About Charlotte, NC

She’s friendly, she’s southern, she’s modern—no wonder the Queen City of Charlotte is the number one tourist attraction in the Carolinas.

Whether you’re here for a day or a few weeks, there are endless things to do in the Queen City. Charlotte brings in over 14 million visitors a year as a cultural hotspot, boasting world-class museums, exquisite fine dining, a hub for racing fans, sensational shopping, and much more.

Charlotte is the second-largest banking center in the nation.

1. New York              $4.1 trillion

2. Charlotte                 $3.3 trillion*

3. San Francisco          $1.4 trillion**

4.Chicago                     $.1 trillion                

                 *includes the Merrill Lynch merger

                 **includes Wachovia  $.8 billion

 source: (Business first Charlotte)

Population Estimates 2009: 718,800

Metro Region : 2,566,300

U.S.(population) rank, City of Charlotte  19th

State Motto: Esse Quam Videri (To be rather than to seem)

Climate: North Carolina has a humid, subtropical climate. Winters are short and mild, while summers are usually very sultry; spring and fall are distinct and refreshing periods of transition.

North Carolina History

• In ancient times, the eastern half of the state was underwater, and giant megalodon sharks roamed the waters. On land, there were woolly mammoths and mastodons. It is believed that the first Native Americans inhabited the New World 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Eventually, nearly 30 Native American groups settled across the state.
  
  
• In the 1580s, the British established two colonies in North Carolina, both of which failed. In the 1600s permanent settlers from Virginia began to move to North Carolina, and it eventually became part of a British colony known as "Carolina."
  
  
• Many people believe that in 1775 North Carolina became the first colony to declare independence from Great Britain. After the American Revolution, North Carolina became the twelfth state of the Union.
  
  
• In 1861, North Carolina seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy in the Civil War. In 1865, North Carolina troops surrendered, leaving the state to be brought back into the Union in 1868.
  
  
• The 20th century saw North Carolina transformed into a modern state, a transformation that began when the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903.

Links Info:

Bev Perdue NC Gov.

Raleigh, North Carolina (capital)