Nearly 60% of Washington’s residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry, and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of deep rain forests in the west, mountain ranges in the center, northeast and far southeast, and eastern semi-deserts given over to intensive agriculture.

Washington was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States, and is the only U.S. state named after a president. Washington is commonly called Washington State or occasionally the State of Washington to distinguish it from the U.S. capital (and because its proper name is the State of Washington). However, Washingtonians (residents of Washington) and many residents of neighboring states normally refer to the state simply as “Washington”, while usually referring to the nation’s capital as “Washington, D.C.” or simply “D.C.”

Geography
A land of contrasts: a farm and barren hills near Riverside.

Washington is the northwestern-most state of the contiguous United States. Its northern border lies mostly along the 49th parallel, and then via marine boundaries through the Strait of Georgia, Haro Strait and Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north. Washington borders Oregon to the south, with the Columbia River forming most of the boundary and the 46th parallel forming the eastern part of the southern boundary.

To the east Washington borders Idaho, bounded mostly by the meridian running north from the confluence of the Snake River and Clearwater River (about 116°57′ west), except for the southernmost section where the border follows the Snake River. To the west of Washington lies the Pacific Ocean.[4] Washington was a Union territory during the American Civil War, although it never actually participated in the war.

Washington is part of a region known as the Pacific Northwest, a term which always includes at least Washington and Oregon and may or may not include Idaho, western Montana, northern California, and part or all of British Columbia, Alaska, and the Yukon Territory, depending on the speaker or writer’s intent.
Digitally colored elevation map of Washington.

The high mountains of the Cascade Range run north-south, bisecting the state. Western Washington, west of the Cascades, has a mostly marine west coast climate with moderately mild temperatures, wet winters, and dry summers. Western Washington also supports dense forests of conifers and areas of temperate rain forest.[5] In contrast, Eastern Washington, east of the Cascades, has a relatively dry climate with large areas of semiarid steppe and a few truly arid deserts lying in the rainshadow of the Cascades; the Hanford reservation receives an average annual precipitation of between six and seven inches (178 mm). Farther east, the climate becomes less arid. The Palouse southeast region of Washington was grassland that has been mostly converted into farmland. Other parts of eastern Washington are forested and mountainous.

The Cascade Range contains several volcanoes, which reach altitudes significantly higher than the rest of the mountains. From the north to the south these volcanoes are Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams. Mount St. Helens is currently the only Washington volcano that is actively erupting; however, all of them are considered active volcanoes.

Washington’s position on the Pacific Ocean and the harbors of Puget Sound give the state a leading role in maritime trade with Alaska, Canada, and the Pacific Rim. Puget Sound’s many islands are served by the largest ferry fleet in the United States.

Washington is a land of contrasts. The deep forests of the Olympic Peninsula, such as the Hoh Rain Forest, are among the only temperate rainforests in the continental United States, but the semi-desert east of the Cascade Range has few trees. Mount Rainier, the highest mountain in the state,[3] is covered with more glacial ice than any other peak in the lower 48 states.[6]
Federal land and reservations
National parks and monuments

There are three National Parks and two National Monuments in Washington:

* Mount Rainier National Park
* North Cascades National Park
* Olympic National Park
* Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
* Hanford Reach National Monument

National forests

Nine national forests are located (at least partly) in Washington:

* Colville National Forest
* Gifford Pinchot National Forest
* Idaho Panhandle National Forest
* Kaniksu National Forest
* Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
* Okanogan National Forest
* Olympic National Forest
* Umatilla National Forest
* Wenatchee National Forest

Federally protected wildernesses

31 wildernesses are located (at least partly) in Washington, including:

* Alpine Lakes Wilderness
* Glacier Peak Wilderness
* Goat Rocks Wilderness
* Henry M. Jackson Wilderness
* Juniper Dunes Wilderness
* Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness
* Mount Baker Wilderness
* Norse Peak Wilderness
* Olympic Wilderness
* Pasayten Wilderness
* Wild Sky Wilderness

National wildlife refuges

23 National Wildlife Refuges are located (at least partly) in Washington including:

* Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge
* Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge
* Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
* Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
* Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge
* San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge
* Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge
* Willapa National Wildlife Refuge

Other federally protected lands

Other protected lands of note include:

* Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
* Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve
* Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
* Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
* Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
* Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
* Ross Lake National Recreation Area
* San Juan Island National Historical Park
* Whitman Mission National Historic Site
* 17 National Natural Landmarks

Military and related reservations

There are several large military-related reservations, including:

* Joint Base Lewis-McChord
* Fairchild Air Force Base
* Naval Base Kitsap
* Hanford Site
* Yakima Training Center
* Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (Bremerton)
* Naval Air Station Whidbey Island
* Naval Station Everett

Climate
Dryland farming caused a large dust storm in arid parts of eastern Washington on October 4, 2009. [7]

Washington’s climate varies greatly from west to east. An oceanic climate (also called “west coast marine climate”) predominates in western Washington, and a much drier semi-arid climate prevails east of the Cascade Range. Major factors determining Washington’s climate include the large semi-permanent high pressure and low pressure systems of the north Pacific Ocean, the continental air masses of North America, and the Olympic and Cascade mountains. In the spring and summer, a high pressure anticyclone system dominates the north Pacific Ocean, causing air to spiral out in a clockwise fashion.

For Washington this means prevailing winds from the northwest bringing relatively cool air and a predictably dry season. In the autumn and winter, a low pressure cyclone system takes over in the north Pacific Ocean, with air spiraling inward in a counter-clockwise fashion. This causes Washington’s prevailing winds to come from the southwest, bringing relatively warm and moist air masses and a predictably wet season. The term Pineapple Express is used to describe the extreme form of this wet season pattern.[8]

Despite western Washington having a marine climate similar to those of many coastal cities of Europe, there are exceptions such as the “Big Snow” events of 1880, 1881, 1893 and 1916 and the “deep freeze” winters of 1883–84, 1915–16, 1949–50 and 1955–56, among others. During these events western Washington experienced up to 6 feet (1.8 m) of snow, sub-zero (-18°C) temperatures, three months with snow on the ground, and lakes and rivers frozen over for weeks.[9] Seattle’s lowest officially recorded temperature is 0 °F (-18 °C) set on January 31, 1950, but areas a short distance away from Seattle have recorded lows as cold as -20 °F (-28.9 °C).[citation needed]

In 2006, the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington published The Impacts of Climate change in Washington’s Economy, a preliminary assessment on the risks and opportunities presented given the possibility of a rise in global temperatures and their effects on Washington state.[10]
Rain shadow effects
Washington experiences extensive variation in rainfall.

The Olympic mountains and Cascades compound this climatic pattern by causing orographic lift of the air masses blown inland from the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the windward side of the mountains receiving high levels of precipitation and the leeward side receiving low levels. This occurs most dramatically around the Olympic Mountains and the Cascade Range. In both cases the windward slopes facing southwest receive high precipitation and mild, cool temperatures. While the Puget Sound lowlands are known for clouds and rain in the winter, the western slopes of the Cascades receive larger amounts of precipitation, often falling as snow at higher elevations. (Mount Baker, near the state’s northern border, is one of the snowiest places in the world: in 1999, it set the world record for snowfall in a single season: 1,140 inches, or 95 foot (29 m).[11]

East of the Cascades, a large region experiences strong rain shadow effects. Semi-arid conditions occur in much of eastern Washington with the strongest rain shadow effects at the relatively low elevations of the central Columbia Plateau—especially the region just east of the Columbia River from about the Snake River to the Okanagan Highland. Thus instead of rain forests much of eastern Washington is covered with grassland and shrub-steppe.
Temperatures

The average annual temperature ranges from 51 °F (11 °C) on the Pacific coast to 40 °F (4 °C) in the northeast. The lowest temperature recorded in the state was -48 °F (-44.4 °C) in Winthrop and Mazama. The highest recorded temperature in the state was 118 °F (48 °C) at Ice Harbor Dam. Both records were set east of the Cascades. Western Washington is known for its mild climate, considerable fog, frequent cloud cover and long-lasting drizzles in the winter, and sunny and dry summers. The western region occasionally experiences extreme climate. Arctic cold fronts in the winter and heat waves in the summer are not uncommon. In the Western region, temperatures have reached as high as 112 °F (44 °C) in Marietta[12] and as low as -20 °F (-28.9 °C) in Longview.[13]

The western side of the Olympic Peninsula receives as much as 160 inches (4,100 mm) of precipitation annually, making it the wettest area of the 48 conterminous states. Weeks or even months may pass without a clear day. The western slopes of the Cascade Range receive some of the heaviest annual snowfall (in some places more than 200 inches (510 cm) water equivalent) in the country. In the rain shadow area east of the Cascades, the annual precipitation is only 6 inches (150 mm). Precipitation then increases again eastward toward the Rocky Mountains.
History
Main article: History of Washington (U.S. state)
A reconstructed face of the Kennewick Man.
Mt. Rainier reflected in Reflection lake.
The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River
Mount Rainier with Tacoma in foreground

Prior to the arrival of explorers from Europe, this region of the Pacific Coast had many established tribes of Native Americans, each with its own unique culture. Today, they are most notable for their totem poles and their ornately carved canoes and masks. Prominent among their industries were salmon fishing and, among the Makah, whale hunting. The peoples of the Interior had a very different subsistence-based culture based on hunting, food-gathering and some forms of agriculture, as well as a dependency on salmon from the Columbia and its tributaries. The smallpox epidemic of the 1770s devastated the Amerindian population.[14]

The first European record of a landing on the Washington coast was by Spanish Captain Don Bruno de Heceta in 1775, on board the Santiago, part of a two-ship flotilla with the Sonora. They claimed all the coastal lands up to Prince William Sound in the north for Spain as part of their claimed rights under the Treaty of Tordesillas, which they maintained made the Pacific a “Spanish lake” and all its shores part of the Spanish Empire.

In 1778, British explorer Captain James Cook sighted Cape Flattery, at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but Cook thought the strait did not exist. It was not discovered until Charles William Barkley, captain of the Imperial Eagle, sighted it in 1787. Further explorations of the straits were performed by Spanish explorers Manuel Quimper in 1790 and Francisco de Eliza in 1791, then by British Captain George Vancouver in 1792.

The British-Spanish Nootka Convention of 1790 ended Spanish claims of exclusivity and opened the Northwest Coast to explorers and traders from other nations, most notably Britain and Russia as well as the fledgling United States. American captain Robert Gray (for whom Grays Harbor County is named) then discovered the mouth of the Columbia River. He named the river after his ship, the Columbia. Beginning in 1792, Gray established trade in sea otter pelts. The Lewis and Clark Expedition entered the state on October 10, 1805.

Explorer David Thompson, on his voyage down the Columbia River camped at the junction with the Snake River on July 9, 1811 and erected a pole and a notice claiming the country for Great Britain and stating the intention of the North West Company to build a trading post at the site.

The UK and the USA agreed to what has since been described as “joint occupancy” of lands west of the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean as part of the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, which established the 49th Parallel as the international boundary west from Lake of the Woods to the Rocky mountains. Resolution of the territorial and treaty issues, west to the Pacific, were deferred until a later time. Spain, in 1819, ceded their rights north of the 42nd Parallel to the United States, although these rights did not include possession.

Negotiations with Great Britain over the next few decades failed to settle upon a compromise boundary and the Oregon boundary dispute became important in geopolitical diplomacy between the British Empire and the new American Republic. Disputed joint-occupancy by Britain and the U.S.A., lasted for several decades. With American settlers pouring into the Oregon Country; the Hudson’s Bay Company, which had previously discouraged settlement because it conflicted with the fur trade, reversed its position in an attempt to maintain control of the Columbia District for Great Britain. Fur trapper James Sinclair, on orders from Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, guided some 200 settlers from the Red River Colony west in 1841 to settle on Hudson Bay Company farms near Fort Vancouver. The party crossed the Rockies into the Columbia Valley, near present-day Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia, then traveled south-west down the Kootenai River and Columbia River. Despite such efforts, Britain eventually ceded all claim to land south of the 49th parallel to the United States in the Oregon Treaty on June 15, 1846.

In 1836, a group of missionaries including Marcus Whitman established several missions and Whitman’s own settlement Waiilatpu, in what is now southeastern Washington state, near present day Walla Walla County, in territory of both the Cayuse and the Nez Perce Indian tribes. Whitman’s settlement would in 1843 help the Oregon Trail, the overland emigration route to the west, get established for thousands of emigrants in following decades. Marcus provided medical care for the Native Americans, but when Indian patients – lacking immunity to new, ‘European’ diseases – died in striking numbers, while at the same time many white patients recovered, they held ‘medicine man’ Marcus Whitman personally responsible, and murdered Whitman and twelve other white settlers in the Whitman massacre in 1847. This event triggered the Cayuse War between settlers and Indians.

The first settlement in the Puget Sound area in the west of what is now Washington, was that of Fort Nisqually, a farm and trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company, in 1833. Washington’s erstwhile founder, the black pioneer George Washington Bush and his caucasian wife, Isabella James Bush, from Missouri and Tennessee, respectively, led four white families into the territory and settled New Market, now known as Tumwater, Washington, in 1846. They settled in Washington to avoid Oregon’s racist settlement laws.[15] After them, many more settlers, migrating overland along the Oregon trail, wandered north to settle in the Puget Sound area.

In 1852, people from all over what was to become Washington state gathered in Monticello (now Longview) to draft a memorandum to Congress. The memorandum expressed their desire to be granted statehood under the name of Columbia. This meeting came to be known as the Monticello Convention. The desires of the Convention were met favorably in Congress, but it was decided that a state named Columbia might be confused with the preexisting District of Columbia. In a manner which strangely enough did not solve the problem of being confused with the nation’s capital, the state was instead named Washington in honor of the first U.S. president.[16][17] Washington became the 42nd state in the United States on November 11, 1889.

Early prominent industries in the state included agriculture and lumber. In eastern Washington, the Yakima River Valley became known for its apple orchards, while the growth of wheat using dry-farming techniques became particularly productive. The heavy rainfall to the west of the Cascade Range produced dense forests, and the ports along Puget Sound prospered from the manufacturing and shipping of lumber products, particularly the Douglas-fir. Other industries that developed in the state include fishing, salmon canning and mining.

For a long period, Tacoma was noted for its large smelters where gold, silver, copper and lead ores were treated. Seattle was the primary port for trade with Alaska and the rest of the country, and for a time it possessed a large shipbuilding industry. The region around eastern Puget Sound developed heavy industry during the period including World War I and World War II, and the Boeing company became an established icon in the area.

During the Great Depression, a series of hydroelectric dams were constructed along the Columbia river as part of a project to increase the production of electricity. This culminated in 1941 with the completion of the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest concrete structure in the United States.

During World War II, the state became a focus for war industries, with the Boeing Company producing many of the nation’s heavy bombers and ports in Seattle, Bremerton, Vancouver, and Tacoma were available for the manufacture of warships. Seattle was the point of departure for many soldiers in the Pacific, a number of which were quartered at Golden Gardens Park. In eastern Washington, the Hanford Works atomic energy plant was opened in 1943 and played a major role in the construction of the nation’s atomic bombs.

On May 18, 1980, following a period of heavy tremors and eruptions, the northeast face of Mount St. Helens exploded outward, destroying a large part of the top of the volcano. This eruption flattened the forests, killed 57 people, flooded the Columbia River and its tributaries with ash and mud, and blanketed large parts of Washington and other surrounding states in ash, making day look like night.[18][19]
Demographics
Historical populations
Census     Pop.         %±
1850     1,201
—
1860     11,594         865.4%
1870     23,955         106.6%
1880     75,116         213.6%
1890     357,232         375.6%
1900     518,103         45.0%
1910     1,141,990         120.4%
1920     1,356,621         18.8%
1930     1,563,396         15.2%
1940     1,736,191         11.1%
1950     2,378,963         37.0%
1960     2,853,214         19.9%
1970     3,409,169         19.5%
1980     4,132,156         21.2%
1990     4,866,692         17.8%
2000     5,894,121         21.1%
Est. 2009[2]     6,664,195         13.1%
Washington Population Density Map
Seattle
Spokane
Tacoma

According to the U.S. Census, as of 2009, Washington has a historical estimated population of 6,664,195, which is an increase of 770,074, or 13.1%, since the year 2000.[20] This includes a natural increase of 221,958 people (that is, 503,819 births minus 281,861 deaths) and an increase from net migration of 287,759 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 157,950 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 129,809 people. Washington ranks first in the Pacific Northwest region in terms of population, followed by Oregon, and Idaho.

The center of population of Washington in the year 2000 was located in an unpopulated part of rural eastern King County, southeast of North Bend and northeast of Enumclaw.[21]

As of the Census 2000, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area’s population was 3,043,878, approximately half the state’s total population.[22]

6.7% of Washington’s population was reported as under 5, 25.7% under 18, and 11.2% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.2% of the population.

The largest ancestry groups in the state are:[23]

* 20.9% German
* 12.6% English
* 12.6% Irish
* 6.2% Norwegian
* 4.1% American
* 4.0% French
* 3.9% Swedish
* 3.6% Italian
* 3.4% Scottish
* 2.6% Scotch Irish
* 2.5% Dutch
* 1.9% Polish
* 1.4% Russian
* 1.2% Danish
* 1.1% Welsh

Largest cities
See also: List of cities in Washington

The largest cities in Washington according to 2009 state census estimates.[24]
Rank     City     Population
1     Seattle     617,334
2     Spokane     203,276
3     Tacoma     199,637
4     Vancouver     165,809
5     Bellevue     126,626
6     Everett     99,384
7     Spokane Valley     87,378
8     Federal Way     85,929
9     Yakima     85,832
10     Kent     85,631
11     Bellingham     80,055
12     Kennewick     67,814
13     Auburn     63,544
14     Renton     62,076
15     Lakewood     57,710
Religion

Major religious affiliations of the people of Washington are:[25]

* Protestant: 49%
o Mainline: 23%
o Evangelical: 25%
o Other Protestant: 1%
* Unaffiliated: 25%
* Roman Catholic: 16%
* Latter-day Saint: 4%
* Jewish: 1%
* Muslim: 1%
* Other Religions: 3%

The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Roman Catholic Church with 716,133; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 178,000 (253,166 year-end 2007) ; and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 127,854.[26]

As with many other Western states, the percentage of Washington’s population identifying themselves as “non-religious” is higher than the national average. The percentage of non-religious people in Washington is the highest of any state other than Colorado with 31%.[27]
Economy
Main article: Economy of Washington (U.S. state)
Microsoft Corporation headquarters in Redmond.

The 2007 total gross state product for Washington was $311.5 billion, placing it 14th in the nation.[28] The per capita personal income in 2009 was $41,751, 12th in the nation. Significant business within the state include the design and manufacture of jet aircraft (Boeing), computer software development (Microsoft, Amazon.com, Nintendo of America, Valve Corporation), electronics, biotechnology, aluminum production, lumber and wood products (Weyerhaeuser), mining, and tourism. The state has significant amounts of hydroelectric power generation.

Significant amounts of trade with Asia pass through the ports of the Puget Sound. See list of United States companies by state. Fortune magazine survey of the top 20 Most Admired Companies in the US has 4 Washington based companies in it, Starbucks, Microsoft, Costco and Nordstrom.[29]

Washington is one of eighteen states which has a government monopoly on sales of alcoholic beverages, although beer and wine with less than 20% alcohol by volume can be purchased in convenience stores and supermarkets. Liqueurs (even if under 20% alcohol by volume) and spirits can only be purchased in state-run or privately-owned-state-contracted liquor stores.[30]

Among its resident billionaires, Washington boasts Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, who, with a net worth of $40 billion, was ranked the wealthiest man in the world as of February 2009, according to Forbes magazine.[31] Other Washington state billionaires include Paul Allen (Microsoft), Steve Ballmer (Microsoft), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Craig McCaw (McCaw Cellular Communications), James Jannard (Oakley), Howard Schultz (Starbucks), and Charles Simonyi (Microsoft).[32]

As of January 2010, the state’s unemployment rate is 9.3%.[33]
Taxes

The state of Washington is one of only seven states that does not levy a personal income tax. The state also does not collect a corporate income tax or franchise tax. However, Washington businesses are responsible for various other state levies. One tax Washington charges on most businesses is the business and occupation tax (B & O), a gross receipts tax which charges varying rates for different types of businesses.
Starbucks Headquarters, Seattle.

Washington’s state base sales tax is 6.5% which is combined with a local rate. As of April 2010, the rate will be 9.5% in Seattle and other cities.[34] These taxes apply to services as well as products.[35] Most foods are exempt from sales tax; however, prepared foods, dietary supplements and soft drinks remain taxable. The combined state and local retail sales tax rates increase the taxes paid by consumers, depending on the variable local sales tax rates, generally between 8 and 9%.[36]

An excise tax applies to certain select products such as gasoline, cigarettes, and alcoholic beverages. Property tax was the first tax levied in the state of Washington and its collection accounts for about 30% of Washington’s total state and local revenue. It continues to be the most important revenue source for public schools, fire protection, libraries, parks and recreation, and other special purpose districts.

All real property and personal property is subject to tax unless specifically exempted by law. Personal property also is taxed, although most personal property owned by individuals is exempt. Personal property tax applies to personal property used when conducting business or to other personal property not exempt by law. All property taxes are paid to the county treasurer’s office where the property is located. Washington does not impose a tax on intangible assets such as bank accounts, stocks or bonds. Neither does the state assess any tax on retirement income earned and received from another state. Washington does not collect inheritance taxes; however, the estate tax is decoupled from the federal estate tax laws, and therefore the state imposes its own estate tax.
Agriculture
Azwell, Washington, a small community of pickers’ cabins and apple orchards.

Washington is a leading agricultural state. (The following figures are from the Washington State Office of Financial Management and the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington Field Office.) For 2003, the total value of Washington’s agricultural products was $5.79 billion, the 11th highest in the country. The total value of its crops was $3.8 billion, the 7th highest. The total value of its livestock and specialty products was $1.5 billion, the 26th highest.

In 2004, Washington ranked first in the nation in production of red raspberries (90.0% of total U.S. production), wrinkled seed peas (80.6%), hops (75.0%), spearmint oil (73.6%), apples (58.1%), sweet cherries (47.3%), pears (42.6%), peppermint oil (40.3%), Concord grapes (39.3%), carrots for processing (36.8%), and Niagara grapes (31.6%). Washington also ranked second in the nation in production of lentils, fall potatoes, dry edible peas, apricots, grapes (all varieties taken together), asparagus (over a third of the nation’s production), sweet corn for processing, and green peas for processing; third in tart cherries, prunes and plums, and dry summer onions; fourth in barley and trout; and fifth in wheat, cranberries, and strawberries.

The apple industry is of particular importance to Washington. Because of the favorable climate of dry, warm summers and cold winters of central Washington, the state has led the U.S. in apple production since the 1920s.[37] Two areas account for the vast majority of the state’s apple crop: the Wenatchee–Okanogan region (comprising Chelan, Okanogan, Douglas, and Grant counties), and the Yakima region (Yakima, Benton and Kittitas counties).[38]
Transportation
Washington has the largest ferry system in the United States.

Washington has a system of state highways, called State Routes, as well as an extensive ferry system which is the largest in the nation[39] and the third largest in the world. There are 140 public airfields in Washington, including 16 state airports owned by the Washington State Department of Transportation. Boeing Field in Seattle is one of the busiest primary non-hub airports in the US.[40] The unique geography of Washington presents exceptional transportation needs.

There are extensive waterways in the midst of Washington’s largest cites, including Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and Olympia. The state highways incorporate an extensive network of bridges and the largest ferry system in the United States to serve transportation needs in the Puget Sound area. Washington’s marine highway constitutes a fleet of twenty-eight ferries that navigate Puget Sound and its inland waterways to 20 different ports of call. Washington is home to four of the five longest floating bridges in the world: the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge over Lake Washington, and the Hood Canal Bridge which connects the Olympic Peninsula and Kitsap Peninsula.
Floating bridges on Lake Washington

The Cascade Mountain Range also provides unique transportation challenges. Washington operates and maintains roads over seven major mountain passes and eight minor passes. During winter months some of these passes are plowed, sanded, and kept safe with avalanche control. Not all are able to stay open through the winter. The North Cascades Highway, State Route 20, closes every year. This is because the extraordinary amount of snowfall and frequency of avalanches in the area of Washington Pass make it unsafe in the winter months.
Toxic chemicals

In 2007, Washington became the first state in the nation to target all forms of highly toxic brominated flame retardants known as PBDEs for elimination from the many common household products in which they are used. A 2004 study of 40 mothers from Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Montana found PBDEs in the breast milk of every woman tested.

Three recent studies by the Washington Department of Ecology showed that toxic chemicals banned decades ago continue to linger in the environment and concentrate in the food chain. In one of the studies, state government scientists found unacceptable levels of toxic substances in 93 samples of freshwater fish collected from 45 sites. The toxic substances included PCBs; dioxins, two chlorinated pesticides, DDE and dieldrin, and PBDEs. As a result of the study, the department will investigate the sources of PCBs in the Wenatchee River, where unhealthy levels of PCBs were found in mountain whitefish. Based on the 2007 information and a previous 2004 Ecology study, the Washington Department of Health is advising the public not to eat mountain whitefish from the Wenatchee River from Leavenworth downstream to where the river joins the Columbia, due to unhealthy levels of PCBs. Study results also indicated high levels of contaminants in fish tissue that scientists collected from Lake Washington and the Spokane River, where fish consumption advisories are already in effect [41].

On March 27, 2006 Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law the recently approved House Bill 2322. This bill would limit phosphorus content in dishwashing detergents statewide to 0.5% over the next six years. Though the ban would be effective statewide in 2010, it would take place in Whatcom County, Spokane County, and Clark County in 2008.[42] A recent discovery had linked high contents of phosphorus in water to a boom in algae population. An invasive amount of algae in bodies of water would eventually lead to a variety of excess ecological and technological issues.[43]
Law and government
See also: Category:Government of Washington (U.S. state)
The Washington State Capitol building in Olympia.

The bicameral Washington State Legislature is the state’s legislative branch. The state legislature is composed of a lower House of Representatives and an upper State Senate. The state is divided into 49 legislative districts of equal population, each of which elects two representatives and one senator. Representatives serve two-year terms, whilst senators serve for four years. There are no term limits. Currently, the Democratic Party holds majorities in both chambers.

Washington’s executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a four-year term. The current governor is Christine Gregoire, a Democrat who has been in office since 2005.

The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the state. Nine justices serve on the bench and are elected statewide.
U.S. Congress
See also: United States congressional delegations from Washington

The two U.S. Senators from Washington are Patty Murray (D) and Maria Cantwell (D).

Washington representatives in the United States House of Representatives (see map of districts) are Jay Inslee (D-1), Richard Ray (Rick) Larsen (D-2), Brian Baird (D-3), Doc Hastings (R-4), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-5), Norm Dicks (D-6), Jim McDermott (D-7), Dave Reichert (R-8), and Adam Smith (D-9).
State elected officials
Executive

* Christine Gregoire, Governor (D)
* Brad Owen, Lieutenant Governor (D)
* Sam Reed, Secretary of State (R)
* Rob McKenna, Attorney General (R)
* Jim McIntire, State Treasurer (D)
* Brian Sonntag, State Auditor (D)
* Randy Dorn, Superintendent of Public Instruction (non-partisan office)
* Peter J. Goldmark, Commissioner of Public Lands (D)
* Mike Kreidler, Insurance Commissioner (D)

Politics
See also: Political party strength in Washington
Presidential elections results Year     Republican     Democratic
2008     40.48% 1,229,216     57.65% 1,750,848
2004     45.59% 1,304,893     52.82% 1,510,201
2000     44.59% 1,108,864     50.21% 1,247,652
1996     37.32% 840,712     49.81% 1,123,323
1992     31.99% 731,234     43.41% 993,037
1988     47.97% 903,835     50.03% 933,516
1984     55.82% 1,051,670     42.86% 807,352
1980     49.66% 865,244     37.32% 650,193
1976     50.00% 777,732     46.11% 717,323
1972     56.92% 837,135     38.64% 568,334

The state has been thought of as politically divided by the Cascade Mountains, with Western Washington being liberal (particularly the I-5 Corridor) and Eastern Washington being conservative. Lately however, Washington has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election since 1988. Spokane, the state’s second largest city located in Eastern Washington, has been leaning more liberal, with one example being Democrat Maria Cantwell winning by a wide margin in the 2006 senate race against Republican Mike McGavick.

Since the population is larger in the west, the Democrats usually fare better statewide. More specifically, the Seattle metro area (especially King County) generally delivers strong Democratic margins, while the outlying areas of Western Washington were nearly tied in both 2000 and 2004. It was considered a key swing state in 1968, and it was the only Western state to give its electoral votes to Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey over his Republican opponent Richard Nixon. Washington was considered a part of the 1994 Republican Revolution, and had the biggest pickup in the house for Republicans, making 7 of the 9 house members Republicans for the state of Washington.[44] However, this dominance did not last for long as Democrats picked up one seat in the 1996 election[45] and two more in 1998, giving the Democrats a 5–4 majority.[46]

The two current United States Senators from Washington are Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both of whom are members of the Democratic Party. The office of Governor is held by Christine Gregoire, who was re-elected to her second term in the 2008 gubernatorial election. Washington is the first and only state in the country to have elected women to both of its United States Senate seats and the office of Governor. Both houses of the Washington State Legislature (the Washington Senate and the Washington House of Representatives) are currently controlled by the Democratic Party.
Education
Elementary and secondary

See also List of school districts in Washington

As of the 2008-2009 school year, 1,040,750 students were enrolled in elementary and secondary schools in Washington, with 59,562 teachers employed to educate them.[47] As of August 2009, there were 295 school districts in the state, serviced by nine educational service districts.[48] Washington School Information Processing Cooperative (a non-profit, opt-in, State agency) provides information management systems for fiscal & human resources and student data. Elementary and secondary schools are under the jurisdiction of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), led by State School Superintendent Randy Dorn.[49]

High school juniors and seniors in Washington have the option of utilizing the state’s Running Start program. Initiated by the state legislature in 1990, the program allows students attend institutions of higher education at public expense, simultaneously earning high school and college credit.[50]

The State also has several public arts focused high schools including Tacoma School of the Arts, Vancouver school of Arts and Academics, and The Center School. And a Science and Math based high school in Tacoma, Washington known as SAMI.
Colleges and universities

State universities

* Central Washington University
* Eastern Washington University
* The Evergreen State College
* University of Washington
* Washington State University
* Western Washington University

Private universities

* Antioch University Seattle
* Argosy University/Seattle
* Art Institute of Seattle
* Bastyr University
* City University of Seattle
* Cornish College of the Arts
* DeVry University
* DigiPen Institute of Technology
* Gonzaga University
* Henry Cogswell College
* Heritage University
* Mars Hill Graduate School
* Moody Bible Institute – Spokane

* Northwest University
* Pacific Lutheran University
* St. Martin’s University
* School of Visual Concepts
* Seattle Bible College
* Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine
* Seattle Pacific University
* Seattle University
* Trinity Lutheran College
* University of Puget Sound
* Walla Walla University
* Whitman College
* Whitworth University

Community colleges

* Bates Technical College
* Bellevue College
* Bellingham Technical College
* Big Bend Community College
* Cascadia Community College
* Centralia College
* Clark College
* Clover Park Technical College
* Columbia Basin College
* Edmonds Community College
* Everett Community College
* Grays Harbor College
* Green River Community College
* Highline Community College
* Lake Washington Technical College
* Lower Columbia College

* Olympic College
* Peninsula College
* Pierce College
* Renton Technical College
* Seattle Community College District
* Shoreline Community College
* Skagit Valley College
* South Puget Sound Community College
* Spokane Community College
* Spokane Falls Community College
* Tacoma Community College
* Walla Walla Community College
* Wenatchee Valley College

* Whatcom Community College
* Yakima Valley Community College

Professional sports
Club?     Sport?     League?     City & Stadium?
Seattle Seahawks     Football     National Football League; NFC     Seattle, Qwest Field
Seattle Mariners     Baseball     Major League Baseball; AL     Seattle, Safeco Field
Spokane Shock     Arena Football     Arena Football League     Spokane, Spokane Arena
Wenatchee Valley Venom     Arena Football     American Indoor Football Association     Wenatchee, Town Toyota Center
Seattle Storm     Basketball     Women’s National Basketball Association     Seattle, KeyArena
Spokane Spiders     Soccer     Premier Development League (Northwest Division)     Spokane, Joe Albi Stadium
Seattle Sounders FC     Soccer     Major League Soccer     Seattle, Qwest Field
Seattle Sounders     Soccer     USL First Division (men’s) (Defunct)
W-League (women’s)     Seattle, Qwest Field
Bellingham Slam     Basketball     American Basketball Association     Bellingham, Whatcom Community College
Bellevue Blackhawks     Basketball     American Basketball Association     Bellevue, Meydenbauer Center
Everett Silvertips     Ice Hockey     Western Hockey League     Everett, Everett Event Center
Spokane Chiefs     Ice Hockey     Western Hockey League     Spokane, Spokane Arena
Seattle Thunderbirds     Ice Hockey     Western Hockey League     Kent, ShoWare Center
Tri-City Americans     Ice Hockey     Western Hockey League     Kennewick, Toyota Center
Tri-City Fever     Indoor Football     IFL     Kennewick, Toyota Center
Kent Predators     Indoor Football     IFL     Kent, ShoWare Center
Tri-City Dust Devils     Baseball     Northwest League; A     Pasco, Dust Devils Stadium
Tacoma Rainiers     Baseball     Pacific Coast League; AAA     Tacoma, Cheney Stadium
Spokane Indians     Baseball     Northwest League; A     Spokane, Avista Stadium
Everett AquaSox     Baseball     Northwest League; A     Everett, Everett Memorial Stadium
Yakima Bears     Baseball     Northwest League; A     Yakima, Yakima County Stadium
Yakima Sun Kings     Basketball     Continental Basketball Association     Yakima, Yakima Valley SunDome
Old Puget Sound Beach RFC     Rugby     RSL     Seattle, various venues
Washington Stealth     Lacrosse     NLL     Everett, Everett Event Center
Seattle Mist     Lingerie Football     LFL     Kent, ShoWare Center
Miscellaneous topics

Four ships of the United States Navy, including two Battleships, have been named USS Washington in honor of the state. Previous ships had held that name in honor of George Washington.
The Evergreen State

The state’s nickname “Evergreen” was proposed in 1890 by Charles T. Conover of Seattle, Washington. The name proved popular as the forests were full of evergreen trees and the abundance of rain keeps the shrubbery and grasses green throughout the year.[51]
State symbols
Reverse side of the Washington quarter
Main article: List of Washington state symbols

The state song is “Washington, My Home,” the state bird is the American Goldfinch, the state fruit is the apple, and the state vegetable is the Walla Walla sweet onion.[52] The state dance, adopted in 1979, is the square dance. The state tree is the Western Hemlock. The state flower is the Coast Rhododendron. The state fish is the steelhead trout. The state folk song is “Roll On, Columbia, Roll On” by Woody Guthrie. The State Grass is bluebunch wheatgrass. The state insect is the Green Darner Dragonfly. The state gem is petrified wood. The state fossil is the Columbian Mammoth. The state marine mammal is the orca.[53] The state land mammal is the Olympic Marmot. The state seal (featured in the state flag as well) was inspired by the unfinished portrait by Gilbert Stuart.[54]
See also
North America portal
United States portal
Washington portal
Main articles: Outline of Washington and Index of Washington-related articles

* List of ghost towns in Washington

References

1. ^ State Symbols
2. ^ a b c “Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009″. United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/popest/states/tables/NST-EST2009-01.csv. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
3. ^ a b c “Elevations and Distances in the United States”. U.S Geological Survey. 29 April 2005. http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html#Highest. Retrieved November 9, 2006.
4. ^ Washington State Constitution, Article XXIV Boundaries
5. ^ Mapes, Lynda V. (February 3, 2010). “Hoh Rain Forest revels in wet, ‘wild ballet’”. The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010963527_rain03m.html. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
6. ^ Washington State’s Glaciers are Melting, and That Has Scientists Concerned — Blumenthal, Les. (August 29, 2006). McClatchy Newspapers. Retrieved on September 13, 2009 from Commondreams.org
7. ^ “Dust Storm in Eastern Washington : Image of the Day”. earthobservatory.nasa.gov. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=40590. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
8. ^ Kruckeberg, Arthur R. (1991). The Natural History of Puget Sound Country. University of Washington Press. pp. 42–43. ISBN 0-295-97477-X.
9. ^ “HistoryLink.org- the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History”. www.historylink.org. http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3681. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
10. ^ Climate Change – Economic Impacts
11. ^ NOAA: Mt. Baker snowfall record sticks
12. ^ http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?wa5028 Western Regional Climate Data Center, Marietta
13. ^ http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?wa4769 Western Regional Climate Data Center, Longview
14. ^ “Smallpox epidemic ravages Native Americans on the northwest coast of North America in the 1770s.”
15. ^ “Articles on George Washington Bush”. City of Tumwater, WA. http://www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/research%20bushTOC.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
16. ^ “City of Longview History”. City of Longview, WA. http://www.mylongview.com/community/longview_history.html. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
17. ^ “Settlers met at Cowlitz Landing and discussed the establishment of a new territory north of the Columbia River”. Washington History – Territorial Timeline. Washington Secretary of State. http://www.sos.wa.gov/history/Timeline/detail.aspx?id=205. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
18. ^ “Mount St. Helens: Senator Murray Speaks on the 25th Anniversary of the May 18, 1980 Eruption”. Senate.gov. http://murray.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=237728. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
19. ^ “Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument: General Visitor Information”. USDA Forest Service. http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/04mshnvm/general/index.shtml. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
20. ^ http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/53000.html
21. ^ “Population and Population Centers by State: 2001″. U.S. Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/statecenters.txt. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
22. ^ “Population in Metropolitan Statistical Areas Ranked by 2000 Census” (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t29/tab01a.pdf. Retrieved 2006-12-17.
23. ^ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-context=adp&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_DP3YR2&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-tree_id=3308&-redoLog=false&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=04000US53&-format=&-_lang=en 2006-2008 American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates
24. ^ Official July 1, 2009 Washington State Population Estimates | OFM
25. ^ Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
26. ^ http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/reports/state/53_2000.asp
27. ^ Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone
28. ^ http://www.bea.gov/regional/gsp/
29. ^ “Top 20 Most Admired Companies”. Fortune Magazine. http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0703/gallery.mostadmired_top20.fortune/index.html. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
30. ^ “Washington State Liquor Control Board”. Washington State Liquor Control Board. http://www.liq.wa.gov/default.asp. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
31. ^ #1 William Gates III – The World’s Billionaires 2009 — Forbes (February 11, 2009). Retrieved 9-13-2009.
32. ^ [1] Seattle Times September 22, 2006 “No news here … Gates still richest”
33. ^ Bls.gov; Local Area Unemployment Statistics
34. ^ “Local Sales and Use Tax Rates by City/County”. Washington State Department of Revenue. http://dor.wa.gov/Docs/forms/ExcsTx/LocSalUseTx/LocalSlsUseFlyer_10_Q2_alpha.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
35. ^ “Collection of Retail Sales Tax”. Washington State Department of Revenue. http://dor.wa.gov/content/doingbusiness/businesstypes/industry/vets/vets_collection.aspx. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
36. ^ http://dor.wa.gov/content/home/TaxTopics/FederalDeductionLSTaxTable.aspx
37. ^ Schotzko, Thomas R.; Granatstein, David (2005), A Brief Look at the Washington Apple Industry: Past and Present, Pullman, WA: Washington State University, p. 1, http://www.agribusiness-mgmt.wsu.edu/agbusresearch/docs/SES04-05_BRIEF_LOOK_WAFTA.pdf, retrieved 2008-05-09
38. ^ Lemons, Hoyt; Rayburn, D. Tousley (July 1945). “The Washington Apple Industry. I. Its Geographic Basis”. Economic Geograpy (Clark University) 21 (3): 161–162, 166. doi:10.2307/141294.
39. ^ WSFLargest_foliov3_May06.indd
40. ^ King County International Airport/Boeing Field
41. ^ [2]
42. ^ http://www.landscouncil.org/documents/Newsletters/3%20Spring%2006.pdf
43. ^ http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/full_text_search/AllCRCDocs/94-54.htm/
44. ^ November 1994 General
45. ^ November 1996 General
46. ^ November 1998 General
47. ^ Washington State Report Card — Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved 10-6-2009.
48. ^ Districts and Schools — Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved 10-6-2009.
49. ^ About Us — Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved 10-6-2009.
50. ^ Running Start — Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved 10-6-2009.
51. ^ Jollata, Pat, “Naming Clark County”. Vancouver Historical Society. Vancouver, Washington. 1993. p.17
52. ^ Senate passes measure designating Walla Walla onion state veggie. Komo 4 Television. April 5, 2007. Retrieved on April 5, 2007.
53. ^ State Symbols. Washington State Legislature. Retrieved on April 5, 2007
54. ^ History of the State Seal. Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved on April 5, 2007

The Wikipedia article on this page is released under CC-BY-SA.
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The original article may be found at this location:

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The area’s history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony. Land from displaced Native American tribes and slave labor each played significant roles in the colony’s early politics and plantation economy. Virginia was one of the Thirteen Colonies in the American Revolution and joined the Confederacy in the American Civil War, during which Richmond was the Confederate capital and the state of West Virginia separated. Although traditionally conservative and historically part of the South, both major national parties are competitive in modern Virginia.[6]

The state government, home to the oldest legislature in the Americas, has been repeatedly ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States.[7] It is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its Governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginia’s economy has many sectors: agriculture in places like the Shenandoah Valley; federal agencies in Northern Virginia, including the Department of Defense and CIA; and military facilities in Hampton Roads, home to the region’s main seaport. The growth of the media and technology sectors have made computer chips the state’s leading export, with the industry based on the strength of Virginia’s public schools and universities.[8] Virginia does not have a major professional sports franchise, but is home to several prominent collegiate sports programs.

Geography
Environment of Virginia

Virginia has a total area of 42,774.2 square miles (110,784.67 km2), including 3,180.13 square miles (8,236.5 km2) of water, making it the 35th-largest state by area.[9] Virginia is bordered by Maryland and Washington, D.C. to the north and east; by the Atlantic Ocean to the east; by North Carolina and Tennessee to the south; by Kentucky to the west; and by West Virginia to the north and west. Due to a peculiarity of Virginia’s original charter, its boundary with Maryland and Washington, D.C. does not extend past the low-water mark of the south shore of the Potomac River (unlike many boundaries that split a river down the middle).[10] The southern border is defined as the 36° 30′ parallel north, though surveyor error led to deviations of as much as three arcminutes.[11]
Geology and terrain
Terrain map of Virginia divided with lines into five regions. The first region on the far left is small and only in the state’s panhandle. The next is larger, and covers most of the western part of the state. The next is a thin strip that covers only the mountains. The next is a wide area in the middle of the state. The left most is based on the rivers which diffuse the previous region.
Virginia is divided into five geographic regions.

The Chesapeake Bay separates the contiguous portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The bay was formed following a meteoroid impact crater during the Eocene.[12] Many of Virginia’s rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, James, and York, which create three peninsulas in the bay.[13][14] Geographically and geologically, Virginia is divided into five regions from east to west: Tidewater, Piedmont, Blue Ridge Mountains, Ridge and Valley, and Cumberland Plateau, also called the Appalachian Plateau.[15]

The Tidewater is a coastal plain between the Atlantic coast and the fall line. It includes the Eastern Shore and major estuaries which enter the Chesapeake Bay. The Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock-based foothills east of the mountains which were formed in the Mesozoic.[16] The region, known for its heavy clay soil, includes the Southwest Mountains.[17] The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the chain of Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the state, the tallest being Mount Rogers at 5,729 feet (1,746 m).[18] The Ridge and Valley region is west of the mountains, and includes the Great Appalachian Valley. The region is carbonate rock based, and includes Massanutten Mountain.[19] The Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains are in the south-west corner of Virginia, below the Allegheny Plateau. In this region rivers flow northwest, with a dendritic drainage system, into the Ohio River basin.[20]
Green tree covered mountains turn blue as the progress toward the horizon.
Deciduous and evergreen trees emit hydrocarbons which give the Blue Ridge Mountains their distinct color.[21]

Because of the areas of carbonate rock, more than 4,000 caves exist in Virginia, with ten open for tourism.[22] The Virginia seismic zone has not had a history of regular activity. Earthquakes are rarely above 4.5 on the Richter magnitude scale because Virginia is located centrally on the North American Plate. The largest earthquake, at an estimated 5.9 magnitude, was in 1897 near Blacksburg.[23] Coal mining takes place in the three mountainous regions at 40 distinct coal beds near Mesozoic basins.[24] Besides coal, resources such as slate, kyanite, sand, and gravel are mined, with an annual value over $2 billion as of 2006[update].[25]

Climate of Virginia

The climate of Virginia varies according to location, and becomes increasingly warmer and humid farther south and east.[26] Virginia experiences seasonal extremes, from average lows of 26 °F (-3.3 °C) in January to average highs of 86 °F (30 °C) in July. The moderating influence of the ocean from the east, powered by the Gulf Stream has a strong effect on the southeastern coastal areas of the state. It also creates the potential for hurricanes near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay.[27] Although Hurricane Camille devastated Nelson County in 1969, and Fran and Isabel caused flash flooding in the mountains in 1996 and 2003, hurricanes rarely threaten communities far inland.[26][28]

Thunderstorms are a regular occurrence, particularly in the western part of the state. Virginia has an annual average of 35-45 days of thunderstorm activity, and an average annual precipitation of 42.7 inches (108.5 cm).[27][29] Cold air masses arriving over the mountains in winter, can lead to significant snowfalls, such as the Blizzard of 1996 and winter storms of 2009–2010. The interaction of these elements with the state’s topography creates distinct microclimates in the Shenandoah Valley, the mountainous southwest, and the coastal plains.[30] Virginia averages seven tornadoes annually, though most are F2 or lower on the Fujita scale.[31]

In recent years, the expansion of the southern suburbs of Washington, D.C. into Northern Virginia has introduced an urban heat island primarily caused by increased absorption of solar radiation in more densely populated areas.[32] In the American Lung Association’s 2009 report, 15 counties received failing grades for air quality, with Fairfax County having the worst in the state, due to automobile pollution.[33][34] Haze in the mountains is caused in part by coal power plants.[35]
Flora and fauna

Forests cover 65% of the state, primarily with deciduous, broad leaf trees.[36] Lower altitudes are more likely to have small but dense stands of moisture-loving hemlocks and mosses in abundance, with hickory and oak in the Blue Ridge.[26] However since the early 1990s, Gypsy moth infestations have eroded the dominance of oak forests.[37] Other common trees and plants include chestnut, maple, tulip poplar, mountain laurel, milkweed, daisies, and many species of ferns. The largest areas of wilderness are along the Atlantic coast and in the western mountains, which are likely home to the largest populations of trillium wildflowers in North America.[26][38]
Two red-brown colored deer graze among yellow flowers in a meadow.
White-tailed deer, also known as Virginia deer, graze at Tanner Ridge in Shenandoah National Park

Mammals include White-tailed deer, black bear, beaver, bobcat, coyote, raccoon, skunk, groundhog, Virginia Opossum, gray fox, and eastern cottontail rabbit.[39] Birds include cardinals, barred owls, Carolina chickadees, Red-tailed Hawks, and Wild Turkeys. The Peregrine Falcon was reintroduced into Shenandoah National Park in the mid-1990s.[40] Walleye, brook trout, Roanoke bass, and blue catfish are among the 210 known species of freshwater fish.[41] Running brooks with rocky bottoms are often inhabited by a plentiful amounts of crayfish and salamanders.[26] The Chesapeake Bay is home to many species, including blue crabs, clams, oysters, and rockfish (also known as striped bass).[42]

Virginia has 30 National Park Service units, such as Great Falls Park and the Appalachian Trail, and one national park, the Shenandoah National Park.[43] Shenandoah was established in 1935 and encompasses the scenic Skyline Drive. Almost 40% of the park’s area (79,579 acres/322 km2) has been designated as wilderness under the National Wilderness Preservation System.[44] Additionally, there are 34 Virginia state parks and 17 state forests, run by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Department of Forestry.[36][45] The Chesapeake Bay, while not a national park, is protected by both state and federal legislation, and the jointly run Chesapeake Bay Program which conducts restoration on the bay and its watershed. The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge extends into North Carolina.[46]
History
Main article: History of Virginia
A black and white drawing of a young dark-haired Native American woman shielding a Elizabethan era man from execution by a Native American chief. She is bare-chested, and her face is bathed in light from an unknown source. Several Native Americans look on at the scene.
A 19th-century depiction of Pocahontas, of the Powhatan tribe, an ancestor of many of the First Families of Virginia

Jamestown 2007 marked Virginia’s quadricentennial year, celebrating 400 years since the establishment of the Jamestown Colony. The far-reaching social changes of the mid- to late-20th century were expressed by broad-based celebrations marking contributions of three cultures to the state: Native American, European, and African.[47][48] These three groups have each had a significant part in shaping Virginia’s history. Warfare has also had an important role, and Virginia has been a focus several conflicts from the American Revolution and the Civil War to the Cold War and the War on Terrorism.[49] Stories about historic figures, such as those surrounding Pocahontas and John Smith, George Washington’s childhood, or the antebellum period, have also created potent myths of state history, and have served as rationales for Virginia’s ideology.[50]
Colony
Main article: Colony of Virginia

The first peoples are estimated to have arrived in Virginia over 12,000 years ago.[51] By 5,000 years ago more permanent settlements emerged, and farming began by 900 CE. By 1500, the Algonquian peoples had founded towns such as Werowocomoco in the Tidewater region, which they referred to as Tsenacommacah. The other major language groups in the area were the Siouan to the west, and the Iroquoians, who included the Nottoway and Meherrin, to the north and south. After 1570, the Algonquians consolidated under Chief Powhatan in response to threats from these other groups on their trade network.[52] Powhatan controlled more than 30 smaller tribes and over 150 settlements, who shared a common Virginia Algonquian language. In 1607, the native Tidewater population was between 13,000 to 14,000.[53]

In 1583, Queen Elizabeth I of England granted Walter Raleigh a charter to explore and plant a colony north of Spanish Florida.[54] In 1584, Raleigh sent an expedition to the Atlantic coast of North America.[55] The name “Virginia” may have been suggested by Raleigh or Elizabeth, perhaps noting her status as the “Virgin Queen”, and may also be related to a native phrase, “Wingandacoa”, or name, “Wingina”.[56] Initially the name applied to the entire coastal region from South Carolina to Maine, plus the island of Bermuda.[57] The London Company was incorporated as a joint stock company by the proprietary Charter of 1606, which granted land rights to this area. The Company financed the first permanent English settlement in the “New World”, Jamestown. Named for King James I, it was founded in May 1607 by Christopher Newport.[58] In 1619, colonists took greater control with an elected legislature called the House of Burgesses. With the bankruptcy of the London Company in 1624, the settlement was taken into royal authority as a British crown colony.[59]
A three story red brick colonial style hall and its left and right wings during winter.
Williamsburg was the capital from 1699 to 1780.

Life in the colony was perilous, and many died during the “starving time” in 1609 and the Indian massacre of 1622, led by Opchanacanough.[60] By 1624, only 3,400 of the 6,000 early settlers had survived.[61] However, European demand for tobacco fueled the arrival of more settlers and servants.[62] African workers were first imported in 1619, and their slavery was codified after 1660. The headright system tried to solve the labor shortage by providing colonists with land for each indentured servant they transported to Virginia.[63] Tensions between the working and ruling classes led to Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676, by when current and former indentured servants made up as much as 80% of the population.[64] Colonists appropriated land from Virginia Indians by force and treaty, including the Treaty of 1677, which made the signatory tribes tributary states. Williamsburg became the colonial capital in 1699, following the founding of The College of William & Mary in 1693.[65]
Statehood
Upper-class middle-aged man dressed in a bright red cloak speaks before an assembly of other angry men. The subject’s right hand is raise high in gesture toward the balcony.
1851 painting of Patrick Henry’s speech before the House of Burgesses on the Virginia Resolves against the Stamp Act of 1765

The British Parliament’s efforts to levy new taxes following the French and Indian War (1754–1763) were deeply unpopular in the colonies. In the House of Burgesses, opposition to taxation without representation was led by Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, among others.[66] Virginians began to coordinate their actions with other colonies in 1773, and sent delegates to the Continental Congress the following year.[67] After the House of Burgesses was dissolved by the royal governor in 1774, Virginia’s revolutionary leaders continued to govern via the Virginia Conventions. On May 15, 1776, the Convention declared Virginia’s independence from the British Empire and adopted George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was then included in a new constitution.[68] Another Virginian, Thomas Jefferson, drew upon Mason’s work in drafting the national Declaration of Independence.[69]

When the American Revolutionary War began, George Washington, who had commanded Virginia’s forces in the French and Indian War, was selected to head the colonial army. During the war, the capital was moved to Richmond at the urging of Governor Thomas Jefferson, who feared that Williamsburg’s location would make it vulnerable to British attack.[70] In 1781, the combined action of Continental and French land and naval forces trapped the British army on the Virginia Peninsula, where troops under George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau defeated British General Cornwallis in the Siege of Yorktown. His surrender on October 19, 1781, led to peace negotiations in Paris and secured the independence of the colonies.[71]

Virginians were instrumental in writing the United States Constitution. James Madison drafted the Virginia Plan in 1787 and the Bill of Rights in 1789.[69] Virginia ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788. The three-fifths compromise ensured that Virginia, with its large number of slaves, initially had the largest bloc in the House of Representatives. Together with the Virginia dynasty of presidents, this gave the Commonwealth national importance. In 1790, both Virginia and Maryland ceded territory to form the new District of Columbia, though in 1846 the Virginian area was retroceded.[72] Virginia is sometimes called “Mother of States” because of its role in being carved into several mid-western states.[73]
Civil War and aftermath
Main article: Virginia in the American Civil War
Wide view of a cityscape with evident destruction. Unused cannons and cannonballs litter the foreground, while a large Neoclassical building stands intact in the rear center.
Richmond, the capital of the Confederate States of America, was burned prior to its capture by the Union.

In addition to agriculture, slave labor was increasingly used in mining, shipbuilding and other industries.[74] After the Revolutionary War, the free black population rose, creating thriving communities in Petersburg and Richmond. Numerous individual manumissions were inspired by Quaker abolitionists and the revolution’s principles.[75] Nat Turner’s slave rebellion in 1831 and John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 showed deep social discontent about slavery and its role in the plantation economy. By 1860, almost half a million people, roughly 31% of the total population of Virginia, were enslaved.[76] This division contributed to the start of the American Civil War.

Virginia voted to secede from the United States on April 17, 1861, after the Battle of Fort Sumter and Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers. On April 24, Virginia joined the Confederate States of America, which chose Richmond as its capital.[73] After the 1863 Wheeling Convention, 48 counties in the northwest separated to form a new state of West Virginia, which chose to remain loyal to the Union. During the war, more battles were fought in Virginia than anywhere else, including Bull Run, the Seven Days Battles, Chancellorsville, and the concluding Battle of Appomattox Court House.[77] After the capture of Richmond in 1865, the capital was briefly moved to Danville.[78] Virginia was formally restored to the United States in 1870, due to the work of the Committee of Nine.[79]

During the post-war Reconstruction era, Virginia adopted a constitution which provided for free public schools, and guaranteed political, civil, and voting rights.[80] The populist Readjuster Party ran an inclusive coalition until the conservative white Democratic Party gained power after 1883.[81] It passed segregationist Jim Crow laws and in 1902 rewrote the Constitution of Virginia to include a poll tax and other voter registration measures that effectively disfranchised most African Americans and many poor whites.[82] Despite underfunding for segregated schools and services and a lack of political representation, African Americans still created vibrant communities and made progress.[83]
Modern times
Bronze sculptures of seven figures marching stand around a large rectangular block of white engraved granite.
The Virginia Civil Rights Memorial was erected in 2008 to commemorate the protests which led to school desegregation.

Protests started by Barbara Rose Johns in 1951 in Farmville against segregated schools led to the lawsuit Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County. This case, filed by Richmond natives Spottswood Robinson and Oliver Hill, was decided in 1954 with Brown v. Board of Education, which rejected the segregationist doctrine of “separate but equal”. However in 1958, under the policy of “massive resistance” spearheaded by the powerful segregationist Senator Harry F. Byrd and his Byrd Organization, the state prohibited desegregated local schools from receiving funding.[84]

The Civil Rights Movement gained many participants in the 1960s and achieved the moral force to gain national legislation for protection of suffrage and civil rights for African Americans. In 1964 the United States Supreme Court ordered Prince Edward County and others to integrate schools.[85] In 1967, the Court also struck down the state’s ban on interracial marriage. From 1969 to 1971, state legislators under Governor Mills Godwin rewrote the constitution, after goals such as the repeal of Jim Crow laws had been achieved. In 1989, Douglas Wilder became the first African American elected as governor in the United States.[86]

New economic forces also changed the Commonwealth. In 1926, Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, rector of Williamsburg’s Bruton Parish Church, began restoration of colonial-era buildings in the historic district with financial backing of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; their work led to the development of Colonial Williamsburg, the state’s most popular tourism site.[87] World War II and the Cold War led to massive expansion of national government programs housed in offices in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., and correlative population growth.[88] Among the federal developments was the Pentagon, which was later targeted in the September 11 attacks, during which 189 people died.[89]
Cities and towns
Main article: Political subdivisions of Virginia
Several tall towers lit at night form a skyline over a calm stretch of water, in which the lights are reflected.
The population of the Hampton Roads area is over 1.6 million.

Virginia is divided into 95 counties and 39 independent cities, which both operate the same way since independent cities are considered to be county-equivalent.[90] This method of treating cities and counties equally is unique to Virginia, with only three other independent cities in the United States outside Virginia.[91] While incorporation as a city constitutes independence (since 1871), there are also incorporated towns which operate under their own governments but are part of a county, too. Finally there are hundreds of unincorporated communities within the counties. Virginia does not have any further political subdivisions, such as villages or townships.

Virginia has 11 Metropolitan Statistical Areas; Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Richmond-Petersburg are the three most populated. Richmond is the capital of Virginia, and its metropolitan area has a population of over 1.2 million.[92] As of 2008[update], Virginia Beach is the most populous city in the Commonwealth, with Norfolk and Chesapeake second and third, respectively.[93] Norfolk forms the urban core of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, which is home to over 1.6 million people and the world’s largest naval base, Naval Station Norfolk.[92][94] Suffolk, which includes a portion of the Great Dismal Swamp, is the largest city by area at 429.1 square miles (1,111 km2).[95]

Fairfax County is the most populous division in Virginia, with over one million residents, although that does not include its county seat Fairfax, which is one of the independent cities.[96] Fairfax County has a major urban business and shopping center in Tysons Corner, Virginia’s largest office market.[97] Neighboring Loudoun County, with the county seat at Leesburg, is both the fastest-growing county in the United States and has the highest median household income ($107,207) as of 2007[update].[98][99] Arlington County, the smallest self-governing county in the United States by land area, is an urban community organized as a county.[100] The Roanoke area, with a population of 292,983, is the largest Metropolitan Statistical Area in western Virginia.[101]
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Virginia
Historical populations
Census     Pop.         %±
1790     691,737
—
1800     807,557         16.7%
1810     877,683         8.7%
1820     938,261         6.9%
1830     1,044,054         11.3%
1840     1,025,227         -1.8%
1850     1,119,348         9.2%
1860     1,219,630         9.0%
1870     1,225,163         0.5%
1880     1,512,565         23.5%
1890     1,655,980         9.5%
1900     1,854,184         12.0%
1910     2,061,612         11.2%
1920     2,309,187         12.0%
1930     2,421,851         4.9%
1940     2,677,773         10.6%
1950     3,318,680         23.9%
1960     3,966,949         19.5%
1970     4,648,494         17.2%
1980     5,346,818         15.0%
1990     6,187,358         15.7%
2000     7,078,515         14.4%
Est. 2009     7,882,590         11.4%
A map of Virginia with areas colored in green for low population changing to red for areas of high population. The most red areas are in the very north of the state, the center of the state, and the very south-east of the state. The rest is mostly green.
Virginia has metropolitan areas located throughout the state.

