18 interesting facts about South Carolina

  1. South Carolina is bordered 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.
  2. South Carolina contains 46 counties and its capital is Columbia.
  3. Total Area: 40th among states, 80,779 sq km (31,189 sq mi).
  4. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution.
  5. The first engagement of the American Civil War occurred at Fort Sumter in 1861.
  6. The colony was originally named in honor of King Charles I, as Carolus is Latin for Charles.
  7. The Saint Cecilia Society, organized in 1767, sponsored America's first symphony orchestra.
  8. South Carolina was the first state to vote to secede from the Union and was the founding state of the Confederate States of America.
  9. South Carolina grows more peaches than any other state except California.
  10. According to an estimate by the United States Census Bureau, the state's population in 2009 was 4,561,242 and ranked 24th among the U.S. states.
  11. There is a place called Table Rock State Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains. According to Indian legend, a gigantic chieftain dined at the "table" high above ordinary mortals.
  12. South Carolina, like most other Southern states, has a Protestant Christian majority, and a lower percentage of non-religious people than the national average.
  13. South Carolina was first settled by the Spanish in 1566 and later became an English colony.
  14. Sephardic Jews have lived in the state for more than 300 years, especially in and around Charleston.
  15. Until about 1830, South Carolina had the largest population of Jews in North America.
  16. In 1830, the first U.S. Steam locomotive built for railroad use was put into service in the state.
  17. Major agricultural outputs of the state are: tobacco, poultry, cattle, dairy products, soybeans, rice and hogs.
  18. The first American library house in a separate building was constructed in 1840 at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
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