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South Carolina is a state in the Southern region of the United States . The Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution . It was the first state to secede from the Union to found the Confederate States of America . The state is named after King Charles II of England , as Carolus is Latin for Charles. As of 2004 , the state's population is 4,198,068.
Several ships in the United States Navy have been named USS South Carolina in honor of this state.
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Map of South Carolina
South Carolina is bounded to the north by North Carolina ; to the south and west by Georgia , located across the Savannah River ; and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean .
South Carolina is composed of four geographic areas, whose boundaries roughly parallel the northeast/southwest Atlantic coastline. The lower part of the state is the Coastal Plain , also known as the Lowcountry , which is nearly flat and composed entirely of recent sediments such as sand, silt, and clay. Areas with better drainage make excellent farmland, though some land is swampy. The coastline contains many salt marshes and estuaries , as well as natural ports such as Georgetown and Charleston. An unusual feature of the coastal plain is a large number of Carolina bays , the origins of which are uncertain, though one prominent theory suggests that they were created by a meteor shower. The bays tend to be oval, lining up in a northwest to southeast orientation.
| Palmetto State | |
| State Capital: | Columbia |
| State Motto : | While I breathe I hope |
| State Song : | " Carolina " |
| State Tree : | Sabal Palmetto |
| State Flower : | Yellow Jessamine |
| State Bird : | Carolina Wren |
| State Wild Game Bird: | Wild Turkey |
| State Dog: | Boykin Spaniel |
| State Animal : | White-tailed Deer |
| State Reptile: | Loggerhead Sea Turtle |
| State Amphibian: | Spotted Salamander |
| State Fish : | Striped Bass |
| State Insect : | Carolina Mantid |
| State Butterfly : | Eastern tiger swallowtail |
| State Fruit : | Peach |
| State Beverage: | Milk |
| State Hospitality Beverage: | Tea |
| State Gemstone : | Amethyst |
| State Stone : | Blue Granite |
| State Popular Music: | Beach Music |
| State Dance : | Shag |
| State Snack : | Boiled Peanuts |
| State Craft : | Sweetgrass Basket Weaving |
Just west of the coastal plain is the Sand Hills region, which is thought to contain remnants of old coastal dunes from a time when the land was sunken or the oceans were higher.
The Piedmont (Upstate) region contains the roots of an ancient, eroded mountain chain. It tends to be hilly, with thin, stony clay soils, and contains few areas suitable for farming. Much of the Piedmont was once farmed, with little success, and is now reforested. At the edge of the Piedmont is the fall line , where rivers drop to the coastal plain. The fall line was an important early source of water power, and mills built to harness this resource encouraged the growth of several cities, including the capital, Columbia. The larger rivers are navigable up to the fall line, providing a trade route for mill towns.
The upper part of the Piedmont is also known as the Foothills . The Cherokee Parkway is a scenic driving route through this area.
Highest in elevation is the Upcountry , containing an escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains , which continue into North Carolina and Georgia, as part of the southern Appalachian chain. Sassafras Mountain , South Carolina's highest point at 3,560 feet (1,085 m ) is located in this area. Also located in the Upcountry is Table Rock State Park and Caesar's Head State Park. The Chattooga River , located on the border between South Carolina and Georgia, is a favorite whitewater rafting destination.
Areas under the management of the National Park Service include:
See: List of South Carolina counties .
Main article: History of South Carolina
The colony of Carolina was settled by English settlers, mostly from Barbados , sent by the Lords Proprietors in 1670, followed by French Huguenots . The Carolina upcountry was settled largely by Scotch-Irish migrants from Pennsylvania and Virginia , following the Great Wagon Road . North Carolina was split off in 1712. Carolina became a royal colony in 1729. The state declared its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government on March 15 , 1776 . On February 5 , 1778 , South Carolina became the first state to ratify the first constitution of the United States, the Articles of Confederation . South Carolina became the 8th state on May 23, 1788.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the United States on December 20 , 1860 towards forming the Confederate States of America . President James Buchanan took little action, preferring to let the newly elected President Abraham Lincoln decide the matter. On April 12 , 1861 , Confederate batteries began shelling Fort Sumter , which stands on an island in Charleston harbor, thus precipitating the Civil War . Students from The Citadel were among those firing the first shots of the war, though Edmund Ruffin is usually credited with firing the first shot.