As of 2008[update], Virginia had an estimated population of 7,769,089 which is an increase of 56,998, or about 1%, from the prior year and an increase of 690,574, or 9.8%, since the year 2000.[5] This includes an increase from net migration of 314,832 people into the Commonwealth. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 159,627 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 155,205 people.[102] The center of population is located in Goochland County outside of Richmond.[103]

English was passed as the Commonwealth’s official language by statutes in 1981 and again in 1996, though the status is not mandated by the Constitution of Virginia.[104] English is the only language spoken by 6,245,517 (86.7%) Virginians, though it is spoken “very well” by an additional 570,638 (7.9%) for a total of 94.6% of the Commonwealth. Among speakers of other languages Spanish is the most common with 424,381 (5.9%). 226,911 (3.2%) speak Asian and Pacific Islander languages, including Korean, Vietnamese, and Filipino.[105]
Ethnicity

As of 2000[update], the five largest reported ancestry groups in Virginia are: African (19.6%), German (11.7%), unspecified American (11.4%), English (11.1%), and Irish (9.8%).[106] Because of more recent immigration in the late 20th century and early 21st century, there are rapidly growing populations of Hispanics, particularly Central Americans, and Asians. As of 2007[update], 6.6% of Virginians are Hispanic, 5.4% are Asian, and 0.9% are American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.[5] The Hispanic population of the state tripled from 1990 to 2006, with two-thirds of Hispanics living in Northern Virginia. Hispanics in Virginia have higher median household incomes and educational attainment than the general United States or Virginia population.[107]

Most African American Virginians are descendants of enslaved Africans who worked on tobacco, cotton, and hemp plantations. These men, women and children were brought from west-central Africa, primarily from Angola and the Bight of Biafra. The Igbo ethnic group of what is now southern Nigeria were the single largest African group among slaves in Virginia.[108][109] Though the black population was reduced by the Great Migration, since 1965 there has been a reverse migration of blacks returning south.[110] The western mountains have many settlements founded by Scotch-Irish immigrants before the Revolution.[111] There are also sizable numbers of people of German descent in the northwestern mountains and Shenandoah Valley.[112] People of English heritage settled throughout the state during the colonial period, and others of British and Irish heritage have since immigrated to the state for work.[113]

Northern Virginia has some of the largest populations nationwide of Vietnamese Americans, whose major wave of immigration followed the Vietnam War, and Korean Americans, whose migration has been more recent and was induced in part by the quality school system.[114][115] The Filipino American community has about 45,000 in the Hampton Roads area, many of whom have ties to the U.S. Navy and armed forces.[116] Virginia also continues to be home to eight Native American tribes recognized by the state, though all lack federal recognition status. Most Native American groups are located in the Tidewater region.[117]
Ethnicity (2008)           Largest Ancestries by County     Ancestry (2000)
White     72.4%     Virginia counties colored either red, blue, yellow, green, or purple based on the populations most common ancestry. The south-east is predominately purple for African American, while the west is mostly red for American. The north has yellow for German, with two small areas green for Irish. Yellow is also found in spots in the west. A strip in the middle is blue for English.
U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 special tabulation. American Factfinder provides census data and maps.

African American      19.9%
Black or African American     20.5%

German     11.7%
Hispanic or Latino     6.6%

American     11.4%
Asian     5.4%

English     11.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native      0.8%

Irish     9.8%
Religion
Religion (2008)
Christian[118]     76%
Baptist     27%
Roman Catholic      11%
Methodist     8%
Lutheran     2%
Other Christian     28%
Buddhism     1%
Hinduism     1%
Judaism     1%
Islam     0.5%
Unaffiliated     18%

Virginia is predominantly Christian and Protestant; Baptists are the largest single group with 27% of the population as of 2008[update].[118] Baptist denominational groups in Virginia include the Baptist General Association of Virginia, with about 1,400 member churches, which supports both the Southern Baptist Convention and the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship; and the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia with more than 500 affiliated churches, which supports the Southern Baptist Convention.[119][120] Roman Catholics are the second-largest religious group, and the group which grew the most in the 1990s.[121][122] The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington includes most of Northern Virginia’s Catholic churches, while the Diocese of Richmond covers the rest.
An 18th-century red brick church with white steeple behind a modern road in autumn.
Christ Church in Alexandria was frequented by George Washington and Robert E. Lee.

The Virginia Conference is the regional body of the United Methodist Church and the Virginia Synod is responsible for the congregations of the Lutheran Church. Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Congregationalists, and Episcopalians each composed 1–3% of the population as of 2001[update].[123] The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, Southern Virginia, and Southwestern Virginia support the various Episcopal churches.

In November 2006, 15 conservative Episcopal churches voted to split from the Diocese of Virginia over the ordination of openly gay bishops and clergy in other dioceses of the Episcopal Church; these churches continue to claim affiliation with the larger Anglican Communion through other bodies outside the United States. Though Virginia law allows parishioners to determine their church’s affiliation, the diocese claims the secessionist churches’ properties. The resulting property law case is a test for Episcopal churches nationwide.[124]

Among other religions, adherents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints constitute 1.1% of the population, with 188 congregations in Virginia as of 2008[update].[125] Fairfax Station is home to the Ekoji Buddhist Temple, of the Jodo Shinshu school, and the Hindu Durga Temple. While a small population in terms of the state overall, organized Jewish sites date to 1789 with Congregation Beth Ahabah.[126]

Muslims are a rapidly growing religious group throughout the state through immigration.[127] Megachurches in the state include Thomas Road Baptist Church, Immanuel Bible Church, and McLean Bible Church.[128] Several major Christian universities are also based in the state, including Regent University, Liberty University, and Lynchburg College.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Virginia
High-rise hotels line the ocean front covered with colorful beach-goers.
Ocean tourism is an important sector of Virginia Beach’s economy.

Virginia’s economy is balanced, with diverse sources of income, including government and military, farming, and business. Virginia has 4.1 million civilian workers, and one-third of the jobs are in the service sector.[129][130] The unemployment rate is 7.2% as of February 2010[update].[131] In 2009, Forbes Magazine named Virginia the best state in the nation for business for the fourth year in a row.[132] The Gross Domestic Product of Virginia was $397 billion in 2008.[133] As of 2000[update], Virginia had the highest number of counties in the top 100 wealthiest jurisdictions in the United States based upon median income.[134] Virginia is home to 18 Fortune 500 companies, ranking the state tenth nationwide.[135]

Virginia has the highest concentration of technology workers of any state.[136] Computer chips became the state’s highest-grossing export in 2006, surpassing its traditional top exports of coal and tobacco combined.[8] Northern Virginia, once considered the state’s dairy capital, now hosts software, communication technology, and consulting companies, particularly in the Dulles Technology Corridor. Northern Virginia’s data centers currently carry more than 50% of the nation’s internet traffic, and by 2012 Dominion Power expects that 10% of all its electricity in Northern Virginia will be used by data centers.[137] Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Northern Virginia have the highest and second highest median household income, respectively, of all counties in the United States as of 2006[update].[138]

Agriculture occupies 24% of the land in Virginia. As of 2007[update], about 357,000 Virginian jobs were in agriculture, with over 47,000 farms, averaging 171 acres (0.27 sq mi; 0.69 km2), in a total farmland area of 8.1 million acres (12,656 sq mi; 32,780 km2). Though agriculture has declined significantly since 1960 when there were twice as many farms, it remains the largest single industry in Virginia.[139] Tomatoes surpassed soy as the most profitable crop in Virginia in 2006, with peanuts and hay as other agricultural products.[140] Though its no longer the primary crop, Virginia is still the fifth-largest producer of tobacco nationwide.[141] Eastern oyster harvests are an important part of the Chesapeake Bay economy, but declining oyster populations from disease, pollution, and overfishing have diminished catches.[142] Wineries and vineyards in the Northern Neck and along the Blue Ridge Mountains also have begun to generate income and attract tourists.[143]
Aerial view of the huge five-sided building and its multiple rings. Parking lots and highways stretch away from it.
The Department of Defense is headquartered at The Pentagon in Arlington, the world’s largest office building.[144]

10% of all U.S. federal procurement money is spent in Virginia.[145] Virginia has the highest defense spending of any state per capita, providing the state with around 900,000 jobs.[145][146] Virginia is home to 800,000 veterans, more than any other state, and is second to California in total Department of Defense employees.[147][146] Many Virginians work for federal agencies in Northern Virginia, which include the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense, as well as the National Science Foundation, the United States Geological Survey and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Many others work for government contractors, including defense and security firms, which hold more than 15,000 federal contracts.[148] The Hampton Roads area has the largest concentration of military bases and facilities of any metropolitan area in the world. The largest of the bases is Naval Station Norfolk.[94]

Virginia collects personal income tax in five income brackets, ranging from 3.0% to 5.75%. The state sales and use tax rate is 4%, while the tax rate on food is 1.5%. There is an additional 1% local tax, for a total of a 5% combined sales tax on most Virginia purchases and 2.5% on most food.[149] Virginia’s property tax is set and collected at the local government level and varies throughout the Commonwealth. Real estate is also taxed at the local level based on 100% of fair market value. Tangible personal property also is taxed at the local level and is based on a percentage or percentages of original cost.[150]
Culture
Main article: Culture of Virginia
Five women dressed in long colonial style clothing sit on the stairs of tan and beige buildings talking. In front of them is a wooden wheelbarrow full of wicker baskets.
Colonial Virginian culture, language, and style is reenacted in Williamsburg.

Virginia’s historic culture was popularized and spread across America and the South by figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Robert E. Lee. Their homes in Virginia represent the birthplace of America and the South. Modern Virginia culture has many sources, and is part of the culture of the Southern United States.[151][152] The Smithsonian Institution divides Virginia into nine cultural regions.[153] The Piedmont region is one of the most famous for its dialect’s strong influence on Southern American English. While a more homogenized American English is found in urban areas, various accents are also used, including the Tidewater accent, the Old Virginia accent, and the anachronistic Elizabethan of Tangier Island.[154][155]

Literature in Virginia often deals with the state’s extensive, and sometimes troubled, past. The works of Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Glasgow often dealt with social inequalities and the role of women in her culture.[156] Glasgow’s peer and close friend James Branch Cabell wrote extensively about the changing position of gentry in the Reconstruction era, and challenged its moral code with Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice.[157] William Styron approached history in works such as The Confessions of Nat Turner and Sophie’s Choice.[158] Tom Wolfe has occasionally dealt with his southern heritage in bestsellers like I Am Charlotte Simmons.[159] Virginia also names a state Poet Laureate, currently Claudia Emerson of Fredericksburg who will serve until 2010.[160]

Besides the general cuisine of the Southern United States, Virginia maintains its own particular traditions. Virginia wine is made in many parts of the state.[143] Smithfield ham, sometimes called “Virginia ham”, is a type of country ham which is protected by state law, and can only be produced in the town of Smithfield.[161] Virginia furniture and architecture are typical of American colonial architecture. Thomas Jefferson and many of the state’s early leaders favored the Neoclassical architecture style, leading to its use for important state buildings. The Pennsylvania Dutch and their style can also be found in parts of the state.[112]
Fine and performing arts
See also: Music of Virginia
A small, boxy, wooden stage with a trapezoidal overhang stands in the center of meadow. In the foreground is a running stream with a stone embankment.
The Meadow Pavilion is one of the theaters at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.

Though rich in cultural heritage, Virginia ranks near the bottom of U.S. states in terms of public spending on the arts, at nearly half of the national average.[162] The state does fund institutions including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Science Museum of Virginia. Other museums include the popular Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum and the Chrysler Museum of Art.[163] Besides these sites, many open-air museums are located in the state, such as Colonial Williamsburg, the Frontier Culture Museum, and various historic battlefields.[164] The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities works to improve the Commonwealth’s civic, cultural, and intellectual life.[165]

Theaters and venues in the state are found both in the cities and suburbs. Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is located in Vienna and is the only national park intended for use as a performing arts center.[166] The Harrison Opera House in Norfolk is home to the official Virginia Opera, while the Virginia Symphony Orchestra operates around Hampton Roads.[167] The American Shakespeare Center in Staunton is home to resident and touring theater troupes.[168] The Barter Theatre in Abingdon won the first ever Regional Theatre Tony Award in 1948, while the Signature Theatre in Arlington won it in 2009. There’s also a Children’s Theater of Virginia, Theatre IV, which is the second largest touring troupe nationwide.[169] Virginia has launched many award-winning traditional musical artists and internationally successful popular music acts, as well as Hollywood actors.[1] Notable performance venues include The Birchmere, the Landmark Theater, and Jiffy Lube Live.[170]
Festivals
Dozens of brown and white ponies surge out of the shallow water onto a grassy shore crowded with onlookers.
The annual Chincoteague Pony Swim features over 200 wild ponies swimming across the Assateague Channel into Chincoteague.

Many counties and localities host county fairs and festivals. The Virginia State Fair is held at the Meadow Event Park every September. Also in September is the Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach, which celebrates the city, the waterfront, and regional artists. Norfolk’s Harborfest, in June, features boat racing and air shows.[171] Fairfax County also sponsors Celebrate Fairfax! with popular and traditional music performances.[172] The Virginia Lake Festival is held during the third weekend in July in Clarksville.[173] Wolf Trap hosts the Wolf Trap Opera Company, which produces an opera festival every summer.[166]

On the Eastern Shore island of Chincoteague the annual Pony Swim & Auction of feral Chincoteague ponies at the end of July is a unique local tradition expanded into a week-long carnival. The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival is a six-day festival held annually in Winchester that includes parades and bluegrass concerts. The Old Time Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax, begun in 1935, is one of the oldest and largest such events worldwide. Two important film festivals, the Virginia Film Festival and the VCU French Film Festival, are held annually in Charlottesville and Richmond, respectively.[171]
Media
Two geometric all glass towers connected by a central atrium stand in front of a grassy walkway and under a dark and cloudy sky
McLean is home to the headquarters of USA Today, the nation’s most circulated newspaper.

The Hampton Roads area is the 42nd-largest media market in the United States as ranked by Nielsen Media Research, while the Richmond-Petersburg area is 60th and Roanoke-Lynchburg is 68th.[174] There are 21 television stations in Virginia, representing each major U.S. network, part of 42 stations which serve Virginia viewers.[175] More than 800 FCC-licensed FM radio stations broadcast in Virginia, with over 300 such AM stations.[176][177] The nationally available Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is headquartered in Arlington. The locally focused Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation, which produces MHz Networks, is a non-profit corporation which owns public TV and radio stations and has offices around the state.[178]

The most circulated native newspapers in the Commonwealth are the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Norfolk’s The Virginian-Pilot, The Roanoke Times, and Newport News’ Daily Press. As of 2008[update], the Pilot has a daily subscription of 174,573, slightly more than the Times-Dispatch at 160,886, 54th and 59th in the nation respectively, while the Roanoke Times has about 90,557 daily subscribers.[179][180] Several Washington, D.C. papers are based in Northern Virginia, such as The Washington Examiner and The Politico. The paper with the nation’s widest circulation, USA Today, is headquartered in McLean.[181] Besides traditional forms of media, Virginia is home to telecommunication companies such as Sprint Nextel and XO Communications.
Education
Main article: Education in Virginia
A red brick, Neoclassical dome with a large portico on the front and covered walkway on the sides lit up at dusk. Dark trees border the building on both sides.
The University of Virginia, a World Heritage Site, was founded by President Thomas Jefferson.[182]

Virginia’s educational system consistently ranks in the top ten states on the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress, with Virginia students outperforming the average in all subject areas and grade levels tested.[183] The 2010 Quality Counts report ranked Virginia’s K–12 education fourth best in the country.[184] All school divisions must adhere to educational standards set forth by the Virginia Department of Education, which maintains an assessment and accreditation regime known as the Standards of Learning to ensure accountability.[185] In 2008, 81% of high school students graduated on-time after four years.[186] Between 2000 and 2008, school enrollment increased 5%, the number of teachers 21%.[187]

Public K–12 schools in Virginia are generally operated by the counties and cities, and not by the state. As of April 2010[update], a total of 1,259,623 students were enrolled in 1,881 local and regional schools in the Commonwealth, including three charter schools, and an additional 109 alternative and special education centers across 132 school divisions.[188][189] Besides the general public schools in Virginia, there are Governor’s Schools and selective magnet schools. The Governor’s Schools are a collection of more than 40 regional high schools and summer programs intended for gifted students.[190] The Virginia Council for Private Education oversees the regulation of 294 state accredited and 141 non-accredited private schools.[191] An additional 7,020 students receive homeschooling.[192]

As of 2010[update], there are 167 colleges and universities in Virginia.[193] In the U.S. News and World Report ranking of public colleges, the University of Virginia is second and The College of William & Mary is sixth.[194][195] Virginia Commonwealth University is ranked the top public graduate school in fine arts, while James Madison University has been recognized as the top public master’s program in The South since 1993.[196][197] The Virginia Military Institute is the oldest state military college and a top ranked public liberal arts college.[198][199] George Mason University is the largest university in Virginia with over 32,000 students.[200] Virginia Tech and Virginia State University are the state’s land-grant universities. Virginia also operates 23 community colleges on 40 campuses serving over 260,000 students.[201] There are 120 private institutions, including Washington and Lee University, Hampden–Sydney College, Roanoke College, and the University of Richmond.[193]
Health
A red brick high-rise building with several wings and levels in front of a bright blue sky with a traffic light and street sign visible at the bottom.
The A.D. Williams Clinic and West Hospital at VCU Medical Center in Richmond

Virginia has a mixed health record, and is ranked as the 21st overall healthiest state according to the 2009 United Health Foundation’s Health Rankings.[202] Virginia also ranks 21st among the states in the rate of premature deaths, 7,104 per 100,000. In 2008, Virginia reached its lowest ever rate of infant mortality, at 6.7 deaths per 1,000.[203] There are however racial and social health disparities, with African Americans experiencing 27.9% more premature deaths than whites, while 13.6% of Virginians lack any health insurance.[202] According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2007 survey, 25.3% of Virginians are obese and another 36.6% are overweight, and only 78.4% of residents exercise regularly.[204][205] About 30% of Virginia’s 10- to 17-year-olds are overweight or obese.[206]

There are 85 hospitals in Virginia listed with the United States Department of Health and Human Services.[207] Notable examples include Inova Fairfax Hospital, the largest hospital in the Washington Metropolitan Area, and the VCU Medical Center, located on the medical campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. The University of Virginia Medical Center, part of the University of Virginia Health System, is highly ranked in endocrinology according to U.S.News & World Report.[208] Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, part of the Hampton Roads based Sentara Health System, is also nationally ranked, and was the site of the first successful in-vitro fertilization birth.[209][210] Virginia has a ratio of 124 primary care physicians per 10,000 residents, which is the 13th highest nationally.[202] Virginia was one of five states to receive a perfect score in disaster preparedness according to a 2008 report by the Trust for America’s Health, based on criteria such as detecting pathogens and distributing vaccines and medical supplies.[211]
Transportation
Main article: Transportation in Virginia
Blue and silver train engine with red and white accent lines moves closer leading a series of similarly colored passenger cars with shrubs and a sound wall in the background.
The Virginia Railway Express runs commuter lines in Northern Virginia.

Because of the 1932 Byrd Road Act, the state government controls most of Virginia’s roads, instead of a local city or county authority as is usual in other states.[212] As of 2007[update], the Virginia Department of Transportation owns and operates 57,867 miles (93,128 km) of the total 68,428 miles (110,124 km) of roads in the state, making it the third largest state highway system in the United States.[213] Virginia’s road system is ranked as the 16th best in the nation.[214] While the Washington Metropolitan Area has the second worst traffic in the nation, Virginia as a whole has the 21st-lowest congestion and the average commute time is 26.9 minutes.[215][216] Virginia has both low disbursements for roads and bridges, and a low road fatality rate.[214]

Virginia has Amtrak passenger rail service along several corridors, and Virginia Railway Express maintains two commuter lines into Washington, D.C. from Fredericksburg and Manassas. The Washington Metro rapid transit system serves Northern Virginia as far west as Fairfax County, although expansion plans call for Metro to reach Loudoun County by 2016.[217] Commuter buses include the Fairfax Connector and the Shenandoah Valley Commuter Bus. The Virginia Department of Transportation operates several free ferries throughout Virginia, the most notable being the Jamestown-Scotland ferry which crosses the James River in Surry County.[218]

Virginia has five major airports: Washington Dulles International, Reagan Washington National, Norfolk International, Richmond International, and Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport. Sixty-six public airports serve the state’s aviation needs.[219] The Virginia Port Authority’s main seaports are those in Hampton Roads, which carried 17,726,251 short tons (16,080,984 t) of bulk cargo in 2007, the sixth most of United States ports.[220] The Eastern Shore of Virginia is home to Wallops Flight Facility, a rocket testing center owned by NASA, and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, a commercial spaceport.[221][222] Space tourism is also offered through Vienna-based Space Adventures.[223]
Law and government
Main article: Government of Virginia
All white Neoclassical building with pediment and six columns rises on a grassy hill with a large American elm tree in the left foreground. Two boxier, but similarly styled wings are attached at the building’s rear.
The Virginia State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson and begun by Governor Patrick Henry in 1785, is home to the Virginia General Assembly.

In colonial Virginia, free men elected the lower house of the legislature, called the House of Burgesses, which together with the Governor’s Council, made the “General Assembly”. Founded in 1619, the Virginia General Assembly is still in existence as the oldest legislature in the Western Hemisphere.[224] The modern government is ranked by the Pew Center on the States with an A- in terms of its efficiency, effectiveness, and infrastructure. This is the second time Virginia received the highest grade in the nation, which it shares with two others.[7]

Since 1971, the government has functioned under the seventh Constitution of Virginia, which provides for a strong legislature and a unified judicial system. Similar to the federal structure, the government is divided in three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislature is the General Assembly, a bicameral body whose 100-member House of Delegates and 40-member Senate write the laws for the Commonwealth. The Assembly is stronger than the executive, as it selects judges and justices. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor are elected every four years in separate elections. Incumbent governors cannot run for re-election, however the Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General can, and governors may serve non-consecutive terms.[225] The judicial system, the oldest in America, consists of a hierarchy from the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia to the lower general district and circuit courts.[226]

The Code of Virginia is the statutory law, and consists of the codified legislation of the General Assembly. The Virginia State Police is the largest law enforcement agency in Virginia. The Virginia Capitol Police are the oldest police department in the United States.[227] The Virginia National Guard consists of 7,500 soldiers in the Virginia Army National Guard and 1,200 airmen in the Virginia Air National Guard.[228] Since the 1982 resumption of capital punishment in Virginia, 106 people have been executed, the second highest number in the nation.[229] The “total crime risk” is 28% lower than the national average.[230]
Politics
Main article: Politics of Virginia

In the last century Virginia has shifted from a largely rural, politically Southern and conservative state to a more urbanized, pluralistic, and politically moderate environment. Up until the 1970s, Virginia was a racially divided single-party state dominated by the Byrd Organization.[231] African Americans were effectively disfranchised until after passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s.[232] Enfranchisement and immigration of other groups, especially Hispanics, have placed growing importance on minority voting.[233] Regional differences play a large part in Virginia politics.[234] Rural southern and western areas moved to support the Republican Party in response to its “southern strategy”, while urban and growing suburban areas, including much of Northern Virginia, form the Democratic Party base.[235][236] Democratic support also persists in union-influenced parts of Southwest Virginia, college towns such as Charlottesville and Blacksburg, and the southeastern Black Belt Region.[237]
A crowded stage of politicians both white and African American stand before supporters and press.
Jim Webb speaks at a Richmond rally with former Governors Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, and Douglas Wilder, future President Barack Obama, and others.

Political party strength in Virginia has likewise been in flux. In the 2007 state elections, Democrats regained control of the State Senate, and narrowed the Republican majority in the House of Delegates to eight seats.[238] Yet elections in 2009 resulted in the election of Republican Robert McDonnell as governor by a 17 point margin, the election of a Republican Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, as well as Republican gains of six seats in the House of Delegates.[239] State election seasons traditionally start with the annual Shad Planking event in Wakefield.[240]

In federal elections since 2006, Democrats have seen more success. In the 2006 Senate election, Democrat Jim Webb won on a populist platform over the Republican incumbent following a very close race.[241] The party took both U.S. Senate seats after 2008, when former Governor Mark Warner replaced retiring Republican John Warner.[242] Of the state’s 11 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats hold six and Republicans hold five. Virginia, which has 13 electoral votes, was won by Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, after being won by Republican candidates in the previous ten presidential elections.[243] Virginia may be considered a “swing state” in future presidential elections.[6]
Sports
See also: List of professional sports teams in Virginia
A quarterback hands off the football to his running back. The team is dressed in Chicago maroon and burnt orange jerseys with white pants.
The Virginia Tech Hokies football team has the third longest bowl game streak in the nation.[244]

Virginia is the most populous U.S. state without a major professional sports league franchise.[245] The reasons for this include the lack of any dominant city or market within the state and the proximity of teams in Washington, D.C.[246] Virginia is home to many minor league clubs, especially in baseball and soccer. Additionally, the Washington Redskins have Redskins Park, their headquarters and training facility, in Ashburn and the Washington Capitals train at Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Ballston.[247] Virginia has many professional caliber golf courses including the Greg Norman course at Lansdowne Resort and Kingsmill Resort, home of the Michelob ULTRA Open. NASCAR currently schedules Sprint Cup races on two tracks in Virginia: Martinsville Speedway and Richmond International Raceway. Current Virginia drivers in the series include Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, and Elliot Sadler.[248]

The Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles also have followings due to their proximity, and both are broadcast in the state on MASN.[249] When the New York Mets ended their long affiliation with the Norfolk Tides in 2007, the Orioles adopted the minor league club as their top level (AAA) minor league affiliate.[250] The San Francisco Giants’ AA team, the Richmond Flying Squirrels, began play at The Diamond in 2010, replacing the AAA Richmond Braves, who relocated after 2008.[251] Additionally, the Nationals, Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, and Atlanta Braves also have Single-A and Rookie-level farm teams in Virginia.[252]

Virginia does not allow state appropriated funds to be used for either operational or capital expenses for intercollegiate athletics.[253] Despite this, both the Virginia Cavaliers and Virginia Tech Hokies have been able to field competitive teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference and maintain modern facilities. Their rivalry is followed statewide. Several other universities compete in NCAA Division I, particularly in the Colonial Athletic Association. Three historically black schools compete in the Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and two others compete in the Division I Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Several smaller schools compete in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the USA South Athletic Conference of NCAA Division III. The NCAA currently holds its Division III championships in football, men’s basketball, volleyball and softball in Salem.[254]
State symbols
Main article: List of Virginia state symbols
A large square metal sign, mostly white, with the words Virginia Welcomes You in blue and red. In the center a red cardinal bird sits on a branch with two white flowers around it.
The Virginia welcome sign at the Virginia welcome center on I-95 employs the state bird, the cardinal, and the state tree and flower, the dogwood.

The state nickname is its oldest symbol, though it has never been made official by law. Virginia was given the title “Dominion” by King Charles II of England at the time of The Restoration, because it had remained loyal to the crown during the English Civil War, and the present moniker, “Old Dominion” is a reference to that title. The other nickname, “Mother of Presidents”, is also historic, as eight Virginians have served as President of the United States, including four of the first five.[1]

The state’s motto, Sic Semper Tyrannis, translates from Latin as “Thus Always To Tyrants”, and is used on the state seal, which is then used on the flag. While the seal was designed in 1776, and the flag was first used in the 1830s, both were made official in 1930.[1] The majority of the other symbols were made official in the late 20th century.[255] The Virginia reel is among the square dances classified as the state dance.[15] Virginia currently has no state song. In 1940, Virginia made “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” the state song, but it was retired in 1997 and reclassified as the state song emeritus.[256] Various alternatives, including a version of “Oh Shenandoah”, have met with resistance in the Virginia House of Delegates.[257]

* Mammal: Virginia Big-Eared Bat
* Beverage: Milk
* Boat: Chesapeake Bay deadrise
* Bird: Cardinal
* Dance: Square dancing

* Dog: American Foxhound
* Fish: Brook trout
* Flower/Tree: Dogwood
* Fossil: Chesapecten jeffersonius
* Insect: Tiger swallowtail

* Motto: Sic Semper Tyrannis
* Nickname: The Old Dominion
* Shell: Eastern oyster
* Slogan: Virginia is for Lovers
* Tartan: Virginia Quadricentennial Tartan

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253. ^ “Athletics Task Force Report Recommends Restructuring Of Sports Program, Finances, Academic Support”. University of Virginia. April 6, 2001. http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/releases2001/athletics-april-6-2001.html. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
254. ^ Brady, Erik (December 14, 2006). “Virginia town is big game central”. USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2006-12-13-focus-salem_x.htm. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
255. ^ “Capitol Classroom”. Virginia General Assembly. December 13, 2007. http://legis.state.va.us/1_cap_class/9-12/9_12_emb_symb.html. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
256. ^ Berrier, Ralph (January 11, 2008). “Carry me back to the state song search”. The Roanoke Times. http://www.roanoke.com/columnists/berrier/wb/146590. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
257. ^ Sluss, Michael (March 2, 2006). “Proposed state song doesn’t bring down the House”. The Roanoke Times. http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-54991. Retrieved October 14, 2008.

Bibliography

* Abrams, Ann Uhry (1999). The pilgrims and Pocahontas: rival myths of American origin. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-3497-7. http://books.google.com/?id=y4-ljMLfwp4C&pg=PR15.
* Accordino, John J. (2000). Captives of the Cold War Economy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-2759-6561-9. http://books.google.com/?id=S6TuEMY2clQC.
* Burnham, Bill; Burnham, Mary (2004). Hiking Virginia: A Guide to Virginia’s Greatest Hiking Adventures. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot. ISBN 0-7627-2747-0. http://books.google.com/?id=VkKEooYDuToC.
* Carroll, Steven; Miller, Mark (2002). Wild Virginia: A Guide to Thirty Roadless Recreation Areas Including Shenandoah National Park. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot. ISBN 0-7627-2315-7. http://books.google.com/?id=ymATg0mq8jkC.
* Chambers, Douglas B. (2005). Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-5780-6706-5. http://books.google.com/?id=vqpoxEl_0_4C&pg=PA10.
* Conlin, Joseph R. (2009). The American Past: A Survey of American History. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning. ISBN 0-4955-6609-8. http://books.google.com/?id=tT2AEMiUXvwC&pg=PT57.
* Cooper, Jean L. (2007). A Guide to Historic Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia. Charleston, SC: The History Press. ISBN 1-596-29173-7. http://books.google.com/?id=nCn4XrP_u0MC.
* Dailey, Jane Elizabeth; Gilmore, Glenda Elizabeth; Simon, Bryant (2000). Jumpin’ Jim Crow: Southern Politics from Civil War to Civil Rights. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-6910-0193-6. http://books.google.com/?id=yFvjsEYP7hAC&pg=PA90.
* Davis, David Brion (2006). Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-1951-4073-7.
* The Encyclopedia of Virginia. 1 (4 ed.). St. Clair Shores, MI: Somerset Publishers. 1999. ISBN 0-4030-9753-3.
* Fischer, David Hackett; Kelly, James C. (2000). Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. ISBN 0-8139-1774-3.
* Goodwin, Bill (2008). Frommer’s Virginia. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-4701-7591-5. http://books.google.com/?id=fnT2tRbE1vMC.
* Gordon, John Steele (2004). An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-0600-9362-5. http://books.google.com/?id=rmsUs_KDgHAC&pg=PA17.
* Gray, Richard J.; Robinson, Owen (2004). A Companion to the Literature and Culture of the American South. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0-6312-2404-1. http://books.google.com/?id=v10uoRwUsuEC.
* Gutzman, Kevin R. C. (2007). Virginia’s American Revolution: From Dominion to Republic, 1776–1840. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-2131-6.
* Hashaw, Tim (2007). The Birth of Black America. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0-7867-1718-1.
* Heinemann, Ronald L.; Kolp, John G.; Parent, Jr., Anthony S.; Shade, William G. (2007). Old Dominion, New Commonwealth. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. ISBN 0-8139-2609-2.
* Hoffer, Peter Charles (2006). The Brave New World: A History of Early America. Baltimore: JHU Press. ISBN 0-8018-8483-7.
* Howard, Blair; Burnham, Mary; Burnham, Bill (2006). The Virginia Handbook (3 ed.). Edison, NJ: Hunter Publishing. ISBN 1-5884-3512-1. http://books.google.com/?id=bX0t5dMokXYC.
* Hubbard, Jr., Bill (2009). American Boundaries: The Nation, the States, the Rectangular Survey. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-2263-5591-8. http://books.google.com/?id=LMacwod5KLwC&pg=PA140.
* Joseph, John Earl (2006). Language and Politics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-2453-8. http://books.google.com/?id=pJu5veUAo7kC&pg=PA63.
* McGraw, Eliza (June 24, 2005). Two Covenants: Representations of Southern Jewishness. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-3043-5. http://books.google.com/?id=EzR13rJBwc4C&pg=PA14.
* Miller, Kerby A.; Schrier, Arnold; Boling, Bruce D.; Doyle, David N. (2003). Irish immigrants in the land of Canaan. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-1950-4513-0. http://books.google.com/?id=bq79_YZ8ViIC.
* Moran, Michael G. (2007). Inventing Virginia: Sir Walter Raleigh and the Rhetoric of Colonization, 1584–1590. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 0-8204-8694-9.
* Morgan, Lynda (1992). Emancipation in Virginia’s Tobacco Belt, 1850–1870. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. ISBN 0-8203-1415-3.
* Morgan, Philip D. (1998). Slave Counterpoint. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-4717-8.
* Palmer, Tim (1998). America by Rivers. Washington, D.C.: Island Press. ISBN 1-5596-3264-X. http://books.google.com/?id=ctA1eNFvI-oC&pg=PA49.
* Pazzaglia, Frank James (2006). Excursions in Geology and History: Field Trips in the Middle Atlantic States. Boulder, CO: Geological Society of America. ISBN 0-8137-0008-6. http://books.google.com/?id=vQdHRNitfOoC&pg=PA135.
* Olitzky, Kerry (1996). The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-3132-8856-9.
* Scott, David L.; Scott, Kay W. (2004). Guide to the National Park Areas. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot. ISBN 0-7627-2988-0. http://books.google.com/?id=Z8DCRmgPOewC&pg=PA307.
* Smith, Julian (2008). Moon Virginia: Including Washington, D.C. (4 ed.). Berkeley, CA: Avalon Travel. ISBN 1-5988-0011-6. http://books.google.com/?id=WNEYCRIIQy4C&pg=PA152.
* Robertson, James I. (1993). Civil War Virginia: Battleground for a Nation. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. ISBN 0-8139-1457-4. http://books.google.com/?id=RKDkDZ6GLPcC.
* Stewart, George (2008). Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States. New York: Random House. ISBN 1-5901-7273-6.
* Vollmann, William T. (2002). Argall: The True Story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 0-1420-0150-3. http://books.google.com/?id=hh0WYbclptAC&pg=PA695.
* Wallenstein, Peter (2007). Cradle of America: Four Centuries of Virginia History. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1507-0. http://books.google.com/?id=qiwSAAAAYAAJ.
* Williamson, CiCi (2008). The Best of Virginia Farms Cookbook and Tour Book. Birmingham, AL: Menasha Ridge Press. ISBN 0-8973-2657-1. http://books.google.com/?id=pnuFW6zT0T8C&pg=PA41.

The Wikipedia article on this page is released under CC-BY-SA.
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The area was inhabited by Native Americans for more than 2,800 years, with historical tribes such as the Lenape along the coast. In the early 1600s, the Dutch and the Swedes made the first European settlements.[6] The English later seized control of the region, naming it the Province of New Jersey. It was granted as a colony to Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton. At this time, it was named after the largest of the British Channel Islands, Jersey, where Carteret had been born.[7] New Jersey was the site of several decisive battles during the American Revolutionary War.

In the 19th century, factories in cities such as Paterson and Trenton helped to drive the Industrial Revolution. New Jersey’s position at the center of the Northeast megalopolis, between Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., fueled its rapid growth through the suburban boom of the 1950s and beyond. Today, New Jersey has the highest population density and the second highest median income of any state in the United States. Only Maryland has a higher median income. The Governor of New Jersey is Republican Chris Christie.
Contents

Geography

New Jersey is bordered on the north and northeast by New York (parts of which are across the Hudson River, Upper New York Bay, the Kill Van Kull, Newark Bay, and the Arthur Kill); on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the southwest by Delaware across Delaware Bay; and on the west by Pennsylvania across the Delaware River.
Metropolitan statistical areas and divisions of New Jersey; counties shaded in blue hues are in the New York City metro; counties shaded in green hues are in the Philadelphia metro. Mercer County is located in the Greater New York Metropolitan Area and that Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland Counties are in the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. Warren County is also considered part of the Lehigh Valley.

New Jersey can be thought of as five regions, based on natural geography and population. Northeastern New Jersey, the Gateway Region, lies within the New York metropolitan area, and some residents commute into the city to work. Northwestern New Jersey, or the “Skylands”, is, compared to the northeast, more wooded, rural, and mountainous, but still a popular[citation needed] place to live. The “Shore”, along the Atlantic Coast in the central-east and southeast, has its own natural, residential, and lifestyle characteristics owing to its location by the ocean. The central-west and southwest are within metropolitan Philadelphia, and are included in the Delaware Valley. The fifth region is the Pine Barrens in the interior of the southern part. Covered rather extensively by mixed pine and oak forest, it has a much lower population density than much of the rest of the state.

New Jersey also can be broadly divided into three geographic regions: North Jersey, Central Jersey, and South Jersey. Some New Jersey residents do not consider Central Jersey a region in its own right, but others believe it is a separate geographic and cultural area from the North and South.

The federal Office of Management and Budget divides New Jersey’s counties into seven Metropolitan Statistical Areas, including sixteen counties in the New York City or Philadelphia metro areas. Four counties have independent metro areas, and Warren County joins another Pennsylvania-based metro area. (See Metropolitan Statistical Areas of New Jersey for details.)

It is also at the center of the Northeast megalopolis.

Additionally, the New Jersey Commerce, Economic Growth, & Tourism Commission divides the state into six distinct regions to facilitate the state’s tourism industry. The regions are:

* Gateway Region, encompassing Middlesex County, Union County, Essex County, Hudson County, Bergen County, and Passaic County.
* Skylands Region, encompassing Sussex County, Morris County, Warren County, Hunterdon County, and Somerset County.
* Shore Region, encompassing Monmouth County and Ocean County.
* Delaware River Region, encompassing Mercer County, Burlington County, Camden County, Gloucester County, and Salem County.
* Greater Atlantic City Region, encompassing Atlantic County.
* Southern Shore Region, encompassing Cumberland County and Cape May County.

High Point, in Montague Township, Sussex County, is the highest elevation, at 1,803 feet (550 m). The Palisades are a line of steep cliffs on the lower west side of the Hudson River.

Major rivers include the Hudson, Delaware, Raritan, Passaic, Hackensack, Rahway, Musconetcong, Mullica, Rancocas, Manasquan, Maurice, and Toms rivers.

Sandy Hook, along the eastern coast, is a popular recreational beach. It is a barrier spit and an extension of the Barnegat Peninsula along the state’s Atlantic Ocean coast.

Long Beach Island (“LBI”), a barrier island along the eastern coast, has popular recreational beaches. The primary access point to the island is by a single bridge connection to the mainland. Barnegat Lighthouse is on the northern tip.

Areas managed by the National Park Service include:

* Appalachian National Scenic Trail
* Delaware National Scenic River
* Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
* Ellis Island National Monument
* Gateway National Recreation Area in Monmouth County
* Great Egg Harbor River
* Morristown National Historical Park in Morristown
* New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route
* New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve
* Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange

Prominent geographic features include:

* Delaware Water Gap
* Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
* The Highlands
* New Jersey Meadowlands
* Pine Barrens
* South Mountain

Climate

As with many other geographic features, New Jersey’s climate divides into regions; the south, central, and northeast parts of the state have a humid subtropical climate, while the northwest has a humid continental climate, with slightly cooler temperatures due to higher elevation.

Summers are typically hot and humid, with statewide average high temperatures of 82–88 °F (28–31 °C) and lows of 60–70 °F (16–21 °C); however, temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on average -25 days each summer, though rarely exceed 100 °F (38 °C). Winters are usually cold, with average high temperatures of 38–46 °F (3–8 °C) and lows of 26–32 °F (-3–0 °C) for most of the state, but temperatures could, for brief interludes, be as low as 10–20 °F (-12–-7 °C) and sometimes rise to 50–60 °F (10–16 °C). Northwestern parts of the state have slightly colder winters with average temperatures just below freezing. Spring and autumn may feature wide temperature variations, ranging from chilly to warm, although they are usually mild with lower humidity than summer.[8]

Average annual precipitation ranges from 43 to 51 inches (1,100 to 1,300 mm), uniformly spread through the year. Average snowfall per winter season range from 10–15 inches (25–38 cm) in the south and near the seacoast, 15–30 inches (38–76 cm) in the northeast and central part of the state, to about 40–50 inches (1.0–1.3 m) in the northwestern highlands, but this varies from year to year. Precipitation falls on an average of 120 days a year, with 25 to 30 thunderstorms, most of which occur during the summer.

During winter and early spring, New Jersey can in some years experience “nor’easters”, which are capable of causing blizzards or flooding throughout the northeastern United States. New Jersey may also experience drought and rain-free period for weeks. Hurricanes and tropical storms (such as Hurricane Floyd in 1999), tornadoes and earthquakes are rare.
Average high and low temperatures in various cities of New Jersey °C (°F)
City     Jan     Feb     Mar     Apr     May     Jun     Jul     Aug     Sep     Oct     Nov     Dec
Sussex     1/-10 (33/14)     3/-9 (38/16)     8/-4 (46/25)     15/2 (59/36)     21/7 (70/45)     26/12 (78/54)     28/15 (83/59)     28/14 (82/57)     23/9 (73/48)     17/3 (63/38)     11/-1 (52/30)     4/-6 (39/21)
Newark     3/-4 (38/25)     5/-3 (41/27)     10/1 (50/34)     16/7 (61/45)     22/12 (72/54)     27/18 (81/64)     29/21 (84/70)     28/20 (82/68)     24/16 (75/61)     18/9 (64/48)     12/4 (54/39)     6/-1 (43/30)
Atlantic City     5/-2 (42/28)     6/-1 (44/30)     9/3 (48/38)     14/7 (57/45)     19/13 (66/56)     24/18 (75/64)     27/21 (80/70)     27/21 (80/70)     23/18 (73/64)     18/12 (64/54)     13/6 (55/44)     8/1 (46/34)
Cape May     6/-3 (43/27)     6/-2 (43/28)     11/2 (52/36)     16/6 (61/43)     21/12 (70/54)     26/17 (79/63)     29/19 (84/66)     28/19 (82/66)     25/16 (77/61)     19/9 (66/48)     13/4 (55/39)     8/-1 (46/30)
Weather.com[9]
History
Main article: History of New Jersey

Around 180 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period, New Jersey bordered North Africa. The pressure of the collision between North America and Africa gave rise to the Appalachian Mountains. Around 18,000 years ago, the Ice Age resulted in glaciers that reached New Jersey. As the glaciers retreated, they left behind Lake Passaic, as well as many rivers, swamps, and gorges.[10]

New Jersey was originally settled by Native Americans, with the Lenni-Lenape being dominant at the time Europeans arrived. The Lenape were loosely organized groups that practiced small-scale agriculture (mainly based on corn) in order to increase their largely mobile hunter-gatherer society in the region surrounding the Delaware River, the lower Hudson River, and western Long Island Sound. The Lenape society was divided into matrilinear clans that were based upon common female ancestors. These clans were organized into three distinct phratries identified by their animal sign: Turtle, Turkey, and Wolf. They first encountered the Dutch in the early 1600s, and their primary relationship with the Europeans was through fur trade.
Colonial era
Main article: Colonial history of New Jersey

New Jersey was first claimed by the Dutch. The Dutch colony of New Netherland consisted of parts of modern Middle Atlantic states. Although the European principle of land ownership was not recognized by the Lenape, Dutch West India Company policy required their colonists to purchase land which they settled. The first to do was Micheal Pauw who established a patroonship named Pavonia along the North River which eventually became the Bergen. Peter Minuit’s purchase of lands along the Delaware River establish the colony of New Sweden. The entire region became a territory of England in 1664, when an English fleet under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls sailed into what is today New York Harbor, and took control of Fort Amsterdam and annexed the entire province.

During the English Civil War the Channel Island of Jersey remained loyal to the Crown and gave sanctuary to the King. It was from the Royal Square in St. Helier that Charles II of England was first proclaimed King in 1649, following the execution of his father, Charles I. The North American lands were divided by Charles II, who gave his brother, the Duke of York (later King James II), the region between New England and Maryland as a proprietary colony (as opposed to a royal colony). James then granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River (the land that would become New Jersey) to two friends who had remained loyal through the English Civil War: Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton. The area was named the Province of New Jersey.
The campuses of Rutgers University (originally chartered as Queen’s College in 1766) include buildings of a variety of architectural styles.

Since the state’s inception, New Jersey has been characterized by ethnic and religious diversity. New England Congregationalists settled alongside Scots Presbyterians and Dutch Reformed migrants. While the majority of residents lived in towns with individual landholdings of 100 acres (40 ha), a few rich proprietors owned vast estates. English Quakers and Anglicans owned large landholdings. Unlike Plimouth Plantation, Jamestown and other colonies, New Jersey was populated by a secondary wave of immigrants who came from other colonies instead of those who migrated directly from Europe. New Jersey remained agrarian and rural throughout the colonial era, and commercial farming only developed sporadically. Some townships, such as Burlington on the Delaware River and Perth Amboy, emerged as important ports for shipping to New York and Philadelphia. The colony’s fertile lands and tolerant religious policy drew more settlers, and New Jersey boasted a population of 120,000 by 1775.

Settlement for the first 10 years of English rule was along Hackensack River and Arthur Kill and settlers came primarily from New England. Unlike other colonies that were settled by immigrants from Europe, New Jersey was populated by a secondary wave of settlement from communities already established on the North American continent. March 18, 1673, Berkeley sold his half of the colony to Quakers in England, who settled the Delaware Valley region as a Quaker colony. (William Penn acted as trustee for the lands for a time.) New Jersey was governed very briefly as two distinct provinces, East and West Jersey, for 28 years between 1674 and 1702, at times part of the Province of New York or Dominion of New England.

In 1702, the two provinces were reunited under a royal, rather than a proprietary, governor. Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, became the first governor of the colony as a royal colony. Lord Cornbury was an ineffective and corrupt ruler, taking bribes and speculating on land, so in 1708 he was recalled to England. New Jersey was then ruled by the governors of New York, but this infuriated the settlers of New Jersey, who accused those governors of favoritism to New York. Judge Lewis Morris led the case for a separate governor, and was appointed governor by King George II in 1738.[11]
Revolutionary War era
Main article: New Jersey during the American Revolution

New Jersey was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. The New Jersey Constitution of 1776 was passed July 2, 1776, just two days before the Second Continental Congress declared American Independence from Great Britain. It was an act of the Provincial Congress, which made itself into the state Legislature. To reassure neutrals, it provided that it would become void if New Jersey reached reconciliation with Great Britain.
George Washington rallying his troops at the Battle of Princeton

New Jersey representatives Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, and Abraham Clark were among those who signed the United States Declaration of Independence.

During the American Revolutionary War, British and American armies crossed New Jersey numerous times, and several pivotal battles took place in the state. Because of this, New Jersey today is often referred to as “The Crossroads of the Revolution.” The winter quarters of the revolutionary army were established there twice by General George Washington in Morristown, which was called the military capital of the revolution.

On December 25, 1776, the Continental Army under George Washington crossed the Delaware River. After the crossing, he surprised and defeated the unprepared Hessian troops in the Battle of Trenton. Slightly more than a week after victory at Trenton, on January 3, 1777, American forces gained an important victory by stopping General Cornwallis’s charges at the Second Battle of Trenton. By evading Cornwallis’s army, Washington made a surprise attack on Princeton, and successfully defeated the British forces there. Emanuel Leutze’s painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware became an icon of the Revolution.

American forces under Washington met the forces under General Henry Clinton at the Battle of Monmouth in an indecisive engagement. Washington attempted to take the British column by surprise; when the British army attempted to flank the Americans, the Americans retreated in disorder. The ranks were later reorganized and withstood the British charges.

In the summer of 1783, the Continental Congress met in Nassau Hall at Princeton University, making Princeton the nation’s capital for four months. It was there that the Continental Congress learned of the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended the war.

On December 18, 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the United States Constitution, which was overwhelmingly popular in New Jersey, as it prevented New York and Pennsylvania from charging and keeping tariffs on goods imported from Europe. On November 20, 1789, the state became the first in the newly formed Union to ratify the Bill of Rights.

The 1776 New Jersey State Constitution gave the vote to “all inhabitants” who had a certain level of wealth. This included women and blacks, but not married women, because they could not own property separately from their husbands. Both sides, in several elections, claimed that the other side had had unqualified women vote, and mocked them for use of “petticoat electors” (entitled to vote or not); on the other hand, both parties passed Voting Rights Acts. In 1807, the legislature passed a bill interpreting the constitution to mean universal white male suffrage, excluding paupers. (This was less revolutionary than it sounds: the “constitution” was itself only an act of the legislature.)[12]
Nineteenth century
Main article: New Jersey in the Nineteenth Century

On February 15, 1804, New Jersey became the last northern state to abolish new slavery and enacted legislation that slowly phased out existing slavery. This led to a gradual scale-down of the slave population. By the close of the Civil War about a dozen African Americans in New Jersey were still apprenticed freedmen. New Jersey voters initially refused to ratify the constitutional amendments’ banning slavery and granting rights to the United States’ black population.

In 1844, the second state constitution was ratified and brought into effect. Counties thereby became districts for the State Senate, and some realignment of boundaries (including the creation of Mercer County) immediately followed. This provision was retained in the 1947 Constitution, but was overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1962 by the decision Baker v. Carr. While the Governorship was stronger than under the 1776 constitution, the constitution of 1844 created many offices that were not responsible to him, or to the people, and it gave him a three-year term, but he could not succeed himself.

Unlike the Revolutionary War, no Civil War battles took place within the state. However, throughout the course of the Civil War, over 80,000 from New Jersey enlisted in the Northern army to defeat the Southern Confederacy.

New Jersey was one of the few states to reject President Abraham Lincoln twice in national elections, and sided with Stephen Douglas (1860) and George B. McClellan (1864) during their campaigns. McClellan later became governor (1878–81). During the Civil War, the state was led first by Republican Governor Charles Smith Olden, then by Democrat Joel Parker.

In the Industrial Revolution, cities like Paterson grew and prospered. Previously, the economy had been largely agrarian, which was problematically subject to crop failures and poor soil. This caused a shift to a more industrialized economy, one based on manufactured commodities such as textiles and silk. Inventor Thomas Edison also became an important figure of the Industrial Revolution, having been granted 1,093 patents, many of which for inventions he developed while working in New Jersey. Edison’s facilities, first at Menlo Park, NJ and then in West Orange, NJ, are considered perhaps the first research centers in the U.S. Christie Street in Menlo Park was the first thoroughfare in the world to have electric lighting. Transportation was greatly improved as locomotion and steamboats were introduced to New Jersey.

Iron mining was also a leading industry during the middle to late 1800s. Bog iron pits in the Southern New Jersey Pinelands were among the first sources of iron for the new nation.[13] Mines such as Mt. Hope, Mine Hill and the Rockaway Valley Mines created a thriving industry. Mining generated the impetus for new towns and was one of the driving forces behind the need for the Morris Canal. Zinc mines were also a major industry, especially the Sterling Hill Mine.
Twentieth century
Main article: New Jersey in the Twentieth Century
The Statue of Liberty and Jersey City

Through both World Wars, New Jersey was a center for war production, especially in naval construction. Battleships, cruisers, and destroyers were all made in this state. In addition, Fort Dix (1917) (originally called “Camp Dix”),[14] Camp Merritt (1917)[15] and Camp Kilmer (1941)[16] were all constructed to house and train American soldiers through both World Wars. New Jersey also became a principal location for defense in the Cold War. Fourteen Nike Missile stations were constructed, especially for the defense of New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. PT-109, a motor torpedo boat commanded by Lt. (j.g.) John F. Kennedy in World War II, was built at the Elco Boatworks in Bayonne. The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) was briefly docked at the Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne in the 1950s before she was sent to Kearney to be scrapped.[17] In 1962, the world’s first nuclear-powered cargo ship, the NS Savannah, was launched at Camden.

New Jersey prospered through the Roaring Twenties. The first Miss America Pageant was held in 1921 in Atlantic City, the first drive-in movie was shown in 1933 in Camden, and the Holland Tunnel opened in 1927. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the state offered begging licenses to unemployed residents,[18] the zeppelin airship Hindenburg crashed in flames over Lakehurst, and the SS Morro Castle beached itself near Asbury Park after going up in flames while at sea.

In 1951, the New Jersey Turnpike opened, permitting fast travel by car and truck between North Jersey (and metropolitan New York) and South Jersey (and metropolitan Philadelphia).

In the 1960s, race riots erupted in many of the industrial cities of North Jersey. The first race riots in New Jersey occurred in Jersey City on August 2, 1964. Several others ensued in 1967, in Newark and Plainfield. Other riots followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in April 1968, just as in the rest of the country. A riot occurred in Camden in 1971.

As a result of an order from the New Jersey Supreme Court to fund schools equitably, the New Jersey legislature reluctantly passed an income tax bill in 1976. Prior to this bill, the state had no income tax.[19]
Demographics
Historical populations
Census     Pop.         %±
1790     184,139
—
1800     211,149         14.7%
1810     245,562         16.3%
1820     277,575         13.0%
1830     320,823         15.6%
1840     373,306         16.4%
1850     489,555         31.1%
1860     672,035         37.3%
1870     906,096         34.8%
1880     1,131,116         24.8%
1890     1,444,933         27.7%
1900     1,883,669         30.4%
1910     2,537,167         34.7%
1920     3,155,900         24.4%
1930     4,041,334         28.1%
1940     4,160,165         2.9%
1950     4,835,329         16.2%
1960     6,066,782         25.5%
1970     7,168,164         18.2%
1980     7,364,823         2.7%
1990     7,730,188         5.0%
2000     8,414,350         8.9%
Est. 2009     8,707,739     [4]     3.5%
State population

Residents of New Jersey are most commonly referred to as “New Jerseyans” or “New Jerseyites”. The United States Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2009, estimated New Jersey’s population at 8,707,739,[4] which represents an increase of 268,301, or 3.2%, since the last census in 2000.[20] This includes a natural increase since the last census of 343,965 people (that is, 933,185 births minus 589,220 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 53,930 people out of the state.[20] Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 384,687 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 438,617 people.[20] As of 2005, there were 1.6 million foreign-born living in the state (accounting for 19.2% of the population).[21]

As of 2006, New Jersey is the eleventh-most populous state in the United States, and the most densely populated, at 1,174 residents per square mile (453 per km2), with most of the population residing in the counties surrounding New York City, Philadelphia, and along the eastern Jersey Shore, while the extreme southern and northwestern counties are relatively less dense overall. It is also the second wealthiest state according to the U.S. Census Bureau.[22]

The center of population for New Jersey is located in Middlesex County, in the town of Milltown, just east of the New Jersey Turnpike (see map of location).[23]

New Jersey is home to more scientists and engineers per square mile than anywhere else in the world.[24]

Demographics of New Jersey (csv)
By race     White     Black     AIAN*     Asian     NHPI*
2000 (total population)     79.16%     14.98%     0.61%     6.28%     0.13%
2000 (Hispanic only)     11.87%     1.29%     0.20%     0.10%     0.05%
2005 (total population)     77.68%     15.19%     0.66%     7.70%     0.15%
2005 (Hispanic only)     13.66%     1.45%     0.22%     0.12%     0.06%
Growth 2000–05 (total population)     1.68%     5.01%     11.60%     27.06%     18.52%
Growth 2000–05 (non-Hispanic only)     -1.41%     3.89%     8.86%     27.17%     17.30%
Growth 2000–05 (Hispanic only)     19.21%     16.92%     17.36%     20.28%     20.68%
* AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native; NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

New Jersey is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse states in the country. It has the second largest Jewish population by percentage (after New York);[25] the second largest Muslim population by percentage (after Michigan); the largest population of people from Costa Rica in the United States; the largest population of Cubans outside of Florida; the third highest Asian population by percentage; and the third highest Italian population by percentage according to the 2000 Census. African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, and Arabs are also high in number. It has the third highest Indian population of any state by absolute numbers.[26][27][28][29] Also, it has the third largest Korean population, fourth largest Filipino population, and fourth largest Chinese population, per the 2000 U.S. Census. The five largest ethnic groups are: Italian (17.9%), Irish (15.9%), African (13.6%), German (12.6%), Polish (6.9%).

Newark is the fourth poorest city in America,[30] but New Jersey as a whole has the second highest median household income.[31] This is largely because so much of New Jersey consists of suburbs, most of them affluent, of New York City and Philadelphia. New Jersey is also the most densely populated state, and the only state that has had every one of its counties deemed “urban” as defined by the Census Bureau’s Combined Statistical Area.[32]

The state has very sizable enclaves of different non-English-speaking communities. Some of these languages include:

* Spanish – spoken throughout the state.
* Italian – spoken throughout the state.
* Polish – spoken throughout the state.
* Gujarati – spoken throughout the state.
* Hindi – spoken throughout the state.
* Tagalog – spoken throughout the state.
* Mandarin Chinese – spoken throughout the state, most prominently in the northern and central counties.
* Korean – spoken prominently in Bergen County.
* Telegu – spoken prominently in Middlesex County.
* Tamil – spoken prominently in Middlesex County.
* Creole – spoken prominently in Essex County.
* Portuguese – spoken prominently in the Ironbound section of Newark.

New Jersey population distribution

Each county’s largest ethnic group, according to the 2000 Census, is:

* Italian — Passaic, Bergen, Union, Hudson, Morris, Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Cumberland[29]
* Irish — Sussex, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Cape May[29]
* German — Warren, Hunterdon, Salem[29]

6.7% of its population was reported as under age 5, 24.8% under 18, and 13.2% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.5% of the population.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 12.31% of the population aged 5 and over speak Spanish at home, while 1.48% speak Italian.[33]

In 2010, illegal immigrants constituted an estimated 6.4% of the population. This was the fourth highest percentage of any state in the country.[34][35]
Religion
Distributions of religions in New Jersey (2001)[36] Religious group?     %?
Catholic     37
None     15
Baptist     8
Methodist     6
Refused to identify     5
Christian
(no denomination stated)     4
Jewish
(by religion only)     2
Other     4
Presbyterian     4
Lutheran     3
Episcopalian/Anglican     2
Protestant     2
Jehovah’s Witness     1
Mormon/LDS     1
Muslim/Islamic     1
Non-denominational     1
Pentecostal     1
Assemblies of God     *
Buddhist     *
Church of Christ     *
Church of God     *
Congregational/UCC     *
Evangelical     *
Seventh Day Adventist     *

*Less than 0.5%
Economy
The New Jersey State Quarter, released in 1999, with a depiction of Washington Crossing the Delaware.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that New Jersey’s total state product in 2006 was $434 billion.[37] As of January 2010, the states unemployment rate is 9.9%.[38]
Affluence

Its Per Capita personal income in 2008 was $54,699, 2nd in the U.S. and above the national average of $46,588.[39] Its per-capita income is the third highest in the nation with $51,358.[39] The state also has the highest percentage of millionaire households.[40] It is ranked 2nd in the nation by the number of places with per capita incomes above national average with 76.4%. Nine of New Jersey’s counties are in the wealthiest 100 of the country.
Fiscal policy

New Jersey has seven tax brackets for determining income tax rates. The rates range from 1.4 to 8.97%. The standard sales tax rate is 7%, applicable to all retail sales unless specifically exempt by law. Exemptions include most food items for at-home preparation, medicines, clothing (except fur items), footwear, and disposable paper products for use in the home. Approximately 30 New Jersey municipalities are designated as Urban Enterprise Zones and shoppers are charged a 3½% tax rate, half of the rate charged outside the UEZs. Sections of Elizabeth and Jersey City are examples of communities that are subject to the lower sales tax rate. All real property located in the state is subject to property tax unless specifically exempted by statute. New Jersey does not assess an intangible personal property tax, but it does impose an inheritance tax.
Industries
Cranberry harvest.

