolina, but over the past few years many jobs have moved to other countries like China and India.

Banking and Technology
Charlotte, the biggest city in North Carolina, is the second biggest banking city in the United States, making banking very important in North Carolina. BB&T and Bank of America have their main offices in the state.

Technology is also important in North Carolina. There are many companies that make computer software and video games in the state. Winston-Salem is a center for innovation in biomedical and material sciences and information technology called the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter. Research Triangle Park near the state capital of Raleigh is one of the largest research parks in the world.

Medical Research and Care
North Carolina has four hospitals that are nationally ranked with many NICUs at a IV rating (highest possible rating in the United States). Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is reported by the U.S. News & World Report as one of the top hospitals in the nation. Brenner Children's Hospital and Health Services is designated a Nurse Magnet facility and it was rated in 2014 as one of America's best children's hospitals.

Roads
North Carolina has more state maintained roads than any other American state. The biggest roads are:

Airports
There are many major and international airports in North Carolina. These are: