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Quick Facts
Want to learn more about North Carolina? Let your mouse do the walking: click on the pictures below. Each image contains a unique North Carolina fact.
Population: |
8,049,313 (11th in country) |
Size: |
52,669 square miles (28th in country) |
Nickname: |
Tar Heel State -- the origin is clothed in mystery, but it probably evolved from the fact that during the Colonial period, the colony’s chief exports were tar, pitch and turpentine. |
Origin of Name: |
North Carolina is named in honor of King Charles I of England, from the Latin “Carolus.” |
Song: |
“The Old North State” by Judge William Gaston |
Rock: |
Granite |
Vegetable: |
Sweet Potato |
Did You Know?
| • | The oldest town in the state is Bath, incorporated in 1705. |
| • | On January 15, 1795, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was the first state university in the country to open its doors for students. |
| • | The first silver mine in the country was the Silver Hill Mine, which opened in 1833 about 10 miles from Lexington. |
| • | Putt-Putt Golf was invented in Fayetteville. |
| • | The first forestry school in the United States was established in Transylvania County in 1898 by Dr. Carl A. Schenck. |
| • | The first abbey cathedral in North America was Belmont Abbey – located in Belmont, North Carolina – established by a papal edict in 1910. |
| • | Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run in Fayetteville on March 7, 1914. |
| • | The Tar Heel State has more paved miles of road than any other state in the United States – over 78,000 miles. |
| • | The first state-supported institution to emphasize the performing arts was the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. |
| • | Millions of years ago, the area was home to 50-foot-long alligators, and huge megalodon sharks roamed the waters. |
| • | The New River, which runs through Ashe County, is the oldest river in North America and second oldest in the world. |
| • | More than 120 species of trees are found in North Carolina – more than can be found from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. |
| • | North Carolina boasts more than 200 waterfalls, including the highest on the East Coast: the 411-foot-high, two-tiered Whitewater Falls in Transylvania County. |
| • | North Carolina has 1,500 lakes 10 acres or more in size and 37,000 miles of fresh water streams. |
| • | There are more than 1.2 million acres of national forest land in the Tar Heel State. |
| • | Blackbeard, America’s most famous pirate, established a residence and married his 14th wife in Bath, NC, in 1718. |
| • | At around 500 million years old, the North Carolina Uwharrie Mountains are the oldest in the nation and among the oldest in the world. |
| • | Cape Hatteras lighthouse, built of brick in 1870, is 208 feet tall, making it the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States. |
Student Resources
- Wildlife Resources Commission - Outdoor Kids
- Kids Page on nc.gov
- Dept. of Public Instruction - Student Sampler
- Dept. of Agriculture - Ag's Cool!
- The Governor's Page for Kids
- The Secretary of State Kids Page
- North Carolina State Parks