New Jersey’s economy is centered on the pharmaceutical industry, chemical development, telecommunications, food processing, electric equipment, printing and publishing, and tourism. New Jersey’s agricultural outputs are nursery stock, horses, vegetables, fruits and nuts, seafood, and dairy products. New Jersey ranks second among states in blueberry production, third in cranberries and spinach and fourth in bell peppers, peaches and head lettuce.[41]

Although New Jersey is home to many energy-intensive industries, its energy consumption is only 2.7% of the U.S. total, and its carbon dioxide emissions are only 0.8% of the U.S. total. Its comparatively low greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to nuclear power. According to the Energy Information Administration, nuclear power dominates New Jersey’s electricity market, typically supplying more than one-half of State generation. New Jersey has three nuclear power plants, including the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, which came online in 1969 and is the oldest operating nuclear plant in the country.[42]

New Jersey has a strong scientific economy. New Jersey is home to major pharmaceutical firms such as Johnson and Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, Pfizer, Merck, Wyeth, Hoffman-LaRoche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Schering-Plough. New Jersey is home to major telecommunications firms such as Verizon Wireless, Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent and AT&T Communications. Furthermore, New Jersey draws upon its large and well-educated labor pool which also supports the myriad of industries that exist today.

New Jersey is the ultimate bedroom community since the state is right next to New York City and Philadelphia. Thus, there is a strong service economy in New Jersey serving residents who work in New York City or Philadelphia. Some of these industries include retail sales, education and real estate. Newark Liberty International Airport is ranked seventh among the nation’s busiest airports and among the top 20 busiest airports in the world.

Shipping is a strong industry in New Jersey because of the state’s strategic location, the Port of New York and New Jersey the busiest on the East Coast. The Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal was the world’s first container port and is one of the world’s largest container ports. New Jersey also has a strong presence in chemical development, refining and food processing operations.

New Jersey hosts several business headquarters, including twenty-four Fortune 500 companies.[43] Paramus is noted for having one of the highest retail sales per person ratios in the nation. Several New Jersey counties such as Somerset (7), Morris (10), Hunterdon (13), Bergen (21), Monmouth (42) counties are ranked among the highest-income counties in the United States. Four others are also in the top 100.
Federal taxation disparity

New Jersey has the highest disparity of any state in the United States between what it gives to the federal government and what it receives. In fiscal year 2005, New Jersey taxpayers gave the federal government $77 billion, while only receiving $55 billion. This difference is higher than any other state and means that for every $1 New Jersey taxpayers send to Washington, the state only receives $0.61 in return. This calculation is applied correctly after making the federal government deficit neutral, as sometimes the federal government spends more than it receives.[44] As of 2005, New Jersey has never been above 48th in rank for per capita federal spending (with a rank of 50th for the majority of that time) since 1982, while being second or third in per capita federal taxes paid to Washington.

New Jersey runs into deficits frequently and has one of the highest tax burdens in the nation.[45] Factors for this include the large federal tax liability which is not adjusted for New Jersey’s higher cost of living and Medicaid funding formulas. As shown by the study, incomes tend to be higher in New Jersey, which puts those in higher tax brackets especially vulnerable to the alternative minimum tax.
Natural resources

New Jersey’s greatest natural resource is its location, which has made the state a crossroads of commerce. Other commercial advantages include its extensive transportation system, which puts one quarter of all United States consumers within overnight delivery range. Lake and seaside resorts such as Atlantic City have contributed to New Jersey’s rank of fifth among the states in revenues from tourism.

Almost half of New Jersey is wooded. The chief tree of the northern forests is the oak. A large part of the southern section is in pine. Jersey oak has been used extensively in shipbuilding.

The mineral resources in New Jersey are small. The state, however, does rank high in smelting and refining minerals from other states. Some mining activity does still take place in the area in and around the Franklin Furnace, which was long a center of zinc production (see New Jersey Zinc Company).
Transportation
Main article: Transportation in New Jersey
Roadways
Map of New Jersey showing major transportation networks and cities
The George Washington Bridge connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey to New York City is the world’s busiest bridge in terms of vehicular traffic.[46]
See also: List of New Jersey State Highways

The New Jersey Turnpike is one of the best-known and most-trafficked roadways in the United States. This toll road carries interstate traffic between Delaware and New York, and the East Coast in general. Commonly referred to as simply “the Turnpike,” it is known for its numerous rest-areas named after prominent New Jerseyans as diverse as inventor Thomas Edison; United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton; United States Presidents Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson; writers James Fenimore Cooper, Joyce Kilmer, and Walt Whitman; patriot Molly Pitcher; Red Cross advocate Clara Barton; and football coach Vince Lombardi.

The Garden State Parkway, or simply “the Parkway,” carries more in-state traffic and runs from the town of Montvale along New Jersey’s northern border to its southernmost tip at Cape May for 172.4 miles (277.5 km). It is the trunk that connects the New York metropolitan area to Atlantic City and it is consistently one of the safest roads in the nation.

New Jersey is connected to New York City via various bridges and tunnels. The George Washington Bridge carries the heaviest load of motor vehicle traffic of any bridge in the world[46] from Fort Lee, New Jersey to the Washington Heights neighborhood in Upper Manhattan in New York City. The Lincoln Tunnel connects to Midtown Manhattan and the Holland Tunnel connects to Lower Manhattan. These are the three major Hudson River crossings that see heavy vehicular traffic. New Jersey is also connected to Staten Island by three bridges. From the southernmost to northernmost; the Outerbridge Crossing, Goethals Bridge, and Bayonne Bridge.

Other expressways in New Jersey include the Atlantic City Expressway, the Palisades Interstate Parkway, Interstate 76, Interstate 78, Interstate 80, Interstate 95, Interstate 195, Interstate 280, Interstate 287, and Interstate 295. Other major roadways include U.S. 1, U.S. 9, U.S. Route 1/9. Non-major roadways include Interstate 676 and U.S. Route 46.

New Jersey has interstate compacts with all three neighboring states. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Delaware River Port Authority (with Pennsylvania), and the Delaware River and Bay Authority (with Delaware) operate most of the major transportation routes into and out of New Jersey. Bridge tolls are collected in one direction only — it is free to cross into New Jersey, but motorists must pay when exiting the state. Exceptions to this are the Dingman’s Ferry Bridge and the Delaware River – Turnpike Toll Bridge where tolls are charged both ways. The Washington Crossing and Scudders Falls (on I-95) bridges near Trenton, as well as Trenton’s Calhoun Street and Bridge Street (“Trenton Makes”) bridges, are toll-free. In addition, * Riverton-Belvidere Bridge, Northampton Street Bridge, Riegelsville Bridge, and Upper Black Eddy-Milford Bridge are free Delaware River bridges into and out of NJ.

* Uhlerstown-Frenchtown Bridge – (NJ 12)
* Lumberville-Raven Rock Bridge – (pedestrian)
* Centre Bridge-Stockton Bridge – (PA 263 / CR 523)

New Jersey is one of only two states (along with Oregon) where self-service filling of gasoline is prohibited.

New Jersey’s Highway Maintenance Program was rated “Extremely Poor” by Reason Foundation’s “17th Annual Report on the Performance of State Highway Systems.”
Airports
New York City skyline from Continental Terminal C in Newark Liberty Airport.

Newark Liberty International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the United States. Operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the other two major airports in the New York metropolitan area (John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport), it is one of the main airports serving the New York City area. Continental Airlines is the facility’s largest tenant, operating an entire terminal at Newark, which it uses as one of its primary hubs. FedEx Express operates a large cargo hub. The adjacent Newark Airport railroad station provides access to the trains of Amtrak and New Jersey Transit along the Northeast Corridor Line.

Two smaller commercial airports, Atlantic City International Airport and Trenton-Mercer Airport, also operate in other parts of New Jersey. Teterboro Airport, in Bergen County, is a general aviation airport popular with private and corporate aircraft, due to its proximity to New York City. Millville Municipal Airport, in Cumberland County, is a general aviation airport popular with private and corporate aircraft, due to its proximity to the shore.
Rail and bus
Main article: New Jersey Transit
Further information: New Jersey Transit Bus Operations, New Jersey Transit rail operations, Port Authority Trans-Hudson, and Port Authority Transit Corporation
New Jersey Transit train in Elizabeth.

The New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) operates extensive rail and bus service throughout the state. NJ Transit is a state-run corporation that began with the consolidation of several private bus companies in North Jersey. In the early 1980s, it acquired the commuter train operations of Conrail that connect towns in northern and central New Jersey to New York City. NJ Transit has eleven lines that run throughout different parts of the state. Most of the trains start at various points in the state and most end at either Pennsylvania Station, in New York City, or Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken. NJ Transit began service between Atlantic City and Lindenwold in 1989 and extended it to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 1990s.
Two Hudson-Bergen Light Rail trains in Jersey City, New Jersey.

NJ Transit also operates three light rail systems in the state. The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail connects Bayonne to North Bergen, with planned expansion into Bergen County communities. The Newark Light Rail is the only subway system entirely in the state, but it is only partially underground. Its Main Line connects Newark Penn Station in Downtown Newark with outer parts of the city, ending at Grove Street station in Bloomfield. The Broad Street Line of the subway, the first component of the Newark-Elizabeth Rail Link, connects Newark Broad Street Station to Newark Penn Station. The last of the three light rail lines is the River Line which connects Trenton and Camden.

The PATH is a subway and above-ground railway which links Hoboken, Jersey City, Harrison and Newark with New York City. The PATH operates four lines that connect various points in North Jersey and New York. The lines all terminate in Hudson County, Essex County or Manhattan in New York City.

The PATCO High Speedline links Camden County and Philadelphia. PATCO operates a single elevated and subway line that runs from Lindenwold to Center City Philadelphia. PATCO operates stations in Lindenwold, Voorhees, Cherry Hill, Haddonfield, Haddon Township, Collingswood, and Camden, along with four stations in Philadelphia.

Amtrak also operates numerous long-distance passenger trains in New Jersey to and from neighboring states and around the country. In addition to the Newark Airport connection, other major Amtrak railway stations include Trenton Rail Station, Metropark, and the grand historic Newark Penn Station.

SEPTA also has two lines that operate into New Jersey. The Trenton Line terminates at the Trenton Transit Center, and the West Trenton Line terminates at the West Trenton Rail Station in Ewing.

AirTrain Newark is a monorail connecting the Amtrak/NJ Transit station on the Northeast Corridor to the airport’s terminals and parking lots.

Some private bus carriers still remain in New Jersey. Most of these carriers operate with state funding to offset losses and state owned buses are provided to these carriers of which Coach USA companies make up the bulk. Other carriers include private charter and tour bus operators that take gamblers from other parts of New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia, and Delaware to the casino resorts of Atlantic City.
Ferries

On the Delaware Bay, the Delaware River and Bay Authority operates the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. The Delaware River and Bay Authority also operates ferries between Fort Mott in New Jersey and Fort Delaware and Fort DuPont in Delaware. The Delaware River Port Authority operates the RiverLink Ferry between the Camden waterfront and Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On the Hudson River, New York Waterway has numerous ferry terminals in Belford, Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken. The stops are at Port Liberte, Liberty Harbor, Colgate/Exchange Place in Jersey City, Belford, Port Imperial and Lincoln Harbor in Weehawken, Hoboken Terminal (Hoboken South) and 14th Street (Hoboken North) in Hoboken. These ferries run to one or several of the Manhattan stops at Wall Street, the World Financial Center or Midtown at 39th St. Liberty Landing in Jersey City has ferries from Portside in Paulus Hook and Liberty Landing in Liberty State Park. The Hornblower Cruises ferry has service from Liberty State Park to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

Although there is a bridge from Ellis Island to Jersey City, it was built for renovations on the building on the island and is considered unsafe for public use. SeaStreak offers services from the Raritan Bayshore to Manhattan and during the Met’s season Shea Stadium. The ferries on the Bayshore leave from Atlantic Highlands and two terminals in Highlands. New York Water Taxi also has seasonal service from Paulus Hook to Wall Street. Ferry service from Keyport and Perth Amboy have been proposed and ferry service from Elizabeth has been discussed with a proposed light rail connection to Newark Airport and Downtown Elizabeth.
Private bus carriers

Several private bus lines provide transportation service in the state of New Jersey. Below is a list of major carriers and their areas of operation:

* Academy–commuter bus service from Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean counties to lower and midtown Manhattan
* Bergen Avenue IBOA—local bus service in Jersey City
* Broadway Bus—local bus service in Bayonne
* Coach USA
o Community Coach–commuter bus service from Essex and Morris counties
o ONE Bus/Olympia Trails–local bus service in Essex and Union counties, commuter bus service from the Raritan Valley to Manhattan
o Red & Tan in Hudson County–local bus service in Hudson County
o Rockland Coaches–commuter and local bus service from Bergen County to Manhattan
o Suburban Trails–commuter bus service from Middlesex County to Manhattan, local bus service in Middlesex County
* DeCamp Bus Lines–commuter bus service from Essex County to Manhattan
* Greyhound–interstate bus service from terminals in Newark, Atlantic City, and Mount Laurel
* Lakeland Bus Lines–commuter and local bus service from Morris, Somerset, Union, and Sussex counties to Manhattan
* Martz Trailways—service from Warren County to Manhattan
* Montgomery & West Side IBOA–local bus service in Jersey City
* Trans-Bridge Lines–service from the Skylands Region to and from Manhattan

Law and government
Further information: Governor of New Jersey, Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey, New Jersey Legislature, and 2006 New Jersey State Government Shutdown
Executive

Chris Christie (Republican) is the Governor. The Governor of New Jersey has been considered one of the most powerful governorships in the nation, as it was (until recently) the only statewide elected office in the state and appoints many government officials. Formerly, an Acting Governor was even more powerful as he simultaneously served as President of the New Jersey State Senate, thus directing half of the legislative and all of the executive process. In 2002 and 2007, President of the State Senate Richard Codey held the position of Acting Governor for a short time, and from 2004 to 2006 Codey became a long-term Acting Governor due to Jim McGreevey’s resignation. A 2005 amendment to the state Constitution prevents the Senate President from becoming Acting Governor in the event of a permanent gubernatorial vacancy without giving up her or his seat in the state Senate.

The governor’s mansion is Drumthwacket, located in Princeton Township.

In recent years, New Jersey was one of the few states without a lieutenant governor. Republican Kim Guadagno was elected the first Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey and took office on January 19, 2010. She was elected on the Republican ticket with Governor-Elect Chris Christie in the November 2009 NJ gubernatorial election. The position was created as the result of a Constitutional amendment to the New Jersey State Constitution passed by the voters on November 8, 2005 and effective as of January 17, 2006.
Legislative
The New Jersey State House in Trenton

The current version of the New Jersey State Constitution was adopted in 1947. It provides for a bicameral New Jersey Legislature, consisting of an upper house Senate of 40 members and a lower house General Assembly of 80 members. Each of the 40 legislative districts elects one State Senator and two Assembly members. Assembly members are elected for a two-year term in all odd-numbered years; State Senators are elected in the years ending in 1, 3, and 7 and thus serve either four- or two-year terms.

New Jersey is one of only five states that elects its state officials in odd-numbered years. (The others are Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Virginia.) New Jersey holds elections for these offices every four years, in the year following each federal Presidential election year. Thus, the last year when New Jersey elected a Governor was 2009; the next gubernatorial election will occur in 2013, with future gubernatorial elections to take place in 2017, 2021, 2025, etc.
Judicial

The New Jersey Supreme Court[47] consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. All are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of a majority of the membership of the State Senate. Justices serve an initial seven-year term, after which they can be reappointed to serve until age 70.

Most of the day-to-day work in the New Jersey courts is carried out in the Municipal Courts, where simple traffic tickets, minor criminal offenses, and small civil matters are heard.

More serious criminal and civil cases are handled by the Superior Court for each county. All Superior Court judges are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of a majority of the membership of the State Senate. Each judge serves an initial seven-year term, after which he or she can be reappointed to serve until age 70.

New Jersey’s judiciary is unusual in that it still has separate courts of law and equity, like its neighbor Delaware but unlike most other U.S. states. The New Jersey Superior Court is divided into Law and Chancery Divisions at the trial level.

The Superior Court also has an Appellate Division, which functions as the state’s intermediate appellate court. Superior Court judges are assigned to the Appellate Division by the Chief Justice.

There is also a Tax Court, which is a court of limited jurisdiction. Tax Court judges hear appeals of tax decisions made by County Boards of Taxation. They also hear appeals on decisions made by the Director of the Division of Taxation on such matters as state income, sales and business taxes, and homestead rebates. Appeals from Tax Court decisions are heard in the Appellate Division of Superior Court. Tax Court judges are appointed by the Governor for initial terms of seven years, and upon reappointment are granted tenure until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 70. There are 12 Tax Court judgeships.
Counties
Further information: List of New Jersey counties

New Jersey is divided into 21 counties; 13 date from the colonial era. New Jersey was completely divided into counties by 1692; the present counties were created by dividing the existing ones; most recently Union County in 1857. New Jersey is the only state in the nation where elected county officials are called “Freeholders,” governing each county as part of its own Board of Chosen Freeholders. The number of freeholders in each county is determined by referendum, and must consist of three, five, seven or nine members.

Depending on the county, the executive and legislative functions may be performed by the Board of Chosen Freeholders or split into separate branches of government. In 16 counties, members of the Board of Chosen Freeholders perform both legislative and executive functions on a commission basis, with each Freeholder assigned responsibility for a department or group of departments. In the other 5 counties (Atlantic, Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Mercer), there is a directly elected County Executive who performs the executive functions while the Board of Chosen Freeholders retains a legislative and oversight role. In counties without an Executive, a County Administrator (or County Manager) may be hired to perform day-to-day administration of county functions.
Municipalities

New Jersey has 566 municipalities; the number was 567 before Pahaquarry Township was absorbed by Hardwick Township in 1997. Unlike states in the west and south, all New Jersey land is part of a municipality. In 2008, Governor Jon Corzine proposed cutting state aid to all towns under 10,000 people, to encourage mergers to reduce administrative costs.[48] In May 2009, the Local Unit Alignment Reorganization and Consolidation Commission (LUARC) began a study of about 40 small communities in South Jersey to decide which ones might be good candidates for consolidation.[49]
Types of government

When the types of government were devised in the nineteenth century, the intention was that cities would be large built-up areas, with progressively smaller boroughs, towns, and villages; the rural areas in between would be relatively large townships. This is still often true, although Shrewsbury Township has been divided over the years; today it is less than a square mile, consisting only of a single housing development. Some townships — notably Brick, Hamilton, Middletown, and Toms River — have, without changing their boundaries, become large stretches of suburbia, as populous as cities, often focused around shopping centers and highways rather than traditional downtowns and main streets.

Short Hills, Murray Hill, and many other locations in New Jersey are not municipalities but rather neighborhoods, with no exact boundaries. Often the cluster of houses, the traditional neighborhood, the postal district, and the Census designated place will differ.

The federal government has often failed to understand[citation needed] that a New Jersey township is just another municipality, and some municipalities have changed forms to become the Township of Borough of Verona or the Township of South Orange Village to receive more federal aid.[citation needed]

Forms of government

The five types of municipality differ mostly in name. Originally, each type had its own form of government but more modern forms are available to any municipality, even though the original type is retained in its formal name. Only boroughs can (but are not required to) have the “borough form” of government.

Starting in the 1900s, largely driven by reform-minded goals, a series of six modern forms of government was implemented. This began with the Walsh Act, enacted in 1911 by the New Jersey Legislature, which provided for a 3- or 5-member commission elected on a non-partisan basis. This was followed by the 1923 Municipal Manager Law, which offered a non-partisan council, provided for a weak mayor elected by and from the members of the council, and introduced Council-Manager government with an (ideally apolitical) appointed manager responsible for day-to-day administration of municipal affairs.

The Faulkner Act, originally enacted in 1950 and substantially amended in 1981, offers four basic plans: Mayor-Council, Council-Manager, Small Municipality, and Mayor-Council-Administrator. The act provides many choices for communities with a preference for a strong executive and professional management of municipal affairs and offers great flexibility in allowing municipalities to select the characteristics of its government: the number of seats on the Council; seats selected at-large, by wards, or through a combination of both; staggered or concurrent terms of office; and a mayor chosen by the Council or elected directly by voters. Most large municipalities and a majority of New Jersey’s residents are governed by municipalities with Faulkner Act charters. Municipalities can also formulate their own unique form of government and operate under a Special Charter with the approval of the New Jersey Legislature.

While municipalities retain their names derived from types of government, they may have changed to one of the modern forms of government, or further in the past to one of the other traditional forms, leading to municipalities with formal names quite baffling to the general public. For example, though there are four municipalities that are officially of the village type, Loch Arbour is the only one remaining with the village form of government. The other three villages—Ridgefield Park (now with a Walsh Act form), Ridgewood (now with a Faulkner Act Council-Manager charter) and South Orange (now operates under a Special Charter)—have all migrated to other non-village forms.
Politics
Main article: Politics of New Jersey
Political parties
Main article: Political party strength in New Jersey
Presidential elections results[50] Year     Republicans     Democrats
2008     41.61% 1,613,207     57.14% 2,215,422
2004     46.24% 1,670,003     52.92% 1,911,430
2000     40.29% 1,284,173     56.13% 1,788,850
1996     35.86% 1,103,078     53.72% 1,652,329
1992     40.58% 1,356,865     42.95% 1,436,206
1988     56.24% 1,743,192     42.60% 1,320,352
1984     60.09% 1,933,630     39.20% 1,261,323
1980     51.97% 1,546,557     38.56% 1,147,364
1976     50.08% 1,509,688     47.92% 1,444,653
1972     61.57% 1,845,502     36.77% 1,102,211
1968     46.10% 1,325,467     43.97% 1,264,206
1964     33.86% 963,843     65.61% 1,867,671
1960     49.16% 1,363,324     49.96% 1,385,415

In past federal elections, New Jersey was a Republican bastion, but recently has become a Democratic stronghold. Currently, New Jersey Democrats have majority control of both houses of the New Jersey Legislature (Senate, 22–18, and Assembly, 48–32), both U.S. Senate seats, and 8 out of the state’s 13 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The state had a Republican governor from 1994 to 2002, as Christie Todd Whitman won twice with vote percentages of 47 and 49 percent.

In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie defeated incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine. Because each candidate for lieutenant governor runs on the same ticket as the party’s candidate for governor, the current Governor and Lieutenant Governor are members of the Republican Party. The governor’s appointments to cabinet and non-cabinet positions may be from either party. (The 2009 Attorney General appointee is a Democrat.)

In federal elections, the state leans heavily towards the Democratic Party. For many years, however, it was a Republican stronghold, having given comfortable margins of victory to the Republican candidate in the close elections of 1948, 1968, and 1976. New Jersey was a crucial swing state in the elections of 1960, 1968, and 1992. The last elected Republican to hold a Senate seat from New Jersey was Clifford P. Case in 1979. (Nicholas F. Brady was appointed a U.S. Senator by Governor Thomas Kean in 1982 and served for eight months, after Harrison A. Williams resigned the Senate seat following the Abscam investigations.)

The state’s Democratic strongholds include Camden County, Essex County (including Newark, the state’s largest city), Hudson County (including Jersey City, the state’s second-largest city); Mercer County (especially around Trenton and Princeton), Middlesex County, and Union County (including Elizabeth, the state’s fourth-largest city).

The suburban northwestern and southeastern counties of the state are reliably Republican: Republicans have support along the coast in Ocean County and in the mountainous northwestern part of the state, especially Morris County, Sussex County, and Warren County. Other suburban counties, especially Bergen County and Burlington County had the majority of votes go to the Democratic Party. In the 2008 election, President Barack Obama won New Jersey with approximately fifty-eight percent of the vote, compared to McCain’s forty-one percent. Independent candidate Ralph Nader garnered less than one percent of the vote.

About one-third of the state’s counties are considered “swing” counties, but some go more one way than others. For example, Salem County, which leans Republican in the northern half of the county, is mostly Democratic in the more populated southern parts, causing it to usually vote slightly Republican. The same is true with Passaic County, with a highly populated Hispanic Democratic south (including Paterson, the state’s third-largest city) and a rural, Republican north. Other “swing” counties like Cape May County tend to go Republican, as they also have population in conservative areas.

To be eligible to vote in a U.S. election, all New Jerseyans are required to start their residency in the state 30 days prior to an election and register 29 days prior.
Social attitudes and issues

Socially, New Jersey is considered one of the more liberal states in the nation. Polls indicate that 60% of the population are self-described as pro-choice, although a majority are opposed to late trimester and Partial Birth Abortion and public funding of Abortion.[51][52] In a 2009 Quinnipiac University poll, a plurality supported same-sex marriage 49% to 43% opposed.[53]

In April 2004, New Jersey enacted a domestic partnership law, which is available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples aged 62 and over. During 2006, the New Jersey Supreme Court voted 4 to 3 that state lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples. Moreover, effective February 19, 2007, New Jersey became the third state in the U.S. (the other two being Connecticut and Vermont) to offer civil unions to same-sex couples, conferring over 850 rights, privileges and responsibilities of marriage; legislators declined, however, to use the term “marriage” for same-sex unions. Thus, three separate government-recognized relationships are now in effect in the Garden State: domestic partnerships, civil unions, and marriage.
See also: LGBT rights in New Jersey

New Jersey also has some of the most stringent gun-control laws in the U.S. These include bans on assault firearms, hollow-nose bullets and even slingshots. No gun offense in New Jersey is graded less than a felony. BB guns and black powder guns are all treated as modern firearms. New Jersey does not recognize out-of-state gun licenses and aggressively enforces its own gun laws.[54]

New Jersey has a severe city/urban litter reputational problem, as noted in the report, “New Jersey: America’s Ugly Urban/City Litter (Trash) State.” The state still has no statewide anti-litter slogan and its 1986 Clean Communities Act has been controversial in failing to help abate litter and debris on public streets, roadways and properties.
Capital punishment

On December 17, 2007, Governor Corzine signed into law a bill that would eliminate the death penalty in New Jersey. New Jersey is the first state to pass such legislation since Iowa and West Virginia eliminated executions in 1965.[55] Corzine also signed a bill that would downgrade the Death Row prisoners’ sentences from “Death” to “Life in Prison with No Parole.”[56]
Prominent cities and towns
See also: List of municipalities in New Jersey
Large cities (100,000 or greater)
Broad Street in Newark
Jersey City by night

For its overall population and nation-leading population density, New Jersey has a relative paucity of classic large cities. As of the United States 2000 Census, only four municipalities had populations in excess of 100,000. With the 2004 Census estimate, Woodbridge briefly surpassed Edison in population, as both joined the 100,000 club. The 2006 Census estimate states that both Edison and Woodbridge Township have dropped below the 100,000 mark (with Edison surpassing Woodbridge).

1. Newark, Essex County: 273,546 (Census Estimate 2006: 281,402)
2. Jersey City, Hudson County: 240,055 (Census Estimate 2006: 241,791)
3. Paterson, Passaic County: 149,222 (Census Estimate 2006: 148,708)
4. Elizabeth, Union County: 120,568 (Census Estimate 2006: 126,179)
5. Edison, Middlesex County 97,687 (Census Estimate 2006: 99,523)
6. Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County: 97,203 (Census Estimate 2006: 99,208)

Towns and small cities (60,000 to 100,000)
See also: Town #United States

1. Toms River Township (Ocean County): 89,706 (Census Estimate 2006: 94,660)
2. Hamilton Township (Mercer County): 87,109 (Census Estimate 2006: 90,559)
3. Trenton (Mercer County): 85,403
4. Camden (Camden County): 79,904
5. Clifton (Passaic County): 78,672
6. Brick Township (Ocean County): 76,119
7. Cherry Hill Township (Camden County): 69,965
8. East Orange (Essex County): 69,824
9. Passaic (Passaic County): 67,861
10. Union City (Hudson County): 67,088
11. Middletown Township (Monmouth County): 66,327
12. Gloucester Township (Camden County): 64,350
13. Bayonne (Hudson County): 61,842
14. Irvington (Essex County): 60,695
15. Old Bridge Township (Middlesex County): 60,456
16. Lakewood Township (Ocean County): 60,352

Wealth of municipalities
See also: New Jersey locations by per capita income

Wealth of municipalities and communities by per capita income:

1. Mantoloking, New Jersey $114,017
2. Saddle River, New Jersey $85,934
3. Far Hills, New Jersey $81,535
4. Essex Fells, New Jersey $77,434
5. Alpine, New Jersey $76,995

698. New Hanover Township, New Jersey $12,140
699. Lakewood CDP, New Jersey $11,802
700. Bridgeton, New Jersey $10,917
701. Fort Dix, New Jersey $10,543
702. Camden, New Jersey $9,815
Education
See also: Post-secondary education in New Jersey, Primary education in the United States, Secondary education in the United States, Higher education in the United States, and Education in the United States

In 2010, there were 605 school districts in the state.[57]

54% of high school graduates continue on to college, which is tied with Massachusetts for the second highest rate in the nation (North Dakota holds first place at 59%).[citation needed] New Jersey also has the highest average scores for advanced placement testing in public schools in the nation.[citation needed] Secretary of Education Rick Rosenberg, appointed by Governor Jon Corzine, created the Education Advancement Initiative (EAI) to increase College admission rates by 10% for New Jersey’s high school students, decrease dropout rates by 15%, and increase the amount of money devoted to schools by 10%. Rosenberg retracted this plan when criticized for taking the money out of healthcare to fund this initiative. New Jersey is ranked first in the nation in funding K-12 education but is ranked last in higher-education funding.[58] The state spent over $20,000 average, per student in 2007–2008.[59]

In 2010 the state government paid all the teachers premiums for health insurance.[57]

The state is highest in the proportion of students who graduate from college and then leave the state.[57]
Points of interest
Museums

* The Liberty Science Center
* The Maywood Station Museum
* The Montclair Art Museum
* The Morris Museum Morris Museum
* The Newark Museum
* The Thomas Edison Museum

Entertainment
Museum     Location     Year Opened     Type
Liberty Science Center     Liberty State Park, Jersey City     1993     Science museum
Maywood Station Museum     Maywood     2004     Railroad museum
Montclair Art Musuem     Montclair     1914     Art museum
Newark Museum     Newark     1909     Natural Science & Art museum
Thomas Edison Museum     Menlo Park     1938     Thomas Edison
Venue     Type     Location     Year Opened
Prudential Center     Arena     Newark     2007
Izod Center     Arena     Meadowlands Sports Complex     1977

* New Jersey Performing Arts Center
* Paper Mill Playhouse
* PNC Bank Arts Center
* Prudential Center

Theme parks

* Bowcraft Amusement Park
* Clementon Amusement Park
* Land of Make Believe
* Morey’s Piers
* Mountain Creek Waterpark
* Six Flags Great Adventure

Kingda Ka, located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey is the world’s tallest and fastest roller coaster.
The Prudential Center
Along the boardwalk in Ocean City
The Tropicana along the Atlantic City boardwalk
Redeveloped shops along the Asbury Park Boardwalk

Jersey Shore

* Asbury Park
* Allenhurst
* Atlantic City
* Avalon
* Avon-by-the-Sea
* Barnegat
* Bay Head
* Belmar
* Brigantine
* Cape May
* Cliffwood Beach
* Forked River
* Gunnison Beach
* Island Beach State Park
* Keansburg
* Keyport
* Long Beach Island
* Long Branch
* Longport
* Manasquan
* Margate
* Monmouth Beach
* Middletown
* Neptune
* Ocean City
* Ocean Grove
* Oceanport
* Point Pleasant Beach
* Red Bank
* Rock Lodge Club
* Sandy Hook
* Sea Isle City
* Sea Bright
* Seaside Heights
* Seaside Park
* Spring Lake
* Stone Harbor
* Toms River
* Union Beach
* Wall
* “The Wildwoods”:
o Diamond Beach
o North Wildwood
o West Wildwood
o Wildwood
o Wildwood Crest

Sports
Giants Stadium next to the under-construction New Meadowlands Stadium in 2009

New Jersey currently has five teams from major professional sports leagues playing in the state, although the Major League Soccer team and two National Football League teams identify as being from New York.

Two National Football League teams play in New Jersey, the New York Giants and the New York Jets, both in East Rutherford at New Meadowlands Stadium.[60] The National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils and New Jersey Nets play in the Prudential Center located in Newark. Both teams used to play in the Izod Center, but moved out of the older arena in 2007 and 2010, respectively.

The New York Red Bulls of MLS play in the newly-opened Red Bull Arena, a soccer-specific stadium located across the Passaic River from Newark in Harrison.

The Giants and Jets played in Giants Stadium before moving to adjacent New Meadowlands Stadium in 2010 and will host Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. The Meadowlands and its sports venues were widely considered to be outdated by today’s professional sports standards. This led to the Devils move away from the Meadowlands Arena to the new Prudential Center in Newark at the start of the 2007–08 seasons. The Nets also left the Meadowlands for the Prudential Center in 2010 and plan to relocate to Brooklyn, New York as soon as the Barclays Center is completed for them. With both teams leaving the Meadowlands Arena its future is in doubt.

The sports complex is also home to the Meadowlands Racetrack one of three major horse racing tracks in the state. The Meadowlands Racetrack along with Freehold Raceway in Freehold are two of the major harness racing tracks in North America. Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, is also a popular spot for thoroughbred racing in New Jersey and the northeast. It hosted the Breeders’ Cup in 2007, and its turf course was renovated in preparation.
Club     Sport     League     Stadium
New York Giants     Football     National Football League     New Meadowlands Stadium
New York Jets     Football     National Football League     New Meadowlands Stadium
New York Red Bulls     Soccer     Major League Soccer     Red Bull Arena
New Jersey Nets     Basketball     National Basketball Association     Prudential Center
New Jersey Devils     Ice Hockey     National Hockey League     Prudential Center
Jersey Express     Basketball     American Basketball Association     Baldwin Gymnasium
New Jersey Revolution     Indoor Football     American Indoor Football League     Mennen Arena
Trenton Devils     Ice Hockey     ECHL     Sun National Bank Center
New Jersey Ironmen     Indoor Soccer     Xtreme Soccer League     Prudential Center
Lakewood Blue Claws     Baseball     Minor League Baseball     FirstEnergy Park
New Jersey Jackals     Baseball     Minor League Baseball     Yogi Berra Stadium
Sussex Skyhawks     Baseball     Minor League Baseball     Skylands Park
Trenton Thunder     Baseball     Minor League Baseball     Mercer County Waterfront Park
Camden Riversharks     Baseball     Minor League Baseball     Campbell’s Field
Newark Bears     Baseball     Minor League Baseball     Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium
Somerset Patriots     Baseball     Minor League Baseball     TD Bank Ballpark
Collegiate sports teams
See also: List of college athletic programs in New Jersey, USA and Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey

New Jersey’s collegiate allegiances are more or less split among the three NCAA major Division I programs in the state — the Rutgers University (New Jersey’s largest state university) Scarlet Knights, the Seton Hall University (which is the state’s largest Roman Catholic university) Pirates, and the Princeton University (the state’s Ivy League university) Tigers. Both Rutgers and Seton Hall compete in the Big East Conference, and the rivalry between the two teams has always been an intense one. Rutgers and Princeton have an intense rivalry stemming from the first intercollegiate football game in 1869, though the two schools have not met on the football field since 1980. They continue to play each other annually in all other sports offered by the two universities.

Rutgers, which fields 24 teams from various sports, is nationally known for its excellent football and women’s basketball programs. The university is planning a large expansion to the on-campus Rutgers Stadium to accommodate the rising number of fans, and the teams play in Piscataway, which is adjacent to the New Brunswick campus. The university also fields rising basketball and baseball programs. Rutgers’ fan base is mostly derived from the western parts of the state and Middlesex County, not to mention its alumni base, which is the largest in the state.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, also has campuses in Camden and Newark (in addition to its main campus in New Brunswick). The Rutgers-Camden athletic teams are called the Scarlet Raptors. The Rutgers-Newark athletic teams are called the Scarlet Raiders. The Scarlet Raiders and the Scarlet Raptors both compete within NCAA Division III.

Seton Hall, unlike Rutgers, does not field a football team. However, its basketball team has been one of the most storied programs in the Big East, and it plays its home games at the state-of-the-art Prudential Center, located in downtown Newark. The Pirates, while lacking as large an alumni base as the state university, have a large well of support in the predominantly Roman Catholic areas of the northern part of the state and the Jersey Shore.

Fairleigh Dickinson University has two campuses, each with its own sports teams. The teams at the Metropolitan Campus are known as the Knights, and compete in the Northeast Conference and NCAA Division I. The College at Florham (FDU-Florham) teams are known as the Devils and compete in the Middle Atlantic Conferences’ Freedom Conference and NCAA Division III.

The Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks have fielded the longest continuously running collegiate men’s lacrosse program in the country. 2009 marked the 125th season.
Gambling

In 1978, the New Jersey legislature approved casino gambling in Atlantic City. At that time, Las Vegas was the only mega-casino resort. By 1978, Atlantic City was in decline. It was no longer the seaside resort that it once was. With the institution of casino gambling, Atlantic City has come back as a resort city. There are numerous famous casinos, with its main contributor being Donald Trump. Many lie along the Atlantic City Boardwalk, the longest boardwalk in the world.
Media
Newspapers

There are many major New Jersey newspapers, including:

* Asbury Park Press
* Burlington County Times
* Courier News
* Courier-Post
* Cranford Chronicle
* Daily Record (Morris)[61]
* The Express-Times
* Gloucester County Times
* Herald News
* Home News Tribune
* Hunterdon County Democrat
* Independent Press

* Jersey Journal
* The New Jersey Herald[62]
* The News of Cumberland County
* The Press of Atlantic City
* The Record[63]
* The Record-Press and Suburban News
* The Reporter (Somerset)
* The Star-Ledger
* Today’s Sunbeam
* Trentonian (Mercer)
* The Warren Reporter
* The Trenton Times

College newspapers

The state’s college newspapers include:[64]

* Bergen Community College: The Torch
* Camden County College: Campus Press
* The College of New Jersey: The Signal
* Drew University: The Acorn
* Fairleigh Dickinson University: The Equinox
* Kean University: The Tower
* Montclair State: The Montclarion
* NJ Institute of Tech: The Vector Online
* Princeton: Nassau Weekly
* Princeton: The Daily Princetonian
* Princeton: The Princeton Spectator

* Rider University: The Rider News
* Rowan University: The Whit
* Rutgers: The Daily Targum
* Rutgers: Rutgers Centurion
* Rutgers: The Observer
* Seton Hall: The Setonian
* Stevens Institute of Technology: The Stute
* Union County College: The Scroll
* William Paterson University: Pioneer Times

Radio stations

See: List of radio stations in New Jersey

Television and film
Main article: Television and film of New Jersey
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007)

Movies

* Motion picture technology was invented in New Jersey, by Thomas Edison. The early work was done at his West Orange laboratory. His “Black Maria” was the first motion picture studio.
* Almost all of Kevin Smith’s movies take place in New Jersey (though not all of them are filmed there), as Smith grew up in Atlantic Highlands.
* The 1979 film The Amityville Horror was filmed in Toms River and the scene in the church was filmed in Point Pleasant.
* The original Friday the 13th horror movie was filmed at Camp NoBeBoSco in Blairstown as the setting for Camp Crystal Lake.[65] (some believe the series of films to be set in New Jersey, although this is never confirmed onscreen), which was partially based on real murders that have occurred near the campground, in the state’s rural northwest. Such horror stories were the inspiration behind the now nationally famous[citation needed] Weird NJ magazine and website.
* The Family Man, starring Nicolas Cage, was filmed in Teaneck in 2000.
* In the 1996 science fiction film Independence Day the scene in which Jeff Goldblum and Judd Hirsch are playing chess was filmed in West New York.
* The popular character The Toxic Avenger is often touted as the first superhero from New Jersey.
* In the 2005 film adaptation of War of the Worlds, the beginning of the movie is set in New Jersey, an homage to the 1938 radio broadcast.
* The film World Trade Center, starring Nicolas Cage, had numerous scenes shot in Glen Rock, New Jersey
* The 2004 film Garden State was set and filmed in New Jersey. It was written, directed and starred in by Zach Braff, who grew up in New Jersey. The film’s title refers to New Jersey’s nickname, the Garden State.

Television

* Cable network CNBC originates most of its in-studio programming from Englewood Cliffs. Sister news network MSNBC broadcast from studios in Secaucus from 1997 until late 2007, when the network moved to Rockefeller Center’s GE Building in a cost-cutting measure by parent company NBC Universal.
* MyNetworkTV flagship station WWOR-TV (Channel 9) is licensed to and broadcasts from Secaucus; former owner RKO General moved the New York-based station across the Hudson in 1983 in an unsuccessful attempt to retain the station’s license.
* Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Toonami cartoon Megas XLR are both set in New Jersey.
* The opening of the popular NBC comedy Ed was filmed in Hillsdale and Westfield, New Jersey.
* In the animated television comedy Futurama, New Jersey is slandered many times by the characters. In one episode, Fry finds a seemingly ideal apartment while house hunting, but later comments, upon finding out that the home is located in New Jersey, that he found “not one place even remotely liveable”. In another, when discussing the global garbage problem, a television ad states that “… landfills were full … New Jersey was full …”, implying a lack of places to store garbage. Additionally, Robot Hell is located in Atlantic City.
* The popular Fox television show House is set in a fictional hospital located in the Princeton-Plainsboro area. (The exterior shots of the “hospital” are actually shots of the exterior of Princeton University’s Frist Campus Center.)
* The Fox show Point Pleasant was based on a fictional version of the town. (It was not shot on location within the actual town of the same name.)
* The Bravo TV series Real Housewives of New Jersey is a reality show based on the daily lives of five New Jersey women living in Franklin Lakes.
* The popular television drama The Sopranos depicts the life of a New Jersey organized crime family and is filmed on location at various places throughout the state. Series creator and writer-director David Chase grew up in Clifton and North Caldwell.
* The Disney Channel Original Series JONAS is taken place in New Jersey on a fictional JONAS street.

Music
Main article: Music of New Jersey

New Jersey has long been an important area for both rock and rap music. Some prominent musicians from or with significant connections to New Jersey are:

* Singer Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken. He sang with a neighborhood vocal group, the Hoboken Four, and appeared in neighborhood theater amateur shows before he became an entertainment legend as an Academy Award winning actor and one of the most famous male vocalists of all time.
* Bruce Springsteen, who has sung of New Jersey life on most of his albums, hails from Freehold and is the most popular rock musician to ever come out of the state. Some of his songs that represent New Jersey life are “Born to Run”, “Spirit In The Night,” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)”, “Thunder Road”, “Atlantic City”, and “Jungleland”.
* The Jonas Brothers all reside in Wyckoff, New Jersey, where the eldest brother of the group, Kevin Jonas was born, as well as the youngest Jonas, Frankie.
* Irvington’s Queen Latifah was the first female rapper to succeed in music, film, and television.
* Lauryn Hill is from South Orange, New Jersey. Her 1998 debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, sold 10 million copies internationally. She also sold millions with The Fugees second album The Score.
* Redman (Reggie Noble) was born, raised, and resides in Newark. He is the most successful African-American solo hip-hop artist out of New Jersey.
* All members of The Sugarhill Gang were born in Englewood.
* Roc-A-Fella Records rap producer Just Blaze hails form Paterson, New Jersey.
* Jon Bon Jovi, who hails from Sayreville, reached fame in the 1980s with hard rock outfit Bon Jovi. The band has also written many songs about life in New Jersey including “Livin’ On A Prayer” and even named one of his albums after the state. (see New Jersey)
* Singer Dionne Warwick was born in East Orange.
* Singer Whitney Houston (who is Dionne Warwick’s cousin) was born in Newark, and grew up in neighboring East Orange.
* Legendary jazz pianist and bandleader Count Basie was born in Red Bank in 1904. In the 1960s, he collaborated on several albums with fellow New Jersey native Frank Sinatra. The Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank is named in his honor.
* Parliament-Funkadelic, the pioneering funk music collective, was formed in Plainfield by George Clinton.
* Asbury Park is home of The Stone Pony, which Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi frequented early in their careers and is still considered by many to be a “Mecca” for up-and-coming Jersey Shore musicians.
* Hip-hop pioneers Naughty By Nature hail from East Orange.
* In 1964, the Isley Brothers founded the record label T-Neck Records, named after Teaneck, their home at the time.
* The Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” is based on the lives of the members of the Four Seasons, three of whose members were born in New Jersey (Tommy DeVito, Frankie Valli, and Nick Massi)
* Jazz pianist Bill Evans was born in Plainfield in 1929.
* Rock band Thursday was formed in New Brunswick, NJ. Numerous songs reference the city.
* Horror punk band The Misfits hail from Lodi, as well as their founder Glenn Danzig.
* Punk rock poet Patti Smith is from Mantua.
* Acclaimed indie rock veterans Yo La Tengo are based in Hoboken. They also have a song called “The Night Falls on Hoboken”.
* New Jersey was the East Coast hub for ska music in the 90′s. Some of the most popular ska bands, such as Catch 22 and Streetlight Manifesto, come from East Brunswick.
* Black Label Society’s and Ozzy Osbourne’s famed guitarist Zakk Wylde was born in Bayonne and raised in Jackson
* The Bouncing Souls original four members grew up in Basking Ridge and formed in New Brunswick in the late 1980s.
* My Chemical Romance’s Frank Iero, Gerard Way, Mikey Way, and Ray Toro all hail from Belleville, New Jersey.
* Cobra Starship frontman Gabe Saporta is from New Jersey

Video games

* Grand Theft Auto 1 (1997), takes place in New Jersey, called New Guernsey.
* Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) and The Lost and Damned (2009), which take place in Eastern New Jersey, especially in Hudson County, Bergen County, Essex County, and Union County, New Jersey. Jersey City is called Alderney City.

Trivia

New Jersey is the birthplace of modern inventions such as: FM radio, the motion picture camera, the lithium battery, the light bulb, transistors, and the electric train. Other New Jersey creations include: the drive-in movie, the cultivated blueberry, cranberry sauce, the postcard, the boardwalk, the zipper, the phonograph, saltwater taffy, the dirigible, the seedless watermelon,[66] the first use of a submarine in warfare, and the ice cream cone.
A diner in Freehold

Diners are common in New Jersey. The state is home to many diner manufacturers and has more diners than any other state: over 600. There are more diners in the state of New Jersey than any other place in the world.[67]

The world’s highest quality fluorescent minerals and the most number of minerals found in any one location is located in Franklin Furnace.[citation needed] There are mineral museums in Franklin and Ogdensburg.

New Jersey is the only state without a state song. “I’m From New Jersey” is incorrectly listed on many websites as being the New Jersey State Song, but wasn’t even a contender when in 1996 the New Jersey Arts Council submitted their suggestions to the New Jersey Legislature.[68]

New Jersey has been rated as the “least annoying state”.[69][70]
Legends and ghosts

A long-circulated legend says a creature, the Jersey Devil or the Leeds Devil, terrorizes the population of the Pine Barrens. The New Jersey Devils are named for this mythical creature. New Jersey is also home to several other legends, such as the ghost of Annie’s Road in Totowa and the haunted and demon-possessed Clinton Road in West Milford. Cooper Road in Middletown is said to be haunted by strange, ghostly people who jump out from behind trees at cars traveling down the unpaved portion of the road. The unpaved section has no street lights and thus is very dangerous as it has sharp turns where the ghostly people are said to jump in front of the cars from behind trees, causing them to crash. There is also the Atco Ghost — the ghost of a little boy who runs across the street late at night in Atco. It is also rumored that Jimmy Hoffa, the late leader of the Teamsters Union, is buried beneath Giants Stadium or the New Jersey Turnpike. However, on the popular television show MythBusters, the myth of Jimmy Hoffa being buried under Giants Stadium was debunked using ground penetrating radar.

The magazine Weird NJ (the creators of which later started Weird U.S.) was started to catalog and explore the ghosts, legends, and prevalence of otherwise “weird” things in the state.
State symbols
State animal     Horse
(Equus caballus)
State bird     American Goldfinch
(Carduelis tristis)
State freshwater fish     Brook trout
(Salvelinus fontinalis)
State dance     Square dance
State insect     European honey bee
(Apis mellifera)
State flower     Common meadow violet
(Viola sororia)
State motto     ”Liberty and Prosperity”
State song     None[71]
State tree     Northern Red Oak
(Quercus borealis maxima)
(syn. Quercus rubra)
State dinosaur     Hadrosaurus foulkii
State soil     Downer
State color     Buff and Jersey Blue
State ship     A. J. Meerwald
State fruit     Northern highbush blueberry
(Vaccinium corymbosum)
State vegetable     Jersey tomato
(Lycopersicon esculentum)
State shell     Knobbed whelk
(Busycon carica gmelin)
State memorial tree     Dogwood
(Cornus Florida)
State slogan     Come See For Yourself

See also
North America portal
United States portal
New Jersey portal

* Index of New Jersey-related articles
* List of people from New Jersey
* Outline of New Jersey

References

1. ^ The Garden State and Other New Jersey State Nicknames, Robert Lupp, New Jersey Reference Services, New Jersey State Library, October 12, 1994
2. ^ “Preliminary-cloth.indd” (PDF). http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2008_style_manual&docid=f:chapter5.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
3. ^ “New jerseyite | Definition of New jerseyite at Dictionary.com:”. Dictionary.reference.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/new+jerseyite. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
4. ^ a b c “Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009″. United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
5. ^ a b “Elevations and Distances in the United States”. U.S Geological Survey. 29 April 2005. http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html#Highest. Retrieved November 6, 2006.
6. ^ “NJ History Outline”. Usgennet.org. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/nj/state/NJ-History.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
7. ^ “MSN Encarta”. Webcitation.org. http://www.webcitation.org/5kwsuNvS8. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
8. ^ Weather.com
9. ^ Weather.com
10. ^ Geological History by Great Swamp Watershed Association. Retrieved December 22, 2005.
11. ^ Streissguth pg 30–36
12. ^ Klinghoffer and Elkis (“The Petticoat Electors: Women’s Suffrage in New Jersey, 1776–1807″, Journal of the Early Republic 12, no. 2 (1992): 159–193.)
13. ^ “Usgennet.org”. Usgennet.org. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/nj/county/atlantic/Pinelands/BogIron.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
14. ^ “Our History”. Dix.army.mil. http://www.dix.army.mil/history/history.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
15. ^ “Camp Merritt”. Freepages.military.rootsweb.com. http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~cacunithistories/camp_merritt.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
16. ^ John Pike. “Camp Kilmer”. Globalsecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-kilmer.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
17. ^ “CV6.org”. CV6.org. http://www.cv6.org/1946/scrap/default.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
18. ^ Gerdes, Louise I. The 1930s, Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2000.
19. ^ “Progress toward Equal Educational Opportunity for Urban Students in New Jersey”. Education Law Center. 2009-12-29. http://www.edlawcenter.org/ELCPublic/AbbottvBurke/AbbottHistory.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-29. “The NJ Supreme Court shuts down the public schools for eight days because the Legislature failed to fund the new formula. The first New Jersey state income tax is then enacted.”
20. ^ a b c U. S. Census Bureau (2008-12-15). “Cumulative Estimates of the Components of Population Change for the United States, Regions and States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 (NST-EST2008-04)” (CSV). http://www.census.gov/popest/states/tables/NST-EST2008-04.csv. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
21. ^ Migration Policy Institute. “Percent Foreign Born by State (1990, 2000, 2005)” (Microsoft Excel). MPI Data Hub: Migration Facts, Stats, and Maps. http://www.migrationinformation.org/DataTools/MigrationInformationSource-ACS-2005-PercentForeignBorn.xls.
22. ^ By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer (2007-08-31). “The richest (and poorest) places in the U.S.: 2007″. Money.cnn.com. http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/28/real_estate/wealthiest_states/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
23. ^ “Population and Population Centers by State: 2000″. United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/statecenters.txt. Retrieved November 16, 2006.
24. ^ Nature Jobs. “Delaware / Hudson Valley Hot Spot for biotechnology”. Nature.com. http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2001/010712/full/nj0021.html. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
25. ^ “Jewish Population of the United States by State”. Jewish Virtual Library. 2002. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/usjewpop.html. Retrieved 2007-06-10.
26. ^ The Foreign Born from India in the United States, dated December 1, 2003
27. ^ “Census 2000 PHC-T-6. Population by Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin for the United States, Regions, Divisions, States, Puerto Rico, and Places of 100,000 or More Population: Table 2. Percent of Population by Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin, for the United States, Regions, Divisions, and States, and for Puerto Rico: 2000″ (PDF). http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t6/tab02.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
28. ^ Mapping Census 2000: The Geography of U.S. Diversity (Microsoft Excel)
29. ^ a b c d “Ancestry: 2000 — Census 2000 Brief” (PDF). http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
30. ^ Thomas, G. Scott (September 29, 2009). “Buffalo named third-poorest city in U.S.”. Buffalo Business First. http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2009/09/28/daily18.html. Retrieved November 25, 2009.
31. ^ Md. is ranked as richest state[dead link]
32. ^ “Metropolitan Areas and Components, 1999, with FIPS codes”. http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/metro-city/99mfips.txt. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
33. ^ “Modern Language Association”. Mla.org. 2007-07-17. http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&state_id=34&mode=state_tops. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
34. ^ Slevin, Peter (30 April 2010). “New Arizona law puts police in ‘tenuous’ spot”. Washington, DC: Washington Post. pp. A4. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904970.html?sid=ST2010042905051.
35. ^ behind Nevada, Arizona, California, but ahead of Texas and Florida
36. ^ Mayer, Egon; Kosmin, Barry A., Keysar, Ariela (2001). “American Religious Identification Survey, Key Findings, Exhibit 15″. City University of New York. http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/key_findings.htm. Retrieved January 4, 2007.
37. ^ Bureau of Economic AnalysisPDF
38. ^ Bls.gov; Local Area Unemployment Statistics
39. ^ a b “Selected Regional Estimates”. BEA.gov. 2009-01-11. http://www.bea.gov/scb/pdf/2009/11%20November/D-Pages/1109dpg_k.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
40. ^ “”New Jersey has most millionaires in country,” Associated Press, January 10, 2008″. Nj.com. 2008-01-10. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/01/nj_has_most_millionaires_in_co.html. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
41. ^ Judith H. Dobrzynski (June 24, 2010). “A Garden Crawl Through the Garden State”. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/garden/25garden.html. Retrieved 2010-06-25. “Nowadays New Jersey ranks second among states in blueberry production, third in cranberries and spinach and fourth in bell peppers, peaches and head lettuce, the official state Web site, nj.gov, boasts.”
42. ^ “EIA State Energy Profiles: New Jersey”. 2008-06-12. http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=NJ. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
43. ^ “Fortune 500 2007 – States: New Jersey”. 2007-03-30. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2007/states/NJ.html. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
44. ^ link Chart of State to Federal government spend/receive ratios, Tax Foundation
45. ^ “link Tax Burdens in New Jersey”. Taxfoundation.org. http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/44.html. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
46. ^ a b George Washington Bridge turns 75 years old: Huge flag, cake part of celebration, Times Herald-Record, October 24, 2006. “The party, however, will be small in comparison to the one that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey organized for 5,000 people to open the bridge to traffic in 1931. And it won’t even be on what is now the world’s busiest bridge for fear of snarling traffic.”
47. ^ “Supreme Court of New Jersey”. Judiciary.state.nj.us. http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/supreme/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
48. ^ “Small Towns in N.J. Told to Merge or Face Cuts”. Npr.org. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90090911. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
49. ^ “N.J. town mergers could start in 18 months” by Jan Hefler, The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 29, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-05-29
50. ^ Leip, David. “Presidential General Election Results Comparison – New Jersey”. US Election Atlas. http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/compare.php?year=2008&fips=34&f=0&off=0&elect=0&type=state. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
51. ^ “Poll says majority of Americans opposed to abortion funding in health care bill :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)”. Catholic News Agency. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=17086. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
52. ^ “SurveyUSA Pro-Life vs. Pro Choice Sorted by State”. Surveyusa.com. http://www.surveyusa.com/50State2005/50StateAbortion0805SortedbyState.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
53. ^ Poll: NJ voters support gay marriage
54. ^ http://www.nraila.org/statelawpdfs/NJSL.pdf
55. ^ Google.com Hester Jr., Tom (2007) N.J. Bans Death Penalty for Associated Press
56. ^ Peters, Jeremy W. “Corzine Signs Bill Ending Executions, Then Commutes Sentences of Eight.” The New York Times. December 18, 2007. Retrieved on December 25, 2009.
57. ^ a b c Will, George F. (22 April 2010). “The thunder from New Jersey”. Washington, D.C.: Washington Post. pp. A19. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/21/AR2010042104451.html?hpid=opinionsbox1.
58. ^ “New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities: Policy Outlook January 7 news” (PDF). http://www.njascu.org/Policy%20Outlook%20Jan%2007%20vol%204%20issue%201.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
59. ^ Burlington Free Press, June 24, 2009, page 7A, “In schools, money not the answer”, Cal Thomas
60. ^ New Meadowlands Stadium official website. New Meadowlands Stadium Corporation. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
61. ^ “New Jersey Advertising”. NJ.com. http://www.nj.com/mediakit/. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
62. ^ “The New Jersey Herald: Top Stories”. Njherald.com. http://www.njherald.com. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
63. ^ “providing local news, sports & classifieds for Northern New Jersey!”. NorthJersey.com. http://www.northjersey.com. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
64. ^ “New Jersey Newspapers”. US Newspaper List. http://www.usnpl.com/njnews.php. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
65. ^ “Blairstowntheaterfestival.com”. Blairstowntheaterfestival.com. 2007-07-13. http://blairstowntheaterfestival.com/friday_the_13th_connection.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
66. ^ “New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame”. Njinvent.njit.edu. http://www.njinvent.njit.edu/1992/pioneer_inductees_1992/andrews.html. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
67. ^ “New Jersey Facts and Trivia”. 50states.com. http://www.50states.com/facts/newjerse.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
68. ^ “The History of the New Jersey State Song?”. Aboutnewjersey.com. http://www.aboutnewjersey.com/editorials/stateSong_3_15_04.php. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
69. ^ Garchik, Leah (April 19, 1996). “Leah Garchik’s Personals – SFGate”. San Francisco Chronicle. SFGate.com. http://articles.sfgate.com/1996-04-19/entertainment/17773241_1_vanity-fair-orange-juice-diet-coke. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
70. ^ Genovese, Peter (2007-01-01). New Jersey Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff. Globe Pequot. p. 10. ISBN 9780762741120. http://books.google.com/books?id=tudmT08W9xMC&pg=PR10. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
71. ^ “State of New Jersey – FAQs”. State.nj.us. 2008-11-20. http://www.state.nj.us/faqs/facts.html. Retrieved 2010-07-25.

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Spanish colonial forces were the first Europeans to make a permanent settlement in the area, when the Juan Pardo-led Expedition built Fort San Juan in 1567. This was sited at Joara, a Mississippian culture regional chiefdom near present-day Morganton in the western interior.[5] This was 20 years before the English established their first colony at Roanoke Island.[6] North Carolina became one of the English Thirteen Colonies, and was originally known as Province of Carolina.

