Map of North Carolina

History

North Carolina was inhabited for at least 10,000 years by succeeding prehistoric Indigenous cultures. The Hardaway Site saw major periods of occupation dating to 10,000 years BCE. Before 200 AD, people were building earthwork platform mounds for ceremonial and religious purposes. Succeeding peoples, including those of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture, established by 1000 AD in the Piedmont and mountain region, continued to build this style of mounds. In contrast to some of the larger centers of the classic Mississippian culture in the area that became known as the western Carolinas, northeastern Georgia, and southeastern Tennessee, most of the larger towns had only one central platform mound. Smaller settlements had none, but were close to more prominent towns.

Geography

North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina to the south, Georgia to the southwest, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The United States Census Bureau places North Carolina in the South Atlantic division of the southern region. It has a total area of 53,819.16 square miles (139,391.0 km2), of which 48,617.91 square miles (125,919.8 km2) is land and 5,201.25 square miles (13,471.2 km2) (9.66%) is water.

North Carolina consists of three main geographic regions: the Atlantic coastal plain, occupying the eastern portion of the state; the central Piedmont region, and the mountain region in the west, which is part of the Appalachian Mountains.

Economy

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, North Carolina's gross state product was $893.762 billion and its per capita personal income was $68,511 in 2025. Based on American Community Survey 2010–2014 data, North Carolina's median household income was $46,693. It ranked forty-first out of fifty states plus the District of Columbia for median household income. North Carolina had the fourteenth highest poverty rate in the nation at 17.6%, with 13% of families that were below the poverty line. As of May 2025, the unemployment rate was 3.7%.

The state has a very diverse economy because of its great availability of hydroelectric power, its pleasant climate, and its wide variety of soils.

Demographics

The United States Census Bureau determined the population of North Carolina was 10,439,388 at the 2020 census. Based on numbers in 2012 of the people residing in North Carolina 58.5% were born there; 33.1% were born in another state; 1.0% were born in Puerto Rico, U.S. island areas, or born abroad to American parent(s); and 7.4% were foreign-born. Between 2021 and 2024, the state's population increased from 10,551,162 to 11,046,024. North Carolina recorded the fourth-largest population gain nationally between 2023 and 2024, and it remains the ninth-most populous state in the country.