South Carolina

• State Capitol: Columbia City
• Largest City: Columbia
• Nickname: The Palmetto State
• State Bird: Great Carolina Wren
• State Tree: Cabbage Palmetto
• State Flower: Yellow Jessamine
• Land Area: 32,000 square miles
• Motto: While I breathe, I hope

How South Carolina Got Its Name: King Charles I of England granted the land on which South Carolina is located to Sir Robert Heath in 1629. The region was named Carolus, a word derived from the Latin form of Charles, in reference to King Charles. His son, King Charles II, changed the spelling of the regions name to Carolina in 1663, when he gave the land to the eight Lords Proprietors. During the 17th century the land to the south, in this grant, came to be called South Carolina and the area to the north, North Carolina . The two sections remained a single colony until they separated in 1710. The name of the land located to the south remained South Carolina. [1]

In the 2000 census, South Carolina tallied just over 4-million residents.

The most populous cities in South Carolina are: Columbia (state capitol and Richland County Seat), Charleston, North Charlestown, Mount Pleasant, Greenville, Sumter, Spartanburg, Summerville, and Hilton Head Island.

1. State of South Carolina, www.sc.gov, accessed May, 2007