On May 20, 1861, North Carolina was one of the last of the Confederate states to declare secession from the Union, to which it was readmitted twice, once under the presidential reconstruction of Lincoln as the same body politic, the second time as a different body politic by Major General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby, General Order. 120, Headquarters 2nd Military District, Charleston, S.C., June 30th, 1868[7], thru Congressional reconstruction; Reconstruction Acts (1,2,3,4), the 4th Reconstruction Act requiring the adoption of the 14h Amendment and the surrender of governor elect Johnathan Worth[8].

The state was the location of the first successful controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air flight, by the Wright brothers, at Kill Devil Hills, approximately 6.4 miles (10.3 km) south of Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903. It is a fast-growing state with an increasingly diverse economy and population. As of July 1, 2009, the population was estimated to be 9,380,884 (a 16.7% increase since April 1, 2000).[2] Recognizing eight Native American tribes, North Carolina has the largest population of Native Americans of any state east of the Mississippi River.

North Carolina has a wide range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to 6,684 feet (2,037 m) in the mountains. The coastal plains are strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the state falls in the humid subtropical zone. More than 300 miles (500 km) from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a subtropical highland climate.

Between 2007 and 2008, North Carolina was the third-fastest growing state in the United States, and the fastest growing state east of the Mississippi River.[9]

Geography
Main article: Geography of North Carolina
North Carolina topographic map

North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on the west, Virginia on the north, and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. The United States Census Bureau classifies North Carolina as a southern state in the subcategory of being one of the South Atlantic States.

North Carolina consists of three main geographic sections: the coastal plain, which occupies the eastern 45% of the state; the Piedmont region, which contains the middle 35%; and the Appalachian Mountains and foothills. The extreme eastern section of the state contains the Outer Banks, a string of sandy, narrow islands which form a barrier between the Atlantic Ocean and inland waterways. The Outer Banks form two sounds—Albemarle Sound in the north and Pamlico Sound in the south. They are the two largest landlocked sounds in the United States.

Immediately inland, the coastal plain is relatively flat, with rich soils ideal for growing tobacco, soybeans, melons, and cotton. The coastal plain is North Carolina’s most rural section, with few large towns or cities. Agriculture remains an important industry. The major rivers of the coastal plain: the Neuse, Tar, Pamlico, and Cape Fear, tend to be slow-moving and wide.
Cullasaja Falls in Macon County

The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the “fall line”, a line which marks the elevation at which waterfalls first appear on streams and rivers. The Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the state’s most urbanized and densely populated section. It consists of gently rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges. A number of small, isolated, and deeply eroded mountain ranges and peaks are located in the Piedmont, including the Sauratown Mountains, Pilot Mountain, the Uwharrie Mountains, Crowder’s Mountain, King’s Pinnacle, the Brushy Mountains, and the South Mountains. The Piedmont ranges from about 300–400 feet (90–120 m) elevation in the east to over 1,000 feet (300 m) in the west. Due to the rapid population growth of the Piedmont, many of the farms and much of the rural countryside in this region is being replaced by suburbanization: shopping centers, housing, and corporation offices. Agriculture is steadily declining in importance in this region. The major rivers of the Piedmont, such as the Yadkin and Catawba, tend to be fast-flowing, shallow, and narrow.
The Western North Carolina mountains as seen from Sunset Rock in Highlands, North Carolina.

The western section of the state is part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Among the subranges of the Appalachians located in the state are the Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, Great Balsam Mountains, and the Black Mountains. The Black Mountains are the highest in the Eastern United States, and culminate in Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet (2,037 m).[4] It is the highest point east of the Mississippi River. Although agriculture remains important, tourism has become the dominant industry in the mountains. One agricultural pursuit which has prospered and grown in recent decades is the growing and selling of Christmas Trees. Due to the higher altitude of the mountains, the climate often differs markedly from the rest of the state. Winters in western North Carolina typically feature significant snowfall and subfreezing temperatures more akin to a midwestern state than a southern one.

North Carolina has 17 major river basins. Those west of the Blue Ridge Mountains flow to the Gulf of Mexico (via the Ohio and then the Mississippi River). All the others flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 17 basins, 11 originate within the state of North Carolina, but only four are contained entirely within the state’s borders – the Cape Fear, Neuse, White Oak and Tar-Pamlico.[10]
Climate
Main article: Climate of North Carolina

The geographical divisions of North Carolina are useful when discussing the climate of the state.

The Coastal Plain is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean which keeps temperatures mild in winter and moderate in the summer. Daytime high temperatures on the coast average less than 89 °F (31.6 °C) during the summer. In the winter, the coast has the mildest temperatures in the state, with daytime temperatures rarely dropping below 40 °F (4.4 °C); the average daytime winter temperature in the coastal plain is usually in the mid-60′s. Temperatures in the coastal plain rarely drop below freezing even at night. The coastal plain usually receives only one inch (2.5 cm) of snow and/or ice annually, and in some years there may be no snow or ice at all.
Bodie Island Lighthouse, one of the Outer Banks attractions.

The Atlantic Ocean has less influence on the Piedmont region, and as a result the Piedmont has hotter summers and colder winters than the coast. Daytime highs in the Piedmont often average over 90 °F (32.2 °C) in the summer. While it is not common for temperatures to reach over 100 °F (37.8 °C) in North Carolina, when it happens, the highest temperatures are to be found in the lower areas of the Piedmont, especially around the city of Fayetteville. Additionally, the weaker influence of the Atlantic Ocean means that temperatures in the Piedmont often fluctuate more widely than the coast.

In the winter, the Piedmont is much less mild than the coast, with daytime temperatures that are usually in the mid 50′s, and temperatures often drop below freezing at night. The region averages from 3–5 inches of snowfall annually in the Charlotte area to 6–8 inches in the Raleigh–Durham area. The Piedmont is especially notorious for sleet and freezing rain. It can be heavy enough in some storms to snarl traffic and collapse trees and power lines. Annual precipitation and humidity is lower in the Piedmont than either the mountains or the coast, but even at its lowest, the precipitation is a generous 40 in (102 cm) per year.
The Blue Ridge Mountains in the foreground with Grandfather Mountain in the extreme background as seen from Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

The Appalachian Mountains are the coolest area of the state, with daytime temperatures averaging in the low 40′s and upper 30′s for highs in the winter and often falling into the teens (-9 °C) or lower on winter nights. Relatively cool summers have temperatures rarely rising above 80 °F (26.7 °C). Snowfall in the mountains is usually 14–20 in (36–51 cm) per year, but it is often greater in the higher elevations. For example, during the Blizzard of 1993 more than 50 inches (130 cm) of snow fell on Mount Mitchell over a period of three days. Additionally, Mount Mitchell has received snow in every month of the year.

Severe weather occurs regularly in North Carolina. On average, the state receives a direct hit from a hurricane once a decade. Tropical storms arrive every 3 or 4 years. In some years, several hurricanes or tropical storms can directly strike the state or brush across the coastal areas. Only Florida and Louisiana are hit by hurricanes more often. Although many people believe that hurricanes menace only coastal areas, the rare hurricane which moves inland quickly enough can cause severe damage. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo caused heavy damage in Charlotte and even as far inland as the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northwestern part of the state. On average, North Carolina has 50 days of thunderstorm activity per year, with some storms becoming severe enough to produce hail, flash floods, and damaging winds.

North Carolina averages fewer than 20 tornadoes per year. Many of these are produced by hurricanes or tropical storms along the coastal plain. Tornadoes from thunderstorms are a risk, especially in the eastern part of the state. The western Piedmont is often protected by the mountains breaking storms up as they try to cross over them. The storms will often reform farther east. Also a weather feature known as “cold air damming” occurs in the western part of the state. This can also weaken storms but can also lead to major ice events in winter.”[11]
Monthly normal high and low temperatures (Fahrenheit) for various North Carolina cities.
City     Jan     Feb     Mar     Apr     May     Jun     Jul     Aug     Sep     Oct     Nov     Dec
Asheville     46/26     50/28     58/35     66/42     74/51     80/58     83/63     82/62     76/55     67/43     57/35     49/29
Cape Hatteras     54/39     55/39     60/44     68/52     75/60     82/68     85/73     85/72     81/68     73/59     65/50     57/43
Charlotte     51/32     56/34     64/42     73/49     80/58     87/66     90/71     88/69     82/63     73/51     63/42     54/35
Fayetteville     52/31     56/33     64/39     73/47     80/56     87/65     90/70     89/69     83/63     74/49     65/41     56/34
Greensboro     47/28     52/31     60/38     70/46     77/55     84/64     88/68     86/67     79/60     70/48     60/39     51/31
Raleigh     50/30     54/32     62/39     72/46     79/55     86/64     89/68     87/67     81/61     72/48     62/40     53/33
Wilmington     56/36     60/38     66/44     74/51     81/60     86/68     90/72     88/71     84/66     76/54     68/45     60/38
[1]|[12]
History
Main article: History of North Carolina
Native Americans, lost colonies, and permanent settlement
See also: Native Americans in the United States, Joara, and Roanoke Island
Map of the coast of Virginia and North Carolina, drawn 1585–1586 by Theodor de Bry, based on map by John White of the Roanoke Colony

North Carolina was originally inhabited by many different prehistoric native cultures. Before 200 AD, they were building earthwork mounds, which were used for ceremonial and religious purposes. Succeeding peoples, including those of the ancient Mississippian culture established by 1000 AD in the Piedmont, continued to build or add on to such mounds. In the 500–700 years preceding European contact, the Mississippian culture built large, complex cities and maintained far flung regional trading networks. Historically documented tribes in the North Carolina region included the Carolina Algonquian-speaking tribes of the coastal areas, such as the Chowanoke, Roanoke, Pamlico, Machapunga, Coree, Cape Fear Indians, and others, who were the first encountered by the English; Iroquoian-speaking Meherrin, Cherokee and Tuscarora of the interior; and Southeastern Siouan tribes, such as the Cheraw, Waxhaw, Saponi, Waccamaw, and Catawba.

Spanish explorers traveling inland in the 16th century met the Mississippian culture people at Joara, a regional chiefdom near present-day Morganton. Records of Hernando de Soto attested to his meeting with them in 1540. In 1567 Captain Juan Pardo led an expedition into the interior to claim the area for the Spanish colony, as well as establish another route to protect silver mines in Mexico. Pardo made a winter base at Joara, which he renamed Cuenca. The expedition built Fort San Juan and left 30 men, while Pardo traveled further, and built and staffed five other forts. He returned by a different route to Santa Elena on Parris Island, South Carolina, then a center of Spanish Florida. In the spring of 1568, natives killed all the soldiers and burned the six forts in the interior, including the one at Fort San Juan. Although the Spanish never returned to the interior, this marked the first European attempt at colonization of the interior of what became the United States. A 16th-century journal by Pardo’s scribe Bandera and archaeological findings since 1986 at Joara have confirmed the settlement.[13][14]
Sir Walter Raleigh returns to find the colony abandoned

In 1584, Elizabeth I, granted a charter to Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom the state capital is named, for land in present-day North Carolina (then Virginia).[15] Raleigh established two colonies on the coast in the late 1580s, both ending in failure. It was the second American territory the English attempted to colonize. The demise of one, the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke Island, remains one of the mysteries of American history. Virginia Dare, the first English child to be born in North America, was born on Roanoke Island on August 18, 1587. Dare County is named for her.

As early as 1650, colonists from the Virginia colony moved into the area of Albemarle Sound. By 1663, King Charles II of England granted a charter to start a new colony on the North American continent which generally established its borders. He named it Carolina in honor of his father Charles I.[16] By 1665, a second charter was issued to attempt to resolve territorial questions. In 1710, due to disputes over governance, the Carolina colony began to split into North Carolina and South Carolina. The latter became a crown colony in 1729. Smallpox took a heavy toll in the South. The 1738 epidemic was said to have killed one-half of the Cherokee, with other tribes of the area suffering equally.[17]
Colonial period and Revolutionary War
See also: Province of Carolina, Province of North Carolina, and American Revolutionary War
Reconstructed royal governor’s mansion Tryon Palace in New Bern

The first permanent European settlers of North Carolina after the Spanish in the 16th century were English colonists who migrated south from Virginia, following a rapid growth of the colony and the subsequent shortage of available farmland. Nathaniel Batts was documented as one of the first of these Virginian migrants. He settled south of the Chowan River and east of the Great Dismal Swamp in 1655.[18] By 1663, this northeastern area of the Province of Carolina, known as the Albemarle Settlements, was undergoing full-scale British settlement.[19] During the same period, the English monarch Charles II gave the province to the Lords Proprietors, a group of noblemen who had helped restore Charles to the throne in 1660. The new province of “Carolina” was named in honor and memory of King Charles I (Latin: Carolus). In 1712, North Carolina became a separate colony. Except for the Earl Granville holdings, it became a royal colony seventeen years later.[20]

Differences in the settlement patterns of eastern and western North Carolina, or the low country and uplands, affected the political, economic, and social life of the state from the eighteenth until the twentieth century. The Tidewater in eastern North Carolina was settled chiefly by immigrants from England and the Scottish Highlands. The upcountry of western North Carolina was settled chiefly by Scots-Irish, English and German Protestants, the so-called “cohee”. Arriving during the mid-to-late 18th century, the Scots-Irish from Ireland were the largest immigrant group before the Revolution. During the Revolutionary War, the English and Highland Scots of eastern North Carolina tended to remain loyal to the British Crown, because of longstanding business and personal connections with Great Britain. The English, Welsh, Scots-Irish and German settlers of western North Carolina tended to favor American independence from Britain.

Most of the English colonists arrived as indentured servants, hiring themselves out as laborers for a fixed period to pay for their passage. In the early years the line between indentured servants and African slaves or laborers was fluid. Some Africans were allowed to earn their freedom before slavery became a lifelong status. Most of the free colored families formed in North Carolina before the Revolution were descended from unions or marriages between free white women and enslaved or free African or African-American men. Because the mothers were free, their children were born free. Many had migrated or were descendants of migrants from colonial Virginia.[21] As the flow of indentured laborers to the colony decreased with improving economic conditions in Great Britain, more slaves were imported and the state’s restrictions on slavery hardened. The economy’s growth and prosperity was based on slave labor, devoted first to the production of tobacco.

On April 12, 1776, the colony became the first to instruct its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence from the British crown, through the Halifax Resolves passed by the North Carolina Provincial Congress. The dates of both of these events are memorialized on the state flag and state seal.[22] Throughout the Revolutionary War, fierce guerrilla warfare erupted between bands of pro-independence and pro-British colonists. In some cases the war was also an excuse to settle private grudges and rivalries. A major American victory in the war took place at King’s Mountain along the North Carolina–South Carolina border. On October 7, 1780 a force of 1000 mountain men from western North Carolina (including what is today the State of Tennessee) overwhelmed a force of some 1000 British troops led by Major Patrick Ferguson. Most of the British soldiers in this battle were Carolinians who had remained loyal to the British Crown (they were called “Tories”). The American victory at Kings Mountain gave the advantage to colonists who favored American independence, and it prevented the British Army from recruiting new soldiers from the Tories.
1st Maryland Regiment holding the line at the Battle of Guilford.

The road to Yorktown and America’s independence from Great Britain led through North Carolina. As the British Army moved north from victories in Charleston and Camden, South Carolina, the Southern Division of the Continental Army and local militia prepared to meet them. Following General Daniel Morgan’s victory over the British Cavalry Commander Banastre Tarleton at the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, southern commander Nathanael Greene led British Lord Charles Cornwallis across the heartland of North Carolina, and away from Cornwallis’s base of supply in Charleston, South Carolina. This campaign is known as “The Race to the Dan” or “The Race for the River.”[20]

Generals Greene and Cornwallis finally met at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in present-day Greensboro on March 15, 1781. Although the British troops held the field at the end of the battle, their casualties at the hands of the numerically superior American Army were crippling. Following this “Pyrrhic victory”, Cornwallis chose to move to the Virginia coastline to get reinforcements, and to allow the Royal Navy to protect his battered army. This decision would result in Cornwallis’s eventual defeat at Yorktown, Virginia later in 1781. The Patriots’ victory there guaranteed American independence.
Antebellum period

On November 21, 1789, North Carolina became the twelfth state to ratify the Constitution. In 1840, it completed the state capitol building in Raleigh, still standing today. Most of North Carolina’s slave owners and large plantations were located in the eastern portion of the state. Although North Carolina’s plantation system was smaller and less cohesive than those of Virginia, Georgia or South Carolina, there were significant numbers of planters concentrated in the counties around the port cities of Wilmington and Edenton, as well as suburban planters around the cities of Raleigh, Charlotte and Durham. Planters owning large estates wielded significant political and socio-economic power in antebellum North Carolina, placing their interests above those of the generally non-slave holding “yeoman” farmers of Western North Carolina. In mid-century, the state’s rural and commercial areas were connected by the construction of a 129–mile (208 km) wooden plank road, known as a “farmer’s railroad”, from Fayetteville in the east to Bethania (northwest of Winston-Salem).[20]
Map of the roads and railroads of North Carolina, 1854

Besides slaves, there were a number of free people of color in the state. Most were descended from free African Americans who had migrated along with neighbors from Virginia during the eighteenth century. After the Revolution, Quakers and Mennonites worked to persuade slaveholders to free their slaves. Some were inspired by their efforts and the language of men’s rights, to arrange for manumission of their slaves. The number of free people of color rose markedly in the first couple of decades after the Revolution.[23]

On October 25, 1836 construction began on the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad[24] to connect the port city of Wilmington with the state capital of Raleigh. In 1849 the North Carolina Railroad was created by act of the legislature to extend that railroad west to Greensboro, High Point, and Charlotte. During the Civil War the Wilmington-to-Raleigh stretch of the railroad would be vital to the Confederate war effort; supplies shipped into Wilmington would be moved by rail through Raleigh to the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.

During the antebellum period, North Carolina was an overwhelmingly rural state, even by Southern standards. In 1860 only one North Carolina town, the port city of Wilmington, had a population of more than 10,000. Raleigh, the state capital, had barely more than 5,000 residents.

While slaveholding was slightly less concentrated than in some Southern states, according to the 1860 census, more than 330,000 people, or 33% of the population of 992,622 were enslaved African-Americans. They lived and worked chiefly on plantations in the eastern Tidewater. In addition, 30,463 free people of color lived in the state. They were also concentrated in the eastern coastal plain, especially at port cities such as Wilmington and New Bern where they had access to a variety of jobs. Free African Americans were allowed to vote until 1835, when the state rescinded their suffrage.
American Civil War
Main article: North Carolina in the American Civil War
Further information: American Civil War
Union captures Fort Fisher, 1865.

In 1860, North Carolina was a slave state, in which about one-third of the population of 992,622 were enslaved African Americans. This was a smaller proportion than many Southern states. In addition, the state had just over 30,000 Free Negroes.[25] The state did not vote to join the Confederacy until President Abraham Lincoln called on it to invade its sister-state, South Carolina, becoming the last or second to last state to officially join the Confederacy. The title of “last to join the Confederacy” has been disputed because Tennessee informally seceded on May 7, 1861, making North Carolina the last to secede on May 20, 1861.[26][27] However, the Tennessee legislature did not formally vote to secede until June 8, 1861.[28]

North Carolina was the site of few battles, but it provided at least 125,000 troops to the Confederacy— far more than any other state. Approximately 40,000 of those troops never returned home, dying of disease, battlefield wounds, and starvation. North Carolina also supplied about 15,000 Union troops.[29] Elected in 1862, Governor Zebulon Baird Vance tried to maintain state autonomy against Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond.

Even after secession, some North Carolinians refused to support the Confederacy. This was particularly true of non-slave-owning farmers in the state’s mountains and western Piedmont region. Some of these farmers remained neutral during the war, while some covertly supported the Union cause during the conflict. Approximately 2,000 North Carolinians from western North Carolina enlisted in the Union Army and fought for the North in the war, and two additional Union Army regiments were raised in the coastal areas of the state that were occupied by Union forces in 1862 and 1863. Even so, Confederate troops from all parts of North Carolina served in virtually all the major battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, the Confederacy’s most famous army. The largest battle fought in North Carolina was at Bentonville, which was a futile attempt by Confederate General Joseph Johnston to slow Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s advance through the Carolinas in the spring of 1865.[20] In April 1865 after losing the Battle of Morrisville, Johnston surrendered to Sherman at Bennett Place, in what is today Durham, North Carolina. This was the last major Confederate Army to surrender. North Carolina’s port city of Wilmington was the last Confederate port to fall to the Union. It fell in the spring of 1865 after the nearby Second Battle of Fort Fisher.
Bennett Place historic site in Durham, North Carolina.

The first Confederate soldier to be killed in the Civil War was Private Henry Wyatt, a North Carolinian. He was killed in the Battle of Big Bethel in June 1861. At the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the 26th North Carolina Regiment participated in Pickett/Pettigrew’s Charge and advanced the farthest into the Northern lines of any Confederate regiment. During the Battle of Chickamauga the 58th North Carolina Regiment advanced farther than any other regiment on Snodgrass Hill to push back the remaining Union forces from the battlefield. At Appomattox Court House in Virginia in April 1865, the 75th North Carolina Regiment, a cavalry unit, fired the last shots of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War. For many years, North Carolinians proudly boasted that they had been “First at Bethel, Farthest at Gettysburg and Chickamauga, and Last at Appomattox.”
Demographics
See also: Demographics of North Carolina

Center of Population in between Seagrove and Cheeks, North Carolina
North Carolina Population Density in 2008.
With two-thirds of North Carolina’s population living in the middle one-third of its landmass, the middle third of the state is about four times more densely populated than the remaining two-thirds.
Change in population from 2000 to 2008, using census estimates. Note the large-scale area of net population loss in the inland northeastern part of the state; these counties are all related to each other in that they contain the highest percentage of African-Americans, according to the Census 2000 data.[30]

The United States Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2009, estimated North Carolina’s population at 9,380,884[2] which represents an increase of 1,340,334, or 16.7%, since the last census in 2000.[31] This exceeds the rate of growth for the United States as a whole. The growth comprises a natural increase since the last census of 412,906 people (that is 1,015,065 births minus 602,159 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 783,382 people into the state.[31] Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 192,099 people, and migration within the country produced a net gain of 591,283 people.[31] Between 2005 and 2006, North Carolina passed New Jersey to become the 10th most populous state.[32] The state’s population reported as under 5 years old was 6.7%, 24.4% were under 18, and 12.0% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51% of the population.
Metropolitan areas

North Carolina has three major Metropolitan Combined Statistical Areas with populations of more than 1 million (U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimates):[33]

* The Metrolina: Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, North Carolina-SC – population 2,338,289
* The Triangle: Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina- population 1,690,557
* The Piedmont Triad: Greensboro—Winston-Salem—High Point, North Carolina – population 1,603,101

North Carolina has nine municipalities with populations of more than 100,000 (U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimates):[34]

* Charlotte: Mecklenburg County – population 687,456
* Raleigh: Wake County – population 392,552
* Greensboro: Guilford County – population 257,997
* Winston-Salem: Forsyth County – population 227.834
* Durham: Durham County – population 223,800
* Fayetteville: Cumberland County – population 174,091
* Cary: Wake County – population 134,545
* High Point: Guilford County – population 101,835
* Wilmington: New Hanover County – population 100,192

Racial makeup and population trends
Historical populations
Census     Pop.         %±
1790     393,751
—
1850     869,039
—
1860     992,622         14.2%
1870     1,071,361         7.9%
1880     1,399,750         30.7%
1890     1,617,949         15.6%
1900     1,893,810         17.1%
1910     2,206,287         16.5%
1920     2,559,123         16.0%
1930     3,170,276         23.9%
1940     3,571,623         12.7%
1950     4,061,929         13.7%
1960     4,556,155         12.2%
1970     5,082,059         11.5%
1980     5,881,766         15.7%
1990     6,628,637         12.7%
2000     8,040,550         21.3%
Est. 2009     9,380,884     [2]     16.7%
Ancestry     Percentage     Main article:
African     (21.6%) Of Total)     See African American
American     (13.9%)     See United States
English     (9.5%)     See English American
German     (9.5%)     See German American
Irish     (7.4%)     See Irish American
Scots-Irish     (3.2%)     See Scots-Irish American
Italian     (2.3%)     See Italian American
Scottish     (2.2%)     See Scottish American
County     Seat     2010 Projection[35]
Mecklenburg     Charlotte     936,874
Wake     Raleigh     920,298
Guilford     Greensboro     480,028
Forsyth     Winston-Salem     352,810
Cumberland     Fayetteville     317,094
Durham     Durham     267,086
Buncombe     Asheville     234,800
Union     Monroe     207,738
Gaston     Gastonia     207,696
New Hanover     Wilmington     202,411
Demographics of North Carolina (csv)
By race     White     Black     AIAN*     Asian     NHPI*
2000 (total population)     75.27%     22.20%     1.65%     1.70%     0.11%
2000 (Hispanic only)     4.28%     0.33%     0.10%     0.05%     0.03%
2005 (total population)     74.95%     22.29%     1.65%     2.06%     0.12%
2005 (Hispanic only)     5.89%     0.37%     0.12%     0.05%     0.03%
Growth 2000–05 (total population)     7.41%     8.31%     7.51%     30.62%     17.92%
Growth 2000–05 (non-Hispanic only)     4.93%     8.13%     6.31%     30.71%     16.84%
Growth 2000–05 (Hispanic only)     48.62%     20.36%     25.79%     27.15%     21.63%
* AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native; NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

In 2007, the U.S. Census estimated that the racial makeup of North Carolina was as follows: 70% White American, 25.3% African-American, and 1.2% American Indian; 6.5% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). North Carolina has historically been a rural state, with most of the population living on farms or in small towns. However, over the last 30 years the state has undergone rapid urbanization, and today most of North Carolina’s residents live in urban and suburban areas, as in most of the United States. In particular, the cities of Charlotte and Raleigh have become major urban centers, with large, diverse, mainly affluent and rapidly growing populations. The state has received considerable immigration from Latin America, India, and Southeast Asia.[36]
African-Americans

African-Americans make up nearly a quarter of North Carolina’s population. The number of middle-class African-Americans has increased since the 1970s. African-Americans are concentrated in the state’s eastern Coastal Plain and in parts of the Piedmont Plateau, where they had historically worked and where the most new job opportunities are. African-American communities number by the hundreds in rural counties in the south-central and northeast, and in predominantly African neighborhoods in the cities: Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, Fayetteville, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.
Asian Americans

The state has a rapidly growing proportion of Asian Americans, specifically those of Indian, Vietnamese descent; these groups nearly quintupled and tripled, respectively, between 1990 and 2002, as people arrived in the state for new jobs in the growing economy. Recent estimates suggest that the state’s Asian-American population has increased significantly since 2000.
European Americans

Settled first, the coastal region attracted primarily English immigrants of the early migrations, including indentured servants transported to the colonies and descendants of English who migrated from Virginia. In addition, there were waves of Protestant European immigration, including the English, many Scots Irish, French Huguenots,[37] and Swiss Germans who settled New Bern; many Pennsylvania Germans came down the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia on the Great Wagon Road and settled in the western Piedmont and the foothills of the Blue Ridge. There is a high concentration of Scots-Irish in western North Carolina. A concentration of Welsh (usually included with others from Britain and Ireland) settled east of present Fayetteville in the 18th century. For a long time the wealthier, educated planters of the coastal region dominated state government.
Hispanics/Latinos

Since 1990 the state has seen an increase in the number of Hispanics/Latinos. Once chiefly employed as migrant labor, Hispanic residents of the 1990s and early 2000s have been attracted to low-skilled jobs. As a result, growing numbers of Hispanic immigrants are settling in the state.
Native Americans

North Carolina has the largest American Indian population of any state on the East Coast. The estimated population figures for Native Americans in North Carolina (as of 2004) is 110,198. To date, North Carolina recognizes eight Native American tribal nations within its state borders. Those tribes are the Coharie, Eastern Band of the Cherokee, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Sappony, Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation and Waccamaw-Siouan.[38]
Religion
Religious affiliation
Christian     84%
Evangelical Protestant     41%
Mainline Protestant     21%
Black Protestant     13%
Roman Catholic      9%
Buddhist     1%
Other religions     3%
Irreligious     12%
Data as of 2007[39]

North Carolina, as other Southern states, has traditionally been overwhelmingly Protestant, mostly with denominations of British or American origin. The eighteenth-century Moravian settlements in the western Piedmont have provided an interesting variation, as has the late-nineteenth-century Italian Protestant Waldensian settlement in Valdese. By the late nineteenth century, the largest Protestant denomination was the Southern Baptists.

The rapid influx of northerners, people from Florida and immigrants from Latin America, which began in the late twentieth century, is steadily increasing the number of Roman Catholics and Jews in the state, and refugees and other recent immigrants from Asia have brought Buddhism with them. The Baptists do remain the single largest denomination in the state, however.

The religious affiliations of the people of North Carolina, as of 2007, are shown in the chart.
Economy
North Carolina quarter, reverse side, 2001.jpg

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the state’s 2008 total gross state product was $400.2 billion, it is the ninth wealthiest state in terms of gross domestic product.[40] Its 2007 per capita personal income was $33,735, placing 36th in the nation.[41] North Carolina’s agricultural outputs include poultry and eggs, tobacco, hogs, milk, nursery stock, cattle, sweet potatoes, and soybeans. However, North Carolina has recently been affected by offshoring and industrial growth in countries like China; one in five manufacturing jobs in the state has been lost to overseas competition.[42]

There has been a distinct difference in the economic growth of North Carolina’s urban and rural areas. While large cities such as Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, and others have experienced rapid population and economic growth over the last thirty years, many of the state’s small towns have suffered from loss of jobs and population. Most of North Carolina’s small towns historically developed around textile and furniture factories. As these factories closed and moved to low-wage markets in Asia and Latin America, the small towns that depended upon them have suffered.
Map of North Carolina showing “The Gold Region.” 1847

The first gold nugget found in the U.S. was found in Cabarrus County in 1799.[43] The first gold dollar minted in the U.S. was minted at the Bechtler Mint in Rutherford County.
Agriculture and manufacturing

The responsibilities in regulatory and service areas covering different aspect of Agriculture and manufacturing are overseen by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Over the past century, North Carolina has grown to become a national leader in agriculture, financial services, and manufacturing. The state’s industrial output—mainly textiles, chemicals, electrical equipment, paper and pulp and paper products—ranked eighth in the nation in the early 1990s. The textile industry, which was once a mainstay of the state’s economy, has been steadily losing jobs to producers in Latin America and Asia for the past 25 years, though the state remains the largest textile employer in the United States.[44] Over the past few years, another important Carolina industry, furniture production, has also been hard hit by jobs moving to Asia (especially China).

North Carolina is the leading producer of tobacco in the country.[45] As one of North Carolina’s earliest sources of revenue, it remains vital to the local economy, although concerns about whether the federal government will continue to support subsidies for tobacco farmers has led some growers to switch to other crops like grapes for wine or leave farming altogether.[46] Agriculture in the western counties of North Carolina (particularly Buncombe and surrounding counties) is presently experiencing a revitalization coupled with a shift to niche marketing, fueled by the growing demand for organic and local products.
Employment

North Carolina is an at-will employment state, meaning employees in the private sector may be dismissed without prior notice or reason.

In January 2010, the state’s unemployment rate was 11.1%; in April 2010, it was 11.8%.[47]
Finance, technology, and research

Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city, continues to experience rapid growth, in large part due to the banking & finance industry. Charlotte is now the second largest banking center in the United States (after New York), and is home to Bank of America and Wells Fargo subsidiary, Wachovia. The Charlotte metro area is also home to 5 other Fortune 500 companies.

BB&T (Branch Banking & Trust), one of America’s largest banks, was founded in Wilson, North Carolina in 1872. Today, BB&T’s headquarters is in Winston-Salem, although some operations still take place in Wilson.

The information and biotechnology industries have been steadily on the rise since the creation of the Research Triangle Park (RTP) in the 1950s. Located between Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill (mostly in Durham County), it is a globally prominent research center home to over 170 companies and federal agencies and is the largest and oldest continuously operating research and science park in the United States.[48] Anchored by UNC (Chapel Hill), Duke (Durham), and NC State (Raleigh), the park’s proximity to these research universities has no doubt helped to fuel growth.
Raleigh, the growing capital of North Carolina.

The North Carolina Research Campus underway in Kannapolis (approx. 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Charlotte) aims to enrich and bolster the Charlotte area in the same way that RTP changed the Raleigh-Durham region.[49] Encompassing 5,800,000 square feet (539,000 m2), the complex is a collaborative project involving Duke University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and N.C. State University, along with private and corporate investors and developers. The facility incorporates corporate, academic, commercial and residential space, oriented toward research and development (R&D) and biotechnology.

Similarly, in downtown Winston-Salem, the Piedmont Triad Research Park is undergoing an expansion. Approximately thirty miles to the east of Winston Salem’s research park, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina A&T State University have joined forces to create the Gateway University Research Park, a technology-based research entity which will focus its efforts on areas such as nanotechnology, biotechnology & biochemistry, environmental sciences, and genetics among other science-based disciplines.
Film and the arts

Film studios are located in Shelby, Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem. Some of the best-known films and television shows filmed in the state include: All the Real Girls, The Secret Life of Bees, Being There, Blue Velvet, Bull Durham, A Walk to Remember, Glory, The Color Purple, Cabin Fever, Super Mario Bros., Cape Fear, Children of the Corn, The Crow, Cyborg (film), Dawson’s Creek, Dirty Dancing, Evil Dead 2, The Fugitive, The Green Mile, Hannibal, The Last of the Mohicans, Maximum Overdrive, Nell, One Tree Hill, Patch Adams, Shallow Hal, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3, Leatherheads, Nights in Rodanthe and 28 Days. Half of Steven King’s movies were filmed in North Carolina.

The television show most associated with North Carolina is The Andy Griffith Show, which aired on CBS-TV from 1960 to 1968. The series is set in the fictional small town of Mayberry, North Carolina, and was based on the real-life town of Mount Airy, North Carolina, although it was filmed in California. Mount Airy is the hometown of actor Andy Griffith. The show is still popular in reruns and is frequently shown in syndication around the nation. North Carolina is also home to some of the Southeast’s biggest film festivals, including the National Black Theatre Festival and the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, and the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina.
Tourism

Tourism destinations in the state include amusement parks, golf, wineries, beaches, meetings and conventions and sports venues. The North Carolina tourism industry employs more than 190,000 people. The state is the 6th most visited in the country (preceded by Florida, California, New York, Nevada and Pennsylvania).[50] The North Carolina Department of Commerce maintains a Tourism Services providing matching funds and consultation for development tourism in the state including rural tourism.[51]
Tax revenue

North Carolina personal income tax is slightly progressive, with four incremental brackets ranging from 6.0% to 8.25%. The base state sales tax is 5.25%.[52] Most taxable sales or purchases are subject to the state tax as well as the 2.5% local tax rate levied by all counties, for a combined 7.75%. Mecklenburg County has an additional 0.5% local tax for public transportation, bringing sales taxes there to a total 8.25%. The total local rate of tax in Dare County is 3.5%, producing a combined state and local rate there of 8.75%.[53] In addition, there is a 30.2¢ tax per gallon of gas, a 30¢ tax per pack of cigarettes, a 79¢ tax on wine, and a 48¢ tax on beer. There are also additional taxes levied against food, normally totaling 2%, and some counties assess a 1% tax on prepared food.

The property tax in North Carolina is locally assessed and collected by the counties. The three main elements of the property tax system in North Carolina are real property, motor vehicles and personal property (inventories and household personal property are exempt). Estimated at 10.5% of income, North Carolina’s state and local tax burden percentage ranks 23rd highest nationally (taxpayers pay an average of $3,526 per-capita), just below the national average of 10.6%.[54] North Carolina ranks 40th in the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index with neighboring states ranked as follows: Tennessee (18th), Georgia (19th), South Carolina (26th) and Virginia (13th).[54]
Transportation
International/regional airports
Commercial Airports in North Carolina
Main article: List of airports in North Carolina

* Albert J Ellis Airport (Jacksonville)
* Asheville Regional Airport (Asheville)
* Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (Charlotte)
* Coastal Carolina Regional Airport (New Bern)
* Fayetteville Regional Airport (Fayetteville)
* Kinston Regional Jetport (Kinston)
* Piedmont Triad International Airport (Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point)
* Pitt-Greenville Airport (Greenville)
* Raleigh-Durham International Airport (Raleigh/Durham)
* Wilmington International Airport (Wilmington)

Rail

Amtrak operates The Palmetto with service from New York to Florence to Savannah Georgia, as well as Silver Star from New York to Florence to Tampa via Raleigh, Cary, Southern Pines and Hamlet N.C., and Silver Meteor from New York to Florence to Miami via Rocky Mount N.C and Fayetteville N.C. The state subsidizes both the Piedmont and Carolinian intercity rail serving the Research Triangle. Amtrak has announced a third subsidized train that will run between Raleigh and Charlotte. This train will run midday to complement the Piedmont and Carolinian and include stops in Greensboro, Burlington, and High Point. There is also the Crescent which runs from New York to Atlanta during the early morning before dawn.
Mass transit
LYNX light rail car in Charlotte

Several cities are served by mass transit systems.

The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) operates a historical trolley line and 76 bus and shuttle routes serving Charlotte and its satellite cities. In 2007 it opened the LYNX light rail line connecting Charlotte with suburban Pineville. There are future plans to expand LYNX Light Rail as well as implementation of Commuter Rail and Streetcar.

Raleigh is serviced by the Capital Area Transit (CAT). CAT also operates a historical trolley line giving tours of the historic areas of Downtown Raleigh and other areas of interest in the Capital City. It operates 31 bus routes and a downtown circulator called the R-Line which services the entertainment and shopping areas of Downtown Raleigh. N.C. State University within the City of Raleigh operates its own bus line named the Wolfline to provide service to the university’s students and employees.

The Fayetteville Area System of Transit (FAST) serves the city with ten bus routes and two shuttle routes.

The Triangle Transit Authority operates buses that serve the Triangle region and connect to municipal bus systems in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill; recent efforts to build a light rail from downtown Raleigh to downtown Durham failed as TTA’s projected ridership did not meet federal standards.

Greensboro is serviced by the Greensboro Transit Authority (GTA), which operates 14 bus routes. Additionally, the Higher Education Area Transit (HEAT) system provides service to students who attend the following institutions: Bennett College, Elon University School of Law, Greensboro College, Guilford College, Guilford Technical Community College, North Carolina A&T State University, and University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The HEAT service provides transportation between campuses and various other destinations, including downtown Greensboro.

Winston-Salem Transit Authority (WSTA) operates 30 bus routes around the city of Winston-Salem; additionally, WSTA recently completed construction of a central downtown mult-modal transportation center with 16 covered bus bays adjacent to a large enclosed lobby/waiting area. There are future plans being discussed for a $52 million streetcar system connecting Piedmont Triad Research Park/Downtown with Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART) is the Triad’s 10-county regional organization with the goal of enhancing all forms of transportation through regional cooperation. PART Express Bus provides express shuttle service to each major Triad city from Piedmont Triad International Airport, while Connections Express connects the Triad to Duke and UNC Medical Centers. PART is also administering and developing several rail service studies that include both commuter and intercity rail.

Wilmington’s Wave Transit operates six bus lines within the city as well as five shuttles to nearby areas and a downtown trolley.

In July 2008, Western Piedmont Regional Transit Authority began serving Burke, Caldwell, Catawba and Alexander counties in the region just west of Charlotte.[55]

Jacksonville recently began a trial bus system called the LOOP, which runs two routes through the city and nearby Camp Lejeune. But this loop has yet to be made permanent.
Major highways
Main article: North Carolina Highway System

The North Carolina Highway System consists of a vast network of Interstate highways, U.S. routes, and state routes. North Carolina has the largest state maintained highway network in the United States, with 77,400 miles of roadway.[56] Major highways include:

* I-26.svg Interstate 26
* I-40.svg Interstate 40
* I-73.svg Interstate 73
* I-74.svg Interstate 74
* I-77.svg Interstate 77
* I-85.svg Interstate 85
* I-95.svg Interstate 95

* US 1.svg U.S. Highway 1
* US 13.svg U.S. Highway 13
* US 15.svg U.S. Highway 15
* US 17.svg U.S. Highway 17
* US 19.svg U.S. Highway 19
* US 52.svg U.S. Highway 52
* US 64.svg U.S. Highway 64
* US 70.svg U.S. Highway 70
* US 74.svg U.S. Highway 74

Politics and government
North Carolina State Legislative Building

North Carolina has a large number of statewide elected executive officials.

The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Commissioner of Agriculture, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Labor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Treasurer, and State Auditor form a ten-member North Carolina Council of State. Ten other executive department heads appointed by the governor form the North Carolina Cabinet. The state’s current governor is Democrat Bev Perdue, the first woman to serve as governor of the state.

The North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature. Like all other states except for Nebraska, the legislature is bicameral, consisting of the 120-member North Carolina House of Representatives and the 50-member North Carolina Senate. Both the state House and the state Senate currently have Democratic majorities. The lieutenant governor is the ex officio president of the state Senate. The Senate also elects its own president pro tempore and the House elects its speaker.

The state court system is led by the Supreme Court of North Carolina, the state supreme court, which consists of seven justices. The North Carolina Court of Appeals is the state’s intermediate appellate court and consists of fifteen judges who rule in rotating panels of three. Together, the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals constitute the appellate division of the court system.

The trial division includes the Superior Court and the District Court. The Superior Court is the state trial court of general jurisdiction; all felony criminal cases, civil cases involving an amount in controversy in excess of $10,000, and appeals from the District Court are tried (de novo review) in Superior Court. A jury of 12 hears the criminal cases.

The District Court is a court of limited jurisdiction. It has original jurisdiction over handles family law matters (divorce, child custody, child support); civil claims involving less than $10,000; criminal cases involving misdemeanors and lesser infractions; and juvenile cases involving children under the age of 16 who are delinquent and children under the age of 18 who are undisciplined, dependent, neglected, or abused. Magistrates of the District Court may accept guilty pleas for minor misdemeanors, accept guilty pleas for traffic violations, and accept waivers of trial for worthless check and other charges. In civil cases, the magistrate is authorized to try small claims involving up to $5,000 including landlord-tenant and eviction cases. Magistrates also perform civil marriages. District Court conduct only bench trials, with no jury.
State constitution
Main article: North Carolina Constitution

The state constitution governs the structure and function of the North Carolina government. It is the highest legal document for the state and subjugates North Carolina law. Like all state constitutions in the United States, this constitution is subject to federal judicial review. Any provision of the state constitution can be nullified if it conflicts with federal law and the United States Constitution.

North Carolina has had three constitutions:

* as the first constitution of the independent state. The Declaration of Rights was ratified the preceding day.
* 1868: Framed in accordance with the Reconstruction Acts after North Carolina was readmitted into the Union. It was a major reorganization and modification of the original into fourteen articles. It also introduced townships which each county was required to create, the only southern state to do so.
* 1971: Minor consolidation of the 1868 constitution and subsequent amendments.

Federal apportionments

North Carolina currently has 13 congressional districts, which, when combined with its two U.S. Senate seats, gives the state 15 electoral votes. In the 111th Congress, the state is represented by eight Democratic and five Republican members of congress, plus one Republican and one Democratic Senator.
Politics
See also: Politics of the United States, Disfranchisement after the Civil War, Voting rights in the United States, and Political party strength in North Carolina
Presidential elections results Year     Republican     Democratic
2008     49.38% 2,128,474     49.70% 2,142,651
2004     56.02% 1,961,166     43.58% 1,525,849
2000     56.03% 1,631,163     43.20% 1,257,692
1996     48.73% 1,225,938     44.04% 1,107,849
1992     43.44% 1,134,661     42.65% 1,114,042
1988     57.97% 1,237,258     41.71% 890,167
1984     61.90% 1,346,481     37.89% 824,287
1980     49.30% 915,018     47.18% 875,635
1976     44.22% 741,960     55.27% 927,365
1972     69.46% 1,054,889     28.89% 438,705
1968     39.51% 627,192     29.24% 464,113
1964     43.85% 624,844     56.15% 800,139
1960     47.89% 655,420     52.11% 713,136
North Carolina State Capitol

North Carolina is politically dominated by the Democratic and Republican political parties. Since the 19th century, third parties, such as the Green Party and Libertarian Party, have had difficulty making inroads in state politics. They have both run candidates for office with neither party’s winning a state office. After engaging in a lawsuit with the state over ballot access, the Libertarian Party[57] qualified to be on the ballot after submitting more than 70,000 petition signatures[58]

Historically, North Carolina was politically divided between the eastern and western parts of the state. Before the Civil War, the eastern half of North Carolina supported the Democratic Party, primarily because the region contained most of the state’s planter slaveholders who profited from large cash crops. Yeomen farmers in the western Piedmont and mountains were not slaveholders and tended to support the Whig party, seen as more moderate on slavery and more supportive of business interests.

Following the Civil War, Republicans, including newly enfranchised freedmen, controlled the state government during Reconstruction. When federal troops were removed in the national compromise of 1877, the Democratic Party gained control of the state government, partly through white paramilitary groups conducting a campaign of violence against African-Americans to discourage them from voting, especially in the Piedmont counties. Despite that, the number of African-American officeholders peaked in the 1880s as they were elected to local offices in African-American-majority districts.[59]

Hard pressed poor cotton farmers created the Populist Party to challenge the establishment. Conditions turned much worse in the Panic of 1893, as cotton prices fell. In North Carolina, largely-black Republican Party formed a fusion ticket with the largely-white Populist, giving them control of the state legislature in 1894. In 1896 the Republican-Populist alliance took control of the governorship and many state offices. In response, many white Democrats began efforts to reduce voter rolls and turnout.[60] During the late 1890s, conservative Democrats began to pass legislation to restrict voter registration and reduce voting by African-Americans and poor whites.

With the first step accomplished in 1896 by making registration more complicated and reducing African-American voter turnout, in 1898 the state’s Democratic Party regained control of the state government. Contemporary observers described the election as a “contest unquestionably accompanied by violence, intimidation and fraud – to what extent we do not know – in the securing of a majority of 60,000 for the new arrangement”.[61] Using the slogan, “White Supremacy”, and backed by influential newspapers such as the Raleigh News and Observer under publisher Josephus Daniels, the Democrats ousted the Populist-Republican majority. By 1900 new laws imposed poll taxes (voters had to pay a $1 tax, but not non-voters), residency requirements, and literacy tests. Initially the grandfather clause was used to exempt illiterate whites from the literacy test, but many were gradually disfranchised as well. By these efforts, by 1904 white Democratic legislators had completely eliminated African-American voter turnout in North Carolina.[62] Disfranchisement lasted until it was ended by the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

By 1900 North Carolina joined the “Solid Democratic South”, with the blacks still members of the Republican Party but powerless in state and local affairs. However, some counties in North Carolina’s western Piedmont and Appalachian Mountains continued to vote Republican, continuing a tradition that dated from their yeoman culture and opposition to secession before the Civil War. In 1952, aided by the presidential candidacy of popular war hero Dwight Eisenhower, the Republicans were successful in electing a U.S. Congressman, Charles R. Jonas.

In the mid-20th century Republicans began to attract white voters in North Carolina and other Southern states. This was after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 under Democratic President Lyndon Johnson, which extended Federal protection and enforcement of civil rights for all American citizens. Because the Democratic Party had supported civil rights at the national level, most African-American voters (just under 25% of North Carolina’s population in the 1960 census) initially aligned with the Democrats when they regained their franchise.[63] In 1972, aided by the landslide re-election of Richard Nixon, Republicans in North Carolina elected their first governor and U.S. senator of the twentieth century.
North Carolina Governor’s Mansion

Senator Jesse Helms played a major role in renewing the Republican Party and turning North Carolina into a two-party state. Under his banner, many conservative white Democrats in the central and eastern parts of North Carolina began to vote Republican, at least in national elections. In part, this was due to dissatisfaction with the national Democratic Party’s stance on issues of civil rights and racial integration. In later decades, conservatives rallied to Republicans over social issues such as prayer in school, gun rights, abortion rights, and gay rights.

Except for regional son Jimmy Carter’s election in 1976, North Carolina voted Republican in every presidential election from 1968 to 2004. At the state level, however, the Democrats still control most of the elected offices. President George W. Bush carried North Carolina with 56% of the vote in 2004, but in 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama narrowly defeated Republican candidate John McCain in North Carolina; he was the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the state in 32 years. The Democratic Party’s strength is increasingly centered in densely-populated urban counties such as Mecklenburg, Wake, Durham, and Guilford, where the bulk of the state’s population growth has occurred. The Republicans maintain a strong presence in many of North Carolina’s rural and small-town counties, which have become heavily Republican. The suburban areas around the state’s larger cities usually hold the balance of power and can vote both ways, and in 2008 trended towards the Democratic Party. State and local elections have become highly competitive compared to the previous one-party decades of the 20th century. For example, eastern North Carolina routinely elects Republican sheriffs and county commissioners, a shift that did not happen until the 1980s. Currently, each party holds a U.S. Senate seat. Democrats hold the governorship, majorities in both houses of the state legislature, state supreme court, and an eight to five majority of U.S. House seats from the state.

Two Presidents of the United States were born and raised in North Carolina, but both men began their political careers in neighboring Tennessee, and were elected President from that state. The two men were James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson. A third U.S. President, Andrew Jackson, may also have been born in North Carolina. However, as he was born almost precisely on the state line with South Carolina, both states claim him as a native son, and historians have debated for decades over the precise site of Jackson’s birthplace. On the grounds of the old state capitol in Raleigh is a statue dedicated to the Presidents who were born in the state; Jackson is included in the statue. Jackson himself stated that he was born in what later became South Carolina, but at the time of his birth, the line between the states had not been surveyed.

North Carolina remains a control state. This is probably due to the state’s strongly conservative Protestant heritage. Two of the state’s counties – Graham and Yancey, which are located in a rural area – remain “dry” (the sale of alcoholic beverages is illegal).[64] However, the remaining 98 North Carolina counties allow the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, as is the case in most of the United States. Even in rural areas, the opposition to selling and drinking alcoholic beverages is declining, as the decreasing number of “dry” counties indicates.

In 2005, following substantial political maneuvering, the state legislature voted to implement a state lottery, thus altering North Carolina’s reputation as the “anti-lottery” state, where owning a lottery ticket from another state was once a felony. By 2005, every state surrounding North Carolina had a lottery in operation. The North Carolina Education Lottery began selling tickets on March 31, 2006. The lottery has had unexpectedly low sales since its inception.[65]
Education
Elementary and secondary education
See also: List of school districts in North Carolina and List of high schools in North Carolina

Elementary and secondary public schools are overseen by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction is the secretary of the North Carolina State Board of Education, but the board, rather than the superintendent, holds most of the legal authority for making public education policy. In 2009, the board’s chairman also became the “chief executive officer” for the state’s school system.[66][67] North Carolina has 115 public school systems,[68] each of which is overseen by a local school board. A county may have one or more systems within it. The largest school systems in North Carolina are the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Wake County Public School System, Guilford County Schools, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, and Cumberland County Schools. In total there are 2,338 public schools in the state, including 93 charter schools.[68]
Colleges and universities
Further information: List of colleges and universities in North Carolina
Duke Chapel at Duke University
Old Well at UNC-Chapel Hill
Memorial Bell Tower at NC State

In 1795, North Carolina opened the first public university in the United States—the University of North Carolina (currently named the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). More than 200 years later, the University of North Carolina system encompasses 17 public universities including UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, East Carolina University, Western Carolina University, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke, UNC Wilmington and Appalachian State University. The system also supports several well-known historically African-American colleges and universities such as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University, Winston-Salem State University, Elizabeth City State University, and Fayetteville State University. Along with its public universities, North Carolina has 58 public community colleges in its community college system.

North Carolina is also home to many well-known private colleges and universities including: Duke University, Wake Forest University, Elon University, Davidson College, and High Point University.
Sports and recreation
Main article: Sports in North Carolina
Professional sports
Motorsports

The state is also a center in American motorsports, with more than 80% of NASCAR racing teams and related industries located in the Piedmont region. The largest race track in North Carolina is Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord where the Sprint Cup Series holds three major races each year. The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, is due to open in 2010. Many of NASCAR’s most famous driver dynasties, the Pettys, Earnhardts, Allisons, Jarretts and Waltrips all live within an hour of Charlotte.

In off-road motocycle racing, the Grand National Cross Country series makes two stops in North Carolina, Morganton and Yadkinville; the only other state to host two GNCC events is Ohio. For sport amateurs, the state holds the State Games of North Carolina each year.
Football

Despite having over nine million people, North Carolina’s population being spread out over three major metropolitan areas precluded attracting any major professional sports league teams until 1974, when the New York Stars of the World Football League was relocated to Charlotte in the middle of the season and renamed the Charlotte Hornets (although the team was referred to as the Charlotte Stars for the first game in Charlotte). The National Football League (NFL) is represented by the Carolina Panthers, who began play in 1995, and call Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium home. The Carolina RailHawks are a men’s professional soccer team in the United Soccer Leagues, and their home field is the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. The American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) is represented by the Fayetteville Guard who plays at Crown Coliseum. North Carolina was home to the Charlotte Rage and the Carolina Cobras of the Arena Football League.
Basketball
Time Warner Cable Arena, home to the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA.

In 2004, the NBA added the Charlotte Bobcats franchise at the same time the city lost the Hornets to New Orleans. The Bobcats play their home games in Time Warner Cable Arena.

The first successful major professional sports team to be created in North Carolina were the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which began play in the 1988–89 season.

Prior to that, the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association played in various North Carolina cites (playing in the ABA for five seasons, ending in the spring of 1974). Old Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown started his coaching career as head coach of the Cougars.
Hockey
Stanley Cup awards ceremony at the RBC Center

On June 19, 2006, the Carolina Hurricanes, a National Hockey League (NHL) franchise based in Raleigh, won the Stanley Cup. The Hurricanes, who call the RBC Center home, are the first major professional sports team from North Carolina to win their sport’s highest championship. The team moved to the state in 1996 and played their games at the Greensboro Coliseum for their first 2 seasons in North Carolina before moving to their current home at the Entertainment and Sports Arena (later named the RBC Center) in Raleigh.
Baseball
Durham Bulls Athletic Park

North Carolina is a state known for minor league sports, notably the setting of the 1987 comedy Bull Durham about the Durham Bulls of the Carolina League. The state boasts over 30 minor league baseball teams in six different minor leagues, including the Triple-A International League teams in Charlotte (which actually plays in nearby Fort Mill, SC) and Durham. The state remains without a Major League Baseball franchise despite numerous efforts to attract a team (including the 2006 push to relocate the Florida Marlins to Charlotte).
Golf

North Carolina has become a top golf destination for players across the nation, notably in Pinehurst, and the community of Southern Pines of Moore County which is home to over 50 golf courses, as well as the coastal corridor between historic Wilmington, North Carolina and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with over 110 golf courses.
Wrestling

From the 1930s to the early 1990s, the Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion, under the Crockett family, operated almost entirely out of Charlotte. Mid Atlantic was a long-time member of the National Wrestling Alliance and many of their top stars appeared on national television on NWA and later WCW events. Many retired or still-current wrestlers live in the Charlotte/Lake Norman area, including Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Matt and Jeff Hardy, Stan Lane, Shannon Moore and R-Truth Also, the chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment, Vincent K. McMahon was born in Pinehurst, attended East Carolina University, and was married in New Bern.
Rodeo

North Carolina has become a hot bed for professional bull riding (PBR). It is the home of the 1995 PRCA World Champion Bull Rider Jerome Davis. It is also home to several professional stock contractors and bull owners including Thomas Teague of Teague Bucking Bulls. The Golden Belt Buckle state champion for 2009–2010 is Brad Ballew out of Asheville, North Carolina. The Southern Extreme Bull Riding Association SEBRA headquarters are located in Archdale.
Miscellaneous

There are a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams throughout the state.
College sports
Tip-off of a Duke-UNC basketball game at the Dean Smith Center

Although North Carolina did not have a major-league professional sports franchise until the 1980s, the state has long been known as a hotbed of college basketball. Since the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 1953, the conference’s North Carolina member schools have excelled in conference play. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Duke University, and North Carolina State University are all located within 25 miles (40 km) of one another, creating fierce rivalries. Wake Forest University, another ACC member, is located less than 100 miles (160 km) to the west of these schools in Winston-Salem. UNC has won five NCAA national championships in basketball: 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, and 2009. Duke has won four NCAA championships: 1991, 1992, 2001 and 2010. NC State has won two: 1974 and 1983. The Duke-UNC basketball rivalry has been called one of the best rivalries in sports and the two schools are often contenders for the national title. In addition to the ACC schools, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte went to the NCAA’s Final Four in 1977, and Davidson College near Charlotte went to the NCAA’s “Elite Eight” in 1968, 1969, and 2008.

North Carolina schools have also won multiple NCAA Division II basketball national championships. In 1967, Winston-Salem State University, led by future NBA star Earl Monroe and coached by the legendary Clarence “Big House” Gaines, was the first school in the state to win the Division II championship. In 1989, North Carolina Central University brought the title to the state a second time; winning the championship game by 27 points, which remains the largest margin of victory in its history. And in 2007, Barton College in Wilson returned the title to the state a third time.

Although basketball remains the dominant college sport in North Carolina, several schools have also enjoyed success in football and other sports. Wake Forest University has also enjoyed substantial success in football; in 2007 they won the ACC football championship and participated in the 2007 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. This was the first major bowl berth for a North Carolina–based ACC team since Duke defeated Arkansas in the 1961 Cotton Bowl Classic. East Carolina University also enjoys much success in football. Located in Greenville the Pirates have won both the 2008 and 2009 Conference USA Football Championship and have large passionate fan base. The East Carolina Pirates were the first back-to-back C-USA champions since divisional play was started in 2005. The Pirates played in the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl for a second consecutive year on January 2, 2010. Elon University made 4 trips to the NAIA National Championship in football game winning back to back championships in 1980 and 1981. Lenoir-Rhyne University won the 1960 NAIA National Championship in football. Appalachian State University, Elon University, Western Carolina University and North Carolina A&T State University have all made trips to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision championship playoffs. Western Carolina University has made one trip to this championship game, while Appalachian State University became the first school to win the championship three years in a row from 2005 to 2007. University of North Carolina at Greensboro has won five NCAA Division III soccer national championships: 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1987.
Recreation
The Blue Ridge Mountains of the Shining Rock Wilderness Area

Due to geography, rich history, and growing industry, North Carolina provides a large range of recreational activities from swimming at the beach[69] to skiing in the mountains. North Carolina offers fall colors, freshwater and saltwater fishing, hunting, birdwatching, agritourism, ATV trails, ballooning, rock climbing, biking, hiking, skiing, boating and sailing, camping, canoeing, caving (spelunking), gardens, and arboretums. North Carolina has theme parks, aquariums, zoos, museums, historic sites, lighthouses, elegant theaters, concert halls, and fine dining.[70]

North Carolinians enjoy outdoor recreation utilizing numerous local bike paths, 34 state parks, and 14 national parks which are the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Cape Lookout National Seashore, Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site at Flat Rock, Croatan National Forest in Eastern North Carolina, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site at Manteo, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in Greensboro, Moores Creek National Battlefield near Currie, the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, Old Salem National Historic Site in Winston-Salem, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, Uwharrie National Forest.
Other information
Music
Main article: Music of North Carolina

North Carolina is known particularly for its tradition of old-time music, and many recordings were made in the early 20th century by folk song collector Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Musicians such as the North Carolina Ramblers helped solidify the sound of country music in the late 1920s, while the influential bluegrass musician Doc Watson also came from North Carolina. Both North and South Carolina are a hotbed for traditional rural blues, especially the style known as the Piedmont blues. Contemporary Jazz musician LeRoi Moore, now deceased, of the Dave Matthews Band was born in Durham, North Carolina.