After the American Civil War , South Carolina was reincorporated into the United States during Reconstruction . The state became a hotbed of racial and economic controversy during the Populist and Agrarian movements of the late 1800s.
In the 20th century, South Carolina developed a thriving textile industry, converted its agricultural base from cotton to more profitable crops, attracted large military bases and, most recently, attracted European manufacturers.
| 1790 | 249,073 |
| 1800 | 345,591 |
| 1810 | 415,115 |
| 1820 | 502,741 |
| 1830 | 581,185 |
| 1840 | 594,398 |
| 1850 | 668,507 |
| 1860 | 703,708 |
| 1870 | 705,606 |
| 1880 | 995,577 |
| 1890 | 1,151,149 |
| 1900 | 1,340,316 |
| 1910 | 1,515,400 |
| 1920 | 1,683,724 |
| 1930 | 1,738,765 |
| 1940 | 1,899,804 |
| 1950 | 2,117,027 |
| 1960 | 2,382,594 |
| 1970 | 2,590,516 |
| 1980 | 3,121,820 |
| 1990 | 3,486,703 |
| 2000 | 4,012,012 |
According to the U.S. Census Bureau , as of 2005, South Carolina has an estimated population of 4,255,083, which is an increase of 57,191, or 1.4%, from the prior year and an increase of 243,267, or 6.1%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 97,715 people (that is 295,425 births minus 197,710 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 151,485 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 36,401 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 115,084 people.
| AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native - NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | |||||
| 2000 (total population) | 68.88% | 30.01% | 0.69% | 1.13% | 0.10% |
| 2000 (hispanic only) | 2.05% | 0.26% | 0.05% | 0.03% | 0.00% |
| 2005 (total population) | 69.12% | 29.68% | 0.69% | 1.31% | 0.10% |
| 2005 (hispanic only) | 2.95% | 0.27% | 0.06% | 0.04% | 0.02% |
| Growth 2000-2005 (total population) | 6.43% | 4.89% | 6.09% | 23.49% | 13.76% |
| Growth 2000-2005 (non-hispanic only) | 5.01% | 4.87% | 4.61% | 23.16% | 10.36% |
| Growth 2000-2005 (hispanic only) | 52.78% | 7.64% | 23.97% | 34.25% | 0.0% |
South Carolina Population Density Map
The five largest ancestry groups in South Carolina are African American (29.5%), American (13.9%), German (8.4%), English (8.4%), Irish (7.9%). It is probable that most of those claiming American ancestry are descended from the early Scots-Irish settlers of the upstate region.
For most of its history, black slaves made up a majority of South Carolina's population. African-Americans still dominate most of the Lowcountry (especially the inland Lowcountry) and much of the Piedmont; areas where cotton , rice , and indigo plantations once dominated the landscape. Whites, primarily of American and British ancestry, live in much of the upstate and in certain urban and suburban areas.
6.6% of South Carolina's population were reported as under 5, 25.2% under 18, and 12.1% were 65 or older.
Females made up approximately 51.4% of the population.
South Carolina, like most other Southern states, is overwhelmingly Protestant Christian, and has a significantly lower percentage of non-religious people than the national average. The religious affiliations of the people of South Carolina are as follows:
As of 2004, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, South Carolina's gross state product was $136 billion. As of 2000, the per capita income was $24,000, which was 81% of the national average.
Major agricultural outputs of the state are: tobacco, poultry, cattle, dairy products, soybeans, and hogs. Industrial outputs include: textile goods, chemical products, paper products, machinery, and tourism.
Gossypium hirsutum The state sales tax is 5 percent. Counties have the option to impose an additional 2 percent sales tax. [1] Citizens 85 or older get a one-percent exclusion from the state's 5 percent sales tax. Property tax is administered and collected by local governments with assistance from the South Carolina Department of Revenue. Both real and personal property are subject to tax. Approximately two-thirds of county-levied property taxes are used for the support of public education. The passage of a recent state law will replace local property tax funding of education with a statewide 1% sales tax increase. Sales tax on groceries will be reduced to 3%. Municipalities levy a tax on property situated within the limits of the municipality for services provided by the municipality. The tax is paid by individuals, corporations and partnerships owning property within the state. South Carolina imposes a casual excise tax of 5 percent on the fair market value of all motor vehicles, motorcycles, boats, motors and airplanes transferred between individuals. The maximum casual excise tax is $300. In South Carolina, intangible personal property is exempt from taxation. There is no inheritance tax .
