North Carolina, USA

North Carolina is a state in the southeastern United States, bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, Georgia and South Carolina to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Raleigh is the capital, while Charlotte is the largest city and principal financial center; other major cities include Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville and Wilmington. The state is commonly divided into three broad geographic regions: the Appalachian Mountains in the west, including the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains; the rolling Piedmont plateau across the center; and the low, generally flat Coastal Plain extending eastward to the Atlantic. Its coastline includes extensive barrier islands, sounds and wetlands, most notably the Outer Banks, while major rivers include the Cape Fear, Neuse, Tar–Pamlico, Roanoke and Yadkin–Pee Dee systems. North Carolina has 100 counties, covers about 48,623 square miles of land and recorded 10,439,388 residents in the 2020 census.