The Triangle area has long been a well-known center for folk, rock, metal, and punk.[71] James Taylor grew up around Chapel Hill and his 1968 song “Carolina in My Mind” has been called an unofficial anthem for the state.[72][73][74]

Also coming from Chapel Hill is the band Squirrel Nut Zippers, who played a big part in the 1990s swing revival.
Famous food and drinks from North Carolina
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008)
2008 Lexington Barbecue Festival

A nationally-famous cuisine from North Carolina is pork barbecue. However, there are strong regional differences and rivalries over the sauces and method of preparation used in making the barbecue. The common trend across Western North Carolina is the use of Premium Grade Boston Butt, which is high in vitamins B1, B2, niacin (B3), B6, and selenium. Western North Carolina pork barbecue uses a tomato-based sauce, and only the pork shoulder (dark meat) is used. Western North Carolina barbecue is commonly referred to as Lexington barbecue after the Piedmont Triad town of Lexington, home of the Lexington Barbecue Festival which attracts over 100,000 visitors each October.[75][76]

Eastern North Carolina pork barbecue uses a vinegar and red pepper based sauce and the “whole hog” is cooked, thus using both white and dark meat.

Krispy Kreme, a popular chain of doughnut stores, was started in North Carolina; the company’s headquarters are in Winston-Salem. Winston Salem is also the birthplace of R.J. Reynolds tobacco. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR), founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1874, is the second-largest tobacco company in the U.S. (behind Altria Group). RJR is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc. which in turn is 42% owned by British American Tobacco. Pepsi-Cola was first produced in 1898 in New Bern. A regional soft drink, Cheerwine, was created and is still based in the city of Salisbury. Despite its name, the hot sauce Texas Pete was created in North Carolina; its headquarters are also in Winston-Salem. The Hardees fast-food chain was started in Rocky Mount. Another fast-food chain, Bojangles’, was started in Charlotte, and has its corporate headquarters there. A popular North Carolina restaurant chain is Golden Corral. Started in 1973, the chain was founded in Fayetteville, with headquarters located in Raleigh. Popular pickle brand Mount Olive Pickle Company was founded in Mount Olive in 1926. Cook Out, a popular fast food chain featuring burgers, hot dogs, and milkshakes in a wide variety of flavors, was founded in Greensboro in 1989 and operates exclusively in North Carolina.

Over the last decade, North Carolina has become a cultural epicenter and haven for internationally prized winning wine (Noni Bacca), internationally prized cheeses (Ashe County), international hub for truffles (Garland Truffles), and beer making as tobacco land has been converted to grape orchards while state laws regulating alcohol content in beer allowed a jump in ABV from 6% to 15%. The Yadkin Valley in particular has become a popular place for grape production while the city of Asheville recently won the recognition of being named ‘Beer City USA.’ Asheville boasts the largest breweries per capita of any city in the United States. Popular brands of beer in NC include Highland Brewing, Weeping Radish Brewery, Big Boss Brewing, Foothills Brewing and Carolina Brewing Company. As of March 27, 2010, Wilmington, North Carolina hosts Noni Bacca winery which earned 12 medals at the coveted Finger Lakes International Wine Competition.
Ships named for the state
Further information: USS North Carolina

Several ships have been named for the state. Most famous is the USS North Carolina, a World War II battleship. The ship served in several battles against the forces of Imperial Japan in the Pacific theater during the war. Now decommissioned, it is part of the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial in Wilmington. Another USS North Carolina, a nuclear attack submarine, was commissioned in Wilmington, North Carolina on May 3, 2008.[77]
State symbols
Cardinal, North Carolina state bird
Dogwood, North Carolina state flower
Main article: North Carolina state symbols

* State motto: Esse quam videri (“To be, rather than to seem”) (1893)
* State song: “The Old North State” (1927)
* State flower: Dogwood (1941)
* State bird: Cardinal (1943)
* State colors: the red and blue of the N.C. and U.S. flags (1945)
* State toast: “The Tar Heel Toast” (1957)
* State tree: Pine (1963)
* State shell: Scotch bonnet (1965)
* State mammal: Eastern Gray Squirrel (1969)
* State salt water fish: Red Drum (also known as the Channel bass) (1971)
* State insect: European honey bee (1973)
* State gemstone: Emerald (1973)
* State reptile: Eastern Box Turtle (1979)
* State rock: Granite (1979)
* State beverage: Milk (1987)
* State historical boat: Shad boat (1987)
* State language: English (1987)
* State dog: Plott Hound (1989)
* State military academy: Oak Ridge Military Academy (1991)
* State tartan: Carolina tartan (1991)[78]
* State vegetable: Sweet potato (1995)
* State red berry: Strawberry (2001)
* State blue berry: Blueberry (2001)
* State fruit: Scuppernong grape (2001)
* State wildflower: Carolina Lily (2003)
* State Christmas tree: Fraser Fir (2005)
* State carnivorous plant: Venus Flytrap (2005)
* State folk dance: Clogging (2005)
* State popular dance: Shag (2005)
* State birthplace of traditional pottery: the Seagrove area (2005)

Armed forces installations

According to former Governor Mike Easley, North Carolina is the “most military friendly state in the nation.”[79] Fort Bragg, near Fayetteville, is the largest and most comprehensive military base in the United States and is the headquarters of the XVIII Airborne Corps, 82nd Airborne Division, and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Serving as the airwing for Fort Bragg is Pope Air Force Base also located near Fayetteville.

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune which, when combined with nearby bases Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, MCAS New River, Camp Geiger, Camp Johnson, Stone Bay and Courthouse Bay, makes up the largest concentration of Marines and sailors in the world. MCAS Cherry Point is home of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. Located in Goldsboro, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is home of the 4th Fighter Wing and 916th Air Refueling Wing. One of the busiest air stations in the United States Coast Guard is located at the Coast Guard Air Station in Elizabeth City. Also stationed in North Carolina is the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point in Southport.
See also
North Carolina portal
United States portal
North America portal
Main articles: Outline of North Carolina and Index of North Carolina-related articles
References

1. ^ “North Carolina Climate and Geography”. NC Kids Page. North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State. May 8, 2006. http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/kidspg/geog.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-07.
2. ^ a b c d “Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009″. United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/popest/states/tables/NST-EST2009-01.csv. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
3. ^ a b Median Household Income, from U.S. Census Bureau (from 2007 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
4. ^ a b c “Elevations and Distances in the United States”. U.S Geological Survey. April 29, 2005. http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html#Highest. Retrieved 2006-11-06.
5. ^ Constance E. Richards, “Contact and Conflict”, American Archaeologist, Spring 2008, p.14. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
6. ^ “The Colony At Roanoke”. The National Center for Public Policy Research. http://www.nationalcenter.org/ColonyofRoanoke.html. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
7. ^ “National Archives in Washington, D. C..”. Record Group [RG] 94, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, under the series “General Orders, Second Military District, 1868 (Excerpt in Papers of William Woods Holden reference). http://www.archives.gov/research/order/.
8. ^ “The Papers of William Woods Holden, Vol.1 1841-1868, and the Governor’s Letters from the State Archives”. RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA CHIEF, ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SECTION. http://c2.api.ning.com/files/byG4QIWWTP6TKyXNArEA4Qp*Q6uTvRMx4sC*RPLBA24e20ypz0LkvTdeaUyyic6JG8gxc4EBS-LMM33Q4a4kqdNkL5zLNC-j/Letter_of_Surrender.pdf.
9. ^ “America’s fastest growing states (Source: Census.gov – 2008)”. Mibazaar.com. http://www.mibazaar.com/fastestgrowingstates.html. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
10. ^ “Watersheds”. NC Office of Environmental Education. 2007-02-16. http://www.eenorthcarolina.org/public/ecoaddress/riverbasins/riverbasinmapinteractive.htm.
11. ^ “NOAA National Climatic Data Center”. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/research/tornado/small/avgt5304.gif. Retrieved 2006-10-24.
12. ^ “Average Weather for Fayetteville, NC – Temperature and Precipitation”. Weather.com. http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/coldandflu/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USNC0234?from=36hr_bottomnav_flu. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
13. ^ David G. Moore, Robin A. Beck, Jr., and Christopher B. Rodning, “Joara and Fort San Juan: culture contact at the edge of the world”, Antiquity, Vol.78, No. 229, March 2004, accessed 26 June 2008
14. ^ Constance E. Richards, “Contact and Conflict” Warren Wilson College, American Archaeologist, Spring 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
15. ^ Randinelli, Tracey. Tanglewood Park. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt. p. 16. ISBN 0-15-333476-2.
16. ^ North Carolina State Library – North Carolina History
17. ^ “Cherokee Indians”. Encyclopedia of North Carolina.
18. ^ Fenn and Wood, Natives and Newcomers, pp. 24–25
19. ^ Powell, North Carolina Through Four Centuries, p. 105
20. ^ a b c d Lefler and Newsome, (1973)
21. ^ Paul Heinegg, Free African Americans in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
22. ^ “The Great Seal of North Carolina”. NETSTATE. http://www.netstate.com/states/syMbit/seals/nc_seal.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-12.
23. ^ John Hope Franklin, Free Negroes of North Carolina, 1789–1860, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1941, reprint, 1991
24. ^ NC Business History
25. ^ Historical Census Browser, 1860 US Census, University of Virginia. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
26. ^ Center for Civic Education
27. ^ The University of North Carolina
28. ^ Library of Congress
29. ^ Classbrain.com
30. ^ http://merlot.caliper.com/maptitude/census2000maps/map.asp?command=find&map_option=loc_only&map=7&state=NC&city=&SUBMIT=Find
31. ^ a b c U. S. Census Bureau (2008-12-15). “Cumulative Estimates of the Components of Population Change for the United States, Regions and States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 (NST-EST2008-04)” (CSV). http://www.census.gov/popest/states/tables/NST-EST2008-04.csv. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
32. ^ Table 1: Estimates of Population Change for the United States and States, and for Puerto Rico and State Rankings: July 1, 2005 to July 1, 2006. United States Census Bureau. December 22, 2006. Retrieved December 22, 2006.
33. ^ “Table 2: Annual Estimates of the Population of Combined Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008″ (CSV). 2008 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. July 1, 2008. http://www.census.gov/popest/metro/tables/2008/CBSA-EST2008-02.csv. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
34. ^ “Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places Over 100,000, Ranked by July 1, 2008 Population: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008″ (CSV). 2008 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. July 1, 2008. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2008-01.csv. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
35. ^ “County Population Growth 2010–2020″. North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management. http://www.osbm.state.nc.us/ncosbm/facts_and_figures/socioeconomic_data/population_estimates/demog/grow1020.html. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
36. ^ “Contemporary Migration in North Carolina” (PDF). http://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/collateral/articles/S95.Contemp.Migration.pdf.
37. ^ North Carolina-Colonization-The Southern Colonies
38. ^ “Tribes and Organizations”. North Carolina Department of Administration. http://www.doa.state.nc.us/cia/tribesorg.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
39. ^ Pewforum.org
40. ^ U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
41. ^ “Per Capita Personal Income”. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. September 2006. http://bea.gov/bea/regional/spi/drill.cfm?satable=SA30&lc=110&years=2005&rformat=display. Retrieved 2006-10-23.
42. ^ Fishman, China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World, p. 179
43. ^ Lewis, Rebecca. “The North Carolina Gold Rush”. North Carolina Museum of History. http://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/collateral/articles/s06.gold.rush.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
44. ^ Duke University
45. ^ Time for tobacco burning out in N.C.. Associated Press. April 29, 2007.
46. ^ NC Department of Commerce Wine and Grape Industry web site.
47. ^ Bureau of Labor Statistics
48. ^ The Research Triangle Park
49. ^ “North Carolina Research Campus”. http://www.ncresearchcampus.net/theplan.html. Retrieved 2006-12-17.
50. ^ Gallagher, James (May 12, 2009). “Travelers spend $16.9B in N.C.; state now sixth most visited in U.S.”. Triangle Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2009/05/11/daily27.html?ana=from_rss.
51. ^ “Tourism Services”. NC Department of Commerce. http://www.nccommerce.com/en/TourismServices/.
52. ^ “Sales and Use Tax”. North Carolina Department of Revenue. 2006-10-18. http://www.dornc.com/taxes/sales/salesanduse.html. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
53. ^ Change in Dare County Sales and Use Tax Rate
54. ^ a b “The Facts on North Carolina’s Tax Climate”. Tax Foundation. http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/47.html. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
55. ^ Western Piedmont Regional Transit Authority
56. ^ Hartgen, David T. and Ravi K. Karanam (2007). “16th Annual Report on the Performance of State Highway Systems” (PDF). Reason Foundation. p. 14 (in pdf), 8 (in printed report). http://www.reason.org/ps360.pdf. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
57. ^ Hogarth, Susan (2005). “Special LPNC Announcement: First victory in LPNC Lawsuit!!!”. Libertarian Party of North Carolina. http://www.lpnc.org/announcements/2006/20060505.php. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
58. ^ NC Libertarians release candidate slate
59. ^ Michael J. Klarman, From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, p.30
60. ^ Richard H. Pildes, “Democracy, Anti-Democracy, and the Canon”, Constitutional Commentary, Vol.17, 2000, p. 27. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
61. ^ Albert Shaw, The American Monthly Review of Reviews, Vol. XXII, July-December 1900, pp. 273–274. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
62. ^ Richard H. Pildes, “Democracy, Anti-Democracy, and the Canon”, Constitutional Commentary, Vol.17, 2000, pp. 12–13. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
63. ^ Historical Census Browser, 1960 US Census, University of Virginia. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
64. ^ “Frequently Asked Questions: North Carolina ABC Commission”. Ncabc.com. http://www.ncabc.com/faq/category.aspx. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
65. ^ Lottery commissioner says games are doing well despite low sales | WWAY NewsChannel 3 | Wilmington NC News
66. ^ “North Carolina Department of Public Instruction”. http://www.ncpublicschools.org/.
67. ^ News & Observer: Perdue’s choice to lead state’s school system takes office
68. ^ a b “North Carolina Public Schools Quick Facts”. http://www.ncpublicschools.org/quickfacts/facts/.
69. ^ “Best of North Carolina Beaches”. http://www.igovacation.com/search_rentals/stateinfo.asp?State=nc.
70. ^ “What To Do Across North Carolina”. VisitNC.com. 2006. http://www.visitnc.com/what_to_do.asp. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
71. ^ Unterberger, Richie (1999). Music USA: The Rough Guide. The Rough Guides. ISBN 1-85828-421-X.
72. ^ “Hey, James Taylor – You’ve got a … bridge?”. Rome News-Tribune. May 21, 2002. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XuYGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6TsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3430,2859475&dq=carolina-in-my-mind+anthem. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
73. ^ Hoppenjans, Lisa (October 2, 2006). “You must forgive him if he’s …”. The News & Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/161/story/493529.html. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
74. ^ Waggoner, Martha (October 17, 2008). “James Taylor to play 5 free NC concerts for Obama”. USA Today. Associated Press. http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/2008-10-17-2062938384_x.htm. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
75. ^ Garner, Bob (2007). Bob Garner’s Guide to North Carolina Barbecue. John F. Blair, Publisher. ISBN 9780895872548. http://books.google.com/?id=PswNCQWI9RsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=north+carolina+barbecue.
76. ^ Craig, H. Kent (2006). “What is North Carolina-Style BBQ?”. ncbbq.com. http://ncbbq.com/Modules/Articles/article.aspx?id=20. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
77. ^ “USS North Carolina ‘brought to life’ again”. WRAL-TV. 2008-05-03. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2829981/. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
78. ^ Secretary of State of North Carolina.
79. ^ State of North Carolina – Office of the Governor (2006-05-13). “Gov. easily vows to keep N.C. most military friendly state in the Nation”. Press release. http://www.governor.state.nc.us/News_FullStory.asp?id=2048. Retrieved 2007-06-23.

Further reading

* Powell, William S. and Jay Mazzocchi, eds. Encyclopedia of North Carolina (2006) 1320pp; 2000 articles by 550 experts on all topics; ISBN 0807830712. The best starting point for most research.
* Clay, James, and Douglas Orr, eds., North Carolina Atlas: Portrait of a Changing Southern State 1971
* Crow; Jeffrey J. and Larry E. Tise; Writing North Carolina History (1979) online
* Fleer; Jack D. North Carolina Government & Politics (1994) online political science textbook
* Hawks; Francis L. History of North Carolina 2 vol 1857
* Kersey, Marianne M., and Ran Coble, eds., North Carolina Focus: An Anthology on State Government, Politics, and Policy, 2d ed., (Raleigh: North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research, 1989).
* Lefler; Hugh Talmage. A Guide to the Study and Reading of North Carolina History (1963) online
* Lefler, Hugh Talmage, and Albert Ray Newsome, North Carolina: The History of a Southern State (1954, 1963, 1973), standard textbook
* Link, William A. North Carolina: Change and Tradition in a Southern State (2009), 481pp history by leading scholar
* Luebke, Paul. Tar Heel Politics: Myths and Realities (1990).
* Powell William S. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. Vol. 1, A-C; vol. 2, D-G; vol. 3, H-K. 1979-88.
* Powell, William S. North Carolina Fiction, 1734-1957: An Annotated Bibliography 1958
* Powell, William S. North Carolina through Four Centuries (1989), standard textbook
* Ready, Milton. The Tar Heel State: A History of North Carolina (2005) excerpt and text search
* WPA Federal Writers’ Project. North Carolina: A Guide to the Old North State. 1939. famous WPA[disambiguation needed] guide to every town.

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Georgia is bordered on the south by Florida; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina; on the west by Alabama; and on the north by Tennessee and North Carolina. The northern part of the state is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a mountain range in the vast Appalachian Mountains system. The central piedmont extends from the foothills to the fall line, where the rivers cascade down in elevation to the continental coastal plain of the southern part of the state. The highest point in Georgia is Brasstown Bald, 4,784 feet (1,458 m); the lowest point is sea level.

With an area of 59,425 square miles (153,909 km2), Georgia is ranked 24th in size among the 50 U.S. states. Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi River in terms of land area, although it is the fourth largest (after Michigan, Florida, and Wisconsin) in total area, a term which includes expanses of water which are part of state territory.[4]

Geography
Main article: Geography of Georgia (U.S. state)
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Boundaries

Beginning from the Atlantic Ocean, the state’s eastern border with South Carolina runs up the Savannah River, northwest to its origin at the confluence of the Tugaloo and Seneca Rivers. It then continues up the Tugaloo (originally Tugalo) and into the Chattooga River, its most significant tributary. These bounds were decided in the 1797 Treaty of Beaufort, and tested in the U.S. Supreme Court in the two Georgia v. South Carolina cases in 1923 and 1989.

The border then takes a sharp turn around the tip of Rabun County, at latitude 35°N, though from this point it diverges slightly south (due to inaccuracies in the original survey). This originally was the Georgia and North Carolina border all the way back to the Mississippi River, until Tennessee was divided from North Carolina, and Alabama and Mississippi (the Yazoo lands) were taken from Georgia.

The state’s western border then departs in another straight line south-southeastward, at a point southwest of Chattanooga, to meet the westernmost point of the Chattahoochee River near West Point. It continues down to the point where it ends at the Flint River (the confluence of the two forming Florida’s Apalachicola River), and goes almost due east and very slightly south, in a straight line to the origin of the St. Mary’s River, which then forms the remainder of the boundary back to the ocean.

It should be noted that the water boundaries are still set to be the original thalweg of the rivers. Since then, several have been inundated by lakes created by dams, including the Apalachicola/Chattahoochee/Flint point now under Lake Seminole.

Georgia state legislators have claimed that the state’s border with Tennessee has been erroneously placed one mile (1.6 km) further south than intended in an 1818 survey, and proposed that the border should be corrected. This would allow Georgia, in the midst of a significant drought, to access water from the Tennessee River.[5]
Geology and terrain
Map of elevations in Georgia
Main article: Geology of Georgia (U.S. state)

Each region has its own distinctive characteristics. For instance, the Ridge and Valley, which lies in the northwest corner of the state, includes limestone, sandstone, shale and other sedimentary rocks, which have yielded construction-grade limestone, barite, ocher and small amounts of coal.
Flora and fauna
Main article: Ecology of Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia has a diverse mix of flora and fauna. The State of Georgia has approximately 250 tree species and 58 protected plants. Georgia’s native trees include red cedar, a variety of pines, oaks, maples, cypress, sweetgum and scaly-bark and white hickories, as well as many others. Palmettos and other subtropical flora are found in the southern and coastal regions. Yellow jasmine, and mountain laurel make up just a few of the flowering shrubs in the state.

Regarding fauna, white-tailed (Virginia) deer can be found in nearly all counties. The northern mockingbird and Brown Thrasher are just two of the 160 bird species that can be found in the state. Here can be found the eastern diamondback, copperhead, and cottonmouth as well as salamanders, frogs, alligators and toads. They are among 79 species of reptile and 63 amphibians here. The most popular freshwater game fish are trout, bream, bass, and catfish, all but the last of which are produced in state hatcheries for restocking. Popular saltwater game fish include red drum, spotted seatrout, flounder, and tarpon, among many others. Porpoises, whales, shrimp, oysters, and blue crabs are found inshore and offshore of the Georgia coast.[6]
Climate
Main article: Climate of Georgia (U.S. state)
Map of Georgia

The majority of Georgia is primarily a humid subtropical climate. Hot and humid summers are typical, except at the highest elevations. The entire state, including the north Georgia mountains, receives moderate to heavy precipitation, which varies from 45 inches (1143 mm) in central Georgia[7] to approximately 75 inches (1905 mm) around the northeast part of the state.[8] The degree to which the weather of a certain region of Georgia is subtropical depends on the latitude, its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico and the elevation. The latter factor is felt chiefly in the mountainous areas of the northern part of the state, which are farther away from the ocean and can be 4500 feet (1350 m) above sea level.

The highest temperature ever recorded is 112 °F (44.4 °C),[9] while the lowest is -17 °F (-27.2 °C).[10] Georgia is one of the leading states in frequency of tornadoes, though they rarely are stronger than F0 and F1. A tornado hit downtown Atlanta on March 14, 2008, causing moderate to severe damage. With a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, Georgia is also vulnerable to hurricanes, although direct hurricane strikes were rare during the 20th century. Georgia often is affected by hurricanes that strike the Florida panhandle, weaken over land, and bring strong tropical storm winds and heavy rain to the interior, as well as hurricanes that come close to the Georgia coastline, brushing the coast on their way north.

In 2006 and 2007 Georgia had severe droughts. Temperatures over 100 °F (38 °C) have been recorded.

Protected lands
Main article: Protected areas of Georgia (U.S. state)

There are 63 parks in Georgia, 48 of which are state parks and 15 that are historic sites, and numerous state wildlife preserves, under the supervision of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.[12] Other historic sites and parks are supervised by the National Park Service and include the Andersonville National Historic Site in Andersonville; Appalachian National Scenic Trail; Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area near Atlanta; Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park at Fort Oglethorpe; Cumberland Island National Seashore near St. Marys; Fort Frederica National Monument on St. Simons Island; Fort Pulaski National Monument in Savannah; Jimmy Carter National Historic Site near Plains; Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park near Kennesaw; Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site in Atlanta; Ocmulgee National Monument at Macon; Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.Okefeenokee SwampWaycross, Georgia[13]
History
Main article: History of Georgia (U.S. state)
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Early history
Yamacraw Creek Native Americans meet with the Trustee of the colony of Georgia in England, July 1734, Notice the Native American boy (in a blue coat) and woman (in a red dress) in European clothing.

The local moundbuilder culture, described by Hernando de Soto in 1540, completely disappeared by 1560. Early on, in the course of European exploration of the area, a number of Spanish explorers visited the inland region of Georgia.

The conflict between Spain and England over control of Georgia began in earnest in about 1670, when the English founded the Carolina colony in present-day South Carolina. Nearly a century earlier, the Spanish of Spanish Florida had established the missionary provinces of Guale and Mocama on the coast and Sea Islands of present-day Georgia. After decades of fighting, the Carolinians and allied Indians permanently destroyed the Spanish mission system during the invasions of 1702 and 1704. After 1704, Spanish control was limited to St. Augustine and Pensacola, both in present-day Florida. The Florida peninsula was subjected to raids as far as the Florida Keys. The coast of Georgia was occupied by now British-allied Indians such as the Yamasee until the Yamasee War of 1715-1717, after which the region was depopulated, opening up the possibility of a new British colony. In 1724, it was first suggested the British colony there be called Province of Georgia in honor of King George II.

British interest in establishing a colony below South Carolina came from varied sources. Spanish Florida was a threat to South Carolina and a haven for runaway slaves. The French in the 1720s established a fort near present-day Montgomery, Alabama, also a threat to British interests in the region. Traders from Charleston, South Carolina, had established trading posts as far west as the Ocmulgee River, near present-day Macon, Georgia. The British trading network kept the Creek Indians allied with them; the French move threatened to wrest these Indians’ trade away from the British. These strategic interests made the British government interested in establishing a new colony that would reinforce the British influence in the border country that had been open to Spanish and French penetration.

Meanwhile, many members of the British Parliament had become concerned about the plight of Britain’s debtors. A parliamentary committee investigated and reported on conditions in Britain’s debtor prisons. A group of philanthropists organized themselves to establish a colony where the “worthy poor” of Britain could reestablish themselves as productive citizens. This goal was seen as both philanthropic, helping these distressed people, and patriotic, simultaneously relieving Britain of the burden of the imprisoned debtors and augmenting Britain’s vital mercantile empire by planting new, industrious subjects to strengthen her trade. This goal went unfulfilled as Georgia was ultimately not settled by debtors or convicts.

In 1732, a group of these philanthropists were granted a royal charter as the Trustees of the Province of Georgia. They carefully selected the first group of colonists to send to the new colony. On 12 February 1733, 113 settlers aboard the Anne landed at what was to become the city of Savannah. This day is now known as Georgia Day, which is not a public holiday but is observed in schools and by some local civic groups. James Oglethorpe, one of the trustees of the colony, traveled with the first group of colonists, laid out the design of the town of Savannah, and acted as governor of the colony, although technically under the trustees there was no “governor.” Oglethorpe acted as the only trustee present in the colony. When he returned to Britain, a series of disputes ended his tenure governing the colony; Georgia was then led by a series of presidents named by the trustees.

A large majority of the original settlers were English, but at the time Georgia was founded in 1732, the number of non-English immigrants to the 13 colonies was at an all time high. Although religious toleration was not valued in itself, the pragmatic need to attract settlers led to broad religious freedoms. South Carolina wanted German Lutherans, Scottish Presbyterians, Moravians, French Huguenots and Jews, and of course large numbers of English and Welsh Protestants whom they valued as a counter to the French and Spanish Catholic and absolutist presence to the south. When the Moravians turned out to be pacifists who refused to serve in the colonial defense against Spain, they were expelled by the British in 1738. Catholics were denied the right to own property. Jewish immigrants fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, which was being carried out by the Spanish colonies in the New World, were allowed in after some debate, owing to the leadership of James Oglethorpe. In 1733, over forty Jews fleeing persecution arrived in Savannah, the largest such group to enter an American colony up to that time. Among them was Dr. Samuel Nunez, who was the first doctor in Georgia. He immediately showed his value as a citizen by playing an invaluable role in curbing an epidemic that had already killed scores of English and Scottish settlers, and was credited with saving the colony by General Oglethorpe.[14]

In 1752, after the government failed to renew subsidies that had helped support the colony, the Trustees turned over control to the crown. Georgia became a crown colony, with a governor appointed by the king.[15] However, even after Georgia eventually became a royal colony (1752), there were so many dissenters (Protestants of minority denominations, that is, non-Anglican) that the establishment of the Church of England was successfully resisted until 1752. These dissenting churches were the mainstay of the Revolutionary movement, culminating in the War for Independence from Britain, through the patriotic and anti-authoritarian sermons of their ministers, and the use of the churches to organize rebellion. Whereas the Anglican Church tended to preach stability and loyalty to the Crown, other Protestant sects preached heavily from the Old Testament and emphasized freedom and equality of all men before God, as well as the moral responsibility to rebel against tyrants.[16]
Revolutionary War history
Main article: Georgia during the American Revolution

Province of Georgia was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution by signing the 1776 Declaration of Independence, despite a large population of people loyal to the crown. Since Georgia was a relatively new colony at the time compared to the other twelve colonies, Georgia was not as active in the war. Also, the Georgian militia was not fully developed, which led to the capture of Savannah by British forces in December 1778. American forces under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln combined with French forces under the command of Charles Henri Comte d’Estaing to lay siege to Savannah in 1779. The attempt was incredibly unsuccessful, and Savannah remained in British hands until the end of the war. During the war, nearly one-third of the slaves, more than 5,000 enslaved African Americans, exercised their desire for independence by escaping and joining British forces, where they were promised freedom. Some went to Great Britain or the Caribbean; others were resettled in Canada provinces.[17] Other estimates show an even greater impact from the war, when slaves escaped during the disruption. “The sharp decline between 1770 and 1790 in the proportion of the population made up of blacks (almost all of whom were slaves) [went] from 45.2 percent to 36.1 percent in Georgia.”[18]

Following the war, Georgia became the fourth state of the United States of America after ratifying the United States Constitution on 2 January 1788. Georgia established its first state constitution in 1777. The state established new constitutions in 1788, 1799, 1861, 1865, 1868, 1877, 1945, 1976, and 1983, for a total of 10 — more constitutions than any other state, except for Louisiana, which has had 11.

In 1829, gold was discovered in the north Georgia mountains, resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush, the first gold rush in U.S. history. A Federal mint was established in Dahlonega, Georgia and continued to operate until 1861. An influx of white settlers pressured the U.S. government to take the land away from the Cherokee Indians, who operated their own government with a written constitution, and did not recognize the authority of the state of Georgia.

The dispute culminated in the Indian Removal Act of 1830, under which all eastern tribes were sent west to Indian reservations in present-day Oklahoma. In Worcester v. Georgia, the Supreme Court in 1832 ruled that states were not permitted to redraw the boundaries of Indian lands, but President Andrew Jackson and the state of Georgia ignored the ruling. In 1838, his successor, Martin Van Buren dispatched federal troops to round up the Cherokee and deport them west of the Mississippi. This forced relocation, known as the Trail of Tears led to the death of over 4,000 Cherokees.
Confederate history
Main article: Georgia in the American Civil War

On January 18, 1861, Georgia joined the Confederacy and became a major theater of the American Civil War. Major battles took place at Chickamauga, Kennesaw Mountain, and Atlanta. In December 1864, a large swath of the state from Atlanta to Savannah was destroyed during General William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea. This event served as the historical background for the 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and the 1939 film of the same name. On July 15, 1870, following Reconstruction, Georgia became the last former Confederate state to be reseated in Congress and restored to the Union. On April 29, 2009, Governor Sonny Perdue signed into law a bill that will make April Confederate History and Heritage month in the state.[19]
Capitals

Georgia has had five official state capitals: colonial Savannah, which later alternated with Augusta; then for a decade at Louisville (pronounced Lewis-ville, /’lu?sv?l/); and from 1806 through 1868, including during the American Civil War, at Milledgeville. In 1868, the capital was moved to the new city of Atlanta — one with a better access by railroad — and it became the fifth capital city of the state. It remains so to the present. The state legislature also met at some other temporary sites, including Macon, especially during the turmoil of the War.
Cities
Downtown Atlanta
Augusta
Downtown Columbus
Savannah Historic District
Macon
See also: Georgia census statistical areas
Largest cities, 2008

On July 1, 2009, the US Census Bureau released 2008 estimates for Georgia’s twelve cities with populations above 50,000.

Largest metropolitan areas, 2009

On March 1, 2010, the US Census Bureau released 2009 estimates for Georgia’s twenty Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Micropolitan Statistical Areas with populations above 50,000. In descending order, they are:

* Atlanta, 5,475,213
* Augusta, 539,154
* Savannah, 343,092
* Columbus, 292,795
* Macon, 231,576
* Athens, 192,222
* Gainesville, 187,743
* Albany, 165,440
* Valdosta, 135,804
* Warner Robins, 135,715
* Dalton, 134,319
* Brunswick, 102,852
* Rome, 96,250
* Hinesville, 74,420
* Statesboro, 69,213
* LaGrange, 64,233
* Dublin, 57,595
* Milledgeville, 56,156
* Waycross, 54,494
* Calhoun, 53,292.[20]

Demographics
Historical populations
Census     Pop.         %±
1790     82,548
—
1800     162,686         97.1%
1810     251,407         54.5%
1820     340,989         35.6%
1830     516,823         51.6%
1840     691,392         33.8%
1850     906,185         31.1%
1860     1,057,286         16.7%
1870     1,184,109         12.0%
1880     1,542,181         30.2%
1890     1,837,353         19.1%
1900     2,216,331         20.6%
1910     2,609,121         17.7%
1920     2,895,832         11.0%
1930     2,908,506         0.4%
1940     3,123,723         7.4%
1950     3,444,578         10.3%
1960     3,943,116         14.5%
1970     4,589,575         16.4%
1980     5,463,105         19.0%
1990     6,478,216         18.6%
2000     8,186,453         26.4%
Est. 2009[1]     9,829,211         20.1%
Georgia population density map.

In 2007, Georgia had an estimated population of 9,544,750 which was an increase of 180,809 from the previous year, and an increase of 1,177,125 since 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 438,939 people (that is 849,414 births minus 410,475 deaths) and an increase from net migration of 606,673 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 228,415 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 378,258 people.

The state stood sixth in the country for illegal immigrants. There were 35,000 in 1990; the count more than doubled from January 2000 to January 2009, at 480,000.[21]

There were 743,000 veterans in 2009.[22]
Race, language, and age
Demographics of Georgia (csv)
By race     White     Black     AIAN*     Asian     NHPI*
2000 (total population)     68.34%     29.38%     0.66%     2.46%     0.12%
2000 (Hispanic only)     4.82%     0.39%     0.10%     0.05%     0.03%
2005 (total population)     67.00%     30.29%     0.67%     3.01%     0.14%
2005 (Hispanic only)     6.57%     0.43%     0.12%     0.07%     0.04%
Growth 2000–05 (total population)     8.65%     14.23%     11.72%     36.02%     25.41%
Growth 2000–05 (non-Hispanic only)     5.43%     14.12%     7.43%     35.82%     21.99%
Growth 2000–05 (Hispanic only)     50.99%     22.30%     36.34%     45.53%     36.55%
* AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native; NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

According to the U.S. census, Georgia’s population is as follows: 65% White, 30% Black, 2.8% Asian American, 1.2% multiracial, 0.7% American Indian or Alaskan Native, and 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.[23] Additionally, 7% are of Hispanic or Latino descent (of any race).[24]

As of 2005, 90% of Georgia residents age 5 and older speak only English at home and 5.6% speak Spanish. French is the third most spoken language at 0.9%, followed by German at 0.8% and Vietnamese at 0.6%. As of 2004, 7.7% of its population was reported as under 5 years of age, 26.4% under 18, and 9.6% were 65 or older. Also as of 2004, females made up approximately 50.6% of the population and African Americans made up approximately 29.6%.

Historically, about half of Georgia’s population was composed of African Americans who, prior to the Civil War, were almost exclusively enslaved. The Great Migration of hundreds of thousands of blacks from the rural South to the industrial North from 1914-1970 reduced the African American population. This population has since increased, with some African Americans returning to the state for new job opportunities.[25] Today, African Americans remain the most populous race in many rural counties in middle, east-central, southwestern, and Low Country Georgia, as well as in the city of Atlanta and its southern suburbs. According to census estimates, Georgia ranks third among the states in terms of the percent of the total population that is African American (after Mississippi and Louisiana) and third in numerical Black population after New York and Florida. Georgia was the state with the largest numerical increase in the black population from 2006 to 2007 with 84,000.[26]

Georgia is the state with the third-lowest percentage of older people (65 or older), at 10.1 percent (as of 2008).[27]

The colonial settlement of large numbers of Scottish American, English American and Scotch-Irish Americans in the mountains and piedmont, and coastal settlement by some English Americans and African Americans, have strongly influenced the state’s culture in food, language and music.

The concentration of Africans imported to coastal areas in the 18th century repeatedly from rice growing regions of West Africa led to the development of Gullah-Geechee language and culture in the Low Country among African Americans. They share a unique heritage in which African traditions of food, religion and culture were continued more than in some other areas. In the creolization of Southern culture, their foodways became an integral part of all Southern cooking in the Low Country.[28]

Georgia had the second fastest growing Asian population growth in the U.S. from 1990 to 2000, more than doubling in size during the ten-year period.[29]
Religion

Like most other Southern states, Georgia is largely Protestant Christian. The religious affiliations of the people of Georgia are as follows:[30]

* Protestant: 70%
o Baptist: 24%
o Methodist: 12%
o Presbyterian: 3%
o Pentecostal: 3%
* Catholic: 12%
* Other: 3%
o Non-religious: 13%

Georgia shares its Protestant heritage with much of the Southeastern United States.

The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Southern Baptist Convention with 1,719,484; the United Methodist Church with 570,674; and the Catholic Church with 374,185.[31]
Economy
Text document with red question mark.svg
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A Georgia U.S. quarter
Savannah’s River Street is a popular destination among tourists visiting coastal Georgia.
Map showing land use in Georgia

Georgia’s 2007 total gross state product was $396 billion.[32] Its Per Capita personal income for 2007 puts it 37th in the nation at $33,499. If Georgia were a stand-alone country, it would be the 28th largest economy in the world.[33]

There are 15 Fortune 500 companies and 26 Fortune 1000 companies with headquarters in Georgia, including such names as Home Depot, UPS, Coca Cola, Delta Air Lines, AFLAC, Southern Company, and SunTrust Banks. Georgia has over 1,700 internationally headquartered facilities representing 43 countries, employing more than 112,000 Georgians with an estimated capital investment of $22.7 billion.
Agriculture and industry

Georgia’s agricultural outputs are poultry and eggs, pecans, peaches, peanuts, rye, cattle, hogs, dairy products, turfgrass, tobacco, and vegetables. Its industrial outputs are textiles and apparel, transportation equipment, cigarettes, food processing, paper products, chemical products, and electric equipment. Tourism also makes an important contribution to the economy. (Elberton) is the Granite Capital of the World. Atlanta has been the site of enormous growth in real estate, service, and communications industries.

Atlanta has a very large effect on the state of Georgia and the Southeastern United States. The city is an ever growing addition to communications, industry, transportation, tourism, and government.

Food is also a major industry in Georgia, with widespread farms producing peanuts, corn, and soybeans across middle and south Georgia. The state is the number one producer of pecans in the world, with the region around Albany in southwest Georgia being the center of Georgia’s pecan production. Gainesville in northeast Georgia touts itself as the Poultry Capital of the World.

Industry in Georgia is quite diverse. Major products in the mineral and timber industry include a variety of pines, clays, stones, and sands. The clay palygorskite, known as attapulgite, was named because of its abundance near the Decatur County town of Attapulgus in the deep southwest corner of the state. Attapulgite has numerous medical, cosmetic, and industrial uses. Textile industry is located around the cities of Rome, Columbus, Augusta, Macon and along the I-75 corridor between Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tennessee to include the towns of Cartersville, Calhoun, Ringgold, and Dalton (the Carpet Capital of the World).

With its great population base and location along major transportation routes, Atlanta is a leading center of tourism, transportation, communications, government, and industry. Some industries there include automobile and aircraft manufacturing, food and chemical processing, printing, publishing, and large corporations. Some of the corporations headquartered in the metropolitan Atlanta area are: Arby’s, Chick-fil-A, The Coca-Cola Company, Georgia-Pacific, Hooters, ING Americas, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, The Home Depot, Newell Rubbermaid, Primerica Financial Services, United Parcel Service, Waffle House, and NCR Corporation. Major corporations in other parts of the state include: Aflac, CareSouth, Gulfstream Aerospace, Mohawk Industries, and Zaxby’s.

Georgia has one of the strongest military presences in the country. Several United States military installations are located in the state including Fort Stewart, Hunter Army Airfield, Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Fort Benning, Moody Air Force Base, Robins Air Force Base, Naval Air Station Atlanta, Fort McPherson, Fort Gillem, Fort Gordon, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Coast Guard Air Station Savannah and Coast Guard Station Brunswick. However, due to the latest round of BRAC cuts, Forts Gillem and McPherson will be closing and NAS Atlanta will be transferred to the Georgia National Guard.
Energy use and production

Georgia’s electricity generation and consumption are among the highest in the United States, with coal being the primary electrical generation of fuel. However, the state also has two nuclear power plants which contribute less than one fourth of Georgia’s electricity generation. The statistics are 75% coal, 16% nuclear, 7% oil and natural gas, and 1% hydroelectric/other. The leading area of energy consumption is the industrial sector because Georgia “is a leader in the energy-intensive wood and paper products industry”.[34]
State taxes

Georgia’s personal income tax ranges from 1% to 6% within six tax brackets. There is a 4% state sales tax,[35] which is not applied to prescription drugs, certain medical devices, and groceries. Each county may add up to a 2% SPLOST. Counties participating in MARTA have another 1%. The city of Atlanta (in two counties, roughly 90% in Fulton and 10% in Dekalb) has the only city sales tax (1%, total 8%) for fixing its aging sewers. Local taxes are almost always charged on groceries but never prescriptions. Up to 1% of a SPLOST can go to homestead exemptions (the HOST). All taxes are collected by the Georgia Department of Revenue and then properly distributed according to any agreements that each county has with its cities.
Culture
Main article: Culture of Georgia (U.S. state)
Fine and performing arts

Georgia’s major fine art museums include the High Museum of Art, the Michael C. Carlos Museum, the Telfair Museum of Art, and the Morris Museum of Art.[36]

The Atlanta Opera is a full time company that brings opera to Georgia stages,[37] while the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is the most widely recognized orchestra and largest arts organization in the southeastern United States.[38]

There are several performance arts venues across the state, including the Woodruff Arts Center on Peachtree Street and the Eyedrum Gallery on MLK, Jr. Drive in Atlanta, The Performing Arts Center at Georgia Southern University,
Literature

Georgia literature is distinct among the literature of other places in the world in its historical and geographical context and the values it imparts. Dramas such as the play (on which a successful movie was also based) Driving Miss Daisy are one example of Georgia’s literary culture. The most popular and famous novel has probably been Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, also the basis of a wildly successful movie. Other authors who challenged popular ideas were Carson McCullers and Flannery O’Connor. Contemporary authors such as Alice Walker have also used Georgia’s complex past as subjects for fiction, as in her The Color Purple.

Georgia’s poets, such as James Dickey and Sidney Lanier, and nonfiction writers like humorist Lewis Grizzard also have a place in the state’s literary life.[39]
Film

The state film commission was established in 1973; the agency is now referred to as the Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office.[40] Since 1972, seven hundred film and television projects have been filmed on location in Georgia.[41] In 2008-2009, Georgia’s film and television industry created a $1.15 billion economic impact on the state’s economy.[42]
Health care and education
Health care
Georgia Tech’s Tech Tower
Anderson Hall at Savannah College of Art and Design
See also: List of hospitals in Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgians can find medical and dental care “via 151 general hospitals, more than 15,000 doctors and nearly 6,000 dentists.”[43] The state is ranked forty-first in the percentage of residents who engage in regular exercise.[44]
Education
See also: List of colleges and universities in Georgia (U.S. state), List of schools in Georgia (U.S. state), and List of school districts in Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia high schools (grades nine through twelve) are required to administer a standardized, multiple choice End of Course Test, or EOCT, in each of eight core subjects including Algebra I, Geometry, U.S. History, Economics, Biology, Physical Science, Ninth Grade Literature and Composition, and American Literature and Composition. The official purpose of the tests is to assess “specific content knowledge and skills.” Although a minimum test score is not required for the student to receive credit in the course, completion of the test is mandatory. The EOCT score comprises 15% of a student’s grade in the course.[45]

High school students must also receive passing scores on four Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) and the Georgia High School Writing Assessment in order to receive a diploma. Subjects assessed include Mathematics, Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies. These tests are initially offered during students’ eleventh-grade year, allowing for multiple opportunities to pass the tests before graduation at the end of twelfth grade.[46]

Georgia has almost 70 public colleges, universities, and technical colleges in addition to over 45 private institutes of higher learning.

The HOPE Scholarship, funded by the state lottery, is available to all Georgia residents who have graduated from high school with a 3.0 or higher grade point average and who attend a public college or university in the state. The scholarship covers the cost of tuition and provides a stipend for books for up to 120 credit hours. If the student does not maintain a 3.0 average while in college they may lose the scholarship in which case they will have the chance to get it back by bringing their grade point average above a 3.0 within a period of 30 credit hours. This scholarship has had a significant impact on the state university system, increasing competition for admission and increasing the quality of education.
Transportation
Georgia state welcome sign.
Main article: Transportation in Georgia (U.S. state)

Transportation in Georgia is overseen by the Georgia Department of Transportation, a part of the executive branch of the state government. Georgia’s major Interstate Highways are I-75 and I-85. On March 18, 1998, the Georgia House of Representatives passed a resolution naming the portion of Interstate Highway 75, which runs from the Chattahoochee River northward to the Tennessee state line the Larry McDonald Memorial Highway. Larry McDonald, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, had been on Korean Air Lines Flight 007 when it was shot down by the Soviets on September 1, 1983.

Other important interstate highways are I-95, I-20, I-16, I-59 and I-24. I-285 is Atlanta, Georgia’s perimeter route and I-575 connects with counties in north Georgia on I-75.[47] Major freight railroads in Georgia include CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway. Passenger service in Georgia is available on two Amtrak routes: the Crescent, which runs from New York to Washington, D.C., through north Georgia and Atlanta to New Orléans and the other runs from New York to the Georgia coast and from there to Florida.[48]
Interstate highways

* I-16.svgInterstate 16, I-516.svgInterstate 516
* I-20.svgInterstate 20, I-520.svgInterstate 520
* I-59.svgInterstate 59 (three exits only), I-24.svgInterstate 24
* I-75.svgInterstate 75, I-475.svgInterstate 475,
* I-575.svgInterstate 575, I-675.svgInterstate 675
* I-85.svgInterstate 85, I-185 (GA).svgInterstate 185, I-985.svgInterstate 985
* I-95.svgInterstate 95
* I-285.svgInterstate 285 (the perimeter around Atlanta)
* I-3.svgInterstate 3 (proposed)
* I-14.svgInterstate 14 (proposed)

United States highways
North-south routes

* US 1.svg U.S. Route 1
* US 301.svg U.S. Route 301
* US 11.svg U.S. Route 11
* US 411.svg U.S. Route 411
* US 17.svg U.S. Route 17
* US 19.svg U.S. Route 19
* US 319.svg U.S. Route 319
* US 221.svg U.S. Route 221
* US 23.svg U.S. Route 23
* US 123.svg U.S. Route 123
* US 25.svg U.S. Route 25
* U.S. Route 225 (Trail of Tears Highway)
* US 27.svg U.S. Route 27
* US 29.svg U.S. Route 29
* US 129.svg U.S. Route 129
* US 41.svg U.S. Route 41
* US 341.svg U.S. Route 341
* US 441.svg U.S. Route 441

East-west routes

* US 76.svg U.S. Route 76
* US 78.svg U.S. Route 78
* US 278.svg U.S. Route 278
* US 378.svg U.S. Route 378
* US 80.svg U.S. Route 80
* US 280.svg U.S. Route 280
* US 82.svg U.S. Route 82
* US 84.svg U.S. Route 84

Airports
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s 398-foot-tall control tower

Georgia’s principal airport is Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), the world’s busiest passenger airport.[49] Georgia has 107 public-use airports, 9 of which are commercial-aviation airports and 98 which are general-aviation airports. Two of the state’s important airports are Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, which serves over 1,700,000 passengers each year and DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Chamblee, Georgia.[50]
Law and Government
Main article: Government of Georgia (U.S. state)
State government
See also: List of governors of Georgia and Georgia elected officials
The Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta with the distinctive gold dome.

The capital of Georgia is Atlanta. As with all other U.S. states and the federal government, Georgia’s government is based on the separation of legislative, executive and judicial power.[51] Executive authority in the state rests with the governor, currently Sonny Perdue (until 2011) (Republican). Perdue is the first Republican governor since Reconstruction.[52] (See List of Governors of Georgia). Both the governor and lieutenant governor are elected on separate ballots to four-year terms of office. Unlike the federal government, but like many other U.S. States, most of the executive officials who comprise the governor’s cabinet are elected by the citizens of Georgia rather than appointed by the governor.

Legislative authority resides in the General Assembly, composed of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Lieutenant Governor presides over the Senate, while the House of Representatives selects their own Speaker. The Georgia Constitution mandates a maximum of 56 senators, elected from single-member districts, and a minimum of 180 representatives, apportioned among representative districts (which sometimes results in more than one representative per district); there are currently 56 senators and 180 representatives. The term of office for senators and representatives is two years.[53]

State judicial authority rests with the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, which have statewide authority.[54] In addition, there are smaller courts which have more limited geographical jurisdiction, including State Courts, Superior Courts, Magistrate Courts and Probate Courts. Justices of the Supreme Court and judges of the Court of Appeals are elected statewide by the citizens in non-partisan elections to six-year terms. Judges for the smaller courts are elected by the state’s citizens who live within that court’s jurisdiction to four-year terms.
Local government

Georgia consists of 159 counties; more than any other state except Texas which consists of 254 counties.[55] Before the year of 1932, there were 161, with Milton and Campbell being merged into Fulton at the end of 1931. Counties have been named for prominent figures in both American and Georgian history, but many bear names with Native American origin. Counties in Georgia have their own elected legislative branch, usually called the Board of Commissioners, which usually also has executive authority in the county.[56] Several counties have a Sole Commissioner government, with legislative and executive authority vested in a single person. Georgia is the only state with Sole Commissioner counties. Georgia’s Constitution provides all counties and cities with “home rule” authority, and so the county commissions have considerable power to pass legislation within their county as a municipality would.
Further information: list of Georgia counties

Besides the counties, Georgia only defines cities as local units of government. Every incorporated town, no matter how small, is legally a city. Georgia does not provide for townships or independent cities (though there is a movement in the Legislature to provide for townships) but does allow consolidated city-county governments by local referendum. So far, only Columbus, Augusta, Athens, and Cusseta have done this. Conyers is studying possibly becoming consolidated with Rockdale County. Recently, Savannah has consolidated its police department with the county police department and is currently studying possible consolidation with Chatham County.

There is no true metropolitan government in Georgia, though the Atlanta Regional Commission and Georgia Regional Transportation Authority do provide some services, and the ARC must approve all major land development projects in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Politics
Presidential elections results Year     Republican     Democratic
2008     52.20% 2,048,744     47.00% 1,844,137
2004     57.97% 1,914,254     41.37% 1,366,149
2000     54.67% 1,419,720     42.98% 1,116,230
1996     47.01% 1,080,843     45.84% 1,053,849
1992     42.88% 995,252     43.47% 1,008,966
1988     59.75% 1,081,331     39.50% 714,792
1984     60.17% 1,068,722     39.79% 706,628
1980     40.95% 654,168     55.76% 890,733
1976     32.96% 483,743     66.74% 979,409
1972     75.04% 881,496     24.65% 289,529
1968*     30.40% 380,111     26.75% 334,440
1964     54.12% 616,584     41.15% 522,557
1960     37.43% 274,472     62.54% 458,638
1956     32.65% 216,652     66.48% 441,094
1952     30.34% 198,979     69.66% 456,823
1948     18.31% 76,691     60.81% 254,646
1944     18.25% 59,880     81.74% 268,187
1940     14.83% 46,360     84.85% 265,194
1936     12.60% 36,942     87.10% 255,364
1932     7.77% 19,863     91.60% 234,118
*State won by George Wallace
of the American Independent Party,
at 42.83%, or 535,550 votes

Until recently, Georgia’s state government had the longest unbroken record of single-party dominance, by the Democratic Party, of any state in the Union. This record was established partly by disfranchisement of most blacks and many poor whites in the early 20th century, lasting into the 1960s.

After Reconstruction, white Democrats regained power, especially by legal disfranchisement of most African Americans and many poor whites through erection of barriers to voter registration. In 1900, shortly before Georgia adopted a disfranchising constitutional amendment in 1908, blacks comprised 47% of the state’s population.[57] A “clean” franchise was linked by Progressives to electoral reform.[58] White, one-party rule was solidified.

For over 130 years, from 1872 to 2003, Georgians only elected white Democratic governors, and white Democrats held the majority of seats in the General Assembly. Most of the Democrats elected throughout these years were Southern Democrats or Dixiecrats, who were very conservative by national standards. This continued after the segregationist period, which ended legally in the 1960s. According to the 1960 census, the proportion of Georgia’s population that was African American had decreased to 28%.[59] After a Democratic-controlled Congress passed civil rights legislation to secure voting and civil rights in the mid-1960s, most African Americans in the South joined the Democratic Party.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Georgia made significant changes in civil rights, governance, and economic growth focused on Atlanta. It was a bedrock of the emerging “New South”. This characterization was solidified with the election of former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter in 1976 to the U.S. Presidency.

The political dominance of Democrats ended in 2003, when then-Governor Roy Barnes was defeated by Republican Sonny Perdue, a state legislator and former Democrat himself. While Democrats retained control of the State House, they lost their majority in the Senate when four Democrats switched parties. They lost the House in the 2004 election. Republicans now control all three partisan elements of the state government.

In recent years, many conservative Democrats, including former U.S. Senator and governor Zell Miller, have decided to support Republicans. The state’s socially conservative bent results in wide support for such measures as restrictions on abortion. Its voters passed a ban on same-sex marriage with 76% voting yes.[60] Even before 2003, the state had become increasingly supportive of Republicans in Presidential elections. It has supported a Democrat for president only three times since 1960. In 1976 and 1980, native son Jimmy Carter carried the state; in 1992, the former Arkansas governor Bill Clinton narrowly won the state. Generally, Republicans are strongest in the predominantly white suburban (especially the Atlanta suburbs) and rural portions of the state.[61] Many of these areas were represented by conservative Democrats in the state legislature well into the 21st century. One of the most conservative of these was U.S. Congressman Larry McDonald, former head of the John Birch Society who was killed when the Soviet Union shot down KAL 007 near Sakhalin Island. Democratic candidates have tended to win a higher percentage of the vote in the areas where black voters are most numerous,[61] as well as in the cities (especially Atlanta and Athens), and the rural Black Belt region that travels through the central and southwestern portion of the state.

As of the 2001[update] reapportionment, the state has 13 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, which are currently held by 7 Republicans and 6 Democrats.

In recent events, Democrat Jim Martin ran against incumbent Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss. Chambliss failed to acquire the necessary 50 percent of votes, a Libertarian Party candidate receiving the remainder of votes. In the runoff election held on December 2, 2008, Chambliss became only the second Georgia Republican to be reelected to the U.S. Senate.

On April 1, 2009, Senate Resolution 632 passed by a vote of 43-1.[62] It reads in part:[63]

Any Act by the Congress of the United States, Executive Order of the President of the United States of America or Judicial Order by the Judicatories of the United States of America which assumes a power not delegated to the government of the United States of America by the Constitution for the United States of America and which serves to diminish the liberty of the any of the several States or their citizens shall constitute a nullification of the Constitution for the United States of America by the government of the United States of America.

On April 16, Jay Bookman of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote “It wasn’t quite the firing on Fort Sumter that launched the Civil War. But on April 1, your Georgia Senate did threaten by a vote of 43-1 to secede from and even disband the United States.”[64]
See also: United States presidential election, 2004, in Georgia and Political party strength in Georgia (U.S. state)
Media
Television
See also: List of television stations in Georgia

Ted Turner lives in Georgia. Turner founded TBS, TNT, TCM, Cartoon Network, CNN and Headline News, among others. The CNN Center, which houses the news channel’s world headquarters, is located in downtown Atlanta, facing Marietta Street, while the home offices of the Turner Entertainment networks are located in midtown, near the Georgia Tech campus, on Techwood Drive. A third Turner building is on Williams Street, directly across Interstate 75 and Interstate 85 from the Techwood Drive campus and contains Adult Swim and Williams Street Studios.

The Weather Channel’s headquarters are located in the Smyrna area of metropolitan Atlanta in Cobb County.

WSB-TV was the state’s first television station, and the southeastern United States’ second. WSB-TV signed on Channel 8 in 1948, and moved to its present day location on Channel 2 in 1952.

Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) operates nine major educational television stations across the state as Georgia Public Broadcasting Television.[65]

Sportsouth and Fox Sports South are the leaders in sporting television in the southeast. The studio and offices are located in Atlanta, Georgia on Peachtree St.
Radio
See also: List of radio stations in Georgia

WSB-AM in Atlanta was the first licensed radio station in the southeastern United States, signing on in 1922. The station currently broadcasts a news/talk format. WMAZ (Watch Mercer Attain Zenith) in Macon first broadcast commencement exercises of Mercer University in June 1921 but was unlicensed and had a power of only 10 watts. It was licensed in February 1923 and today has a power of 50,000 watts daytime and uses the call sign WMAC AM 940.See http://www.antiqueradio.com/wmaz_03-98.html WSB-FM signed on in 1948 on 104.5 FM, and moved to 98.5 FM in 1952. The station broadcasts today, still with the WSB-FM callsign, but is known as “B98.5FM”.

Georgia Public Radio has been in service since 1984 and, with the exception of Atlanta, it broadcasts daily on several FM (and one AM) stations across the state. 1984.[66][67] Georgia Public Radio reaches nearly all of Georgia (with the exception of the Atlanta area, which is served by WABE), as well as portions of Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Newspapers and periodicals
See also: List of newspapers in Georgia (U.S. state)

There are several notable newspapers in Georgia. Among them are The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Augusta Chronicle, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, The Telegraph (formerly The Macon Telegraph) and the Savannah Morning News. GLBT lifestyle magazine Southern Voice is published here.
Sports and recreation
Main article: Sports in Georgia (U.S. state)
See also: Tour de Georgia, Masters Tournament, and Bicycle Ride Across Georgia

Sports in Georgia include professional teams in all major sports, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations, and active amateur teams and individual sports. The State of Georgia has a team in eight major professional leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, ABA, AFL, IL, and ECHL). Georgia has an abundance of outdoor recreational activities. Outdoor activities include, but are not limited to, hiking along the Appalachian Trail; Civil War Heritage Trails; rock climbing and whitewater paddling.[68][69][70][71] Other outdoor activities include hunting and fishing. Less rustic activities are trips to Callaway Gardens; and Zoo Atlanta.[72][73][74][75] NBA superstars Dwight Howard, Josh Smith,and Javaris Crittenton, Heavyweight champion boxer Evander Holyfield and wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan are also from Atlanta.
State facts and symbols
[show]
Georgia State Symbols
Flag of Georgia (U.S. state).svg
The Flag of Georgia.
Animate insignia
Amphibian     American Green Tree Frog
Bird(s)     Brown Thrasher
Butterfly     Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Fish     Largemouth bass
Flower(s)     Cherokee Rose
Insect     European honey bee
Mammal(s)     Right whale
Reptile     Gopher tortoise
Tree     Live oak
Inanimate insignia
Dance     Square dance
Food     Grits, Peach, Vidalia Sweet Onion
Fossil     Shark tooth
Gemstone     Quartz
Mineral     Staurolite
Rock     Granite
Shell     Knobbed Whelk
Soil     Tifton
Song(s)     Georgia on My Mind
Tartan     Georgia state tartan
Route marker(s)
Georgia Route Marker
State Quarter
Quarter of Georgia
Released in 1999
Lists of United States state insignia

Georgia’s nicknames include Peach State and Empire State of the South. The state song, “Georgia on My Mind” by Hoagy Carmichael, was originally written about a woman of that name. After Georgia native Ray Charles made it popular with his recording, the state legislature voted it the state song on April 24, 1979. Ray Charles sang it on the legislative floor when the bill was passed. The legislature’s action was considered symbolic of the state’s move away from segregation and racism.

