North Carolina, NC

North Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southern region of the United States of America.

It was one of the original Thirteen Colonies, originally known as Carolina, and the home of the first English colony in the Americas.

On 20 May 1861, it became the last of the Confederate states to secede from the Union, and was readmitted on 4 July 1868. It was also the location of the first successful powered heavier-than-air flight by the Wright brothers at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk in 1903.

Today, it is a fast-growing state with an increasingly diverse economy and population. As of 1 July 2006, the population estimate is 8,856,505 (a 10% increase since 1 April 2000), and the capital is Raleigh.

North Carolina has a wide range of elevation, from sea level on the coast to almost 6,700 feet (2,042 m) in the mountains.

The climate in the coastal and Piedmont regions of eastern and central North Carolina is similar to other southern states such as Georgia and South Carolina, while the climate in the western mountains is closer to that found in New England or the upper Midwest.

While the coastal plains, especially the tidewater areas, are strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, the western, mountainous part of the state is more than 300 miles (500 km) from the coast, resulting in considerably less maritime influence.

As such, the climate of the state ranges from a warm, humid subtropical climate near the coast to a humid continental climate in the mountains. Most of the state falls in the humid subtropical zone.

Geography

North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on the west, Virginia on the north, and the Atlantic Ocean on the east.

The United States Census Bureau classifies North Carolina as a southern state in the subcategory of being one of the South Atlantic States.

North Carolina consists of three main geographic sections: the coastal plain, which occupies the eastern 45% of the state; the Piedmont region, which contains the middle 35%; and the Appalachian Mountains and foothills.

The Outer Banks form two sounds—Albemarle Sound in the north and Pamlico Sound in the south; they are the two largest landlocked sounds in the United States. Immediately inland, the coastal plain is relatively flat, with rich soils ideal for growing tobacco, soybeans, and cotton.

The coastal plain is North Carolina's most rural section, with few large towns or cities, and agriculture remains an important industry.

The major rivers of this section, the Neuse River, Tar River, Pamlico River, Cape Fear River, and Roanoke River, tend to be slow-moving and wide. The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the "fall line", a line which marks the elevation at which waterfalls first appear on streams and rivers.

The Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the state's most urbanized and densely-populated section - all five of the state's largest cities are located in the Piedmont. It consists of gently rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges.

A number of small, isolated, and deeply eroded mountain ranges and peaks are located in the Piedmont, including the Sauratown Mountains, Pilot Mountain, the Uwharrie Mountains, Crowder's Mountain, King's Pinnacle, the Brushy Mountains, and the South Mountains.

The Piedmont ranges from about 300–400 feet (90–120 m) elevation in the east to over 1,000 feet (300 m) in the west. The major rivers of the Piedmont, such as the Yadkin and Catawba, tend to be fast-flowing, shallow, and narrow.

The western section of the state is part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Among the subranges of the Appalachians located in the state are the Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, Great Balsam Mountains, Pisgah Mountains, and the Black Mountains.

The Black Mountains are the highest in the Eastern United States, and culminate in Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet (2,037 m).

It is the highest point east of the Mississippi River. Although agriculture remains important, tourism has become the dominant industry in the mountains. Due to the higher altitude in the mountains, the climate often differs starkly from the rest of the state.

Winters in western North Carolina typically feature significant snowfall and subfreezing temperatures more akin to a northern state than a southern one. North Carolina has 17 major river basins; five of the state's river basins - the Hiwassee, Little Tennessee, French Broad, Watauga and New - are part of the Mississippi River Basin, which drains to the Gulf of Mexico.

All the others flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 17 basins, 11 originate within the state of North Carolina, but only four are contained entirely within the state's borders - the Cape Fear, Neuse, White Oak and Tar-Pamlico.

Climate

The three geographical divisions of North Carolina are useful when discussing the climate of the state. The coastal plain is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, which keeps temperatures mild in the winter and moderate in the summer.

Daytime high temperatures on the coast average less than 89 °F (31.6 °C) during the summer. In the winter, the coast has the mildest temperatures in the state, with daytime temperatures rarely dropping below 40 °F (4.4 °C).

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "North Carolina".