Essme quame videri.
"To be rather than to seem"
North Carolina was one of the thirteen states founded when the United States first formed in the 1770's. Today it is the highlight of the east coast of the now fifty state country. It is surrounded by Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Raleigh, NC though the most populated city is Charlotte, NC.
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| Pictured is an overhead-view of North Carolina State University and its famous Bell Tower |
North Carolina lines up on the Atlantic Coast, surrounded by Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. It lines up in the Eastern Standard Time zone along with the Eastern United States, Eastern Canada, the Caribbean Islands, and parts of South America. It's location makes it a desireable place to take a vacation to the beach. Being not too far from the equator, but far enough that temperatures can drop to the 30s and 20s in winter. Or in the case of this winter, probably one of the coldest in the states history.
North Carolina plays a great role in American History. From "The Lost Colony" to the Battle of Alamance, North Carolinas roots have withstood many trials that other states have never experienced. North Carolina was one of the original 13 colonies founded when the British first founded America. North Carolina was also the first state to take flight as the Wright Brothers took flight at Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903.
North Carolina has quite a few intriguing facts.
- It is uniquiely known as the "Tarheel" state.
- The state dog is the Plott Hound
- The state bird is the Cardinal
- The state motto is, "Esse quam videri" ("To be, rather than to seem")
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| Pictured is Charlotte Motor Speedway, most famous for its annual Sprint All-Star race and Coca-Cola 600, NASCARs longest race of the year. |
North Carolina has for a long time been famous for its tobacco, though now one of the bigger industries since tobacco use has declined in North America is its roots in racing. Mooresville, North Carolina or otherwise known as Race City, USA is a host to numerous NASCAR teams that are very competitive in its top racing series, the Sprint Cup Series. This industry is very important to the city's economy and the economy of the whole state. The famous Charlotte Speedway which hosts countless races for many different types of road and oval racing, provides 3 Sprint Cup races each year including the Sprint All-Star race. These races always attract a very well-respected home crowd and bring a lot of money to the track and teams. People around this area give a lot to this industry. Another note to add is the addition of the recently formed NASCAR Hall of Fame, which resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. Also drag racing is in the picture, as the only 4-wide Dragway, Zmax Dragway, resides in Charlotte.
North Carolina's economy is also centered around urban areas such as Charlotte in Raleigh, which has led to a slight decrease in farming and small town manufacturing. Most jobs are in banking, retail, and in insurance companies.
This is the geologic layout of North Carolina. You can see the basic region for the Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain regions just by looking at this picture
Sources:
Wikipedia is the "Free Encyclopedia" and is the most common online Encyclopedia used in the world.
Wikipedia states its sources and was somewhat useful in the history and population side of things.
http://www.charlottemotorspeedway.com/ - Charlotte Motor Speedway
This is the official website for the track. It gave me plenty of useful information for the part of this page dealing with the economy in North Carolina. It was incredibly helpful.
http://www.census.gov/ - United States Census Bureau
This site gave me the information for the population of North Carolina in 2000. It was useful in that aspect.