The state commemorative quarter was released on July 19, 1999.[76] The first houses in Georgia to be designated historic state landmarks are the Owens Thomas House and the Sorrel Weed House, in the Savannah historic district. The state animal, an opossum, is called “Pogo Possum”.[77]
See also
North America portal
United States portal
Georgia (U.S. state) portal
Main articles: Outline of Georgia (U.S. state) and Index of Georgia (U.S. state)-related articles
References

1. ^ a b c “Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009″. United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/popest/states/tables/NST-EST2009-01.csv. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
2. ^ a b “Elevations and Distances in the United States”. U.S Geological Survey. 29 April 2005. http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html#Highest. Retrieved November 3, 2006.
3. ^ “Coweta is the 41st fastest growing county in United States”. The Times-Herald. http://www.times-herald.com/Local/Coweta-is-the-41st-fastest-growing-county-in-United-States-690912. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
4. ^ States Ranked for Total Area, Land Area, and Water Area – NETSTATE.com. Retrieved December 26, 2006.
5. ^ Drought-stricken Georgia eyes Tennessee’s border – and river water Los Angeles Times.
6. ^ Georgia – Flora and fauna – city-data.com. Retrieved February 3, 2007.
7. ^ Monthly Averages for Macon, GA The Weather Channel.
8. ^ Monthly Averages for Clayton, GA The Weather Channel.
9. ^ Each state’s high temperature record USA Today, last updated August 2004.
10. ^ Each state’s low temperature record USA Today, last updated August 2006
11. ^ Weather By Day Georgia
12. ^ Georgia Department of Natural Resources gadnr.org, accessed May 13, 2007
13. ^ National Park Service nps.gov, accessed May 13, 2007
14. ^ Patricia U. Bonomi, “Under the Cope of Heaven. Religion, Society and Politics in Colonial America”, Oxford University Press, 1986, p 32-33
15. ^ Trustee Georgia, 1732-1752
16. ^ Patricia U. Bonomi, “Under the Cope of Heaven. Religion, Society and Politics in Colonial America”, Oxford University Press, Chapter 7 ‘Religion and the American Revolution’
17. ^ Digital History
18. ^ Peter Kolchin, American Slavery: 1619-1877, New York: Hill and Wang, 1994, p. 73
19. ^ “Governor Perdue signs Confederate History Month bill”. Canadafreepress.com. http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/10742. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
20. ^ [1]. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
21. ^ “Illegals on rise in Southeast”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. 24 February 2010. pp. 6A. http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/02/23/1991912/illegal-immigrant-numbers-rise.html.
22. ^ Kanell, Michael E. (16 November 2009). “Number of veterans, October”. Atlanta, Georgia: Atlanta Constitution-Journal. pp. A6. http://www.ajc.com/business/vets-jobs-challenges-in-199084.html.  quoting the Bureau of Labor Statistics
23. ^ “B02001. RACE – Universe: TOTAL POPULATION”. 2007 American Community Survey. U.S. Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G2000_B02001&-redoLog=true&-geo_id=04000US13&-format=&-_lang=en&-SubjectID=15233315. Retrieved 2008-09-26.
24. ^ “Georgia QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau”. Quickfacts.census.gov. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13000.html. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
25. ^ William H. Frey, “The New Great Migration: Black Americans’ Return to the South, 1965-2000″, The Brookings Institution, May 2004, accessed 19 May 2008
26. ^ U.S. Census Press Release
27. ^ Georgia census Quickfacts[dead link]
28. ^ Early Mountain Life, Who are Americans
29. ^ [2][dead link]
30. ^ Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
31. ^ “The Association of Religion Data Archives | Maps & Reports”. Thearda.com. http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/reports/state/13_2000.asp. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
32. ^ “BEA : Gross Domestic Product by State”. Bea.gov. 2009-06-02. http://www.bea.gov/regional/gsp/. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
33. ^ BEA statistics for 2005 GSP – October 26, 2006, Accessed May 9, 2008
34. ^ Energy Information Administration. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
35. ^ Georgia Public Policy Foundation.
36. ^ Willamette. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
37. ^ Atlanta Opera. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
38. ^ Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
39. ^ Literature: Overview. Retrieved December 5, 2007.
40. ^ Film Industry in Georgia. (2004-2010). The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
41. ^ Georgia Industries: Film Facts. (2010). Georgia. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
42. ^ Georgia Industries: Film & TV. (2010). georgia.org. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
43. ^ Georgia.org, Accessed May 16, 2007
44. ^ Statemaster.com, Accessed May 16, 2007
45. ^ GA DOE – Testing – EOCT. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
46. ^ GA DOE – Testing – GHSGT. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
47. ^ Interstate Highway System. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
48. ^ Railroads. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
49. ^ Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
50. ^ Public-Use Airports. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
51. ^ Senate Kids. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
52. ^ Sonny Perdue. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
53. ^ Constitution of Georgia Article III Section II. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
54. ^ Supreme Court Brochure. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
55. ^ A Brief History of Georgia Counties. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
56. ^ Georgia’s County Governments. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
57. ^ Historical Census Browser, 1900 US Census, University of Virginia. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
58. ^ Charles Crowe, “Racial Violence and Social Reform – Origins of the Atlanta Riot of 1906″, The Journal of Negro History: Vol.53, No.3, July 1968. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
59. ^ Historical Census Browser, 1960 US Census, University of Virginia. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
60. ^ “Georgia Marriage Amendment, Question 1 (2004)”. Ballotpedia. http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Georgia_Constitutional_Amendment_1_%282004%29. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
61. ^ a b CNN.com: Election 2004
62. ^ 7:02 am April 16, 2009, by Jay (2009-04-16). “Georgia Senate threatens dismantling of USA | Jay Bookman”. Blogs.ajc.com. http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2009/04/16/georgia-senate-threatens-dismantling-of-usa/. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
63. ^ “sr632.html”. Legis.ga.gov. http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/sr632.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
64. ^ Bookman, Jay (2009-04-16). “Atlanta News, Sports, Atlanta Weather, Business News”. ajc.com. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/04/16/bookmaned0416.html. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
65. ^ Georgia Public Broadcasting Accessed, May 19, 2007
66. ^ Georgia Public Radio Accessed, May 19, 2007
67. ^ Georgia Public Radio Accessed, May 19, 2007
68. ^ Appalachian Trail. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
69. ^ Civil War Heritage Trails. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
70. ^ Rock climbing. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
71. ^ Whitewater paddling. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
72. ^ Callaway Gardens. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
73. ^ Circues. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
74. ^ Rattlesnake Roundups. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
75. ^ Zoo Atlanta. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
76. ^ State symbols and emblems
77. ^ “Georgia Secretary of State – State ‘Possum”. Georgia Secretary of State. http://sos.georgia.gov/state_symbols/state_possum.html. Retrieved 2008-01-15.

* Walker, V. (2005). “Organized resistance and black educators’ quest for school equality”, 1878-1938. Teachers College Record, 107, 355-388.[clarification needed]

Further reading

* New Georgia Encyclopedia (2005).
* Bartley, Numan V. The Creation of Modern Georgia (1990). Covers 1865-1990 period. ISBN 0-8203-1183-9.
* Coleman, Kenneth. ed. A History of Georgia (1991). ISBN 0-8203-1269-X.
* London, Bonnie Bullard. (2005) Georgia and the American Experience Atlanta, Georgia: Clairmont Press ISBN 1-56733-100-9. A middle school textbook.
* Peirce, Neal R. The Deep South States of America: People, Politics, and Power in the Seven Deep South States (1974). Information on politics and economics 1960-72. ISBN 0-393-05496-9.

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GNU Free Documentation License

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

The original article may be found at this location:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_%28U.S._state%29

A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.

Obama served three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, he ran for United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Democratic primary and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party’s nomination. In the 2008 general election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009.

As president, Obama signed economic stimulus legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009. Other domestic policy initiatives include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a major piece of health care reform legislation which he signed into law in March 2010, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which forms part of his financial regulatory reform efforts, which he signed in July 2010. In foreign policy, Obama began a gradual withdrawal of troops from Iraq, increased troop levels in Afghanistan, and signed an arms control treaty with Russia. On October 8, 2009, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Early life and career of Barack Obama

Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961[4] at Kapi’olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States,[5] to Stanley Ann Dunham,[6] an American of mostly English, but also German,[7] descent from Wichita, Kansas,[8] and Barack Obama, Sr., a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Nyanza Province, Kenya Colony. Obama is the first President to have been born in Hawaii.[9][10] Obama’s parents met in 1960 in a Russian language class at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was a foreign student on scholarship.[11][12] The couple married on February 2, 1961,[13] but separated when Obama Sr. went to Harvard University on scholarship, and divorced in 1964.[12] Obama Sr. remarried and returned to Kenya, visiting Barack in Hawaii only once, in 1971. He died in an automobile accident in 1982.[14]

After her divorce, Dunham married Indonesian student Lolo Soetoro, who was attending college in Hawaii. When Suharto, a military leader in Soetoro’s home country, came to power in 1967, all Indonesian students studying abroad were recalled, and the family moved to the Menteng neighborhood of Jakarta.[15][16] From ages six to ten, Obama attended local schools in Jakarta, including Besuki Public School and St. Francis of Assisi School.[17][18]

In 1971, Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Armour Dunham, and attended Punahou School, a private college preparatory school, from the fifth grade until his graduation from high school in 1979.[19] Obama’s mother returned to Hawaii in 1972, remaining there until 1977 when she went back to Indonesia to work as an anthropological field worker. She finally returned to Hawaii in 1994 and lived there for one year, before dying of ovarian cancer.[20]
A young boy possibly in his early teens, a younger girl (about age 5), a grown woman and an elderly man, sit on a lawn wearing contemporary circa-1970 attire. The adults wear sunglasses and the boy wears sandals.
Barack Obama and half-sister Maya Soetoro, with their mother Ann Dunham and grandfather Stanley Dunham, in Hawaii (early 1970s)

Of his early childhood, Obama recalled, “That my father looked nothing like the people around me—that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk—barely registered in my mind.”[21] He described his struggles as a young adult to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage.[22] Reflecting later on his formative years in Honolulu, Obama wrote: “The opportunity that Hawaii offered—to experience a variety of cultures in a climate of mutual respect—became an integral part of my world view, and a basis for the values that I hold most dear.”[23] Obama has also written and talked about using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine during his teenage years to “push questions of who I was out of my mind.”[24] At the 2008 Civil Forum on the Presidency, Obama identified his high-school drug use as his “greatest moral failure.”[25]

Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to attend Occidental College.[26] In February 1981, he made his first public speech, calling for Occidental’s divestment from South Africa.[26] In the summer of 1981, Obama traveled to Indonesia to visit his mother and sister Maya, and visited the families of college friends in India and Pakistan for three weeks.[26]

Later in 1981 he transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialty in international relations[27] and graduated with a B.A. in 1983. He worked for a year at the Business International Corporation,[28][29] then at the New York Public Interest Research Group.[30][31]
Chicago community organizer and Harvard Law School

After four years in New York City, Obama was hired in Chicago as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland (Roseland, West Pullman and Riverdale) on Chicago’s far South Side. He worked there as a community organizer from June 1985 to May 1988.[30][32] During his three years as the DCP’s director, its staff grew from one to thirteen and its annual budget grew from US$70,000 ($141,564 in 2010) to US$400,000 ($735,648 in 2010). He helped set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants’ rights organization in Altgeld Gardens.[33] Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing institute.[34] In mid-1988, he traveled for the first time in Europe for three weeks and then for five weeks in Kenya, where he met many of his paternal relatives for the first time.[35] He returned in August 2006 in a visit to his father’s birthplace, a village near Kisumu in rural western Kenya.[36]

In late 1988, Obama entered Harvard Law School. He was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review at the end of his first year,[37] and president of the journal in his second year.[38] During his summers, he returned to Chicago, where he worked as a summer associate at the law firms of Sidley Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990.[39] After graduating with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) magna cum laude[40] from Harvard in 1991, he returned to Chicago.[37] Obama’s election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review gained national media attention[38] and led to a publishing contract and advance for a book about race relations,[41] which evolved into a personal memoir. The manuscript was published in mid-1995 as Dreams from My Father.[41]
University of Chicago Law School and civil rights attorney

In 1991, Obama accepted a two-year position as Visiting Law and Government Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School to work on his first book.[42] He then served as a professor at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years—as a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and as a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004—teaching constitutional law.[43]

From April to October 1992, Obama directed Illinois’s Project Vote, a voter registration drive with ten staffers and seven hundred volunteer registrars; it achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state, and led to Crain’s Chicago Business naming Obama to its 1993 list of “40 under Forty” powers to be.[44] In 1993 he joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a 13-attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development, where he was an associate for three years from 1993 to 1996, then of counsel from 1996 to 2004, with his law license becoming inactive in 2002.[45]

From 1994 to 2002, Obama served on the boards of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project, and of the Joyce Foundation.[30] He served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002, as founding president and chairman of the board of directors from 1995 to 1999.[30]
Political career: 1996–2008
State Senator: 1997–2004
Main article: Illinois Senate career of Barack Obama

Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996, succeeding State Senator Alice Palmer as Senator from Illinois’s 13th District, which at that time spanned Chicago South Side neighborhoods from Hyde Park – Kenwood south to South Shore and west to Chicago Lawn.[46] Once elected, Obama gained bipartisan support for legislation reforming ethics and health care laws.[47] He sponsored a law increasing tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare.[48] In 2001, as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Obama supported Republican Governor Ryan’s payday loan regulations and predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures.[49]

Obama was reelected to the Illinois Senate in 1998, defeating Republican Yesse Yehudah in the general election, and was reelected again in 2002.[50] In 2000, he lost a Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one.[51]

In January 2003, Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee when Democrats, after a decade in the minority, regained a majority.[52] He sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they detained, and legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations.[48][53] During his 2004 general election campaign for U.S. Senate, police representatives credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms.[54] Obama resigned from the Illinois Senate in November 2004 following his election to the U.S. Senate.[55]
U.S. Senate campaign
See also: United States Senate election in Illinois, 2004

In May 2002, Obama commissioned a poll to assess his prospects in a 2004 U.S. Senate race; he created a campaign committee, began raising funds and lined up political media consultant David Axelrod by August 2002, and formally announced his candidacy in January 2003.[56] Decisions by Republican incumbent Peter Fitzgerald and his Democratic predecessor Carol Moseley Braun not to contest the race launched wide-open Democratic and Republican primary contests involving fifteen candidates.[57] In the March 2004 primary election, Obama won in an unexpected landslide—which overnight made him a rising star within the national Democratic Party, started speculation about a presidential future, and led to the reissue of his memoir, Dreams from My Father.[58]

In July 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts,[59] and it was seen by 9.1 million viewers. His speech was well received and elevated his status within the Democratic Party.[60]

Obama’s expected opponent in the general election, Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, withdrew from the race in June 2004.[61] Six weeks later, Alan Keyes accepted the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination to replace Ryan.[62] In the November 2004 general election, Obama won with 70% of the vote.[63]
U.S. Senator: 2005–2008
Main article: United States Senate career of Barack Obama

Obama was sworn in as a senator on January 4, 2005,[64] at which time he became the only Senate member of the Congressional Black Caucus.[65] CQ Weekly characterized him as a “loyal Democrat” based on analysis of all Senate votes in 2005–2007. The National Journal ranked him among the “most liberal” senators during 2005 through 2007.[66] He enjoyed high popularity as senator with a 72% approval in Illinois.[67] Obama announced on November 13, 2008 that he would resign his Senate seat on November 16, 2008, before the start of the lame-duck session, to focus on his transition period for the presidency.[68]
Legislation
See also: List of bills sponsored by Barack Obama in the United States Senate
A man with glasses and Obama sit and hold a sheet of paper. Obama points at the paper and talks. Both men wear dark suits and ties.
Senate bill sponsors Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Obama discussing the Coburn–Obama Transparency Act[69]

Obama cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act.[70] He introduced two initiatives bearing his name: Lugar–Obama, which expanded the Nunn–Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons,[71] and the Coburn–Obama Transparency Act, which authorized the establishment of USAspending.gov, a web search engine on federal spending.[72] On June 3, 2008, Senator Obama, along with Senators Thomas R. Carper, Tom Coburn, and John McCain, introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008.[73]

Obama sponsored legislation that would have required nuclear plant owners to notify state and local authorities of radioactive leaks, but the bill failed to pass in the full Senate after being heavily modified in committee.[74] On the issue of tort reform, Obama voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which grants immunity from civil liability to telecommunications companies complicit with NSA warrantless wiretapping operations.[75]
Gray-haired man and Obama stand, wearing casual polo shirts. Obama wears sunglasses and holds something slung over his right sholder.
Obama and U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) visit a Russian mobile launch missile dismantling facility in August 2005.[76]

In December 2006, President Bush signed into law the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor.[77] In January 2007, Obama and Senator Feingold introduced a corporate jet provision to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which was signed into law in September 2007.[78] Obama also introduced Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections[79] and the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007,[80] neither of which has been signed into law.

Later in 2007, Obama sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act adding safeguards for personality disorder military discharges.[81] This amendment passed the full Senate in the spring of 2008.[82] He sponsored the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran’s oil and gas industry, which has not passed committee, and co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism.[83] Obama also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries.[84]
Committees

Obama held assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works and Veterans’ Affairs through December 2006.[85] In January 2007, he left the Environment and Public Works committee and took additional assignments with Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.[86] He also became Chairman of the Senate’s subcommittee on European Affairs.[87] As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. He met with Mahmoud Abbas before Abbas became President of the Palestinian Authority, and gave a speech at the University of Nairobi condemning corruption within the Kenyan government.[88]
Presidential campaign
Main articles: United States presidential election, 2008, Barack Obama presidential primary campaign, 2008, and Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008
Obama stands on stage with his family. They wave.
Obama stands on stage with his wife and two daughters just before announcing his presidential candidacy in Springfield, Illinois, Feb. 10, 2007.

On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for president of the United States in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois.[89][90][91] The choice of the announcement site was viewed as symbolic[89][92] because it was also where Abraham Lincoln delivered his historic “House Divided” speech in 1858.[91] Throughout the campaign, Obama emphasized the issues of rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence and providing universal health care.[93]
Obama delivers a speech at a podium while several flashbulbs light the background.
Obama delivers his presidential election victory speech in Chicago’s Grant Park.

A large number of candidates entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries. The field narrowed to a duel between Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton after early contests, with the race remaining close throughout the primary process but with Obama gaining a steady lead in pledged delegates due to better long-range planning, superior fundraising, dominant organizing in caucus states, and better exploitation of delegate allocation rules.[94] On June 3, with all states counted, Obama was named the presumptive nominee[95] and delivered a victory speech in St. Paul, Minnesota. Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed him on June 7, 2008.[96]

Obama proceeded to focus on the general election campaign against Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, in the lead up to the Democratic National Convention. He announced on August 23, 2008, that he had selected Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate.[97] At the convention, held August 25 to August 28 in Denver, Colorado, Hillary Clinton called for her delegates and supporters to endorse Obama, and she and Bill Clinton gave convention speeches in support of Obama.[98] Obama delivered his acceptance speech to a crowd of over 75,000 at Invesco Field at Mile High[99] and presented his policy goals; the speech was viewed by over 38 million people worldwide.[100]
Obama meets with Bush in the Oval Office. Both sit at a distance in front of the presidential desk with their legs crossed and their backs on an angle toward the camera. They sit at right angles to each other.
President George W. Bush meets with President-Elect Obama in the Oval Office on November 10, 2008.

During both the primary process and the general election, Obama’s campaign set numerous fundraising records, particularly in the quantity of small donations.[101] On June 19, 2008, Obama became the first major-party presidential candidate to turn down public financing in the general election since the system was created in 1976.[102]

After McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate, three presidential debates were held between the contenders spanning September and October 2008.[103] On November 4, Obama won the presidency by winning 365 electoral votes to 173 that McCain received,[104] in the process capturing 52.9% of the popular vote to McCain’s 45.7%,[105] to become the first African American[106] to be elected president. Obama delivered his victory speech before hundreds of thousands of supporters in Chicago’s Grant Park.[107]
Presidency
Main article: Presidency of Barack Obama
See also: Confirmations of Barack Obama’s Cabinet and List of presidential trips made by Barack Obama
First days
Wikinews has related news: Barack Obama elected 44th President of the United States

The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President, and Joe Biden as Vice President, took place on January 20, 2009. In his first few days in office Obama issued executive orders and presidential memoranda directing the U.S. military to develop plans to withdraw troops from Iraq,[108] and ordered the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp “as soon as practicable and no later than” January 2010.[109] Obama also reduced the secrecy given to presidential records[110] and changed procedures to promote disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.[111] The president also reversed George W. Bush’s ban on federal funding to foreign establishments that allow abortions.[112]
Domestic policy
Barack Obama takes the oath of office as president of the United States.

The first bill signed into law by Obama was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, relaxing the statute of limitations for equal-pay lawsuits.[113] Five days later, he signed the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover an additional 4 million children currently uninsured.[114]

In March 2009, Obama reversed a Bush-era policy which had limited funding of embryonic stem cell research. Obama stated that he believed “sound science and moral values…are not inconsistent” and pledged to develop “strict guidelines” on the research.[115]

Sonia Sotomayor, nominated by Obama on May 26, 2009, to replace retiring Associate Justice David Souter, was confirmed on August 6, 2009,[116] becoming the first Hispanic to be a Supreme Court Justice.[117]

On September 30, 2009, the Obama administration proposed new regulations on power plants, factories and oil refineries in an attempt to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to curb global warming.[118][119]

Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a measure that expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, on October 8, 2009.[120][121][122]

On March 30, 2010, Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, a reconciliation bill which ends the process of the federal government giving subsidies to private banks to give out federally insured loans, increases the Pell Grant scholarship award, and makes changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[123][124][125][126]
Economic policy

On February 17, 2009, Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $787 billion economic stimulus package aimed at helping the economy recover from the deepening worldwide recession.[127] The act includes increased federal spending for health care, infrastructure, education, various tax breaks and incentives, and direct assistance to individuals,[128] which is being distributed over the course of several years.
President Barack Obama signs the ARRA into law on February 17, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. Vice President Joe Biden stands behind him.

In March, Obama’s Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, took further steps to manage the financial crisis, including introducing the Public-Private Investment Program for Legacy Assets, which contains provisions for buying up to $2 trillion in depreciated real estate assets. On March 23, The New York Times noted that “[i]nvestors reacted ecstatically, with all of the major stock indexes soaring as soon as the markets opened.”[129]

Obama intervened in the troubled automotive industry[130] in March, renewing loans for General Motors and Chrysler to continue operations while reorganizing. Over the following months the White House set terms for both firms’ bankruptcies, including the sale of Chrysler to Italian automaker Fiat[131] and a reorganization of GM giving the U.S. government a temporary 60% equity stake in the company, with the Canadian government shouldering a 12% stake.[132] In June 2009, dissatisfied with the pace of economic stimulus, Obama called on his cabinet to accelerate the investment.[133] He signed into law the successful Car Allowance Rebate System, known colloquially as “Cash for Clunkers”, running from July to August 2009, which not only reduced inventories but set off increased production runs at GM, Ford and Toyota, resulting in the rehiring of laid-off workers.[134][135]

In mid-November 2009, Obama acknowledged the concern that adding too much more debt could cause the economy to slide into a “double dip” recession.[136] Although total spending and loan guarantees from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department authorized by the Bush and Obama administrations was about $11.5 trillion, only $3 trillion had actually been spent by the end of November 2009.[137]

Unemployment numbers rose briefly to as high as 10.1% in October 2009 (the highest since 1983),[138] and the “underemployment” rate to 17.5%,[139] before decreasing and holding at 9.7% in early 2010.[140] In the third quarter of 2009, the U.S. economy expanded at a 2.8% pace[141] and in the fourth quarter it grew at its fastest rate in six years, 5.7%.[142] Other possible signs of recovery included an upturn in exports and a rise in consumer spending.[143]

The Congressional Budget Office and a broad range of economists credit Obama’s stimulus plan for the economic growth.[144][145] The CBO released a report stating that the stimulus bill increased employment by 1–2.1 million,[146][147][148][149] while conceding that “It is impossible to determine how many of the reported jobs would have existed in the absence of the stimulus package.”[150] Although an April 2010 survey of members of the National Association for Business Economics showed an increase in job creation (over a similar January survey) for the first time in two years, 73% of the 68 respondents believed that the stimulus bill has had no impact on employment.[151]
Health care reform
Main article: Health care reform in the United States
Obama signs bill at desk while others look on.
Barack Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the White House, March 23, 2010.

Obama called for Congress to pass legislation reforming health care in the United States, a key campaign promise and a top legislative goal.[152] He proposed an expansion of health insurance coverage to cover the uninsured, to cap premium increases, and to allow people to retain their coverage when they leave or change jobs. His proposal was to spend $900 billion over 10 years and include a government insurance plan, also known as the public option, to compete with the corporate insurance sector as a main component to lowering costs and improving quality of health care. It would also make it illegal for insurers to drop sick people or deny them coverage for pre-existing conditions, and require every American carry health coverage. The plan also includes medical spending cuts and taxes on insurance companies that offer expensive plans.[153][154]

On July 14, 2009, House Democratic leaders introduced a 1,017-page plan for overhauling the U.S. health care system, which Obama wanted Congress to approve by the end of 2009.[152] After much public debate during the Congressional summer recess of 2009, Obama delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 9 where he addressed concerns over his administration’s proposals.[155]

On November 7, 2009, a health care bill featuring the public option was passed in the House.[156][157] On December 24, 2009, the Senate passed its own bill—without a public option—on a party-line vote of 60–39.[158] On March 21, 2010, the health care bill passed by the Senate in December was passed in the House by a vote of 219 to 212.[159] Obama signed the bill into law on March 23, 2010.[160]
Gulf of Mexico oil spill
Main article: Deepwater Horizon oil spill

On April 20, 2010, an explosion destroyed an offshore drilling rig at the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, causing a major sustained oil leak. The well’s operator, BP, initiated a containment and cleanup plan, and began drilling two relief wells intended to stop the flow. Obama visited the Gulf on May 2 among visits by members of his cabinet, and again on May 28 and June 4. He began a federal investigation and formed a bipartisan commission to recommend new safety standards, after a review by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and concurrent Congressional hearings. On May 27, he announced a 6-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling permits and leases, pending regulatory review.[161] As multiple efforts by BP failed, some in the media and public expressed confusion and criticism over various aspects of the incident, and stated a desire for more involvement by Obama and the federal government.[162][163][164][165][166]
Foreign policy
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, and the President of the United States, Barack Obama, during the 2010 G-20 Toronto summit
Main article: Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration

In February and March, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made separate overseas trips to announce a “new era” in U.S. foreign relations with Russia and Europe, using the terms “break” and “reset” to signal major changes from the policies of the preceding administration.[167] Obama’s granting of his first television interview as president to an Arabic cable network, Al Arabiya, was seen as an attempt to reach out to Arab leaders.[168]

On March 19, Obama continued his outreach to the Muslim world, releasing a New Year’s video message to the people and government of Iran.[169] This attempt at outreach was rebuffed by the Iranian leadership.[170] In April, Obama gave a speech in Ankara, Turkey, which was well received by many Arab governments.[171] On June 4, 2009, Obama delivered a speech at Cairo University in Egypt calling for “a new beginning” in relations between the Islamic world and the United States and promoting Middle East peace.[172]

On June 26, 2009, in response to the Iranian government’s actions towards protesters following Iran’s 2009 presidential election, Obama said: “The violence perpetrated against them is outrageous. We see it and we condemn it.”[173] On July 7, while in Moscow, he responded to a Vice President Biden comment on a possible Israeli military strike on Iran by saying: “We have said directly to the Israelis that it is important to try and resolve this in an international setting in a way that does not create major conflict in the Middle East.”[174]

On September 24, 2009, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to preside over a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.[175]

In March 2010, Obama took a public stance against plans by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue building Jewish housing projects in predominantly Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.[176][177] During the same month, an agreement was reached with the administration of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with a new pact reducing the number of long-range nuclear weapons in the arsenals of both countries by about one-third.[178]
Iraq war
Main article: Iraq War

During his presidential transition, President-elect Obama announced that he would retain the incumbent Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, in his Cabinet.[179]

On February 27, 2009, Obama declared that combat operations would end in Iraq within 18 months. His remarks were made to a group of Marines preparing for deployment to Afghanistan. Obama said, “Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end.”[180] The drawdown is scheduled to be completed by August 2010, decreasing troops levels from 142,000 while leaving a transitional force of 35,000 to 50,000 in Iraq until the end of 2011. The plan is to transition the mission of the remaining troops from combat operations to counter-terrorism and the training, equipping, and advising of Iraqi security forces.[181]
War in Afghanistan
Main article: War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

Early in his presidency, Obama moved to bolster U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan.[182] He announced an increase to U.S. troop levels of 17,000 in February 2009 to “stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan”, an area he said had not received the “strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires”.[183] He replaced the military commander in Afghanistan, General David D. McKiernan, with former Special Forces commander Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal in May 2009, indicating that McChrystal’s Special Forces experience would facilitate the use of counterinsurgency tactics in the war.[184] On December 1, 2009, Obama announced the deployment of an additional 30,000 military personnel to Afghanistan.[185] He also proposed to begin troop withdrawals 18 months from that date.[186][187] On June 23, 2010, interview comments by McChrystal and his staff led him to tender his resignation and Obama nominated General David Petraeus to directly command Afghanistan operations.[188]
Cultural and political image
Group portrait of five presidential men in dark suits and ties
President George W. Bush invited then-President-elect Barack Obama and former Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter to a meeting in the Oval Office on January 7, 2009.
Main article: Public image of Barack Obama
See also: International media reaction to Barack Obama’s 2008 election

Obama’s family history, early life and upbringing, and Ivy League education differ markedly from those of African-American politicians who launched their careers in the 1960s through participation in the civil rights movement.[189] Obama is also not a descendent of American slaves.[190] Expressing puzzlement over questions about whether he is “black enough”, Obama told an August 2007 meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists that “we’re still locked in this notion that if you appeal to white folks then there must be something wrong.”[191] Obama acknowledged his youthful image in an October 2007 campaign speech, saying: “I wouldn’t be here if, time and again, the torch had not been passed to a new generation.”[192]

Obama is frequently referred to as an exceptional orator.[193] During his pre-inauguration transition period and continuing into his presidency, Obama has delivered a series of weekly Internet video addresses.[194]
20090124 WeeklyAddress.ogv
Play video
Obama presents his first weekly address as President of the United States on January 24, discussing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

According to the Pew Research Center, Obama’s approval ratings dropped from 64% in February, 2009 to 49% in December, a trend similar to Ronald Reagan’s and Bill Clinton’s first years.[195]

Obama’s international appeal has been described as a defining factor for his public image.[196] Polls show strong support for Obama in other countries,[197] and he has met with prominent foreign figures including then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair,[198] Italy’s Democratic Party leader and then Mayor of Rome Walter Veltroni,[199] and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.[200]

According to a May 2009 poll conducted by Harris Interactive for France 24 and the International Herald Tribune, Obama was rated as the most popular world leader, as well as the one figure most people would pin their hopes on for pulling the world out of the economic downturn.[201]

Obama won Best Spoken Word Album Grammy Awards for abridged audiobook versions of Dreams from My Father in February 2006 and for The Audacity of Hope in February 2008.[202] His “Yes We Can” speech, which artists independently set to music, was viewed by 10 million people on YouTube in the first month,[203] and received a Daytime Emmy Award.[204] In December 2008, Time magazine named Barack Obama as its Person of the Year for his historic candidacy and election, which it described as “the steady march of seemingly impossible accomplishments”.[205]

On October 9, 2009, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that Obama had won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”.[206] Obama accepted this award in Oslo, Norway on December 10, 2009, with “deep gratitude and great humility.”[207] The award drew a mixture of praise and criticism from world leaders and media figures.[208][209] Obama is the fourth U.S. president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the third to become a Nobel laureate while in office.

A 2010 Siena College poll of 238 Presidential scholars found that Obama was ranked 15th out of 43, with high ratings for imagination, communication ability and intelligence and a low rating for background (family, education and experience).[210]
Political positions
Main article: Political positions of Barack Obama

During his Senate service, Obama had a lifetime average conservative rating of 7.67% from the American Conservative Union[211] and a lifetime average liberal rating of 90% from the Americans for Democratic Action.[212]

In April 2005, Obama defended the New Deal social welfare policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and opposed Republican proposals to establish private accounts for Social Security.[213] In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Obama spoke out against government indifference to growing economic class divisions, calling on both political parties to take action to restore the social safety net for the poor.[214] Obama said in 2007 that he supported universal health care in the United States.[215] He has proposed rewarding teachers for performance from traditional merit pay systems, assuring unions that changes would be pursued through the collective bargaining process.[216]

Obama has supported eliminating taxes for senior citizens with incomes of under $50,000, and raising taxes on income over $250,000, on capital gains, and on dividends.[217] He has also supported simplifying tax filings and removing loopholes.[218]

As an environmental initiative, Obama proposed a cap and trade auction system with no grandfathering to restrict carbon emissions and a ten year program of investments in new energy sources to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil.[219][220]

In foreign affairs, Obama was an early opponent of the George W. Bush administration’s policies on Iraq.[221] On October 2, 2002, the day President Bush and Congress agreed on the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War,[222] Obama addressed the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally,[223] and spoke out against the war.[224] He addressed another anti-war rally in March 2003 and told the crowd that “it’s not too late” to stop the war.[225]

In a March 2007 speech, Obama said that the primary way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons is through talks and diplomacy, without preconditions, but not ruling out military action.[226] In August 2007, Obama remarked that “it was a terrible mistake to fail to act” against a 2005 meeting of al-Qaeda leaders that U.S. intelligence had confirmed to be taking place in Pakistan.[227]

Obama stated in 2007 that he would enact budget cuts in the range of tens of billions of dollars, stop investing in “unproven” missile defense systems, not weaponize space, “slow development of Future Combat Systems”, and work towards eliminating all nuclear weapons. Obama favors ending development of new nuclear weapons, reducing the current U.S. nuclear stockpile, enacting a global ban on production of fissile material, and seeking negotiations with Russia to reduce the pressure on both sides for intercontinental ballistic missiles to be on high-alert status.[228]

Obama has called for more assertive action to oppose genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.[229] He has divested $180,000 in personal holdings of Sudan-related stock, and has urged divestment from companies doing business in Iran.[230]
Family and personal life
Barack and Michelle Obama, their children, and her mother, along with a costumed Easter Bunny, on a balcony waving.
Barack Obama together with his family and a costumed Easter Bunny, as they wave from the South Portico of the White House to guests attending the White House Easter Egg Roll.
Main articles: Early life and career of Barack Obama and Family of Barack Obama

In a 2006 interview, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family: “It’s like a little mini-United Nations”, he said. “I’ve got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I’ve got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher.”[231] Obama has seven half-siblings from his Kenyan father’s family, six of them living, and a half-sister with whom he was raised, Maya Soetoro-Ng, the daughter of his mother and her Indonesian second husband.[232] Obama’s mother was survived by her Kansas-born mother, Madelyn Dunham[233] until her death on November 2, 2008,[234] two days before his election to the Presidency. In Dreams from My Father, Obama ties his mother’s family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.[235] Obama’s great-uncle served in the 89th Division that overran Ohrdruf,[236] the first of the Nazi concentration camps to be liberated by U.S. troops during World War II.[237]

Obama was known as “Barry” in his youth, but asked to be addressed with his given name during his college years.[238] Besides his native English, Obama speaks Indonesian at the conversational level, which he learned during his four childhood years in Jakarta.[239] He plays basketball, a sport he participated in as a member of his high school’s varsity team.[240]
Obama holding a basketball above his head in midair while four other players look at him. He looks toward the camera over his right shoulder.
Obama playing basketball with U.S. military at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti in 2006[241]
Obama receiving a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey from Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who campaigned for Obama in 2008[242]

Obama is a well known supporter of the Chicago White Sox, and threw out the first pitch at the 2005 ALCS when he was still a Senator.[243] In 2009, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the all star game while wearing a White Sox jacket.[244] He is also primarily a Chicago Bears fan in the NFL, but is known to also support the Pittsburgh Steelers,[242] and openly rooted for them in their victory in Super Bowl XLIII 12 days after Obama took office as President.[245]

In June 1989, Obama met Michelle Robinson when he was employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin.[246] Assigned for three months as Obama’s adviser at the firm, Robinson joined him at group social functions, but declined his initial requests to date.[247] They began dating later that summer, became engaged in 1991, and were married on October 3, 1992.[248] The couple’s first daughter, Malia Ann, was born on July 4, 1998,[249] followed by a second daughter, Natasha (“Sasha”), on June 10, 2001.[250] The Obama daughters attended the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. When they moved to Washington, D.C., in January 2009, the girls started at the private Sidwell Friends School.[251] The Obamas have a Portuguese Water Dog named Bo.[252]

Applying the proceeds of a book deal, the family moved in 2005 from a Hyde Park, Chicago condominium to a $1.6 million house in neighboring Kenwood, Chicago.[253] The purchase of an adjacent lot and sale of part of it to Obama by the wife of developer, campaign donor and friend Tony Rezko attracted media attention because of Rezko’s subsequent indictment and conviction on political corruption charges that were unrelated to Obama.[254]

In December 2007, Money magazine estimated the Obama family’s net worth at $1.3 million.[255] Their 2007 tax return showed a household income of $4.2 million—up from about $1 million in 2006 and $1.6 million in 2005—mostly from sales of his books.[256]

Obama is a Christian whose religious views developed in his adult life. In The Audacity of Hope, Obama writes that he “was not raised in a religious household”. He describes his mother, raised by non-religious parents (whom Obama has specified elsewhere as “non-practicing Methodists and Baptists”) to be detached from religion, yet “in many ways the most spiritually awakened person that I have ever known”. He describes his father as “raised a Muslim”, but a “confirmed atheist” by the time his parents met, and his stepfather as “a man who saw religion as not particularly useful”. Obama explained how, through working with black churches as a community organizer while in his twenties, he came to understand “the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change”.[257] He was baptized at the Trinity United Church of Christ in 1988 and was an active member there for two decades.[258] Obama resigned from Trinity during the Presidential campaign after controversial statements made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright became public.[259] After a prolonged effort to find a church to attend regularly in Washington, Obama announced in June 2009 that his primary place of worship would be the Evergreen Chapel at Camp David.[260]

Obama tried to quit smoking several times over the years and has used nicotine replacement therapy.[261][262][263] However in June 2010, during a congratulatory phone call to president-elect Benigno Aquino of the Philippines, Obama told Aquino that he had quit and would offer advice on how to stop smoking when Aquino was himself ready for that step.[264]
Notes

1. ^ “President Barack Obama”. The White House. http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president_obama/. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
2. ^ “Certification of Live Birth for Barack Obama”. Department of Health, Hawaii. August 8, 1961. http://static.politifact.com.s3.amazonaws.com/graphics/birthCertObama.jpg. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
3. ^ “American President: Barack Obama”. Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/obama. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
* United Church of Christ (January 20, 2009). “Barack Obama, long time UCC member, inaugurated forty-fourth U.S. President”. Press release. http://www.ucc.org/news/obama-inauguration.html. Retrieved January 21, 2009. “Barack Obama, who spent more than 20 years as a UCC member, is the forty-fourth President of the United States.”
* An Associated Press wire story on Obama’s resignation from Trinity United Church of Christ in the course of the Jeremiah Wright controversy stated that he had, in doing so, disaffiliated himself with the UCC. (See”Obama’s church choice likely to be scrutinized”. Associated Press. MSNBC. November 17, 2008. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27775757/. Retrieved January 20, 2009. )
* Miller, Lisa and Wolffe, Richard, “Finding His Faith”, Newsweek, July 12, 2008, Retrieved February 4, 2010
* Anne E. Kornblut Washington Post Staff Writer, “Obama’s spirituality is largely private, but it’s influential, advisers say” Washington Post, February 4, 2010, Retrieved February 4, 2010 Obama prays privately…when he takes his family to Camp David on the weekends, a Navy chaplain ministers to them.
* Amy Sullivan Time Magazine The Obamas Find a Church Home—Away from Home Obama…will follow in George W. Bush’s footsteps and make his primary place of worship Evergreen Chapel, the nondenominational church at Camp David.
* “Obama Has Never Been A Muslim, And Is a Committed Christian”, Organizing for America, November 12, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
4. ^ “Born in the U.S.A.”. FactCheck. August 21, 2008. http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
5. ^ Maraniss, David (August 24, 2008). “Though Obama Had to Leave to Find Himself, It Is Hawaii That Made His Rise Possible”. Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/23/AR2008082301620.html. Retrieved October 27, 2008.
6. ^ For Stanley Ann’s first name, see Obama (1995, 2004), p. 19
7. ^ “Researchers: Obama has German roots”. USA Today. 6/4/2009. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-06-04-obama-roots_N.htm. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
8. ^ “Born in the U.S.A.”. FactCheck. August 21, 2008. http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
* Hutton, Brian (May 3, 2007). “For sure, Obama’s South Side Irish”. The Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/368961,CST-NWS-ireland03.article. Retrieved November 23, 2008.
* Jordan, Mary (May 13, 2007). “Tiny Irish Village Is Latest Place to Claim Obama as Its Own – washingtonpost.com”. Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/12/AR2007051201551.html. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
9. ^ Rudin, Ken (December 23, 2009). “NPR’s Political Junkie, December 23, 2009, accessed December 30, 2009″. Npr.org. http://www.npr.org/blogs/politicaljunkie/2009/12/todays_junkie_segment_on_totn_5.html. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
10. ^ Heard on Tell Me More (October 29, 2008). “Asian Writer Ponders First Asian President Too”. Npr.org. http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=96126355. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
11. ^ Obama (1995, 2004), pp. 9–10. For book excerpts, see”Barack Obama: Creation of Tales”. East African. November 1, 2004. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927225314/http://www.nationmedia.com/EastAfrican/01112004/Features/PA2-2212.html. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
12. ^ a b Jones, Tim (March 27, 2007). “Barack Obama: Mother not just a girl from Kansas. Stanley Ann Dunham shaped a future senator”. Chicago Tribune: p. 1 (Tempo). http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-0703270151mar27-archive,0,5853572,full.story. Retrieved March 27, 2007.
13. ^ Ripley, Amanda (April 9, 2008). “The Story of Barack Obama’s Mother”. Time. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1729524,00.html. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
14. ^ Merida, Kevin (December 14, 2007). “The Ghost of a Father”. Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/12/13/ST2007121301893.html. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
* Ochieng, Philip (November 1, 2004). “From Home Squared to the US Senate: How Barack Obama Was Lost and Found”. East African. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927223905/http://www.nationmedia.com/EastAfrican/01112004/Features/PA2-11.html. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
15. ^ Obama (1995, 2004), pp. 44–45.
16. ^ “Statue of a Young Obama To Watch Over Indonesian Capital”. The Jakarta Globe. December 9, 2009. http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/statue-of-us-president-barack-obama-to-be-unveiled-in-jakarta-park/346178. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
17. ^ “From Chinaview.cn”. News.xinhuanet.com. December 10, 2009. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/10/content_12624443.htm. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
18. ^ Pickler, Nedra (January 24, 2007). “Obama Debunks Claim About Islamic School”. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
19. ^ Serafin, Peter (March 21, 2004). “Punahou Grad Stirs Up Illinois Politics”. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/03/21/news/story4.html. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
* Obama (1995, 2004), Chapters 3 and 4.
20. ^ Ripley, Amanda (April 9, 2008). “The Story of Barack Obama’s Mother”. Time. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1729524,00.html. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
* Suryakusuma, Julia (November 29, 2006). “Obama for President… of Indonesia”. Jakarta Post. http://old.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20061129.F03. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
21. ^ Obama (1995), pp. 9–10.
22. ^ Obama (1995), Chapters 4 and 5.
* Serrano, Richard A (March 11, 2007). “Obama’s Peers Didn’t See His Angst” (paid archive). Los Angeles Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/1230439131.html?dids=1230439131:1230439131&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+11%2C+2007&author=Richard+A.+Serrano&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=A.20&desc=THE+NATION. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
23. ^ Reyes, B. J (February 8, 2007). “Punahou Left Lasting Impression on Obama”. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/02/08/news/story02.html. Retrieved January 4, 2008.  “As a teenager, Obama went to parties and sometimes sought out gatherings on military bases or at the University of Hawaii that were mostly attended by blacks.”
24. ^ “Obama Gets Blunt with N.H. Students”. Boston Globe. Associated Press. November 21, 2007. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/11/21/obama_gets_blunt_with_nh_students/. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
* In Dreams from My Father, Obama writes: “Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it.” Obama (1995), pp. 93–94.
* For analysis of the political impact of the quote and Obama’s more recent admission that he smoked marijuana as a teenager (“When I was a kid, I inhaled”), see:Romano, Lois (January 3, 2007). “Effect of Obama’s Candor Remains to Be Seen”. Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/02/AR2007010201359.html. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
* Seelye, Katharine Q (October 24, 2006). “Obama Offers More Variations From the Norm”. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/us/politics/24obama.html. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
25. ^ Hornick, Ed (August 17, 2008). “Obama, McCain talk issues at pastor’s forum”. LAKE FOREST, California: CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/16/warren.forum/. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
26. ^ a b c Gordon, Larry (January 29, 2007). “Occidental recalls ‘Barry’ Obama”. Los Angeles Times: p. B1. http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/29/local/me-oxy29. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
* Possley, Maurice (March 30, 2007). “Activism blossomed in college”. Chicago Tribune: p. 20. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703291042mar30-archive,0,1533921.story. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
* Kovaleski, Serge F. (February 9, 2008). “Old friends say drugs played bit part in Obama’s young life”. The New York Times: p. A1. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/us/politics/09obama.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
* Rohter, Larry (April 10, 2008). “Obama says real-life experience trumps rivals’ foreign policy credits”. The New York Times: p. A18. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/10/us/politics/10obama.html. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
* Goldman, Adam; Tanner, Robert (Associated Press) (May 15, 2008). “Old friends recall Obama’s years in LA, NYC”. USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-05-15-3144401415_x.htm. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
* Helman, Scott (August 25, 2008). “Small college awakened future senator to service”. The Boston Globe: p. 1A. http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/08/25/small_college_awakened_future_senator_to_service/?page=full. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
* Jackson, Brooks (June 5, 2009). “More ‘birther’ nonsense: Obama’s 1981 Pakistan trip”. FactCheck.org. http://www.factcheck.org/2009/06/more-birther-nonsense-obamas-1981-pakistan-trip. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
* Obama (1995, 2004), pp. 92–112.
* Mendell (2007), pp. 55–62.
* Remnick (2010), pp. 98–112.
27. ^ Boss-Bicak, Shira (January 2005). “Barack Obama ’83″. Columbia College Today. http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct_archive/jan05/cover.php. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
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233. ^ Fornek, Scott (September 9, 2007). “Madelyn Payne Dunham: ‘A Trailblazer’”. Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/familytree/545449,BSX-News-wotreeee09.stng. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
234. ^ “Obama’s grandmother dies after battle with cancer”. CNN. November 3, 2008. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/03/obama.grandma/index.html. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
235. ^ Obama (1995, 2004), p. 13. For reports on Obama’s maternal genealogy, including slave owners, Irish connections, and common ancestors with George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Harry Truman, see:Nitkin, David; Harry Merritt (March 2, 2007). “A New Twist to an Intriguing Family History”. Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930033339/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/politics/bal-te.obama02mar02,0,3453027.story. Retrieved June 24, 2008. Jordan, Mary (May 13, 2007). “Tiny Irish Village Is Latest Place to Claim Obama as Its Own”. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/12/AR2007051201551.html. Retrieved June 24, 2008. “Obama’s Family Tree Has a Few Surprises”. CBS 2 (Chicago). Associated Press. September 8, 2007. http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/Barack.Obama.family.2.339709.html. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
236. ^ Johnson, Carla K., Associated Press Writer (July 24, 2008). “Obama’s great-uncle recalls liberating Nazi camp”. USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-07-24-1654309354_x.htm. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
237. ^ “The 89th Infantry Division”. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10006140. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
238. ^ “When Barry Became Barack”. Newsweek. March 31, 2008. http://www.newsweek.com/id/128633. Retrieved November 6, 2008.
239. ^ Zimmer, Benjamin (2009). “Obama’s Indonesian Redux”. Language Log. http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1025. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
* “Obama: Saya Kangen Nasi Goreng, Bakso, dan Rambutan”. http://cetak.kompas.com/read/xml/2008/11/26/00223862/obama.saya.kangen.nasi.goreng.bakso.dan.rambutan.
240. ^ Kantor, Jodi (June 1, 2007). “One Place Where Obama Goes Elbow to Elbow”. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/us/politics/01hoops.html. Retrieved April 28, 2008.  See also:”The Love of the Game” (video). HBO: Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (YouTube (BarackObama.com)). April 15, 2008. http://www.hbo.com/realsports/stories/2008/episode.133.s1.html. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
241. ^ “Senator Barack Obama Visit to CJTF-HOA and Camp Lemonier: August 31 – September 1, 2006″ (video). Combined Joint Task Force—Horn of Africa (YouTube). February 6, 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9GqdzQeCz0. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
242. ^ a b Branigin, William (January 30, 2009). “Steelers Win Obama’s Approval”. Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/29/AR2009012903196.html. “But other than the Bears, the Steelers are probably the team that’s closest to my heart. All right?”
243. ^ “Barack Obama: White Sox ‘serious’ ball”. The Swamp. August 25, 2008. http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/08/barack_obama_white_sox_serious.html. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
244. ^ “Barack Obama Explains White Sox Jacket, Talks Nats in All-Star Booth Visit”. MLB Fanhouse. July 14, 2009. http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/07/14/barack-obama-explains-white-sox-jacket-talks-nats-in-all-star-b/. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
245. ^ “President-elect Obama Likely To Root For The Steelers”. kdka.com. January 14, 2009. http://kdka.com/politics/Barack.Obama.Steelers.2.908698.html. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
246. ^ Obama (2006), pp. 327–332. See also:Brown, Sarah (December 7, 2005). “Obama ’85 masters balancing act”. The Daily Princetonian. http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2005/12/07/14049. Retrieved February 9, 2009.
247. ^ Obama (2006), p. 329.
248. ^ Fornek, Scott (October 3, 2007). “Michelle Obama: ‘He Swept Me Off My Feet’”. Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/585261,CST-NWS-wedding03.stng. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
249. ^ Martin, Jonathan (July 4, 2008). “Born on the 4th of July”. The Politico. http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/Born_on_the_4th_of_July.html. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
250. ^ Obama (1995, 2004), p. 440, and Obama (2006), pp. 339–340. See also:”Election 2008 Information Center: Barack Obama”. Gannett News Service. http://www.gannettnewsservice.com/?cat=153. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
251. ^ “Obamas choose private Sidwell Friends School”, International Herald Tribune, November 22, 2008
252. ^ One Obama Search Ends With a Puppy Named Bo
253. ^ Zeleny, Jeff (December 24, 2005). “The first time around: Sen. Obama’s freshman year”. Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-051224obama,0,1779783,full.story. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
254. ^ Slevin, Peter (December 17, 2006). “Obama says he regrets land deal with fundraiser”. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600729.html. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
* Robinson, Mike (June 4, 2008). “Rezko found guilty in corruption case”. Associated Press. MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24973282/. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
255. ^ Harris, Marlys (December 7, 2007). “Obama’s Money”. CNNMoney.com. http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0712/gallery.candidates.moneymag/5.html. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
See also:Goldfarb, Zachary A (March 24, 2007). “Measuring Wealth of the ’08 Candidates”. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/24/AR2007032400305.html. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
256. ^ Zeleny, Jeff (April 17, 2008). “Book Sales Lifted Obamas’ Income in 2007 to a Total of $4.2 Million”. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/us/politics/17obama.html. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
257. ^ Obama (2006), pp. 202–208. Portions excerpted in:Obama, Barack (October 23, 2006). “My Spiritual Journey”. Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1546579,00.html. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
* Obama, Barack (June 28, 2006). “‘Call to Renewal’ Keynote Address”. Barack Obama: U.S. Senator for Illinois (website). http://obama.senate.gov/speech/060628-call_to_renewal/. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
258. ^ Kantor, Jodi (April 30, 2007). “Barack Obama’s search for faith”. International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/30/america/30obama.php?page=2.  April 30, 2007
* Obama, Barack (October 23, 2006). “My Spiritual Journey”. Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1546579,00.html.
259. ^ “Obama’s church choice likely to be scrutinized”. Associated Press. MSNBC. November 17, 2008. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27775757/. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
260. ^ “The Obamas Find a Church Home—Away from Home”. Time. June 29, 2009. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1907610,00.html. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
261. ^ “Obama says he won’t be smoking in White House”. Reuters. December 7, 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE4B61GF20081207. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
262. ^ “Obama in good health, but still smokes”[dead link], KABC-TV, February 28, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
263. ^ Hook, Janet (March 1, 2010), “Obama in excellent health, doctor says, but he should quit smoking”, Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
264. ^ Calica, Aurea (June 11, 2010). “Obama offers to help Noy quit smoking”. The Philippine Star. Retrieved June 24, 2010.

References

* Mendell, David (2007). Obama: From Promise to Power. New York: Amistad/HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-085820-6.
* Obama, Barack (1995, 2004). Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 1-4000-8277-3.
* Obama, Barack (2006). The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. New York: Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 0-307-23769-9.
* Remnick, David (2010). The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-1-4000-4360-6.

Further reading

* Curry, Jessica. “Barack Obama: Under the Lights”, Chicago Life, Fall 2004. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
* Graff, Garrett. “The Legend of Barack Obama”, Washingtonian, November 1, 2006. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
* Koltun, Dave (2005) “The 2004 Illinois Senate Race: Obama Wins Open Seat and Becomes National Political “Star”" in “The Road to Congress 2004″ Editors: Sunil Ahuja (Youngstown State University) and Robert Dewhirst (Truman State University), Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, New York, Binding: Hardcover Pub. Date: 2005, ISBN 1-59454-360-7
* Lizza, Ryan. “Above the Fray”, GQ, September 2007. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
* MacFarquhar, Larissa. “The Conciliator: Where is Barack Obama Coming From?”, New Yorker, May 7, 2007. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
* Mundy, Liza. “A Series of Fortunate Events”, The Washington Post Magazine, August 12, 2007. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
* Wallace-Wells, Ben. “Destiny’s Child”,[dead link] Rolling Stone, February 7, 2007. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
* Zutter, Hank De. “What Makes Obama Run?”, Chicago Reader, December 8, 1995. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.

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Michigan is the eighth most populous state in the United States. It has the longest freshwater shoreline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair.[5] In 2005, Michigan ranked third among US states for the number of registered recreational boats, behind California and Florida.[6] Michigan has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds.[7] A person in the state is never more than six miles (10 km) from a natural water source or more than 87.2 miles (140.3 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline.[8] It is the largest state by total area[9] east of the Mississippi River.

Michigan is the only state to consist entirely of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is often dubbed “the mitten” by residents, owing to its shape. When asked where in Michigan one comes from, a resident of the Lower Peninsula may often point to the corresponding part of his or her hand. The Upper Peninsula (often referred to as “The U.P.”) is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile (8 km)-wide channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The Upper Peninsula is economically important for tourism and natural resources.

History
See also: Timeline of Michigan history, History of railroads in Michigan, History of Michigan, and History of Detroit

Michigan was home to various Native American cultures for thousands of years before colonization by Europeans. When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous and influential tribes were Algonquian peoples, specifically, the Ottawa, the Anishnabe (called Chippewa in French, after their language Ojibwe), and the Potawatomi. The Anishnabe, whose numbers are estimated to have been between 25,000 and 35,000, were the most populous.

Although the Anishnabe were well-established in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula, they also inhabited northern Ontario, northern Wisconsin, southern Manitoba, and northern and north-central Minnesota. The Ottawa lived primarily south of the Straits of Mackinac in northern and western Michigan, while the Potawatomi were primarily in the southwest. The three nations co-existed peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. Other First Nations people in Michigan, in the south and east, were the Mascouten, the Menominee, the Miami, and the Wyandot, who are better known by their French name, Huron.
17th century

French voyageurs, explored and settled in Michigan in the 17th century. The first Europeans to reach what later became Michigan were those of Étienne Brûlé’s expedition in 1622. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1668 on the site where Father (Père, in French) Jacques Marquette established Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan as a Catholic mission to minister to the Ottawa Indians, and to serve as a regional headquarters for further Catholic missionary activities in the upper Great Lakes area.[10] It was here that the first European building was erected in Michigan, within the US Midwest, and also within what is now the Canadian province of Ontario.

Soon afterward, in 1671 the outlying mission of Saint Ignace was founded approximately 50 miles south. Then in 1675 the mission of Marquette was also founded approximately 200 miles to the west of Sault Ste. Marie, on the south shore of Lake Superior. Together with Sault Ste. Marie, these three original Jesuit missions are the first three European-founded cities in Michigan. Due to the generally skilled, tolerant and helpful manner of these early Jesuit missionaries, the Indian populations in the area received these missions well, with relatively few difficulties or hostilities, despite the fact that the ratio of the European populations, vs: the native populations of these settlements was usually in favor of the native Indians from early on. “The Soo” (Sault Ste. Marie) has the distinction of being the oldest city in both Michigan and Ontario. It was split into two cities in 1818, a year after the U.S.-Canada boundary in the Great Lakes was finally established by the U.S.-U.K. Joint Border Commission following the War of 1812.

In 1679, Lord La Salle of France directed the construction of the Griffin, the first European sailing vessel built on the upper Great Lakes. That same year, La Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph.
18th century
Michigan in 1718, Guillaume de L’Isle map, approximate state area highlighted.

In 1701 French explorer and army officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Le Fort Ponchartrain du Détroit or “Fort Ponchartrain on-the-Strait” on the strait, known as the Detroit River, between lakes Saint Clair and Erie. Cadillac had convinced King Louis XIV’s chief minister, Louis Phélypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain, that a permanent community there would strengthen French control over the upper Great Lakes and repel British aspirations.

The hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent[11][12] (about .85 acre, the equivalent of just under 200 feet (61 m) per side) and named it Fort Pontchartrain. Cadillac’s wife, Marie Thérèse Guyon, soon moved to Detroit, becoming one of the first European women to settle in the Michigan wilderness. The town quickly became a major fur-trading and shipping post. The Église de Saint-Anne (Church of Saint Ann) was founded the same year. While the original building does not survive, the congregation of that name continues to be active today.

At the same time, the French strengthened Fort Michilimackinac at the Straits of Mackinac to better control their lucrative fur-trading empire. By the mid-eighteenth century, the French also occupied forts at present-day Niles and Sault Ste. Marie, though most of the rest of the region remained unsettled by Europeans.

From 1660 to the end of French rule, Michigan was part of the Royal Province of New France.[13] In 1759, following the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in the French and Indian War (1754–1763), Québec City fell to British forces. This marked Britain’s victory in the Seven Years War. Under the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Michigan and the rest of New France east of the Mississippi River passed to Great Britain.[14]

During the American Revolutionary War, Detroit was an important British supply center. Most of the inhabitants were French-Canadians or Native Americans, many of whom had been allied with the French. Because of imprecise cartography and unclear language defining the boundaries in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, the British retained control of Detroit and Michigan after the American Revolution. When Quebec was split into Lower and Upper Canada in 1790, Michigan was part of Kent County, Upper Canada. It held its first democratic elections in August 1792 to send delegates to the new provincial parliament at Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake).[15]

Under terms negotiated in the 1794 Jay Treaty, Britain withdrew from Detroit and Michilimackinac in 1796. Questions remained over the boundary for many years, and the United States did not have uncontested control of the Upper Peninsula and Drummond Island until 1818 and 1847, respectively.
19th century

During the War of 1812, Michigan Territory (effectively consisting of Detroit and the surrounding area) was captured by the British and nominally returned to Upper Canada. United States forces pushed the British out in 1813 and moved into Canada.