This section is a stub . You can help by adding to it .
Major interstate highways passing through the state include: I-20 , I-26 , I-77 , I-85 , and I-95 .
Amtrak passes through Columbia, Greenville, Spartanburg, Florence, and Charleston.
Commercial airports are located in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville/Spartanburg, Florence, Myrtle Beach, and Hilton Head Island.
South Carolina State House
South Carolina's state government consists of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. The governor is elected for a four-year term and may serve two consecutive terms. He heads the Executive branch (some officers of which are elected). The current governor is Mark Sanford. The bicameral South Carolina General Assembly consists of the 46-member Senate and the 124-member House of Representatives. The two bodies meet in the South Carolina State House . The Judicial Branch consists of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Circuit Court, Family Court, and other divisions.
The Family Court deals with all matters of domestic and family relationships, as well as generally maintaining exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving minors under the age of seventeen, excepting traffic and game law violations. Some criminal charges may come under Circuit Court jurisdiction.
The Circuit Court is the general jurisdiction court for South Carolina, comprised of the Civil Court, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of General Sessions, which is the criminal court. The court maintains limited appellate jurisdiction over the Probate Court, Magistrate's Court, Municipal Court, and the Administrative Law Judge Division. The state has sixteen judicial circuits, each with at least one resident circuit judge.
The Court of Appeals handles Circuit Court and Family Court appeals, excepting appeals that are within the seven classes of exclusive Supreme Court jurisdiction. The Court of Appeals is selected by the General Assembly for staggered, six-year terms. The court is comprised of a chief judge, and eight associate judges, and may hear cases as the whole court, or as three panels with three judges each. The court may preside in any county.
The Supreme Court is South Carolina's highest court. Comprised of the Chief Justice, and four Associate Justices, Supreme Court judges are elected to ten year terms by the General Assembly. Terms are staggered, and there are no limits on the number of terms a justice may serve, but there is a mandatory retirement age of 72. The overwhelming majority of vacancies on the Court occur when Justices reach this age, not through the refusal of the General Assembly to elect a sitting Justice to another term.
See also List of Governors of South Carolina
The capital is Columbia . Other notable cities are Anderson , Charleston , Florence , Greenville , Myrtle Beach , Rock Hill , and Spartanburg .
Coastal towns and cities often have hurricane resistant Live oaks overarching the streets in historic neighborhoods, such as these on East Bay Street, Georgetown
This section is a stub . You can help by adding to it .
South Carolina is one of few states that still adhere to blue laws , one of which disallows the sale of alcohol on Sunday. Counties and cities can apply referendum to overtun this. Some places that have include Richland County, Charleston County, and the Orangeburg County travel destination of Santee. Bars within a certain distance of a church cannot sell hard liquor. Before 2006, bars could not serve hard liquor from 'free-pour' bottles, but had to stock airline-style mini-bottles.
It is illegal in South Carolina to be 'grossly intoxicated' in public. The police can arrest a person and charge him or her with public disorderly conduct if they believe this is the case, and there seems to be no legal definition of grossly intoxicated for a pedestrian . This is a misdemeanor offense, resulting in a court hearing and probably a night in a jail cell. Within the state, this charge can be expunged from an offender's criminal record if she enters the Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) program. Entering the PTI program, which typically requires about two months to complete, involves fines, community service, drug tests, attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and completing homework assignments. However, the PTI program is not recognized by the Federal Government .
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Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
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News stories from Wikinews
Capital City/Lake Murray Country | Grand Strand | Historic Charleston | Midlands | Old 96 District | Olde English District | Pee Dee | Piedmont | Sandhills | Santee Cooper Country | South Carolina Low Country | Metrolina | Thoroughbred Country | The Upstate |
Columbia | Charleston | North Charleston | Rock Hill | Mount Pleasant | Greenville |
Abbeville | Aiken | Allendale | Anderson | Bamberg | Barnwell | Beaufort | Berkeley | Calhoun | Charleston | Cherokee | Chester | Chesterfield | Clarendon | Colleton | Darlington | Dillon | Dorchester | Edgefield | Fairfield | Florence | Georgetown | Greenville | Greenwood | Hampton | Horry | Jasper | Kershaw | Lancaster | Laurens | Lee | Lexington | Marion | Marlboro | McCormick | Newberry | Oconee | Orangeburg | Pickens | Richland | Saluda | Spartanburg | Sumter | Union | Williamsburg | York |
