What states border North Carolina?

North Carolina borders four states: Virginia to the north, South Carolina to the south, Georgia to the southwest, and Tennessee to the west. The Atlantic Ocean forms its eastern boundary.

How big is North Carolina?

North Carolina covers approximately 48,638 square miles of land across 100 counties, making it the 28th largest U.S. state by area.

What are the major regions on the North Carolina map?

North Carolina is divided into three classical regions running west to east: the Mountains (Blue Ridge / Appalachian highlands), the Piedmont (rolling central hills with the largest metros), and the Coastal Plain (flat eastern lowlands extending to the Atlantic).

Map of North Carolina — State Map with Cities, Regions & Bordering States

Q: Where is North Carolina on the map?

North Carolina is in the southeastern United States, between Virginia to the north and South Carolina and Georgia to the south. It borders Tennessee to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

North Carolina at a glance

North Carolina is the 9th most populous U.S. state and the 28th largest by area, covering roughly 48,638 square miles of land. It stretches about 500 miles east-to-west, from the highest peaks of the Appalachian Mountains on the Tennessee border to the barrier-island chain of the Outer Banks on the Atlantic. The state is divided into 100 counties, a number that has been unchanged since 1911.

Where is North Carolina on the map?

North Carolina sits in the southeastern United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The state's capital is Raleigh (Wake County); its largest city is Charlotte (Mecklenburg County).

The three regions of North Carolina

Cartographers and geographers divide the state into three classical regions, each clearly visible on the map:

Mountains (23 counties) — the Blue Ridge and Appalachian highlands of the west. Mount Mitchell (6,684 ft) in Yancey County is the highest peak east of the Mississippi.
Piedmont (37 counties) — the rolling central plateau between the mountains and the Coastal Plain. Contains Charlotte, the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), and the Triad (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point).
Coastal Plain (40 counties) — the broad, flat eastern lowlands stretching to the Atlantic. The "Inner Coastal Plain" is agricultural; the "Outer Coastal Plain" (or Tidewater) includes the sounds and barrier islands.

Major cities on the NC map

The map's largest population concentrations are clustered along the I-85 and I-40 corridors through the Piedmont. From west to east, the major cities visible on a North Carolina map are Asheville (Mountains), Charlotte, Gastonia, Hickory, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Raleigh (Piedmont), and Fayetteville, Greenville, New Bern, Wilmington (Coastal Plain). The full list of NC cities includes 50+ municipalities mapped to their counties.

Largest counties by area

The five largest North Carolina counties by land area are all in the east and far west — large rural counties with low population density:

Robeson County — 949 sq mi (Coastal Plain)
Sampson County — 945 sq mi (Coastal Plain)
Columbus County — 937 sq mi (Coastal Plain)
Bladen County — 874 sq mi (Coastal Plain)
Pender County — 871 sq mi (Coastal Plain)

Using this map

The interactive map above is built from U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files (1:500,000 scale) and renders identically on desktop and mobile. Hover a county for a quick-fact tooltip; click to open the full county page with population, seat, region, area, and a localized map view. Counties are colored by region — green for Mountains, gold for Piedmont, blue for Coastal Plain.