The Treaty of Ghent implemented the policy of Status Quo Ante Bellum or “Just as Things Were Before the War.” That meant Michigan would remain as part of the United States, and the agreement to establish a joint US-UK boundary commission also remained valid. Subsequent to the findings of that commission in 1817, control of the Upper Peninsula and of islands in the St. Clair River delta was transferred from Ontario to Michigan in 1818. Mackinac Island (to which the British had moved their Michilimackinac army base) was transferred to the U.S. in 1847.
Lumbering pines in the late 1800s

The population grew slowly until the opening of the Erie Canal in New York State 1825. This brought a large influx of settlers from New York and New England to Ohio and Michigan because it made transportation by ships through the Great Lakes possible. Farm products, such as grain, and resource commodities, such as lumber and iron ore, could be shipped to the port of New York and elsewhere by Great Lakes and Erie Canal-Hudson River traffic. By the 1830s, Michigan had 80,000 residents, which were more than enough to allow it to qualify and apply for statehood. The connection between the Great Lakes states and New York increased the wealth of all.

In October 1835 the people approved the Constitution of 1835, thereby forming a state government, although Congressional recognition was delayed pending resolution of a boundary dispute with Ohio. Both states claimed a 468-square-mile (1,210 km2) strip of land that included the newly incorporated city of Toledo on Lake Erie and an area to the west then known as the “Great Black Swamp”. The dispute came to be called the Toledo War. Michigan and Ohio militia maneuvered in the area but never exchanged fire. Congress awarded the “Toledo Strip” to Ohio. Michigan received the western part of the Upper Peninsula as a concession and formally entered the Union on January 26, 1837.

Thought at first to be nearly valueless, the Upper Peninsula was discovered to be a rich and important source of lumber, iron and copper. These became the state’s most sought-after natural resources and generated early wealth. Geologist Douglass Houghton and land surveyor William Austin Burt were among the first to document many of these resources. Developers rushed to the state. Michigan led the nation in lumber production from 1850s to the 1880s. The lumber harvested in Michigan was shipped to the rapidly developing prairie states, Chicago, the eastern states, and all the way to Europe.

The first official meeting of the Republican Party took place July 6, 1854 in Jackson, Michigan, where the party adopted its platform. Michigan made a significant contribution to the Union in the American Civil War and sent more than forty regiments of volunteers to the Federal armies.

Communities and the state rapidly set up systems for public education, including founding the University of Michigan, for a classical academic education, and Ypsilanti Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University, for the training of teachers. Michigan State University in East Lansing was founded as a land-grant college. In the early 1900s, Michigan was the first state to offer a four-year curriculum in a normal college.
20th century to present
See also: History of Ford Motor Company

Michigan’s economy underwent a transformation at the turn of the 20th century. The birth of the automotive industry, with Henry Ford’s first plant in Highland Park, marked the beginning of a new era in transportation. Like the steamship and railroad, it was a far-reaching development. More than the forms of public transportation, the automobile transformed private life. It became the major industry of Detroit and Michigan, and permanently altered the socio-economic life of the United States and much of the world.

With the growth of the auto industry, jobs were created in Detroit that attracted immigrants from eastern and southern Europe and migrants from across the country, including both whites and blacks from the rural South. By 1910 Detroit was the fourth largest city in the nation. Residential housing was in short supply, and it took years for the market to catch up with the population boom. By the 1930s, so many immigrants had arrived that more than 30 languages were spoken in the public schools, and ethnic communities celebrated in annual heritage festivals.
Skyscrapers in downtown Detroit.

Many African Americans moved to Detroit as one of the destinations in the Great Migration from the South, as they could find better work there. Over the years they contributed greatly to its diverse urban culture. African Americans from Detroit created national popular music trends, such as the influential Motown Sound of the 1960s led by a variety of individual singers and groups.

Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in Michigan, is also a center of automotive manufacturing. Since 1838, the city had also been noted for its thriving furniture industry. Started because of ready sources of lumber, the furniture industry declined in the late 20th century through competition with other regional firms and overseas industry.

Michigan held its first United States presidential primary election in 1910. With its rapid growth in industry, it was an important center of union industry-wide organizing, such as the rise of the United Auto Workers.

In 1920 WWJ in Detroit became the first radio station in the United States to regularly broadcast commercial programs. Throughout that decade, some of the country’s largest and most ornate skyscrapers were built in the city. Particularly noteworthy are the Fisher Building, Cadillac Place, and the Guardian Building, each of which is a National Historic Landmarks (NHL).

Detroit boomed through the 1950s, at one point doubling its population in a decade. After World War II, housing development spread outside cities to answer pent-up demand. Newly built highways allowed commuters to navigate the region more easily. In Detroit as elsewhere, those who could afford to, began to move to newer housing in the suburbs.

Michigan is the leading auto-producing state in the U.S., although some of the industry has shifted to less-expensive labor in the Southern United States and overseas.[16] With more than ten million residents, Michigan remains a large and influential state, ranking eighth in population among the fifty states.

The Metro Detroit area in the southeast corner of the state is the largest metropolitan area in Michigan (roughly 50% of the population resides there) and one of the ten largest metropolitan areas in the country. The Grand Rapids/Holland/Muskegon metropolitan area on the west side of the state is the fastest-growing metro area in the state, with over 1.3 million residents as of 2006.

Metro Detroit’s population is growing. Detroit’s population is stabilizing with a strong redevelopment in the city’s central district with a significant rise in population in its outskirts are contributing to some population inflow. A period of economic transition, especially in manufacturing, has caused economic difficulties in the region since the recession of 2001.
Government
Michigan State Capitol in LansingMichigan State Capitol Muses.jpg
See also: List of Governors of Michigan and United States congressional delegations from Michigan
State government
Main article: Government of Michigan

Michigan is governed as a republic, with three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the Governor of Michigan and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the House of Representatives and Senate; and the judicial branch consisting of the one court of justice. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall, and ratification. Lansing is the state capital and is home to all three branches of state government.

The Governor of Michigan and the other state constitutional officers serve four-year terms and may be re-elected only once. The current Governor is Jennifer Granholm. Michigan has two official Governor’s Residences; one is in Lansing, and the other is at Mackinac Island.

The Michigan Legislature consists of a 38-member Senate and 110-member House of Representatives. Senators serve four-year terms and Representatives two. The Michigan State Capitol was dedicated in 1879 and has hosted the state’s executive and legislative branches ever since.
Law
Michigan Supreme Court at the Hall of Justice

The Michigan Court System consists of two courts with primary jurisdiction (the Circuit Courts and the District Courts), one intermediate level appellate court (the Michigan Court of Appeals), and the Michigan Supreme Court. There are several administrative courts and specialized courts. The Michigan Constitution provides for voter initiative and referendum (Article II, § 9,[17] defined as “the power to propose laws and to enact and reject laws, called the initiative, and the power to approve or reject laws enacted by the legislature, called the referendum. The power of initiative extends only to laws which the legislature may enact under this constitution”).

In 1846 Michigan was the first state in the Union, as well as the first English-speaking government in the world,[18][19] to abolish the death penalty. Historian David Chardavoyne has suggested that the movement to abolish capital punishment in Michigan grew as a result of enmity toward the state’s neighbor, Canada. Under British rule, it made public executions a regular practice.
Politics
See also: Elections in Michigan and Political party strength in Michigan
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D).
Presidential elections results[20] Year     Republicans     Democrats
2008     40.89% 2,048,639     57.33% 2,872,579
2004     47.81% 2,313,746     51.23% 2,479,183
2000     46.14% 1,953,139     51.28% 2,170,418
1996     38.48% 1,481,212     51.69% 1,989,653
1992     36.38% 1,554,940     43.77% 1,871,182
1988     53.57% 1,965,486     45.67% 1,675,783
1984     59.23% 2,251,571     40.24% 1,529,638
1980     48.99% 1,915,225     42.50% 1,661,532
1976     51.83% 1,893,742     46.44% 1,696,714
1972     56.20% 1,961,721     41.81% 1,459,435
1968     41.46% 1,370,665     48.18% 1,593,082
1964     33.10% 1,060,152     66.70% 2,136,615
1960     48.84% 1,620,428     50.85% 1,687,269

Voters in the state elect candidates from both major parties. Economic issues are important in Michigan elections. The three-term Republican Governor John Engler (1991–2003) preceded the current Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm. The state has re-elected its current Republican Attorney General Mike Cox since 2003. Michigan supported the election of Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

However, the state has supported Democrats in the last five presidential election cycles. In 2008, Barack Obama carried the state over John McCain, winning Michigan’s seventeen electoral votes with 57% of the vote. Democrats have won each of the last three, nine of the last ten, and fifteen of the last eighteen U.S. Senate elections in Michigan with confidence on national economic issues posing a challenge. Republican strength is greatest in the western, northern, and rural parts of the state, especially in the Grand Rapids area. Republicans also do well in suburban Detroit, which tends to be an important factor in deciding statewide elections. Democrats are strongest in the east, especially in the cities of Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, and Saginaw.

Historically, the first formal meeting of the Republican Party took place in Jackson, Michigan on July 6, 1854[21] and the party thereafter dominated Michigan until the Great Depression. In the 1912 election, Michigan was one of the six states to support progressive Republican and third-party candidate Theodore Roosevelt for President after he lost the Republican nomination to William Howard Taft.

Michigan remained fairly reliably Republican at the presidential level for much of the twentieth century. It was part of Greater New England, the northern tier of states settled chiefly by migrants from New England who carried their culture with them. The state was one of only a handful to back Wendell Willkie over Franklin Roosevelt in 1940, and supported Thomas E. Dewey in his losing bid against Harry Truman in 1948. Michigan went to the Democrats in presidential elections during the 1960s, and voted for Republican Richard Nixon in 1972.

Michigan was the home of Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States. He was born in Nebraska and moved as an infant to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and grew up there.[22][23] The Gerald R. Ford Museum is located in Grand Rapids.
Administrative divisions
Main article: Administrative divisions of Michigan
See also: List of Michigan county seats, List of counties in Michigan, and List of municipalities in Michigan (by population)

State government is decentralized among three tiers — statewide, county and township. Counties are administrative divisions of the state, and townships are administrative divisions of a county. Both of them exercise state government authority, localized to meet the particular needs of their jurisdictions, as provided by state law. There are 83 counties in Michigan.

Cities, state universities, and villages are vested with home rule powers of varying degrees. Home rule cities can generally do anything that is not prohibited by law. The fifteen state universities have broad power and can do anything within the parameters of their status as educational institutions that is not prohibited by the state constitution. Villages, by contrast, have limited home rule and are not completely autonomous from the county and township in which they are located.

There are two types of township in Michigan: general law township and charter. Charter township status was created by the Legislature in 1947 and grants additional powers and stream-lined administration in order to provide greater protection against annexation by a city. As of April 2001, there were 127 charter townships in Michigan. In general, charter townships have many of the same powers as a city but without the same level of obligations. For example, a charter township can have its own fire department, water and sewer department, police department, and so on—just like a city—but it is not required to have those things, whereas cities must provide those services. Charter townships can opt to use county-wide services instead, such as deputies from the county sheriff’s office instead of a home-based force of ordinance officers.
Geography
See also: Protected areas of Michigan, List of Michigan state parks, and Geography of Michigan
Michigan Regions.
Aerial view of Sleeping Bear Dunes.
The Pointe Mouillee State Game Area.
Tahquamenon Falls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Michigan consists of two peninsulas that lie between 82°30′ to about 90°30′ west longitude, and are separated by the Straits of Mackinac. The 45th parallel north runs through the state—marked by highway signs and the Polar-Equator Trail[24]—along a line including Mission Point Light near Traverse City, the towns of Gaylord and Alpena and Menominee in the Upper Peninsula. With the exception of two small areas that are drained by the Mississippi River by way of the Wisconsin River in the Upper Peninsula and by way of the Kankakee-Illinois River in the Lower Peninsula, Michigan is drained by the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence watershed and is the only state with the majority of its land thus drained.

The Great Lakes that border Michigan from east to west are Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. It has more lighthouses than any other state. The state is bounded on the south by the states of Ohio and Indiana, sharing land and water boundaries with both. Michigan’s western boundaries are almost entirely water boundaries, from south to north, with Illinois and Wisconsin in Lake Michigan; then a land boundary with Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula, that is principally demarcated by the Menominee and Montreal Rivers; then water boundaries again, in Lake Superior, with Wisconsin and Minnesota to the west, capped around by the Canadian province of Ontario to the north and east.

The heavily forested Upper Peninsula is relatively mountainous in the west. The Porcupine Mountains, which are part of one of the oldest mountain chains in the world,[25] rise to an altitude of almost 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level and form the watershed between the streams flowing into Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. The surface on either side of this range is rugged. The state’s highest point, in the Huron Mountains northwest of Marquette, is Mount Arvon at 1,979 feet (603 m). The peninsula is as large as Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island combined but has fewer than 330,000 inhabitants. They are sometimes called “Yoopers” (from “U.P.’ers”), and their speech (the “Yooper dialect”) has been heavily influenced by the numerous Scandinavian and Canadian immigrants who settled the area during the lumbering and mining boom of the late nineteenth century.

The Lower Peninsula, shaped like a mitten, is 277 miles (446 km) long from north to south and 195 miles (314 km) from east to west and occupies nearly two-thirds of the state’s land area. The surface of the peninsula is generally level, broken by conical hills and glacial moraines usually not more than a few hundred feet tall. It is divided by a low water divide running north and south. The larger portion of the state is on the west of this and gradually slopes toward Lake Michigan. The highest point in the Lower Peninsula is either Briar Hill at 1,705 feet (520 m), or one of several points nearby in the vicinity of Cadillac. The lowest point is the surface of Lake Erie at 571 feet (174 m).

The geographic orientation of Michigan’s peninsulas makes for a long distance between the ends of the state. Ironwood, in the far western Upper Peninsula, lies 630 highway miles (1,015 km) from Lambertville in the Lower Peninsula’s southeastern corner. The geographic isolation of the Upper Peninsula from Michigan’s political and population centers makes the U.P. culturally and economically distinct. Occasionally U.P. residents have called for secession from Michigan and establishment as a new state to be called “Superior”.

A feature of Michigan that gives it the distinct shape of a mitten is the Thumb. This peninsula projects out into Lake Huron and the Saginaw Bay. The geography of the Thumb is mainly flat with a few rolling hills. Other peninsulas of Michigan include the Keweenaw Peninsula, making up the Copper Country region of the state. The Leelanau Peninsula lies in the Northern Lower Michigan region. See Also Michigan Regions
Little Sable Point Light south of Pentwater, Michigan.

Numerous lakes and marshes mark both peninsulas, and the coast is much indented. Keweenaw Bay, Whitefish Bay, and the Big and Little Bays De Noc are the principal indentations on the Upper Peninsula. The Grand and Little Traverse, Thunder, and Saginaw bays indent the Lower Peninsula. Michigan has the ninth longest shoreline of any state—3,224 miles (5,189 km),[5] including 1,056 miles (1,699 km) of island shoreline.[26]
Michigan map, including territorial waters.

The state has numerous large islands, the principal ones being the North Manitou and South Manitou, Beaver, and Fox groups in Lake Michigan; Isle Royale and Grande Isle in Lake Superior; Marquette, Bois Blanc, and Mackinac islands in Lake Huron; and Neebish, Sugar, and Drummond islands in St. Mary’s River. Michigan has about 150 lighthouses, the most of any U.S. state. The first lighthouses in Michigan were built between 1818 and 1822. They were built to project light at night and to serve as a landmark during the day to safely guide the passenger ships and freighters traveling the Great Lakes. See Lighthouses in the United States.

The state’s rivers are generally small, short and shallow, and few are navigable. The principal ones include the Detroit River, St. Marys River, and St. Clair River which connect the Great Lakes; the Au Sable, Cheboygan, and Saginaw, which flow into Lake Huron; the Ontonagon, and Tahquamenon, which flow into Lake Superior; and the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon, Manistee, and Escanaba, which flow into Lake Michigan. The state has 11,037 inland lakes and 38,575 square miles (99,910 km2) of Great Lakes waters and rivers in addition to 1,305 square miles (3,380 km2) of inland water. No point in Michigan is more than six miles (10 km) from an inland lake or more than 85 miles (137 km) from one of the Great Lakes.[27]
Adjacent states & provinces
Minnesota     Ontario     Ontario
Wisconsin         Ontario
Michigan
Illinois & Indiana     Indiana & Ohio     Ohio
Protected lands
See also: List of Michigan state parks

The state is home to one national park: Isle Royale National Park, located in Lake Superior, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Other national protected areas in the state include: Keweenaw National Historical Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Huron National Forest, Manistee National Forest, Hiawatha National Forest, Ottawa National Forest and Father Marquette National Memorial. The largest section of the North Country National Scenic Trail also passes through Michigan.

With 78 state parks, 19 state recreation areas, and 6 state forests, Michigan has the largest state park and state forest system of any state. These parks and forests include Holland State Park, Mackinac Island State Park, Au Sable State Forest, and Mackinaw State Forest.
Climate

Michigan has a humid continental climate, although there are two distinct regions. The southern and central parts of the Lower Peninsula (south of Saginaw Bay and from the Grand Rapids area southward) have a warmer climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa) with hot summers and cold winters. The northern part of Lower Peninsula and the entire Upper Peninsula has a more severe climate (Koppen Dfb), with warm, but shorter summers and longer, cold to very cold winters. Some parts of the state average high temperatures below freezing from December through February, and into early March in the far northern parts. During the winter through the middle of February the state is frequently subjected to heavy lake-effect snow. The state averages from 30–40 inches (76–100 cm) of precipitation annually.

The entire state averages 30 days of thunderstorm activity per year. These can be severe, especially in the southern part of the state. The state averages 17 tornadoes per year, which are more common in the extreme southern portion of the state. Portions of the southern border have been nearly as vulnerable historically as parts of Tornado Alley. For this reason, many communities in the very southern portions of the state are equipped with tornado sirens to warn residents of approaching tornadoes. Farther north, in the Upper Peninsula, tornadoes are rare.[28]

Geology

The geological formation of the state is greatly varied. Primary boulders are found over the entire surface of the Upper Peninsula (being principally of primitive origin), while Secondary deposits cover the entire Lower Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula exhibits Lower Silurian sandstones, limestones, copper and iron bearing rocks, corresponding to the Huronian system of Canada. The central portion of the Lower Peninsula contains coal measures and rocks of the Permo-Carboniferous period. Devonian and sub-Carboniferous deposits are scattered over the entire state.
Demographics
See also: Michigan census statistical areas
Michigan population distribution.
Map showing the largest ancestry group in each county.
Historical populations
Census     Pop.         %±
1800     3,757
—
1810     4,762         26.8%
1820     7,452         56.5%
1830     28,004         275.8%
1840     212,267         658.0%
1850     397,654         87.3%
1860     749,113         88.4%
1870     1,184,059         58.1%
1880     1,636,937         38.2%
1890     2,093,890         27.9%
1900     2,420,982         15.6%
1910     2,810,173         16.1%
1920     3,668,412         30.5%
1930     4,842,325         32.0%
1940     5,256,106         8.5%
1950     6,371,766         21.2%
1960     7,823,194         22.8%
1970     8,875,083         13.4%
1980     9,262,078         4.4%
1990     9,295,297         0.4%
2000     9,938,444         6.9%
Est. 2008     10,045,697     [2]     1.1%

As of July 1, 2008, Michigan had an estimated population of 10,003,422, an increase of 64,930, or 0.7%, since the year 2000. As of 2000, the state had the eighth-largest population in the Union.

The center of population of Michigan is located in Shiawassee County, in the southeastern corner of the civil township of Bennington, which is located directly north of the village of Morrice.[29]

As of 2005-2007 three-year estimate, the state had a foreign-born population of 610,173, or 6% of the total population. In recent years, the foreign-born population in the state has grown. Michigan has the largest Dutch, Finnish, and Macedonian populations in the United States.

As of the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the racial composition was as follows:

* White: 79.6% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 77.5%)
* Black or African American: 14.0%
* American Indian: 0.5%
* Asian: 2.3%
* Pacific Islander: <0.1%
* Some other race: 1.6%
* Multiracial: 2.0%

* Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 4.0%

Source:[30]

The five largest reported ancestries in Michigan are German (22.4%), African American (14.0%), Irish (12.0%), English (10.6%), and Polish (9.1%).[31]

The large majority of Michigan’s population is Caucasian. Americans of European descent live throughout Michigan and most of Metro Detroit. Large European American groups include those of German, Irish, French, and British ancestry. People of Scandinavian descent, especially those of Finnish ancestry, have a notable presence in the Upper Peninsula. Western Michigan is known for the Dutch heritage of many residents (the highest concentration of any state), especially in metropolitan Grand Rapids. Metro Detroit also has residents of Polish and Irish descent.

Dearborn has become the center of a sizeable Arab community, including many Lebanese who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s.[32] About 300,000 people trace their roots to the Middle East which includes.[33] African Americans, who came to Detroit and other northern cities in the Great Migration of the early 20th century, form a majority of the population of the city of Detroit and of other industrial cities, including Flint and Benton Harbor.

An individual from Michigan is called a “Michigander” or “Michiganian”.[34] Also at times, but rarely, a “Michiganite”.[35] Residents of the Upper Peninsula are sometimes referred to as “Yoopers” (a phonetic pronunciation of “U.P.ers”), and Upper Peninsula residents sometimes refer to those from the lower as “trolls” (they live below the bridge).[36]
Demographics of Michigan (csv)
By race     White     Black     AIAN*     Asian     NHPI*
2000 (total population)     83.05%     14.92%     1.26%     2.10%     0.08%
2000 (Hispanic only)     2.98%     0.22%     0.11%     0.03%     0.01%
2005 (total population)     82.65%     15.05%     1.21%     2.57%     0.08%
2005 (Hispanic only)     3.51%     0.23%     0.11%     0.05%     0.02%
Growth 2000–05 (total population)     1.35%     2.77%     -2.51%     24.24%     12.50%
Growth 2000–05 (non-Hispanic only)     0.66%     2.67%     -2.71%     24.04%     10.70%
Growth 2000–05 (Hispanic only)     19.89%     9.70%     -0.48%     36.87%     20.51%
* AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native; NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
Religion

The Roman Catholic Church was the only organized religion in Michigan until the 19th century, reflecting the territory’s French colonial roots. Detroit’s St. Anne’s parish, established in 1701, is the second-oldest Catholic parish in the country.[37] French-Canadian Catholics were reduced to a small minority by the influx of Protestants from the United States in the early 19th century. By the mid-19th century, there was a wave of immigration of Catholics from Ireland and, later, from eastern and southern Europe.

Change was rapid in the 19th century. The Lutheran Church was introduced by German and Scandinavian immigrants; Lutheranism is second largest religious denomination in the state. The first Jewish synagogue in the state was Temple Beth El, founded by twelve German Jewish families in Detroit in 1850.[38] Islam was introduced by immigrants from the Near East during the 20th century.[39]

The largest denomination by number of adherents, according to a survey in the year 2000, was the Roman Catholic Church with 2,019,926 parishioners. The largest Protestant denominations were the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod with 244,231 adherents; followed by the United Methodist Church with 222,269; and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 160,836 adherents. In the same survey, Jewish adherents in the state of Michigan were estimated at 110,000, and Muslims at 80,515.[40]
Economy
See also: List of companies based in Michigan and Economy of metropolitan Detroit
Michigan is the center of the American automotive industry. Pictured is the Ford Shelby GT500 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The GT500 is manufactured in Ford’s Flat Rock, Michigan assembly plant.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated Michigan’s 2004 gross state product at $372 B.[41] Per capita personal income in 2003 was $31,178 and ranked twentieth in the nation. In May 2010, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 13.6%, with an actual rate of 12.8% for the month, during a U.S. recession.[42][43]
Top Fortune Companies
in Michigan for 2009
(ranked by revenues)
with State and U.S. rankings.
State         Corporation         US
1         General Motors         6
2         Ford         7
3         Dow         38
4         Delphi         121
5         Whirlpool         133
6         Ally         147
7         TRW Automotive         169
8         Lear         195
9         Kellogg         210
10         Penske Automotive         225
11         Masco         277
12         Visteon         282
13         DTE Energy         285
14         Arvin Meritor         346
15         CMS Energy         369
16         Stryker         375
17         Autoliv         376
18         Pulte Homes         393
19         Kelly Services         437
20         BorgWarner         453
21         Auto-Owners         476
22         Steelcase         625
23         Borders Group         639
24         Spartan Stores         751
25         Cooper Standard         814
26         Valassis         809
27         Universal Forest         837
28         Affinia Group         853
29         Hayes-Lemmerz         856
30         American Axle         874
31         Herman Miller         897
32         Perrigo         897
Further information:
List of Michigan companies

Source: Fortune [44]

Some of the major industries/products/services include automobiles, cereal products, pizza, information technology, aerospace, military equipment, copper, iron, and furniture. Michigan is the third leading grower of Christmas trees with 60,520 acres (245 km2) of land dedicated to Christmas tree farming.[45][46] The beverage Vernors was invented in Michigan in 1866, sharing the title of oldest soft drink with Hires Root Beer. Faygo was founded in Detroit on November 4, 1907. Two of the top four pizza chains were founded in Michigan and are headquartered there: Domino’s Pizza by Tom Monaghan and Little Caesars Pizza by Mike Ilitch.

Michigan has experienced economic difficulties brought on by volatile stock market disruptions following the September 11, 2001 attacks. This caused a pension and benefit fund crisis for many American companies, including General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Since the early 2000s recession and the September 11, 2001 attacks, GM, Ford, and Chrysler have struggled to overcome the benefit funds crisis which followed an ensuing volatile stock market which had caused a severe underfunding condition in the respective U.S. pension and benefit funds (OPEB). Although manufacturing in the state grew 6.6% from 2001 to 2006,[16] the high speculative price of oil became a factor for the U.S. auto industry during the economic crisis of 2008 impacting industry revenues.

During this economic crisis, President George W. Bush extended loans from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds in order to help the GM and Chrysler bridge the recession.[47] In January 2009, President Barack Obama formed an automotive task force in order to help the industry recover and achieve renewed prosperity for the region. With retiree health care costs a significant issue,[48][49] General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler reached agreements with the United Auto Workers Union to transfer the liabilities for their respective health care and benefit funds to a 501(c)(9) Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA). In spite of these efforts, the severity of the recession required Detroit’s automakers to take additional steps to restructure, including idling many plants. With the U.S. Treasury extending the necessary debtor in possession financing, Chrysler and GM filled separate ‘pre-packaged’ Chapter 11 restructurings in May and June 2009 respectively.[50]

Michigan ranks fourth nationally in high tech employment with 568,000 high tech workers, which includes 70,000 in the automotive industry.[51] Michigan typically ranks third or fourth in overall Research & development (R&D) expenditures in the United States.[52][53] Its research and development, which includes automotive, comprises a higher percentage of the state’s overall gross domestic product than for any other U.S. state.[54] The state is an important source of engineering job opportunities. The domestic auto industry accounts directly and indirectly for one of every ten jobs in the U.S.[55]

Michigan ranked second nationally in new corporate facilities and expansions in 2004. From 1997 to 2004, Michigan was listed as the only state to top the 10,000 mark for the number of major new developments;[16][56] however, the effects of the late 2000s recession have slowed the state’s economy. In 2008, Michigan ranked third in a survey among the states for luring new business which measured capital investment and new job creation per one million population.[57] In August 2009, Michigan and Detroit’s auto industry received $1.36 B in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy for the manufacture of electric vehicle technologies which is expected to generate 6,800 immediate jobs and employ 40,000 in the state by 2020.[58] From 2007 to 2009, Michigan ranked 3rd in the U.S. for new corporate facilities and expansions.[59][60]

As leading research institutions, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University,and Wayne State University are important partners in the state’s economy and the state’s University Research Corridor.[61] Michigan’s public university’s attract more than $1.5 B in research and development grants each year.[62] The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory is located at Michigan State University. Michigan’s workforce is well-educated and highly skilled, making it attractive to companies. It has the third highest number of engineering graduates nationally.[63]

Detroit Metropolitan Airport is one of the nation’s most recently expanded and modernized airports with six major runways, and large aircraft maintenance facilities capable of servicing and repairing a Boeing 747. Michigan’s schools and colleges rank among the nation’s best. The state has maintained its early commitment to public education. The state’s infrastructure gives it a competitive edge; Michigan has 38 deep water ports.[64] In 2007, Bank of America announced that it would commit $25 billion to community development in Michigan following its acquisition of LaSalle Bank in Troy.[65]
Taxation

Michigan’s personal income tax is set to a flat rate of 4.35%. Some cities impose additional income taxes. Michigan’s state sales tax is 6%. Property taxes are assessed on the local level, but every property owner’s local assessment contributes six mills (six dollars per thousand dollars of property value) to the statutory State Education Tax. In 2007, Michigan repealed its Single Business Tax (SBT) and replaced it with a Michigan Business Tax (MBT) in order to stimulate job growth by reducing taxes for seventy percent of the businesses in the state.[66] According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, recent growth in Michigan is 0.1%.[67]
Agriculture
Michigan is the leading U.S. producer of tart cherries, blueberries, pickling cucumbers, red beans and petunias.

A wide variety of commodity crops, fruits, and vegetables are grown in Michigan, making it second only to California among U.S. states in the diversity of its agriculture.[68] The state has 55,000 farms utilizing 10 million acres (40,500 km²) of land which sold $6.6 billion worth of products in 2008.[69] The most valuable agricultural product is milk. Leading crops include corn, soybeans, flowers, wheat, sugar beets and potatoes. Livestock in the state included 1 million cattle, 1 million hogs, 78,000 sheep and over 3 million chickens. Livestock products accounted for 38% of the value of agricultural products while crops accounted for the majority.

Michigan is a leading grower of fruit in the U.S., including blueberries, cherries, apples, grapes, and peaches.[70][71] These fruits are mainly grown in West Michigan. Michigan produces wines, beers and a multitude of processed food products. Kellogg’s cereal is based out of Battle Creek, Michigan and processes many locally grown foods. Thornapple Valley, Ballpark Franks, Koegel’s, and Hebrew National sausage companies are all based in Michigan.

Michigan is home to very fertile land in the Flint/Tri-Cities and “Thumb” areas. Products grown there are corn, sugar beets, navy beans, and soy beans. Sugar beet harvesting usually begins the first of October. It takes the sugar factories about five months to process the 3.7 million tons of sugarbeets into 970 million pounds of pure, white sugar.[72] Michigan’s largest sugar refiner, Michigan Sugar Company[73] is the largest east of the Mississippi River and the fourth largest in the nation. Michigan Sugar brand names are Pioneer Sugar and the newly incorporated Big Chief Sugar. Potatoes are grown in Northern Michigan, and corn is dominant in Central Michigan. Michigan State University is dedicated to the study of agriculture.
Tourism
See also: List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan, List of Registered Historic Places in Michigan, and List of museums in Michigan
The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island is a classic image of Michigan tourism.

Michigan has a thriving tourist industry. Visitors spend $17.5 billion per year in the state, supporting 193,000 tourism jobs.[74] Michigan’s tourism website ranks among the busiest in the nation.[75] Destinations draw vacationers, hunters, and nature enthusiasts from across the United States and Canada. Michigan is fifty percent forest land, much of it quite remote. The forests, lakes and thousands of miles of beaches are top attractions. Event tourism draws large numbers to occasions like the Tulip Time Festival and the National Cherry Festival.

In 2006, the Michigan State Board of Education mandated that all public schools in the state hold their first day of school after the Labor Day holiday, in accordance with the new Post Labor Day School law. A survey found that 70% of all tourism business comes directly from Michigan residents, and the Michigan Hotel, Motel, & Resort Association claimed that the shorter summer in between school years cut into the annual tourism season in the state.[76]

Tourism in metropolitan Detroit draws visitors to leading attractions, particularly The Henry Ford, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Detroit Zoo, and to sports in Detroit. Other museums include the Detroit Historical Museum, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, museums in the Cranbrook Educational Community, and the Arab American National Museum. The metro area offers four major casinos, MGM Grand Detroit, Greektown, Motor City, and Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada; moreover, Detroit is the largest American city and metropolitan region to offer casino resorts.[77]

Hunting and fishing are significant industries in the state. Charter boats are based in many Great Lakes cities to fish for salmon, trout, walleye and perch. Michigan ranks first in the nation in licensed hunters (over one million) who contribute $2 billion annually to its economy. Over three-quarters of a million hunters participate in white-tailed deer season alone. Many school districts in rural areas of Michigan cancel school on the opening day of firearm deer season, because of attendance concerns.

Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources manages the largest dedicated state forest system in the nation. The forest products industry and recreational users contribute $12 billion and 200,000 associated jobs annually to the state’s economy. Public hiking and hunting access has also been secured in extensive commercial forests. The state has highest number of golf courses and registered snowmobiles in the nation.[78]

The state has numerous historical markers, which can themselves become the center of a tour.[79] The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.[80]

With its position in relation to the Great Lakes and the countless ships that have foundered over the many years in which they have been used as a transport route for people and bulk cargo, Michigan is a world-class scuba diving destination. The Michigan Underwater Preserves are 11 underwater areas where wrecks are protected for the benefit of sport divers.
Transportation
Mackinac Bridge.

Michigan has nine international crossings with Ontario, Canada:

* Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest international border crossing the Detroit River (the only place in the contiguous United States where one can go due south to Canada).
* Blue Water Bridge, a twin-span bridge (Port Huron, Michigan and Point Edward, Ontario, but the larger city of Sarnia, Ontario is usually referred to on the Canadian side.)
* Blue Water Ferry (Marine City, Michigan and Sombra, Ontario)
* Canadian Pacific Railway tunnel.
* Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry (Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario)
* Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.
* International Bridge (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario)
* St. Clair River Railway Tunnel (Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario)
* Walpole Island Ferry (Algonac, Michigan and Walpole Island First Nation, Ontario

A second international bridge is currently under development between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario.[81]
Railroads
See also: List of Michigan railroads and History of railroads in Michigan

Michigan is served by four Class I railroads: the Canadian National Railway, the Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, and the Norfolk Southern Railway. These are augmented by several dozen short line railroads. The vast majority of rail service in Michigan is devoted to freight, with Amtrak and various scenic railroads the exceptions.[82]
Main article: Michigan Services

Amtrak passenger rail services the state, connecting many southern and western Michigan cities to Chicago, Illinois. There are plans for commuter rail for Detroit and its suburbs (see SEMCOG Commuter Rail).[83][84][85]
Roadways
Welcome sign.
See also: Michigan Highway System

Interstate 75 is the main thoroughfare between Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw extending north to Sault Sainte Marie and providing access to Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario. The expressway crosses the Mackinac Bridge between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. Branching highways include I-275 and I-375 in Detroit; I-475 in Flint; and I-675 in Saginaw.

Interstate 69 enters the state near the Michigan-Ohio-Indiana border, and it extends to Port Huron and provides access to the Blue Water Bridge crossing into Sarnia, Ontario.

Interstate 94 enters the western end of the state at the Indiana border, and it travels east to Detroit and then northeast to Port Huron and ties in with I-69. I-194 branches off from this freeway in Battle Creek. I-94 is the main artery between Chicago, Illinois and Detroit.

Interstate 96 runs east-west between Detroit and Muskegon. I-496 loops through Lansing. I-196 branches off from this freeway at Grand Rapids and connects to I-94 near Benton Harbor. I-696 branches off from this freeway at Novi and connects to I-94 near St Clair Shores.

U.S. Route 2 enters Michigan at the city of Ironwood and runs east to the town of Crystal Falls, where it turns south and briefly re-enters Wisconsin northwest of Florence. It re-enters Michigan north of Iron Mountain and continues through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the cities of Escanaba, Manistique, and St. Ignace. Along the way, it cuts through the Ottawa and Hiawatha National Forests and follows the northern shore of Lake Michigan. Its eastern terminus lies at exit 344 of I-75, just north of the Mackinac Bridge. This is generally regarded as the main route through the Upper Peninsula, although some prefer to travel on M-28 as it tends to save time (U.S. 2 hugs the Lake Michigan shoreline for much of its length.)

Major bridges include the Ambassador Bridge, Blue Water Bridge, Mackinac Bridge, and International Bridge. Michigan also has the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel crossing into Canada.
Airports
See also: List of airports in Michigan

The Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is by far Michigan’s busiest airport, followed by the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.
Important cities and townships
The Detroit skyline along the Detroit River.
The Grand Rapids skyline centered on the Grand River.
A Lansing sunset.
Downtown Flint as seen from the Flint River.
The Ann Arbor skyline as seen from Michigan Stadium.
Further information: List of cities, villages, and townships in Michigan

The largest municipalities in Michigan are (according to 2007 census estimates):
Rank     City     Population     Image
1     Detroit     916,952
Map showing largest Michigan municipalities.
2     Grand Rapids     193,627
3     Warren     134,223
4     Sterling Heights     127,349
5     Ann Arbor     115,092
6     Lansing     114,947
7     Flint     114,662
8     Clinton Township     96,253
9     Livonia     93,931
10     Dearborn     89,252

Other important cities include:

* Battle Creek (“Cereal City U.S.A.”, world headquarters of Kellogg Company)
* Benton Harbor / St. Joseph (headquarters of Whirlpool Corporation)
* East Lansing (home of Michigan State University)
* Fremont (home of the Gerber Products Company)
* Holland (home of Tulip Time, the largest tulip festival in the U.S.)
* Jackson (headquarters of CMS Energy)
* Kalamazoo (Largest city in southwest Michigan and home to Western Michigan University)
* Manistee (home to the world’s largest salt plant, owned by Morton Salt)
* Marquette (largest city in the Upper Peninsula with 19,661 people and home of Northern Michigan University)
* Midland (headquarters of the Dow Chemical Company and the Dow Corning Corporation)
* Mount Pleasant (home of Central Michigan University)
* Muskegon (largest Michigan city on Lake Michigan)
* Pontiac (major automobile manufacturing center, and home of the Pontiac Silverdome)
* Port Huron (major international crossing and home of the Blue Water Bridge)
* Saginaw (the largest of the Tri-Cities, which also consist of Bay City and Midland, and home to Saginaw Valley State University)
* Sault Ste. Marie (home of the Soo Locks and Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge)
* Traverse City (“Cherry Capital of the World”, making Michigan the country’s largest producer of cherries)
* Ypsilanti (home of Eastern Michigan University)

Half of the wealthiest communities in the state are located in Oakland County, just north of Detroit. Another wealthy community is located just east of the city, in Grosse Pointe. Only three of these cities are located outside of Metro Detroit. The city of Detroit itself, with a per capita income of $14,717, ranks 517th on the list of Michigan locations by per capita income. Benton Harbor is the poorest city in Michigan, with a per capita income of $8,965, while Barton Hills is the richest with a per capita income of $110,683.
Education
See also: List of colleges and universities in Michigan and List of high schools in Michigan
Colleges and universities

* Adrian College
* Albion College
* Alma College
* Andrews University
* Aquinas College
* Ave Maria School of Law
* Baker College
* Calvin College
* Calvin Theological Seminary
* Center for Humanistic Studies
* Central Michigan University
* Cleary University
* College for Creative Studies
* Concordia University
* Cornerstone University
* Cranbrook Academy of Art
* Davenport University
* Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary
* Eastern Michigan University
* Ecumenical Theological Seminary
* Ferris State University
* Finlandia University
* Grace Bible College
* Grand Rapids Theological Seminary
* Grand Valley State University
* Great Lakes Christian College
* Great Lakes Maritime Academy
* Hillsdale College
* Hope College
* Kalamazoo College
* Kendall College of Art and Design
* Kettering University
* Kuyper College
* Lake Superior State University
* Lawrence Technological University
* Lewis College of Business
* Madonna University
* Marygrove College
* Michigan Jewish Institute
* Michigan State University
* Michigan Technological University
* Moody Theological Seminary–Michigan
* Northern Michigan University
* Northwestern Michigan College
* Northwood University
* Oakland University
* Olivet College
* Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary
* Rochester College
* Sacred Heart Major Seminary
* Saginaw Valley State University
* SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary
* Siena Heights University
* Spring Arbor University
* Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches
* Thomas M. Cooley Law School
* University of Detroit Mercy
* University of Michigan System
o University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
o University of Michigan–Dearborn
o University of Michigan-Flint
* University of Phoenix
* Walsh College of Accountancy and Business
* Wayne State University
* Western Michigan University
* Western Theological Seminary
* William Tyndale College
* Yeshiva Gedolah Ateres Mordechai of Greater Detroit

Community colleges and technical schools

* American College of Computer and Information Sciences
* Alpena Community College
* Bay de Noc Community College
* Bay Mills Community College
* Delta College
* Ellis College of NYIT
* Glen Oaks Community College
* Gogebic Community College
* Grand Rapids Community College
* Henry Ford Community College
* ITT Technical Institute
* Jackson Community College
* Kalamazoo Valley Community College
* Kellogg Community College
* Kirtland Community College
* Lake Michigan College
* Lansing Community College
* Macomb Community College
* Michigan Career and Technical Institute
* Michigan Institution of Aviation and Technology
* Mid-Michigan Community College
* Monroe County Community College
* Montcalm Community College
* Mott Community College
* Muskegon Community College
* National Institute of Technology
* North Central Michigan College
* Northwestern Michigan College
* Oakland Community College
* Olympia Career Training Institute
* Ross Medical Education Center
* Saint Clair County Community College
* Schoolcraft College
* Southwestern Michigan College
* Washtenaw Community College
* Wayne County Community College
* West Shore Community College

Professional sports teams

Michigan’s major-league sports teams include: Detroit Tigers baseball team, Detroit Lions football team, Detroit Red Wings ice hockey team, Detroit Pistons men’s basketball team, and Grand Rapids Rampage Arena Football League team.

The Pistons played at Detroit’s Cobo Arena until 1978 and at the Pontiac Silverdome until 1988 when they moved into the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Detroit Lions played at Tiger Stadium in Detroit until 1974, then moved to the Pontiac Silverdome where they played for 27 years between 1975-2002 before moving to Ford Field in 2002.The Detroit Tigers Played at Tiger Stadium (Detroit) (formerly known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium) It hosted the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball team from 1912 to 1999,In 2000 they moved to Comerica Park. The Red Wings played at Olympia Stadium before moving to Joe Louis Arena in 1979. The Rampage play at the Van Andel Arena in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids’ entertainment district.

Ten-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams was born in Saginaw. Professional hockey got its start in Houghton, when the Portage Lakers were formed.

Other notable sports teams include:
Club     Sport     League
Alpena IceDiggers     Ice hockey     North American Hockey League
Battle Creek Revolution     Ice hockey     All American Hockey League
West Michigan Blizzard     Ice hockey     All American Hockey League
Flint Generals     Ice hockey     International Hockey League
Grand Rapids Griffins     Ice hockey     American Hockey League
Kalamazoo Wings     Ice Hockey     ECHL
Marquette Rangers     Ice Hockey     North American Hockey League
Motor City Machine     Ice hockey     North American Hockey League
Muskegon Lumberjacks     Ice hockey     International Hockey League
Plymouth Whalers     Ice hockey     Ontario Hockey League
Port Huron Icehawks     Ice hockey     International Hockey League
Saginaw Spirit     Ice hockey     Ontario Hockey League
Traverse City North Stars     Ice hockey     North American Hockey League
Battle Creek Bombers     Baseball     Summer Collegiate Baseball, Northwoods League
Lansing Lugnuts     Baseball     Minor League Baseball, Midwest League
Great Lakes Loons     Baseball     Minor League Baseball, Midwest League
Kalamazoo Kings     Baseball     Minor League Baseball, Frontier League
Traverse City Beach Bums     Baseball     Minor League Baseball, Frontier League
Oakland County Cruisers     Baseball     Minor League Baseball, Frontier League
West Michigan Whitecaps     Baseball     Minor League Baseball, Midwest League
Kalamazoo Xplosion     Indoor football     Continental Indoor Football League
Flint Phantoms     Indoor football     Continental Indoor Football League
Muskegon Thunder     Indoor football     Indoor Football League
Saginaw Sting     Indoor football     Indoor Football League
Detroit Demolition     Football     Independent Women’s Football League
Detroit Ignition     Indoor soccer     Xtreme Soccer League
Kalamazoo Kingdom     Soccer     USL Premier Development League
Michigan Bucks     Soccer     USL Premier Development League
Michigan Hawks     Soccer     W-League
Michigan Phoenix     Soccer     Women’s Premier Soccer League
West Michigan Edge     Soccer     USL Premier Development League
West Michigan Firewomen     Soccer     W-League
Motor City Machine Guns     Wrestling     TNA Wrestling
Former professional teams
See also: List of Michigan sport championships
Club     Sport     League(s)     Status
Detroit Gems     Basketball     National Basketball Association     Moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota and became the Minneapolis Lakers, would move again to Los Angeles, California and are now the Los Angeles Lakers
Detroit (NFL) (Heralds/Tigers/Panthers/Wolverines)     Football     National Football League     Defunct
Detroit Wheels     Football     World Football League     Moved to Charlotte, North Carolina for one game, then disbanded in the middle of the 1974 season
Detroit Falcons     Basketball     Basketball Association of America     Defunct
Michigan Panthers     Football     USFL     Defunct
Detroit Stars     Baseball     Negro National League, 2nd Negro National League, Negro American League     The team ceased operations in 1960
Detroit Wolverines     Baseball     National League     Disbanded, 1888
Michigan Stags     Ice Hockey     World Hockey Association     Moved to Baltimore, Maryland and became the Baltimore Blades for the rest of the team’s existence
Detroit Vipers     Ice Hockey     International Hockey League     Disbanded when IHL became AHL
Detroit Fury     Arena football     Arena Football League     Franchise terminated September 20, 2004
Grand Rapids Rampage     Arena football     Arena Football League     Franchise terminated March 5, 2010
Michigan Mayhem     Basketball     Continental Basketball Association     Disbanded after 2005-2006 season
Detroit Shock     Basketball     WNBA     Moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
State symbols and nicknames

Michigan is, by tradition, known as “The Wolverine State,” and the University of Michigan takes the wolverine as its mascot. The association is well and long established: for example, many Detroiters volunteered to fight during the American Civil War and George Armstrong Custer, who led the Michigan Brigade, called them the “Wolverines”. The origins of this association are obscure; it may derive from a busy trade in wolverine furs in Sault Ste. Marie in the 18th century or may recall a disparagement intended to compare early settlers in Michigan with the vicious mammal. Wolverines are, however, extremely rare in Michigan. A sighting in February 2004 near Ubly was the first confirmed sighting in Michigan in 200 years.[86] The animal was found dead in 2010. [87]

* State nicknames: Wolverine State, Great Lakes State, Mitten State, Water-Winter Wonderland
* State motto: Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice (Latin: If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you) adopted in 1835 on the coat-of-arms, but never as an official ‘motto’. This is a paraphrase of the epitaph of British architect Sir Christopher Wren about his masterpiece, St. Paul’s Cathedral.[88][89]
* State song: My Michigan (official since 1937, but disputed amongst residents),[90] Michigan, My Michigan (Unofficial State Song, since the civil war)
* State bird: American Robin (since 1931)
* State animal: Wolverine (traditional)
* State game animal: White-tailed deer (since 1997)
* State fish: Brook trout (since 1965)
* State reptile: Painted Turtle (since 1995)
* State fossil: Mastodon (since 2000)
* State flower: Apple blossom (adopted in 1897, official in 1997)
* State wildflower: Dwarf Lake Iris (since 1998). Known as Iris lacustris, it is a federally listed threatened species.
* State tree: White pine (since 1955)
* State stone: Petoskey stone (since 1965). It is composed of fossilized coral (Hexagonaria pericarnata) from long ago when the middle of the continent was covered with a shallow sea.
* State gem: Isle Royale greenstone (since 1973). Also called chlorastrolite (literally “green star stone”), the mineral is found on Isle Royale and the Keweenaw peninsula.
* State Quarter: U.S. coin issued in 2004 with the Michigan motto “Great Lake State.”
* State soil: Kalkaska Sand (since 1990), ranges in color from black to yellowish brown, covers nearly a million acres (400,000 ha) in 29 counties.

Sister states

* Japan Shiga Prefecture, Japan[91]
* People’s Republic of China Sichuan Province, Peoples Republic of China[92]

See also
North America portal
United States portal
Michigan portal
Main articles: Outline of Michigan and Index of Michigan-related articles
References

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42. ^ Bls.gov; Local Area Unemployment Statistics
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Further reading

* Bald, F. Clever, Michigan in Four Centuries (1961)/
* Browne, William P. and – Kenneth VerBurg. Michigan Politics & Government: Facing Change in a Complex State University of Nebraska Press. 1995.
* Bureau of Business Research, Wayne State U. Michigan Statistical Abstract (1987).
* Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Bibliographies for Michigan by region, counties, etc..
* Dunbar, Willis F. and George S. May. Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State (1995) excerpt and text search
* Michigan, State of. Michigan Manual (annual), elaborate detail on state government.
* Press, Charles et al., Michigan Political Atlas (1984).
* Public Sector Consultants. Michigan in Brief. An Issues Handbook (annual)
* Rich, Wilbur. Coleman Young and Detroit Politics: From Social Activist to Power Broker (Wayne State University Press, 1988).
* Rubenstein, Bruce A. and Lawrence E. Ziewacz. Michigan: A History of the Great Lakes State. (2nd ed. 2008)
* Sisson, Richard, Ed. The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia (2006)
* Weeks, George, Stewards of the State: The Governors of Michigan (Historical Society of Michigan, 1987).

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With an area of 65,758 square miles (170,306 km2), it is ranked 22nd in size among the 50 U.S. states. Florida has the most coastline in the Contiguous United States encompassing approximately 1,200 miles. The state has four large urban areas, a number of smaller industrial cities, and many small towns.

Florida is nicknamed the “Sunshine State” because of its generally warm climate—subtropical in the northern and central regions of the state, with a true tropical climate in the southern portion.[6]The United States Census Bureau estimates that the state population was 18,537,969 in 2009, ranking Florida as the fourth most populous state in the U.S.[7][8] Tallahassee is the state capital, Jacksonville is the largest city, and the Miami metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan area.

History of Florida

Archaeological research indicates that Florida had been inhabited for thousands of years before any European settlements. Of the many indigenous peoples, the largest known were the Ais, the Apalachee, the Calusa, the Timucua and the Tocobago tribes.

“Florida” is the oldest surviving European place-name in the United States. Juan Ponce de León, a Spanish conquistador, named the region in honor of his discovery of the land on the evening April 2, 1513, six days after Easter and still during Pascua Florida, a Spanish term for the “Flowery Easter” season, and for the land’s appearance as a “flowered land.” [9] It is possible Juan Ponce de León was not the first European to reach Florida; reportedly, at least one indigenous tribesman whom he encountered in Florida in 1513 spoke Spanish.[10] From 1513 onward, the land became known as “La Florida,” although after 1630 and throughout the 1700s, Tegesta (after the Tequesta tribe) was an alternate name of choice for the Florida peninsula following publication of a map by the Dutch cartographer Hessel Gerritsz in Joannes de Laet’s History of the New World.[11][12]
The five flags of Florida from the right, Spain (1565–1763), the Kingdom of Great Britain, Spain (1784–1821), the Confederacy, and the United States. France (not featured) also controlled part of Florida.

Over the following century, both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida with varying degrees of success. In 1559, Spanish Pensacola was established by Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano as the first European settlement in the continental United States. It was abandoned by 1561 due to hurricanes, famine and warring tribes, and was not re-inhabited until the 1690s. French Huguenots founded Fort Caroline in modern-day Jacksonville in 1564, but in the following year, the fort was conquered by forces from the new Spanish colony of St. Augustine (called San Agustín in Spanish). The Spanish never had a firm hold on Florida, and maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the local tribes, briefly with Jesuits and later with Franciscan friars. The local leaders (caciques) demonstrated their loyalty to the Spanish by converting to Roman Catholicism and welcoming the Franciscan priests into their villages.
Bernard Picart copper plate engraving of Florida Indians, Circa 1721 “Cérémonies et Coutumes Religieuses de tous les Peuples du Monde”

The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English colonies to the north and French colonies to the west. The English weakened Spanish power in the area by supplying their Creek Indian allies with firearms and urging them to raid the Timucuan and Apalachee client-tribes of the Spanish. The English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times, while the citizens hid behind the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos. The Spanish, meanwhile, encouraged slaves to flee the English-held Carolinas and come to Florida, where they were converted to Roman Catholicism and given freedom. They settled in a buffer community north of St. Augustine, called Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, the first completely black settlement in what became the United States.

Great Britain gained control of Florida diplomatically in 1763 through the Peace of Paris. The British divided the colony into East Florida, with its capital at St. Augustine, and West Florida, with its capital at Pensacola. Britain tried to develop the Floridas through the importation of immigrants for labor, but this project ultimately failed. Spain regained the Floridas after Britain’s defeat by the American colonies and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles in 1783, continuing the division into East and West Florida. They offered land grants to anyone who settled in the colonies, and many Americans moved to them.
Florida split into East and West in 1810

After settler attacks on Indian towns, Seminole Indians based in East Florida began raiding Georgia settlements, purportedly at the behest of the Spanish. The United States Army led increasingly frequent incursions into Spanish territory, including the 1817–1818 campaign against the Seminole Indians by Andrew Jackson that became known as the First Seminole War. Following the war, the United States effectively controlled East Florida. In 1819, by terms of the Adams-Onís Treaty, Spain ceded Florida to the United States in exchange for the American renunciation of any claims on Texas that they might have from the Louisiana Purchase and $5 million.

As settlement increased, pressure grew on the United States government to remove the Indians from their lands in Florida. To the chagrin of Georgia landowners, the Seminoles harbored and integrated runaway blacks, and clashes between whites and Indians grew with the influx of new settlers. In 1832, the United States government signed the Treaty of Payne’s Landing with some of the Seminole chiefs, promising them lands west of the Mississippi River if they agreed to leave Florida voluntarily. Many of the Seminoles left at this time, while those who remained prepared to defend their claims to the land. The U.S. Army arrived in 1835 to enforce the treaty under pressure from white settlers, and the Second Seminole War began at the end of the year with the Dade Massacre, when Seminoles ambushed and killed or mortally wounded all but one in a group of 110 Army troops, plus Major Dade and seven officers, marching from Fort Brooke (Tampa) to reinforce Fort King (Ocala).[13] Between 900 and 1,500 Seminole Indian warriors employed guerrilla tactics against United States Army troops for seven years until 1842. The U.S. government is estimated to have spent between US$20 million and US$40 million on the war, at the time an astronomical sum.
St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States, established in 1565 by Spain.

On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the United States of America, although initially its population grew slowly. White settlers continued to encroach on lands used by the Seminoles, and the United States government resolved to make another effort to move the remaining Seminoles to the West. The Third Seminole War lasted from 1855 to 1858, and resulted in the removal of most of the remaining Seminoles. Even after three bloody wars, the U.S. Army failed to force all of the Seminole Indians in Florida to the West.[14] Though most of the Seminoles were forcibly exiled to Creek lands west of the Mississippi, hundreds, including Seminole leader Aripeka (Sam Jones), remained in the Everglades and refused to leave the native homeland of their ancestors. Their descendants remain there to this day.
The Battle of Olustee during the Civil War in 1864

White settlers began to establish cotton plantations in Florida, which required numerous laborers. By 1860 Florida had only 140,424 people, of whom 44% were enslaved. There were fewer than 1000 free African Americans before the Civil War.[15]
Winter in Florida, 1893

On January 10, 1861, before the start of the American Civil War, Florida declared its secession from the Union; ten days later, the state became a founding member of the Confederate States of America. The war ended in 1865. On June 25, 1868, Florida’s congressional representation was restored. After Reconstruction, white Democrats succeeded in regaining power in the state legislature. In 1885 they created a new constitution, followed by statutes through 1889 that effectively disfranchised most blacks and many poor whites over the next several years. Provisions included poll taxes, literacy tests, and residency requirements. Disfranchisement for most African Americans in the state persisted until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s gained federal legislation to protect their suffrage.
The Prinz Valdemar capsized and blocked the Port of Miami for several weeks in 1926, helping to usher in the end of the 1920s Miami real estate boom.
Soldiers and crowds in Downtown Miami 20 minutes after surrender during World War II.

Until the mid-twentieth century, Florida was the least populous Southern state. In 1900 its population was only 528,542, of whom nearly 44 percent were African American.[16] The boll weevil devastated cotton crops, and early 20th century lynchings and racial violence caused a record number of African Americans to leave the state in the Great Migration to northern and midwestern industrial cities. Forty thousand blacks, roughly one-fifth of their 1900 population, left for better opportunities.[17] National economic prosperity in the 1920s stimulated tourism to Florida. Combined with its sudden elevation in profile was the Florida land boom of the 1920s, which brought a brief period of intense land development. Devastating hurricanes in 1926 and 1928, followed by the stock market crash and Great Depression, brought that period to a halt.

Florida’s economy did not fully recover until the buildup for World War II. The climate, tempered by the growing availability of air conditioning, and low cost of living made the state a haven. Migration from the Rust Belt and the Northeast sharply increased the population after the war. In recent decades, more migrants have come for the jobs in a developing economy. Today, with an estimated population of more than 18 million, Florida is the most populous state in the Southeastern United States, the second most populous state in the South behind Texas, and the fourth most populous in the United States. The Census Bureau estimated that “Florida, now the fourth most populous state, will edge past New York into third place in total population by 2011″.[18]
See also: Seminole Wars and Florida in the American Civil War

Geography

Much of the state of Florida is situated on a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida. Spanning two time zones, It extends to the northwest into a panhandle, extending along the northern Gulf of Mexico. It is bordered on the north by the states of Georgia and Alabama, and on the west, at the end of the panhandle, by Alabama. It is near several Caribbean countries, particularly The Bahamas and Cuba. Florida’s extensive coastline made it a perceived target during World War II, so the government built airstrips throughout the state; today, approximately 400 airports are still in service. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, Florida has 131 public airports, and more than 700 private airports, airstrips, heliports, and seaplane bases.[19] Florida is one of the largest states east of the Mississippi River, and only Alaska and Michigan are larger in water area.
Everglades National Park in Southern Florida
Crandon Park in Key Biscayne
A map of Florida showing county names and boundaries
The beach at Bahia Honda in the Florida Keys

At 345 feet (105 m) above mean sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida and the lowest highpoint of any U.S. state.[20] Much of the state south of Orlando is low-lying and fairly level; however, some places, such as Clearwater, feature vistas that rise 50 to 100 feet (15 – 30 m) above the water. Much of Central and North Florida, typically 25 miles (40 km) or more away from the coastline, features rolling hills with elevations ranging from 100 to 250 feet (30 – 76 m). The highest point in peninsular Florida, Sugarloaf Mountain, is a 312-foot (95 m) peak in Lake County.[21]

Areas under control of the National Park Service include:[22]

* Big Cypress National Preserve, near Lake Okeechobee
* Biscayne National Park, in Miami-Dade County south of Miami
* Canaveral National Seashore, between New Smyrna Beach and Titusville
* Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, in St. Augustine
* De Soto National Memorial, in Bradenton
* Dry Tortugas National Park, at Key West
* Everglades National Park in Southern Florida
* Fort Caroline National Memorial, at Jacksonville
* Fort Matanzas National Monument, in St. Augustine
* Gulf Islands National Seashore, near Gulf Breeze
* Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, in Jacksonville

Areas under the control of the USDA United States Forest Service include:

* Apalachicola National Forest along the east bank of the Apalachicola River,
* Choctawhatchee National Forest near Niceville,
* Ocala National Forest in Central Florida, and
* Osceola National Forest in Northeast Florida.

