Motto: Esse quam videri - To be, rather than to seem
Origin of state's name: Taken from "Carolus," the Latin word for Charles and named after England's King Charles I
Constitution: 12th State

Bird: Cardinal
Tree: Longleaf Pine (Pinus)
Flower: Dogwood Cornus florida
Song: The Old North State

Admission to Statehood: November 21, 1789
Capital City: Raleigh
Border States: Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia

Highest Point: Mt. Mitchell; 6,684 feet, 16th
Lowest Point: Atlantic coast; sea level, 3rd

Location: 35.821N, 078.658W
Area: 53821 sq.mi, 28th Land 48718 sq. mi., 29th Water 5103 sq.mi., 10th Coastline 301 mi., 7th Shoreline 3,375 mi., 6th
Geographic Center: Chatham, 10 miles northwest of Sanford

Agriculture: Poultry and eggs, tobacco, hogs, milk, nursery stock, cattle, soybeans
Industry: Tobacco products, textile goods, chemical products, electric equipment, machinery, tourism

Famous North Carolinians:
Braxton Bragg soldier, Warrenton
Robert C. Byrd, politicianNorth Wilkesboro
David Brinkley TV newscaster, Wilmington
Howard Cosell sportscaster, Winston-Salem
Elizabeth Hanford Dole public official, Salisbury
James B. Duke industrialist, Durham
Donna Fargo country music, Mount Airy
Roberta Flack singer, Black Mountain
Ava Gardner actress, Smithfield
Richard Gatling inventor, Hertford County
Billy Graham evangelist, Charlotte
Kathryn Grayson singer, actress, Winston-Salem
Andy Griffith actor, Mount Airy
Jesse Helms politician, Monroe
O. Henry writer, Greensboro
Andrew Johnson U.S. president, Raleigh
Charles Kuralt TV journalist, Wilmington
Dolley Payne Madison first lady, Guliford County
Ronni Milsap country music singer, Robinsville
Thelonious Monk pianist, Rocky Mount
Edward R. Murrow commentator, Greensboro
Floyd Patterson boxer, Waco
Richard Petty auto racer, Level Cross
James K. Polk U.S. president, Mechlenburg
William Sydney Porter author, Greensboro
Soupy Sales comedian, Wake Forest
Earl Scruggs bluegrass musician, Flint Hill
Randy Travis musician, Charlotte
John Scott Trotter orchestra leader, Charlotte
Thomas Clayton Wolfe author, Asheville
John Allan photographer/artist, Charlotte

Random Facts:
> Grandfather Mountain, highest peak in the Blue Ridge, is the only private park in the world designated by the United Nations as an International Biosphere Reserve.
> The first English colony in America was located on Roanoke Island. Walter Raleigh founded it. The colony mysteriously vanished with no trace except for the word "Croatoan" scrawled on a nearby tree.
> The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill is the oldest State University in the United States.
> In 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first successful powered flight by man at Kill Devil Hill near Kitty Hawk.
> Whitewater Falls in Transylvania County is the highest waterfall in the eastern United States.
> Cape Hatteras is the largest lighthouse ever to be moved due to erosion problems.
> North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the nation.
> Harker's Island hosts the annual Core Sound Decoy Festival in December.
> The World War II battleship 'North Carolina' is permanently berthed on the Cape Fear River at Wilmington. She was saved from the scrap heap in the 1960's by public subscription, including donations of dimes by schoolchildren.
> Krispy Kreme Doughnut was founded in Winston-Salem.
> The Venus Fly-Trap is native to Hampstead.
> The first miniature golf course was built in Fayetteville.
> Babe Ruth hit his first home run in Fayetteville on March 7, 1914.
> Winston-Salem was created when the two towns Winston and Salem combined.
> The Biltmore Estate in Ashville is America's largest home, and includes a 255-room chateau, an award-winning winery and extensive gardens.
> The first English child born in America was born in Roanoke in 1587. Her name was Virginia Dare.
> Fontana Dam is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States, at 480 feet high.
> North Carolina was the first state to declare independence from England with the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775.
> The Mile-High Swinging Bridge near Linville is 5,305 feet above sea level. The bridge actually hangs about 80 feet above the ground.
> Pepsi was invented and first served in New Bern in 1898.
> Beech Mountain is Eastern America's highest town at 5,506ft above sea level.
> North Carolina leads the nation in furniture, tobacco, brick, and textile production.
> North Carolina was the first state in the nation to establish a state museum of art.
> North Carolina was one of the first states in the U.S. to establish a state symphony. (1943)
> North Carolina has the largest state-maintained highway system in the United States. The state's highway system currently has 77,400 miles of roads.
> The General Assembly of 1987 adopted milk as the official state beverage.
> The oldest town in the state is Bath, incorporated in 1705.
> North Carolina has 1,500 lakes of 10 acres or more in size and 37,000 miles of fresh water streams.