The state of North Carolina is found within the Southeastern United States. This state borders Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west and Georgia and South Carolina to the south. There are 100 counties within North Carolina. The biggest city is Charlotte and the capital city is Raleigh. North Carolina's financial system has undergone various changes within the last 50 years. They have diversified, shifting their reliance on furniture and tobacco to an emphasis on biotechnology, engineering and finance.
In North Carolina, there are many various elevation changes. Mount Mitchell is the highest point within the state and within the Eastern area within the United States. The peak of the mountain towers 2037 m or 6684 feet above sea level. The coastal plains within the east are strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the state lies in a humid subtropical type of weather. The western part of North Carolina is more than three hundred miles from the coast. This mountainous region has a subtropical highland type of weather.
Throughout the time between the years 2008 and 2009, the state of North Carolina was the 8th fastest growing state according to population in the USA and as well, was the fastest growing state east of the Mississippi River.
Statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis record the state's 2008 gross state product as $400.2 billion. This placed North Carolina as the 9th wealthiest in terms of Gross Domestic Product or GDP. The 2007 personal income per capita was $33,735, placing it 36th within the nation.
The state of North Carolina gives agricultural outputs comprising milk, tobacco, poultry and eggs, cattle, soybeans, sweet potatoes, nursery stock and hogs. Recently, the state has been affected by industrial growth and off-shoring in nations like for example China. Approximately 1 in 5 manufacturing jobs has been lost to competition from overseas.
The economic growth of North Carolina's urban and rural areas has been distinctly different. Many of the state's small towns have suffered from loss of jobs and population, whilst big cities like Raleigh, Greensboro and Charlotte have undergone fast population and economic growth during the past 30 years. A lot of the state's small towns traditionally developed around textile and furniture factories. Once these factories closed and moved to low-wage markets in Latin America and Asia, the small towns which depended upon them suffered significantly.