Boundaries

The state line begins in the Atlantic Ocean, traveling west, south, and north up the thalweg of the Saint Mary’s River. At the origin of that river, it then follows a straight line nearly due west and slightly north, to the point where the confluence of the Flint River (from Georgia) and the Chattahoochee River (down the Alabama/Georgia line) used to form Florida’s Apalachicola River. (Since Woodruff Dam was built, this point has been under Lake Seminole.) The border with Georgia continues north through the lake for a short distance up the former thalweg of the Chattahoochee, then with Alabama runs due west along latitude 31°N to the Perdido River, then south along its thalweg to the Gulf via Perdido Bay. Much of the state is at or near sea level.
Climate
Royal Poinciana tree in full bloom in the Florida Keys, an indication of South Florida’s tropical climate.
Typical summer afternoon shower from the Everglades traveling eastward over Downtown Miami.
Main article: Climate of Florida
See also: List of Florida hurricanes and List of all-time high and low temperatures by state

The climate of Florida is tempered somewhat by the fact that no part of the state is very distant from the ocean. North of Lake Okeechobee, the prevalent climate is humid subtropical, while coastal areas south of the lake (including the Florida Keys) have a true tropical climate.[23] High temperatures in the state seldom exceed 100 °F (38 °C), with much of Florida commonly seeing a high summer temperature of 90s °F (32+ °C).

During late autumn and winter months, Florida has experienced occasional cold fronts that can bring high winds and relatively cooler temperatures for the entire state, with high temperatures that could remain into the 40s and 50s (4 to 15 °C) and lows of 20s and 30s (-7 to 4 °C) for few days in the northern and central parts of Florida, although below-freezing temperatures are very rare in the southern part of the state. Low temperatures have been 10′s[clarification needed], and high temperature (at their lowest) in the upper 30s.[clarification needed][citation needed]
Fall foliage is a common sight in Central and North Florida starting around late November, and into Winter.
Snow is not common in Florida, but has occurred in every major Florida city at least once. Snow also falls occasionally in North Florida.

The hottest temperature ever recorded in Florida was 109 °F (43 °C), which was set on June 29, 1931 in Monticello. The coldest temperature was –2 °F (-19 °C), on February 13, 1899, just 25 miles (40 km) away, in Tallahassee. Mean high temperatures for late July are primarily in the low 90s Fahrenheit (32–35 °C). Mean low temperatures for late January range from the low 40s Fahrenheit (4–7 °C) in northern Florida to the mid-50s (˜13 °C) in southern Florida.

The seasons in Florida are determined more by precipitation than by temperature, with the hot, wet springs and summers making up the wet season, and mild to cool, and the relatively dry winters and autumns, making the dry season. Fall foliage is a common sight in Central and North Florida starting around late November, and into Winter.

The Florida Keys, because they are completely surrounded by water, have lesser variability in temperatures. At Key West, temperatures rarely exceed 90 °F (32 °C) in the summer or fall below 60 °F (16 °C) in the winter, and frost has never been reported in the Keys.

Florida’s nickname is the “Sunshine State”, but severe weather is a common occurrence in the state. Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States, as it experiences more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the country.[24] Florida has the highest average precipitation of any state, in large part because afternoon thunderstorms are common in most of the state from late spring until early autumn. A fair day may be interrupted with a storm, only to return to sunshine an hour or so later. These thunderstorms, caused by overland collisions of moist masses of air from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean[citation needed], pop up in the early afternoon and can bring heavy downpours, high winds, and sometimes tornadoes. Florida leads the United States in tornadoes per square mile (when including waterspouts)[25] but they do not typically reach the intensity of those in the Midwest and Great Plains. Hail often accompanies the most severe thunderstorms.
Florida Supreme Court

Snow in Florida is a rare occurrence, especially on the peninsula. During the Great Blizzard of 1899, Florida experienced blizzard conditions; the Tampa Bay area had “gulf-effect” snow, similar to lake-effect snow in the Great Lakes region.[26] During the 1899 blizzard was the only time the temperature in Florida is known to have fallen below 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 °C). The most widespread snowfall in Florida history occurred on January 19, 1977, when snow fell over much of the state, with flurries as far south as Homestead. Snow flurries also fell on Miami Beach for the only time in recorded history. A hard freeze in 2003 brought “ocean-effect” snow flurries to the Atlantic coast as far south as Cape Canaveral.[27] The 1993 Superstorm brought blizzard conditions to the panhandle, while heavy rain and tornadoes beset the peninsula. The storm is believed to have been similar in composition to a hurricane, some Gulf coast regions even seeing storm surges of six feet or more. More recently, traces of snow and sleet fell across central and southern Florida during a hard freeze event in January, 2010. There was some slight accumulation north of the I-4 corridor, mostly in the form of sleet.[28]
Hurricane Andrew bearing down on Florida on August 23, 1992.

Hurricanes pose a severe threat during hurricane season, which lasts from June 1 to November 30, although some storms have been known to form out of season. Florida is the most hurricane-prone US state, with subtropical or tropical water on a lengthy coastline. From 1851 to 2006, Florida has been struck by 114 hurricanes, 37 of them major—category 3 and above.[29] It is rare for a hurricane season to pass without any impact in the state by at least a tropical storm. For storms, category 4 or higher, 83% have either hit Florida or Texas.[29] August to October is the most likely period for a hurricane in Florida.

In 2004, Florida was hit by a record four hurricanes. Hurricanes Charley (August 13), Frances (September 4–5), Ivan (September 16), and Jeanne (September 25–26) cumulatively cost the state’s economy $42 billion. Additionally, the four storms caused an estimated $45 billion in damage.[30] In 2005, Hurricane Dennis (July 10) became the fifth storm to strike Florida within eleven months. Later, Hurricane Katrina (August 25) passed through South Florida and Hurricane Rita (September 20) swept through the Florida Keys. Hurricane Wilma (October 24) made landfall near Cape Romano, just south of Marco Island, finishing another very active hurricane season. Wilma is the second most expensive hurricane in Florida history, due in part to a five year window in which to file claims.[31]

Florida was the site of the second costliest weather disaster in U.S. history, Hurricane Andrew, which caused more than US$25 billion in damage when it struck on August 24, 1992. In a long list of other infamous hurricane strikes are the 1926 Miami hurricane, the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Hurricane Donna in 1960, and Hurricane Opal in 1995. Recent research suggests the storms are part of a natural cycle and not a result of global warming.[32][33]
Average High and Low temperatures for various Florida Cities
City     Jan     Feb     Mar     Apr     May     Jun     Jul     Aug     Sep     Oct     Nov     Dec
Jacksonville[34]     65/43     68/45     74/50     80/56     86/64     90/70     92/73     91/73     87/70     80/61     73/51     66/44
Key West[35]     75/65     76/66     79/69     82/72     85/76     88/78     89/80     90/80     88/78     85/76     80/71     76/67
Melbourne[36]     72/51     73/53     77/57     81/61     85/67     88/71     90/73     90/73     88/72     83/67     78/60     73/53
Miami[37]     76/60     77/61     80/64     83/68     86/72     88/75     90/77     90/77     88/76     85/72     81/67     77/62
Pensacola[38]     61/43     64/46     70/51     76/58     84/66     89/72     90/74     90/74     87/70     80/60     70/50     63/45
Tallahassee[39]     64/40     67/42     73/48     80/53     87/62     91/69     91/72     91/72     88/68     81/57     72/47     66/41
Tampa[40]     71/51     72/52     77/57     82/62     88/68     90/73     90/75     90/75     89/73     84/66     77/58     72/52

Fauna

Florida is host to many types of wildlife including:

* Marine Mammals: Bottlenose Dolphin, Short-finned Pilot Whale, North Atlantic Right Whale, West Indian Manatee
* Reptiles: American Alligator and Crocodile, Eastern Diamondback and Pygmy Rattlesnakes, Gopher Tortoise, Green and Leatherback Sea Turtles, Eastern Indigo Snake
* Mammals: Florida panther, White-tailed deer, Key Deer, Bobcats, Florida Black Bear, Nine-banded Armadillos
* Birds: Bald Eagle, Northern Caracara, Snail Kite, Osprey, White and Brown Pelicans, Sea Gulls, Whooping and Sandhill Cranes, Roseate Spoonbill, Florida Scrub Jay (state endemic), and others. One subspecies of Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, namely subspecies osceola, is found only in the state of Florida.[41] The state is a wintering location for many species of eastern North American birds.

The only known calving area for the Northern Right Whale is off the coasts of Florida and Georgia.[42]

Since their accidental importation from South America into North America in the 1930s, the Red imported fire ant population has increased its territorial range to include most of the Southern United States, including Florida. They are more aggressive than most native ant species and have a painful sting.[43]

A number of non-native snakes have been released in the wild. In 2010 the state created a hunting season for Burmese and Indian pythons, African rock pythons, green anacondas, and Nile monitor lizards.[44]
Environmental issues
Main article: Environment of Florida

Florida ranks 45th out of 50 states in total energy consumption per capita, despite the heavy reliance on air conditioners and pool pumps. This includes coal, natural gas, petroleum, and retail electricity sales.[45] It is estimated that approximately 4% of energy in the state is generated through renewable resources.[46] Florida’s energy production is 6 percent of the nation’s total energy output, while total production of pollutants is lower, with figures of 5.6 percent for nitrogen oxide, 5.1 percent for carbon dioxide, and 3.5 percent for sulfur dioxide.[46]

It is believed that significant energy resources are located off of Florida’s western coast in the Gulf of Mexico, but that region has been closed to exploration since 1981.[47] Governor Charlie Crist and both of Florida’s U.S. Senators, Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez, oppose offshore drilling and exploration. Former Governor Jeb Bush, who was originally opposed to all drilling,[48] changed his position in 2005 when he supported a bill introduced into the House of Representatives which allowed unrestricted drilling 125 miles (201 km) or more from the coast.[49] Crist, Martinez and Nelson opposed that bill, but Martinez and Nelson voted for a Senate alternative which prohibited drilling within 125 miles (201 km) of the Panhandle coast, and 235 miles (378 km) of the peninsular coast.[50]

In July 2007, Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced plans to sign executive orders that would impose strict new air-pollution standards in the state, with aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050. Crist’s orders would set new emissions targets for power companies, automobiles and trucks, and toughen conservation goals for state agencies and require state-owned vehicles to use alternative fuels.[51]

Red tide has been an issue on the Southwest coast of Florida, as well as other areas. While there has been a great deal of conjecture over the cause of the toxic algae bloom, there is no evidence that it is being caused by pollution or that there has been an increase in the duration or frequency of red tides.[52]

The Florida panther is close to extinction. A record 23 were killed in 2009 by hunters and in car accidents which leaves only about 100 individuals in the wild. The Center for Biological Diversity and others have therefore called for a special protected area for the panther to be established.[53] Manatees are also dying at a rate higher than their reproduction.
Geology

The Florida peninsula is a porous plateau of karst limestone sitting atop bedrock known as the Florida Platform. The emergent portion of the platform was created during the Eocene to Oligocene as the Gulf Trough filled with silts, clays, and sands. Flora and fauna began appearing during the Miocene. No land animals were present in Florida prior to the Miocene.

The largest deposits of potash in the country are found in Florida.[54]

Extended systems of underwater caves, sinkholes and springs are found throughout the state and supply most of the water used by residents. The limestone is topped with sandy soils deposited as ancient beaches over millions of years as global sea levels rose and fell. During the last glacial period, lower sea levels and a drier climate revealed a much wider peninsula, largely savanna.[55] The Everglades, an enormously wide, very slow-flowing river encompasses the southern tip of the peninsula.

Florida is tied for last place[56] as having the fewest earthquakes of any US state.[57] Because Florida is not located near any tectonic plate boundaries, earthquakes are very rare, but not totally unknown. In January, 1879, a shock occurred near St. Augustine. There were reports of heavy shaking that knocked plaster from walls and articles from shelves. Similar effects were noted at Daytona Beach 50 miles (80 km) south. The tremor was felt as far south as Tampa and as far north as Savannah, Georgia. In January 1880, Cuba was the center of two strong earthquakes that sent severe shock waves through the city of Key West, Florida.[58] Another earthquake centered outside Florida was the 1886 Charleston earthquake. The shock was felt throughout northern Florida, ringing church bells at St. Augustine and severely jolting other towns along that section of Florida’s east coast. Jacksonville residents felt many of the strong aftershocks that occurred in September, October, and November 1886.[59] As recently as 2006, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake centered about 260 miles (420 km) southwest of Tampa in the Gulf of Mexico sent shock waves through southwest and central Florida. The earthquake was too small to trigger a tsunami and no damage was reported.[60]
Demographics
Population
Historical populations
Census     Pop.         %±
1830     34,730
—
1840     54,477         56.9%
1850     87,445         60.5%
1860     140,424         60.6%
1870     187,748         33.7%
1880     269,493         43.5%
1890     391,422         45.2%
1900     528,542         35.0%
1910     752,619         42.4%
1920     968,470         28.7%
1930     1,468,211         51.6%
1940     1,897,414         29.2%
1950     2,771,305         46.1%
1960     4,951,560         78.7%
1970     6,789,443         37.1%
1980     9,746,324         43.6%
1990     12,937,926         32.7%
2000     15,982,378         23.5%
Est. 2009     18,537,969         16.0%

Florida has the 4th highest state population in the United States. The center of population of Florida is located in Polk County, in the town of Lake Wales.[61] As of 2009, Florida’s population was estimated to be 18,537,969. The state grew 128,814, or 0.7% from 2007. Using the latest population estimates, Florida is the nation’s thirtieth-fastest-growing state. During Florida’s peak growth year of 2005, it was the nation’s fifth fastest growing state and grew at an annual rate of 2.2%.[4]

About two-thirds of the population was born in another state, the second highest in the country.[62]

The state had the third largest illegal immigrant population in the country in 2009.[63]b In 2010, illegal immigrants constituted an estimated 5.7% of the population. This was the sixth highest percentage of any state in the country.[64][65]

There were 186,102 military retirees living in the state in 2008.[66]
Ancestry groups
Demographics of Florida (csv)
By race     White     Black     AIAN*     Asian     NHPI*
2000 (total population)     82.45%     15.66%     0.75%     2.11%     0.16%
2000 (Hispanic only)     15.94%     0.74%     0.14%     0.09%     0.03%
2005 (total population)     81.47%     16.31%     0.84%     2.52%     0.18%
2005 (Hispanic only)     18.48%     0.87%     0.21%     0.11%     0.04%
Growth 2000–05 (total population)     9.99%     15.93%     23.95%     33.09%     29.08%
Growth 2000–05 (non-Hispanic only)     5.43%     15.23%     15.67%     32.55%     24.49%
Growth 2000–05 (Hispanic only)     28.99%     29.93%     58.98%     45.89%     45.66%
* AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native; NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
Racial and ancestral makeup

The largest reported ancestries in the 2000 Census were German (11.8%), Irish (10.3%), English (9.2%), American (8%), Italian (6.3%), French (2.8%), Polish (2.7%) and Scottish (1.8%).[67]
Florida Population Density Map

Before the American Civil War, when slavery was legal, and during the Reconstruction era that followed, blacks made up nearly half of the state’s population.[68] Their proportion declined over the next century, as many moved north in the Great Migration while large numbers of northern whites moved to the state. Recently, the state’s proportion of black residents has begun to grow again. Today, large concentrations of black residents can be found in northern Florida (notably in Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tallahassee, and Pensacola), the Tampa Bay area, the Orlando area, especially in Orlando and Sanford. Also, there has been a large increase of Black Americans of Hispanic decent in South Florida; where their numbers have been bolstered by significant immigration from Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica.

Florida’s Hispanic population includes large communities of Cuban Americans in Miami and Tampa, Puerto Ricans in Orlando and Tampa, and Central American migrant workers in inland West-Central and South Florida. The Hispanic community continues to grow more affluent and mobile. Between the years of 2000 and 2004, Lee County in Southwest Florida, which is largely suburban in character, had the fastest Hispanic population growth rate of any county in the United States.

White Americans of all European backgrounds are present in all areas of the state. Those of British and Irish ancestry are present in large numbers in all the urban/suburban areas across the state. There is a large German population in Southwest Florida, a large Greek population in the Tarpon Springs area, a sizable Italian, Spanish, and Russian communities in Miami, and white Floridians of longer-present generations in the culturally southern areas of inland and northern Florida. Native white Floridians, especially those who have descended from long-time Florida families, affectionately refer to themselves as “Florida crackers.” Like all the other southern states, they descend mainly from Scots-Irish as well as some other British settlers.[citation needed] In and around St. Augustine are also several descendants of the Minorcans who fled there from British physician Andrew Turnbull’s New Smyrna colony in 1768.[69]
Metropolitan areas
Distribution of Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Florida
See also: List of urbanized areas in Florida (by population) and Florida census statistical areas
See also: List of cities in Florida and Florida locations by per capita income
Largest cities in Florida[70]
City Population > 500,000
City     Population     Metropolitan area

Jacksonville

813,518

Jacksonville
City Population > 200,000
City     Population     Metropolitan area

Miami
Tampa
St. Petersburg
Orlando
Hialeah

433,136
343,890
244,324
235,860
218,896

South Florida
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Orlando
South Florida
City Population > 150,000
City     Population     Metropolitan area

Fort Lauderdale
Tallahassee
Port Saint Lucie
Cape Coral

184,892
172,574
154,410
154,202

South Florida
Tallahassee
Port St. Lucie
Cape Coral-Fort Myers
City Population > 100,000
City     Population     Metropolitan area

Pembroke Pines
Hollywood
Coral Springs
Gainesville
Miami Gardens
Miramar
Clearwater
Pompano Beach
Palm Bay

146,600
142,622
126,518
116,616
109,332
109,176
106,081
102,609
100,999

South Florida
South Florida
South Florida
Gainesville
South Florida
South Florida
Tampa Bay
South Florida
Palm Bay-Melbourne
Largest metropolitan areas in Florida
Rank     Metropolitan Area     Population
1     South Florida     5,463,857
2     Tampa Bay     2,733,761
3     Orlando     2,082,421
4     Jacksonville     1,313,228
5     Bradenton-Sarasota     688,126

The largest metropolitan area in the state as well as the entire southeastern United States is the South Florida metropolitan area, with about 5.5 million people. The Tampa Bay area, with over 2.7 million people, is the second largest metro area and Greater Orlando, with over 2 million people, is the third.

Florida has twenty Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Thirty-nine of Florida’s sixty-seven counties are in an MSA. Reflecting the distribution of population in Florida, Metropolitan areas in the state are concentrated around the coast of the peninsula. They form a continuous band on the east coast of Florida, stretching from the Jacksonville MSA to the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach MSA, including every county on the east coast, with the exception of Monroe County. There is also a continuous band of MSAs on the west coast of the peninsula from the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA to the Naples-Marco Island MSA, including all of the coastal counties from Hernando County to Collier County. The interior of the northern half of the peninsula also has several MSAs, connecting the east and west coast MSAs. A few MSAs are scattered across the Florida panhandle.
Jacksonville

Languages

As of 2000, 76.91 percent of Florida residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a first language, while 16.46 percent spoke Spanish, and French Creole (predominantly Haitian Creole) was spoken by 1.38 percent of the population. French was spoken by 0.83 percent, followed by German at 0.59 percent, and Italian at 0.44 percent of all residents. Also, Portuguese comprised 0.36 percent, while Tagalog made up 0.25 percent of speakers, Arabic was at 0.21 percent and Vietnamese at 0.20 percent. In all, 23.80 percent of Florida’s population age 5 and older spoke a language other than English at home.[71]

As of 2005, 74.54 percent of Florida residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a first language, while 18.65 percent spoke Spanish, and French Creole (predominantly Haitian Creole) was spoken by 1.73 percent of the population. French was spoken by 0.63 percent, followed by German at 0.45 percent, and Portuguese at 0.44 percent of all residents. Also, Italian comprised 0.32 percent, while Tagalog made up 0.30 percent of speakers, Vietnamese was at 0.25 percent and Arabic at 0.23 percent. In all, 25.45 percent of Florida’s population age 5 and older spoke a language other than English.[71]

This means English decreased by -2.37%, Spanish increased +2.21%, French Creole (including Haitian Creole) increased by +0.35%, French decreased by -0.20%, German decreased by -0.14%, Italian decreased by -0.12%, Portuguese increased by +0.08%, Tagalog increased by +0.05%, Arabic increased by +0.02%, and Vietnamese increased by +0.05% of languages spoken.[71]

Florida’s climate makes it a popular state for immigrants. Florida’s public education system identifies over 200 first languages other than English spoken in the homes of students. In 1990, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) won a class action lawsuit against the state Florida Department of Education that required educators to be trained in teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).

Article II, Section 9, of the Florida Constitution provides that “English is the official language of the State of Florida.” This provision was adopted in 1988 by a vote following an Initiative Petition.
Religion

As of the year 2000, the three largest denominational groups in Florida are Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, and Mainline Protestant.[72] The Catholic Church has the highest number of adherents in Florida (at 2,596,148), followed by the Southern Baptist Convention with 1,292,097 members reported and Judaism reporting 628,485 adherents.

Florida is mostly Protestant, but Roman Catholicism is the single largest denomination in the state. There is also a sizable Jewish community, located mainly in South Florida; no other Southern state has such a large Jewish population. Florida’s current religious affiliations are shown in the table below:[73]

* Roman Catholic, 26%
* Protestant, 48%
o Baptist, 9%
o Methodist, 6%
o Pentecostal, 3%
* Jewish, 3%
* Jehovah’s Witness, 1%
* Muslim, 1%
* Orthodox, 1%
* other religions, 1%
* non-religious, 16%

Government
Main article: Government of Florida
See also: List of Florida Governors and United States Congressional Delegations from Florida
Florida Capitol buildings.

The basic structure, duties, function, and operations of the government of the State of Florida are defined and established by the Florida Constitution, which establishes the basic law of the state and guarantees various rights and freedoms of the people. The state government consists of three separate branches: judicial, executive, and legislative. The legislature enacts bills, which, if signed by the governor, become Florida Statutes.

The Florida Legislature comprises the Florida Senate, which has 40 members, and the Florida House of Representatives, which has 120 members. The current Governor of Florida is Republican Charlie Crist. The Florida Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Justices.

There are 67 Counties in Florida, but some reports show only 66 because of Duval County, which is consolidated with the City of Jacksonville. There are 379 cities in Florida (out of 411) that report regularly to the Florida Department of Revenue, but there are other incorporated municipalities that do not. The primary source of revenue for the State government is sales tax, but the primary revenue source for cities and counties is property tax.
Political history

After Reconstruction, white-elite Democrats wrestled for power until they regained it in 1877, partly through violent paramilitary tactics targeting freedmen and allies to reduce their voting.[citation needed] From 1885 to 1889, the state legislature passed statutes with provisions to reduce voting by blacks and poor whites, which had threatened white Democratic power with a populist coalition. As these groups were stripped from voter rolls, white Democrats established power in a one-party state, as happened across the South. In 1900 African Americans comprised 44% of the state’s population,[74] the same proportion as before the Civil War, but they were effectively disfranchised. From 1877 to 1948, Florida voted for the Democratic candidate for president in every election except for the 1928 election.

In response to segregation, disfranchisement and agricultural depression, many African Americans migrated from Florida to northern cities in the Great Migration, in waves from 1910–1940, and again starting in the later 1940s. They moved for jobs, better education for their children and the chance to vote and participate in society. Given migration of other groups into Florida (as noted in other sections of this article), by 1960 the proportion of African Americans in the state had declined to 18%.[75]
Further information: Political party strength in Florida

Since 1952, despite having a majority of registered Democrats, the state has voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election except for the 1964, 1976, 1996, and 2008 elections. The first post-reconstruction Republican congressional representative was elected in 1954.[76] The state’s first post-reconstruction Republican senator was elected in 1968,[77] two years after the first post-reconstruction Republican governor.[78]
Presidential elections results Year     Republican     Democratic
2008     48.22% 4,045,624     50.96% 4,282,074
2004     52.10% 3,964,522     47.09% 3,583,544
2000     48.85% 2,912,790     48.84% 2,912,253
1996     42.32% 2,244,536     48.02% 2,546,870
1992     40.89% 2,173,310     39.00% 2,072,698
1988     60.87% 2,618,885     38.51% 1,656,701
1984     65.32% 2,730,350     34.66% 1,448,816
1980     55.52% 2,046,951     38.50% 1,419,475
1976     46.64% 1,469,531     51.93% 1,636,000
1972     71.91% 1,857,759     27.80% 718,117
1968     40.53% 886,804     30.93% 676,794
1964     48.85% 905,941     51.15% 948,540
1960     51.51% 795,476     48.49% 748,700

In 1998, Democrats were described as most dominant in areas of the state with high percentages of racial minorities, as well as transplanted white liberals coming primarily from the Northeastern United States.[79] The South Florida metropolitan area was a good example of this as it had a particularly high level of both racial minorities and white liberals. Because of this, the area has been one of the most Democratic areas of the state. The Daytona metropolitan area has been, to a lesser extent, somewhat similar to South Florida demographically and the city of Orlando had a large Hispanic population, which often favored Democrats. Republicans remain dominant through out much of the rest of Florida particularly in the more rural and suburban areas.[79]

The fast growing I-4 corridor area, which runs through Central Florida and connects the cities of Daytona Beach, Orlando, and Tampa/St. Petersburg, had a fairly similar number of both Republican and Democratic voters. The area is often seen as a merging point of the conservative northern portion of the state and the liberal southern portion making it the biggest swing area in the state. In recent times, whichever way the I-4 corridor area, containing 40% of Florida voters, votes has often determined who will win the state of Florida in presidential elections.[80]

The Democratic Party has maintained an edge in voter registration, both statewide and in 40 of the 67 counties, including Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County, the state’s three most populous counties.[81]
Recent elections
Further information: United States presidential election in Florida, 2000

Despite the Democratic advantage in registration, as of 2008, Republicans controlled the governorship and most other statewide elective offices; both houses of the state legislature; and 15 of the state’s 25 seats in the House of Representatives. Florida has been listed as a swing state in Presidential elections since 1950, voting for the losing candidate once in that period of time.[82] In the closely contested 2000 election the state played a pivotal role.[83][84][85][86][87][88]

In 2008, delegates of both the Republican Florida primary election and Democratic Florida primary election were stripped of half of their votes when the conventions met in August due to violation of both parties’ national rules.
Statutes

All potable water resources have been controlled by the state government through five regional water authorities since 1972.[89]

The state repealed mandatory auto inspection in 1981.[90]
Health and public safety

Florida was ranked the fifth most dangerous state in 2009. Ranking was based on the record of serious felonies committed in 2008.[91]

There were 2.7 million Medicaid patients in Florida in 2009. The governor has proposed adding $2.6 billion to care for the expected 300,000 additional patients in 2011.[92]

Medicaid paid for 60% of all births in Florida in 2009.[93]

The state has a program for those not covered by Medicaid.
Funding

In 2009, the state government had a budget of $66.5 billion.[30]
Architecture

While many houses and commercial buildings look similar to those elsewhere in the country, the state has appropriated some unique styles in some section of the state including Spanish revival, Florida vernacular, and Mediterranean Revival Style.[94][95]
Economy
Launch of Space Shuttle Columbia from the Kennedy Space Center
The Port of Miami is the world’s largest cruise ship port, and is the headquarters of many of the world’s largest cruise companies.
The Brickell Financial District in Miami contains the largest concentration of international banks in the U.S.[96][97]
South Florida’s climate is ideal for growing sugarcane.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Florida in 2007 was $734.5 billion. Its GDP is the fourth largest economy in the United States.[98] The major contributors to the state’s gross output in 2007 were general services, financial services, trade, transportation and public utilities, manufacturing and construction respectively.
Personal income

In 2009, Per Capita personal income was $37,780, ranking 24th in the nation.[99]

The state was one of the few states to not have a state minimum wage law until 2004, when voters passed a constitutional amendment establishing a state minimum wage and (unique among minimum wage laws) mandating that it be adjusted for inflation annually. For 2010, the calculated Florida minimum wage was lower than the Federal rate of $7.25, so the Federal rate controlled.[100]

Florida is one of the nine states that do not impose a personal income tax.

There were 2.4 million Floridians living in poverty in 2008. 18.4% of children 18 and younger were living in poverty.[101]

The state also had the second-highest credit card delinquency rate, with 1.45% of cardholders in the state more than 90 days delinquent on one or more credit cards.[102]

In 2010, over 2.5 million Floridians were on food stamps, up from 1.2 million in 2007. To qualify Floridians must make less than 133% of the federal poverty level. Under $29,000 for a family of four.[103]
Real estate

In the early 1900, land speculators discovered Florida, and businessmen such as Henry Plant and Henry Flagler developed railroad systems, which led people to move in, drawn by the weather and local economies. From then on, tourism boomed, fueling a cycle of development that overwhelmed a great deal of farmland.

Because of the collective effect on the insurance industry of the hurricane claims of 2004, homeowners insurance has risen 40% to 60% and deductibles have risen.[30]

At the end of the third quarter in 2008, Florida had the highest mortgage delinquency rate in the country, with 7.8% of mortgages delinquent at least 60 days.[102] A 2009 list of national housing markets that were hard hit in the real estate crash included a disproportionate number in Florida.[104] The early 2000s building boom left Florida with 300,000 vacant homes in 2009, according to state figures.[105] In 2009, the US Census Bureau estimated that Floridians spent an average 49.1% of personal income on housing-related costs, the third highest percentage in the country.[106]

In the third quarter of 2009, there were 278,189 delinquent loans, 80,327 foreclosures.[107] Sales of existing homes for February 2010 was 11,890, up 21% from the same month in 2009. Only two metropolitan areas showed a decrease in homes sold: Panama City and Brevard County. The average sales price for an existing house was $131,000, 7% decrease from the prior year.[108]
Labor

As of January 2010, the states unemployment rate is 11.9%.[109]
Tourism

Tourism makes up the largest sector of the state economy. Warm weather and hundreds of miles of beaches attract about 60 million visitors to the state every year. Amusement parks, especially in the Orlando area, make up a significant portion of tourism. The Walt Disney World Resort is the largest vacation resort in the world, consisting of four theme parks and more than 20 hotels in Lake Buena Vista, Florida; it, and Universal Orlando Resort, Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, and other major parks drive state tourism. Many beach towns are also popular tourist destinations, particularly in the winter months. 23.2 million tourists visited Florida beaches in 2000, spending $21.9 billion.[110]

The public has a right to beach access under the public trust doctrine. However, some areas have access effectively blocked by private owners for a long distance.[111]
Industry

Phosphate mining, concentrated in the Bone Valley, is the state’s third-largest industry. The state produces about 75 percent of the phosphate required by farmers in the United States and 25 percent of the world supply, with about 95 percent used for agriculture (90 percent for fertilizer and 5 percent for livestock feed supplements) and 5 percent used for other products.[112]

Since the arrival of the NASA Merritt Island launch sites on Cape Canaveral (most notably Kennedy Space Center) in 1962, Florida has developed a sizable aerospace industry.

Another major economic engine in Florida is the United States Military. There are currently 24 military bases in the state, housing three Unified Combatant Commands; United States Central Command in Tampa, United States Southern Command in Doral, and United States Special Operations Command in Tampa. There are 109,390 U.S. military personnel currently stationed in Florida,[113] contributing, directly and indirectly, $52 billion a year to the state’s economy.[114]
Agriculture

Historically, Florida’s economy was based upon cattle farming and agriculture (especially sugarcane, citrus, tomatoes, and strawberries).

The second largest industry is agriculture. Citrus fruit, especially oranges, are a major part of the economy, and Florida produces the majority of citrus fruit grown in the U.S. – in 2006 67 percent of all citrus, 74 percent of oranges, 58 percent of tangerines, and 54 percent of grapefruit. About 95 percent of commercial orange production in the state is destined for processing (mostly as orange juice, the official state beverage).[115] Citrus canker continues to be an issue of concern. Other products include sugarcane, strawberries, tomatoes and celery.[116] The Everglades Agricultural Area is a major center for agriculture. The environmental impact of agriculture—especially water pollution—is a major issue in Florida today.
Fishing

In 2009, fishing was a $6 billion industry, employing 60,000 jobs for sports and commercial purposes.[117]
Education
Florida International University in Miami
Florida State University in Tallahassee
Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach
University of Central Florida in Orlando
University of Florida in Gainesville
University of Miami in Coral Gables
See also: Education in Florida

Florida’s public primary and secondary schools are administered by the Florida Department of Education.
State University System of Florida

The State University System of Florida is a university system that was founded in 1905, and is currently governed by the Florida Board of Governors. During the 2008 academic year there was a total of 301,570 students who attended one of these member institutions.

* Florida A&M University
* Florida Atlantic University
* Florida Gulf Coast University
* Florida International University
* Florida State University
* New College of Florida

* University of Florida
* University of Central Florida
* University of North Florida
* University of South Florida
* University of West Florida

Private universities in Florida

The Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida is an association of 28 private, educational institutions in the state of Florida.[118]

Florida has many large and small private institutions. The “Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida”, serves the interests of the private universities in Florida. This Association reported that their member institutions served over 121,000 students in the fall of 2006.[119]

* Barry University
* Beacon College
* Bethune-Cookman University
* Clearwater Christian College
* Eckerd College
* Edward Waters College
* Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
* Flagler College
* Florida College
* Florida Hospital College of Health Science
* Florida Institute of Technology
* Florida Memorial University
* Florida Southern College
* Hodges University

* Jacksonville University
* Lynn University
* Nova Southeastern University
* Palm Beach Atlantic University
* Ringling College of Art and Design
* Rollins College
* Saint Leo University
* Saint Thomas University
* Southeastern University
* Stetson University
* University of Miami
* University of Tampa
* Warner University
* Webber International University

Additionally, there are 20 colleges and universities that are not affiliated with the ICUF, but are fully-accredited universities in the state of Florida.

* Ave Maria University
* Baptist College of Florida
* Carlos Albizu University
* Digital Media Arts College
* Everest University
* Everglades University
* Florida Christian College
* Fort Lauderdale Institute of Art
* Full Sail University
* Hobe Sound College

* Johnson and Wales University
* Jones College
* Miami International University
* Northwood University
* Orlando Culinary Academy
* Pensacola Christian College
* Rasmussen College
* Saint John’s College
* Schiller International University
* Trinity College

Florida College System

The Florida College System manages and funds Florida’s twenty-eight public colleges.

* Brevard Community College
* Broward College
* Chipola College
* College of Central Florida
* Daytona State College
* Edison State College
* Florida Keys Community College
* Florida State College at Jacksonville
* Gulf Coast Community College
* Hillsborough Community College
* Indian River State College
* Lake City Community College
* Lake-Sumter Community College
* Miami Dade College

* North Florida Community College
* Northwest Florida State College
* Palm Beach State College
* Pasco-Hernando Community College
* Pensacola State College
* Polk State College
* Santa Fe College
* Seminole State College of Florida
* South Florida Community College
* St. Johns River Community College
* St. Petersburg College
* State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota
* Tallahassee Community College
* Valencia Community College

Transportation
Main article: Transportation in Florida
Highways
Main article: State Roads in Florida
Map of Florida with major roads and cities

Florida’s interstates, state highways and U.S. Highways are maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation. Florida’s interstate highway system contains 1,473 miles (2,371 km) of highway, and there are 9,934 miles (15,987 km) of non-interstate highway in the state, such as Florida state highways and U.S. Highways.

Florida’s primary interstate routes include:

* I-4.svg I-4, which bisects the state, connecting Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando, and Daytona Beach, connecting with I-95 in Daytona Beach and I-75 in Tampa.
* I-10.svg I-10, which traverses the panhandle, connecting Jacksonville, Lake City, Tallahassee and Pensacola, with junctions with I-95 in Jacksonville and I-75 in Lake City.
* I-75.svg I-75, which enters the state near Lake City (45 miles west of Jacksonville) and continues southward through Gainesville, Ocala, Tampa’s eastern suburbs, Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers and Naples, where it crosses the “Alligator Alley” as a toll road to Fort Lauderdale before turning southward and terminating in Hialeah/Miami Lakes having junctions with I-10 in Lake City and I-4 in Tampa.
* I-95.svg I-95, which enters the state near Jacksonville and continues along the Atlantic Coast through Daytona Beach Melbourne/Titusville, Palm Bay, Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, Port Saint Lucie, Stuart, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale before terminating in Downtown Miami, with junctions with I-10 in Jacksonville and I-4 in Daytona Beach.

Miami’s Palmetto Expressway is one of Florida’s busiest roads

Prior to the construction of routes under the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, Florida began construction of a long cross-state toll road, Florida’s Turnpike. The first section, from Fort Pierce south to the Golden Glades Interchange was completed in 1957. After a second section north through Orlando to Wildwood (near present-day The Villages), and a southward extension around Miami to Homestead, it was finished in 1974.

State highways are numbered according to a specific convention. The first digits of state highways, with some exceptions (such as State Road 112 connecting Interstate 95 to the Miami International Airport), are numbered with the first digit indicating what area of the state the road is in, from 1 in the north and east to 9 in the south and west. Major north-south state roads generally have one- or two-digit odd route numbers that increase from east to west, while major east-west state roads generally have one- or two-digit even route numbers that increase from north to south. Roads of secondary importance usually have three-digit route numbers. The first digit x of their route number is the same as the first digit of the road with two-digit number x0 to the immediate north. The three-digit route numbers also increase from north to south for even numbers and east to west for odd numbers.

Following this convention, State Road 907, or Alton Rd. on Miami Beach, is farther east than State Road 997, which is Krome Ave, or the farthest west north-south road in Miami-Dade County. One notable exception to the convention is State Road 826, or the Palmetto Expressway (pictured at the right heading north) which, although even numbered, is signed north-south. State roads can have anywhere from one to four digits depending on the importance and location of the road.[120] County roads often follow this same system.
Intercity rail
Miami International Airport is the world’s 10th-largest cargo airport

Florida is served by Amtrak: Sanford, in Greater Orlando, is the southern terminus of the Amtrak Auto Train, which originates at Lorton, Virginia, south of Washington, DC. Orlando is also the eastern terminus of the Sunset Limited, which travels across the southern United States via New Orleans, Houston, and San Antonio to its western terminus of Los Angeles. Florida is served by two additional Amtrak trains (the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor), which operate between New York City and Miami.
Airports
See also: List of airports in Florida

Major international airports in Florida which processed more than 15 million passengers each in 2006 are Orlando International Airport (34,128,048), Miami International Airport (32,533,974), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport(21,369,577) and Tampa International Airport (18,867,541).

Secondary airports, with annual passenger traffic exceeding 5 million each in 2006, include Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers) (7,643,217), Palm Beach International Airport (West Palm Beach) (7,014,237),[121] and Jacksonville International Airport (5,946,188).

Regional Airports which processed over one million passengers each in 2006 are Pensacola (1,620,198) and Sarasota-Bradenton (1,423,113). Sanford, which is primarily served by international charter airlines processed 1,649,565 passengers in 2006.[122]
Sports
The American Airlines Arena in Miami, homecourt of the Miami Heat.
The Amway Arena in Orlando, homecourt of the Orlando Magic.
The BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, home of the Florida Panthers.
Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, home of the Florida Marlins, the Miami Dolphins, and the Miami Hurricanes.
The St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Tampa Bay Storm.
Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach.
See also: Florida Sports Hall of Fame and List of sports teams in Florida

Most Major League Baseball’s spring training, and nearly 2/3 of all MLB teams have a spring training presence in the state. Yet Florida did not have a permanent major-league-level professional sports team until the American Football League added the Miami Dolphins in 1966. The state now has three NFL teams, two MLB teams, two NBA teams, and two NHL teams.

Three of the Arena Football League’s teams are in Florida.

Golf, tennis, and auto racing are popular.

Minor league baseball, football, basketball, ice hockey, soccer and indoor football teams are based in Florida. Florida’s universities have a number of collegiate sport teams.
Club     League     Venue     Championships
Miami Dolphins     National Football League     Sun Life Stadium (Miami)     2 (1972, 1973)
Miami Heat     National Basketball Association     American Airlines Arena (Miami)     1 (2006)
Florida Marlins     Major League Baseball     Sun Life Stadium (Miami)     2 (1997, 2003)
Florida Panthers     National Hockey League     BankAtlantic Center (Sunrise)     0
Tampa Bay Buccaneers     National Football League     Raymond James Stadium (Tampa)     1 (2003)
Tampa Bay Rays     Major League Baseball     Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg)     0
Tampa Bay Lightning     National Hockey League     St. Pete Times Forum (Tampa)     1 (2004)
Orlando Magic     National Basketball Association     Amway Center (Orlando)     0
Jacksonville Jaguars     National Football League     Jacksonville Municipal Stadium     0
Spring training
Further information: Spring training

Florida is the traditional home for Major League Baseball spring training, with teams informally organized into the “Grapefruit League.” For 2010, Florida will host the following major league teams for spring training:
Club     Location
Atlanta Braves     Walt Disney World
Baltimore Orioles     Sarasota
Boston Red Sox     Fort Myers
Detroit Tigers     Lakeland
Florida Marlins     Jupiter
Houston Astros     Kissimmee
Minnesota Twins     Fort Myers
New York Mets     Port St. Lucie
New York Yankees     Tampa
Philadelphia Phillies     Clearwater
Pittsburgh Pirates     Bradenton
St. Louis Cardinals     Jupiter
Tampa Bay Rays     Port Charlotte
Toronto Blue Jays     Dunedin
Washington Nationals     Viera
Auto-racing tracks

* Daytona International Speedway
* Homestead-Miami Speedway
* Sebring International Raceway
* Streets of St. Petersburg
* Walt Disney World Speedway

Sister states
Sister jurisdiction     Country     Year[123]
Kyonggi     South Korea South Korea     2000
Languedoc-Roussillon     France France     1989
Nueva Esparta     Venezuela Venezuela     1999
Taiwan Province     Republic of China Taiwan, R.O.C.     1992
Wakayama Prefecture     Japan Japan     1995
Western Cape     South Africa South Africa     1995
See also
North America portal
United States portal
Florida portal
Main articles: Outline of Florida and Index of Florida-related articles
References

1. ^ “Article 2, Section 9, Constitution of the State of Florida”. State of Florida. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=constitution&submenu=3&tab=statutes#A02S09. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
2. ^ Florida — Languages. City Data. http://www.city-data.com/states/Florida-Languages.html. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
3. ^ a b “2000 Census” (ZIP). US Census Bureau. ftp://ftp.census.gov/census_2000/datasets/Summary_File_4/Florida/flgeo_uf4.zip. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
4. ^ a b “Annual Population Estimates 2000 to 2008″. US Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
5. ^ a b “Elevations and Distances in the United States”. U.S Geological Survey. April 29, 2005. http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html#Highest. Retrieved November 3, 2006.
6. ^ “Köppen Climate Classification Map”. John Abbott College, Geosciences Department. http://www2.johnabbott.qc.ca/webpages/departments/geoscience/intro/Koppen/KoppenMap.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
7. ^ behind California, Texas, and New York
8. ^ United States population by states, United States Census Bureau.
9. ^ From the 1601 publication by the pre-eminent historian of 16th century Spanish exploration in America, Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, in Stewart, George (1945). Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States. New York: Random House. pp. 11–12.
10. ^ Smith, Hale G., and Marc Gottlob. 1978. “Spanish-Indian Relationships: Synoptic History and Archaeological Evidence, 1500–1763.” In Tacachale: Essays on the Indians of Florida and Southeastern Georgia during the Historic Period. Edited by Jerald Milanich and Samuel Proctor. Gainesville, Florida: University Presses of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-0535-3
11. ^ Ehrenberg, Ralph E. “Marvellous countries and lands” Notable Maps of Florida, 1507-1846
12. ^ The name Florida, sometimes expanded to cover more of the present-day southeastern U.S., remained the most commonly used Spanish term, however, throughout the entire period. De Bow, J.D.B. (1857). De Bow’s Review, Vol. XXII Third Series Vol. II. Washington, D.C. and New Orleans. pp. 303–305.
13. ^ Daily National Intelligencer, January 27, 1836 (Library of Congress) http://mitchellarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/dade-report.jpg
14. ^ Tindall, George Brown, and David Emory Shi. (edition unknown) America: A Narrative History. W. W. Norton & Company. 412. ISBN 039396874X
15. ^ Historical Census Browser, accessed 10/31/2007[dead link]
16. ^ Historical Census Browser, 1900 Federal Census, University of Virginia [1][dead link], accessed 15 March 2008
17. ^ Maxine D. Rogers, Larry E. Rivers, David R. Colburn, R. Tom Dye, and William W. Rogers, “Documented History of the Incident Which Occurred at Rosewood, Florida in January 1923″, December 1993, p.5 [2], accessed 28 March 2008
18. ^ U.S. Census Bureau (April 21, 2005). “”Florida, California and Texas to Dominate Future Population Growth, Census Bureau Reports”". Press release. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/004704.html. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
19. ^ “Florida Drug Threat Assessment-Overview”. National Drug Intelligence Center. http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs5/5169/overview.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
20. ^ Main, Martin B.; Allen, Ginger M. (July 2007). “The Florida Environment: An Overview”. University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/UW268. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
21. ^ “Green Mountain Scenic Byway”. Florida Department of Transportation. http://www.dot.state.fl.us/EMO/ScenicHWY/designated/greenmountain.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
22. ^ “Florida”. National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/state/fl. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
23. ^ Ritter, Michael. “Wet/Dry Tropical Climate”. University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. http://www.uwsp.edu/geO/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/climate_systems/climate_classification.html. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
24. ^ “Lightning Information Center”. National Weather Service. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mlb/ltgcenter/ltgmain.html. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
25. ^ Aten, Tim (July 1, 2007). “Waterspouts common off coastal Florida in summer”. Naples Daily News. http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jul/01/waterspouts_common_coastal_florida_summer/?breaking_news. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
26. ^ James A. Henry, Kenneth Michael Portier, Jan Coyne, The Climate and Weather of Florida, Pineapple Press, 1994, p. 60. ISBN 1561640360.
27. ^ “Cold Temperatures and Snow Flurries in East-Central Florida”. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on 2007-07-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20070704000654/http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mlb/surveys/012403/flurries.html. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
28. ^ http://www.wftv.com/news/22191710/detail.html
29. ^ a b Doe (28 March 2009), Florida is US lightning capital, Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today Factbook, pp. 34
30. ^ a b c “Weather, politics shook things up”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. 31 December 2009. pp. 1A. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091231/NEWS01/912310317/1086/Stories+of+the+decade++Weather++politics+shook+things+up. [dead link]
31. ^ Read, Matt (2 February 2010). “Watchdog:Discounts may boost price for insurance”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. pp. 1B. http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20102020311. [dead link]
32. ^ Than, Ker (August 31, 2005). “Many More Hurricanes To Come”. Live Science. http://www.livescience.com/environment/050831_hurricane_freq.html. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
33. ^ “NOAA Attributes Recent Increase In Hurricane Activity To Naturally Occurring Multi-Decadal Climate Variability”. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://www.magazine.noaa.gov/stories/mag184.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
34. ^ “JACKSONVILLE WSO AP, FLORIDA—Climate Summary”. Southeast Regional Climate Center. http://www.sercc.com/cgi-bin/sercc/cliMAIN.pl?fl4358. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
35. ^ “KEY WEST WSO AIRPORT, FLORIDA—Climate Summary”. Southeast Regional Climate Center. http://www.sercc.com/cgi-bin/sercc/cliMAIN.pl?fl4570. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
36. ^ “MELBOURNE WSO, FLORIDA—Climate Summary”. Southeast Regional Climate Center. http://www.sercc.com/cgi-bin/sercc/cliMAIN.pl?fl5612. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
37. ^ “MIAMI WSCMO AIRPORT, FLORIDA—Climate Summary”. Southeast Regional Climate Center. http://www.sercc.com/cgi-bin/sercc/cliMAIN.pl?fl5663. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
38. ^ “PENSACOLA FAA ARPT, FLORIDA—Climate Summary”. Southeast Regional Climate Center. http://www.sercc.com/cgi-bin/sercc/cliMAIN.pl?fl6997. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
39. ^ “TALLAHASSEE WSO AP, FLORIDA—Climate Summary”. Southeast Regional Climate Center. http://www.sercc.com/cgi-bin/sercc/cliMAIN.pl?fl8758. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
40. ^ “TAMPA WSCMO ARPT, FLORIDA—Climate Summary”. Southeast Regional Climate Center. http://www.sercc.com/cgi-bin/sercc/cliMAIN.pl?fl8788. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
41. ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2008. Wild turkey: Meleagris gallopavo, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
42. ^ Waymer, Jim (28 December 2009). “Whale habitat could grow”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. pp. 1A. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091228/NEWS01/912280303/1086/Whale+habitat+could+grow. [dead link]
43. ^ “Not all alien invaders are from outer space”. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/invasive/4fireant.html. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
44. ^ “State creates season for hunting pythons”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. 23 February 2010. pp. 6B. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100222/BREAKINGNEWS/100222008/Officials-set-new-python-hunting-season. [dead link]
45. ^ “Energy Consumption by Source and Total Consumption per Capita, Ranked by State, 2004″ (PDF). US Department of Energy. http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/states/sep_sum/html/pdf/rank_use_per_cap.pdf. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
46. ^ a b “State Energy Profiles: Florida”. US Department of Energy. http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=FL. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
47. ^ Mouawad, Jad (13 October 2005). “Gulf of Mexico’s depths beckon”. International Herald-Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/13/business/oil.php?page=1. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
48. ^ “Bush prevents oil, gas drilling off Florida coast”. Spokesman-Review. 30 May 2002. http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=053002&ID=s1156519. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
49. ^ Bousquet, Steve (7 November 2005). “Offshore drilling separates hopefuls”. St. Petersburg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/2005/11/07/State/Offshore_drilling_sep.shtml. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
50. ^ Senator Bill Nelson (July 27, 2006). “Senate leaders pledge Florida will be protected from oil, gas rigs”. Press release. http://billnelson.senate.gov/news/details.cfm?id=259767&. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
51. ^ Loney, Jim (12 July 2007). “Florida To Introduce Tough Greenhouse Gas Targets”. Environmental News Network. Reuters. http://www.enn.com/climate/article/6914. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
52. ^ Daley, Beth (28 March 2005). “Tide’s toxins trouble lungs ashore”. Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/03/28/tides_toxins_trouble_lungs_ashore/. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
53. ^ Williams Hale, Leslie (29 December 2009). “Record number of panthers killed by vehicles in 2009″. Naples News. http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/dec/29/16-record-number-panthers-killed-vehicles-2009/. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
54. ^ “Industry overview”. First research. www.hoovers.com. 2010-03-25. http://www.hoovers.com/chemical-manufacturing—agricultural-/–ID__161–/free-ind-fr-profile-basic.xhtml.
55. ^ Allen, Ginger M.; Main, Martin B (May 2005). “Florida’s Geological History”. Florida Cooperative Extension Service. University of Florida. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/UW208. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
56. ^ with North Dakota
57. ^ Presler, Margaret Webb (14 April 2010). “More earthquakes than usual? Not really.”. KidsPost (Washington Post: Washington Post): pp. C10.
58. ^ See List of earthquakes in Cuba
59. ^ “Florida:Earthquake History”. United States Geological Survey. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/florida/history.php. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
60. ^ “6.0 quake in Gulf shakes Southeast”. CNN. September 11, 2006. http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/09/10/gulf.quake/index.html. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
61. ^ “Population and Population Centers by State: 2000″. US Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/statecenters.txt. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
62. ^ Amy Goodman (2009-04-06). ““A Ponzi State”–Univ. of South Florida Professor Examines the Economic Crisis in Florida”. Democracy Now!. http://www.democracynow.org/2009/4/6/a_ponzi_state_univ_of_south.
63. ^ “Illegals on rise in Southeast”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. 24 February 2010. pp. 6A. http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/02/23/1991912/illegal-immigrant-numbers-rise.html. [dead link]
64. ^ Slevin, Peter (30 April 2010). “New Arizona law puts police in ‘tenuous’ spot”. Washington, DC: Washington Post. pp. A4. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904970.html?sid=ST2010042905051.
65. ^ behind Nevada, Arizona, New Jersey, California and Texas
66. ^ “Retired Military Personnel”. Patrick Air Force Base, Florida: The Intercom (publication of the Military Officers Association of Cape Canaveral). June 2009. p. 4.
67. ^ “Florida Factstreet”. US Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=04000US12&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
68. ^ “Compendium of the Ninth Census:Population, with race.” (PDF). US Census Bureau. p. 14. http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1870e-02.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
69. ^ Waitley,Douglas. “Roadside History of Florida” (1997)pp230
70. ^ http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/SUB-EST2009.html
71. ^ a b c “Most spoken languages in Florida”. Modern Language Association. http://www.mla.org/map_data. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
72. ^ “State Membership Reports”. thearda.com. http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/reports/state/12_2000.asp. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
73. ^ Religion and Politics 2008:Florida – Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life[dead link]
74. ^ “Historical Census Browser: 1900 US Census”. University of Virginia, Geospatial and Statistical Data Center. University of Virginia Library. 2004. http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/php/start.php?year=V1900. Retrieved 2008-08-29. [dead link]
75. ^ “Historical Census Browser: 1960 US Census”. University of Virginia, Geospatial and Statistical Data Center. University of Virginia Library. 2004. http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/php/start.php?year=V1960. Retrieved 2008-08-29. [dead link]
76. ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (October 27, 2003). “William C. Cramer, 81, a Leader Of G.O.P. Resurgence in South”. The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03EFDF1131F934A15753C1A9659C8B63. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
77. ^ Thomas, Jr, Robert McG (May 23, 1996). “E. J. Gurney, 82, Senator Who Backed Nixon”. The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01E4DD1E39F930A15756C0A960958260. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
78. ^ “Claude Roy Kirk, Jr.”. Office of Cultural and Historic Programs, State of Florida. Archived from the original on 2007-08-18. http://web.archive.org/web/20070818093043/http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/museum/collections/governors/about.cfm?id=43. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
79. ^ a b Navarro, Mireya (1998-09-21). “Florida’s Split: Will It Play in the Panhandle?”. The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E1D81330F932A1575AC0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
80. ^ Lengell, Sean. “As I-4 corridor goes, so goes Florida”. The Washington Times. http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080128/NATION/3421225/1001.
81. ^ “Voter Registration by Party Affiliation and County”. Florida Department of State. January 2008. http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voterreg/registration.asp. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
82. ^ “Florida”. 270towin.com. 2010-01-02. http://www.270towin.com/states/Florida.
83. ^ “U. S. Electoral College”. http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/votes/2000.html.
84. ^ “Florida Certificate of Vote”. http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2000_certificates/vote_florida.html.
85. ^ See Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000)
86. ^ See also Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, 531 U.S. 70 (2000).
87. ^ “Study of Disputed Florida Ballots Finds Justices Did Not Cast the Deciding Vote”. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/12/politics/12VOTE.html?pagewanted=all.
88. ^ Cf. Fla. Stat. § 103.011 (web version) (“Votes cast for the actual candidates for President and Vice President shall be counted as votes cast for the presidential electors supporting such candidates. The Department of State shall certify as elected the presidential electors of the candidates for President and Vice President who receive the highest number of votes.”)
89. ^ Florida Statutes
90. ^ “New laws include auto inspection repeal”. Big Sun. Ocala Star-Banner. 1981-09-27. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aJoTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SgYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6830,6180921&dq=state+auto+inspection+florida+history&hl=en.
91. ^ [3]. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
92. ^ Hobson, Will (16 January 2010). “County Medicaid tab rises, could get worse”. Miami, Florida: Miami Herald. http://www.newsherald.com/articles/tab-80645-city-worse.html.
93. ^ Reed, Matt (31 January 2010). “Watchdog:10 ugly truths about our politicians”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. pp. 1B. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100131/COLUMNISTS0207/1310316/Matt-Reed–10-ugly-truths-about-our-politicians. [dead link]
94. ^ [4][dead link]
95. ^ [5]
96. ^ Brickell Neighborhood Guide
97. ^ Brickell Real Estate – Millionaires Row
98. ^ “Gross Domestic Product by state Table 8:Gross Domestic Product by State in Current Dollars, 2003-2006″ (PDF). Bureau of Economic Analysis, United States Department of Commerce. July 2007. http://www.bea.gov/scb/pdf/2007/07%20July/0707_gdp_state.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
99. ^ “STATE PERSONAL INCOME 2009″. Bureau of Economic Analysis, United States Department of Commerce. March 25, 2010. http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/2010/pdf/spi0310.pdf. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
100. ^ “Florida’s Minimum Wage”. State of Florida, Agency for Workforce Innovation. October 15, 2009. http://www.floridajobs.org/minimumwage/index.htm. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
101. ^ Flemming, Paul (November 29, 2009). “Poverty estimates pain sad picture”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. pp. 8B. http://www.flapolitics.com/diary/4285/florida-political-news-november-28-2009.
102. ^ a b “State scores well in credit card, mortgage payment delinquency”. The Burlington Free Press. December 3, 2008. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20081203/BUSINESS/812030301/1003/BUSINESS. Retrieved 2008-12-03. [dead link]
103. ^ Hafenbrack, Josh (March 9, 2010). “2.5 million on Fla. food stamps”. South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida). http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-03-09/news/fl-food-stamps-record-20100308_1_food-stamps-don-winstead-canned. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
104. ^ Orr, Deborah (January 7, 2009). “America’s 25 Weakest Housing Markets”. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/realestate/2009/01/07/housing-cities-realestate-forbeslife-cx_do_0107realestateweak.html?partner=relatedstoriesbox. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
105. ^ “Our views:Playing with fire”. Florida Today. March 20, 2009. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090320/OPINION/90319027/1006/NEWS01. Retrieved March 22, 2009. [dead link]
106. ^ McCaffrey, Scott (October 15, 2009). “Census Bureau: 1 in 3 Virginians Pays Plenty for Housing”. Arlington Sun Gazette. http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2009/10/16/quarterly_real_estate_guide/re790d.txt. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
107. ^ Enrique, Eric (February 27, 2010). “No to noncourt foreclosures”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. pp. 13A. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100227/COLUMNISTS0205/100226017/1138/opinion/No+to+noncourt+foreclosures.
108. ^ Price, Wayne T. (March 24, 2010). “Area home sales down”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. pp. 6C. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100324/BUSINESS/3240323/1006/NEWS01/Brevard+home+sales+down.
109. ^ Bls.gov; Local Area Unemployment Statistics
110. ^ Waymer, Jim (February 15, 2010). “Beaches get pumped up”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. pp. 13A. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100215/NEWS01/2150312/Beaches-get-pumped-up. [dead link]
111. ^ [6]
112. ^ “About Phosphate”. The Mosaic Company. http://www.phosphateflorida.com/mosaic.asp?page=about_phosphate. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
113. ^ “State-by-State Listing of Major U.S. Military Bases — Florida”. http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/statefacts/blfl.htm. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
114. ^ Ash, Jim (April 15, 2009). “Military-friendly bill cruise”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. pp. 9B.
115. ^ “Commodity Profile: Citrus” (PDF). Agricultural Issues Center, University of California. http://aic.ucdavis.edu/profiles/Citrus-2006.pdf. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
116. ^ “Crop Profile for Celery in Florida”. NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management, North Carolina State University. http://www.ipmcenters.org/cropprofiles/docs/FLCelery.html. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
117. ^ Price, Wayne T. (February 23, 2010). “Locals to protest fish regulation”. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. pp. 8C. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100223/BUSINESS/2230313/Locals-to-protest-fish-regulations. [dead link]
118. ^ Official website of ICUF
119. ^ Atherton, Blair (August 2006). “2005-2006 Accountability Report: Quality, Productivity, Diversity, and Access” (PDF). Archived from the original on 2007-09-25. http://web.archive.org/web/20070925205651/http://www.icuf.org/_docs/2005-2006_Acct_Report.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
120. ^ FHP State Road Listings. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
121. ^ 2005 figure; 2006 data not available.
122. ^ “2006 North America Airports Traffic Statistics”. Airports Council International. Archived from the original on 2007-11-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20071103200444/http://www.aci-na.org/asp/traffic.asp?art=215. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
123. ^ “Florida Sister City/Sister State Directory 2001″ (PDF). State of Florida. 2001. http://internationalaffairs.flgov.com/pdf/sister.pdf. Retrieved 2009-02-12.

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Independence day is celebrated with a holiday in the United States each year on the 4th of July. The actual holiday may vary depending on the day of the week which 4th of July falls.

“In Congress, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The signatures on the Declaration

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton”