North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). North Carolina leads the nation in the production of tobacco and is a major producer of textiles and furniture. It grows 40% of all U.S. tobacco, but the continuing trend is toward diversification. Broilers, hogs, turkeys, greenhouse products, sweet potatoes, corn, soybeans, peanuts, and eggs are important. Plentiful forests supply the thriving furniture and lumber industries. The state has long been a major textile manufacturer, producing cotton, synthetic, and silk goods as well as various kinds of knit items. Other leading manufactures are electrical machinery, computers, and chemicals; the Research Triangle complex near Chapel Hill has spurred high-tech manufacturing, as well as bringing federal jobs into the state. The state also has mineral resources: It leads the nation in the production of feldspar, mica, and lithium materials and produces substantial quantities of olivine, crushed granite, talc, clays, and phosphate rock. There are valuable coastal fisheries, with shrimp, menhaden, and crabs the principal catches. Charlotte developed in the 1980s into a major U.S. banking center, and related businesses have flourished in the area. In 1768 the back-country farmers, justifiably enraged by the excessive taxes imposed by a legislature dominated by the eastern aristocracy, organized the Regulator movement in an attempt to effect reforms. The insurgents were suppressed at Alamance in 1771 by the provincial militia led by Gov. William Tryon, who had seven of the Regulators executed. After the outbreak of the American Revolution, royal authority collapsed. A provisional government was set up, the disputed Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was allegedly promulgated (May, 1775), and the provincial congress instructed (Apr. 12, 1776) the colony's delegates to the Continental Congress to support complete independence from Britain. Most Loyalists, including Highland Scots, fled North Carolina after their defeat (Feb. 27, 1776) at the battle of Moores Creek Bridge near Wilmington. The British, however, did not give up hope of Tory assistance in the state until their failure in the Carolina campaign (1780–81). The designation of North Carolinians as “Tar Heels” was said to have originated during that campaign when patriotic citizens poured tar into a stream across which Cornwallis's men retreated, emerging with the substance sticking to their heels.

North Carolina is the largest furniture, tobacco, brick, and textile producer in the nation. Metalworking, chemicals, and paper are also important industries. It grows 40% of all U.S. tobacco. Plentiful forests supply the thriving furniture and lumber industries. The major agricultural products are tobacco, corn, cotton, hay, peanuts, and vegetable crops. Tourism plays an important part in the economy. North Carolina also has valuable coastal fisheries. North Carolina housing and apartment rentals offer many options for newcomers.

North Carolina has a wealth of historic areas, townships, colonial homes and antebellum plantations. The nickname of Tar Heel State supposedly was given by General Robert E. Lee when North Carolina threatened to put tar on the heels of a troop from another state that had retreated from a battle. The state is divided into three regions: the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont Plateau and the Blue Ridge/Appalachian Mountains. The Coastal Plain has many beaches, commercial and sport fishing, and the coast is protected by a slender chain of islands known as the Outer Banks. The Appalachian Mountains is known for its beauty with small farms and apple orchards and enterprises from craft shops to large paper rayon manufacturing plants. The Piedmont Plateau has many small rolling farms and is primarily a manufacturing area with the chief industries being furniture, tobacco and textiles. The six largest cities in North Carolina are in this region of the state. Discover the advantages of purchasing a home or renting an apartment in North Carolina.

Sports include year-round golfing, skiing at mountain resorts, fresh and salt water fishing and hunting. Visitors are also drawn to the Great Smoky Mountains, the Blue Ridge National Parkway, and the National Seashores. Historical sites include The Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk. There are many North Carolina real estate companies that will assist you in finding the home or apartment of your dreams.

The notable institutions of higher learning in the state include the Univ. of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill and four other campuses; Duke Univ., at Durham; North Carolina State Univ., at Raleigh; Wake Forest Univ. and the North Carolina School of the Arts, at Winston-Salem; East Carolina Univ., at Greenville; North Carolina Agricultural and Technical Univ., at Greensboro; and Appalachian State Univ., at Boone. Students can find reasonably priced rentals and housing in North Carolina.