The name "Carolina" comes from the Latin name for Charles, Carolus. King Charles I of England gave the name to the area of land that included present day North Carolina.
North Carolina has two nicknames. The first one comes from the division of Carolina into northern and southern parts. The northern part was settled first, so that eventually North Carolina was nicknamed "Old North State." The second nickname, "Tar Heel State,” may come from the fact that in its early days, North Carolina produced great quantities of tar pitch. Another story has it that in the Civil War, troops from North Carolina "stuck" to fighting so that General Lee referred to them as "tar heel boys.”
In 2000, the population of North Carolina was 7.1 million (11th in the US). The size is 52,669 square miles (28th in the US). The density of the state is 126 persons per square mile. The United States average is 69 persons per square mile. Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina, followed by Raleigh, and then Greensboro.
For more information about North Carolina, try these two websites:
http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/cover.htm
This is the North Carolina Encyclopedia page - designed to give you an overview of the people, government, history and resources of North Carolina. The information is organized into broad categories that offer an opportunity to select either more specific or additional information on a particular topic. This site includes brief information on the history of each county. The "County Profiles" provide current economic information.
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/nc_facts
This page contains other interesting facts about our state, as well as a link to an excellent publication entitled Student Sampler: Facts in Brief on North Carolina. This publication contains excellent pictures of the state seal and the state flag, several maps of North Carolina, a list of famous North Carolinians, an historical timeline, music and lyrics to the state song, a copy of the state toast, links to more North Carolina websites, and other educational information. If you do not have access to a computer, there is a copy of this publication at the Information Services Desk and the Children’s Services Desk.
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