South Carolina

I

Introduction

South Carolina, state in the southeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. In colonial days, the state was part of a vast region that Charles I, king of England, granted to Sir Robert Heath in 1629. The region was named Carolana, a word derived from the Latin form of Charles, in reference to the monarch. His son, Charles II, changed the spelling of the region’s name to Carolina in 1663. During the 17th century the area now covered by the present state came to be called South Carolina and the area to the north became North Carolina. The two sections remained a single colony until the British divided it into two in 1729. Nevertheless, the two areas have continued to be referred to as the Carolinas. On May 23, 1788, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.

South Carolina remained primarily an agricultural state until the early decades of the 20th century, when manufacturing, particularly the textile industry, developed as the leading economic activity. Nevertheless, agriculture continued to rank as an important activity. The state’s farm output, especially its production of cotton, still provides raw materials for many of its manufacturing activities. While the production of textiles remains important to the economy, manufacturing has become more diversified since the 1960s. The modern shift in emphasis from agriculture to industry has been paralleled by a shift in population from rural to urban areas. Columbia is South Carolina’s capital and largest city.

The state’s most popular, although unofficial, nickname is the Palmetto State. The palmetto, which grows abundantly in coastal areas, is the state tree and appears on the state seal and the state flag.

II

Physical Geography

South Carolina ranks 40th in size among the states, with an area of 82,931 sq km (32,020 sq mi), including 2,611 sq km (1,008 sq mi) of inland water and 186 sq km (72 sq mi) of coastal waters over which it has jurisdiction. The maximum distance, from east to west, is 439 km (273 mi) and its maximum extent north to south is 352 km (219 mi). The state’s mean elevation is 110 m (350 ft).

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A

Natural Regions

South Carolina includes portions of three major natural regions, or physiographic provinces, of the eastern United States: the Atlantic portion of the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont (see Piedmont Plateau), and the Blue Ridge provinces.

The Coastal Plain in South Carolina is usually divided into the Inner and Outer plains. The Inner Coastal Plain, inland from the coast, is a region of rolling topography. The Outer Coastal Plain, along the coast, is flat and broken by many rivers and streams. The Outer Coastal Plain is often referred to as the low country, and the Piedmont and the Blue Ridge provinces are known together as the upcountry. The Fall Line separates the Coastal Plain from the Piedmont. On or near this line, rapids occur in all the major rivers as they pass from the harder metamorphic rock of the upland region to the more easily eroded clays and shales of the Coastal Plain.

The Atlantic Coastal Plain occupies about two-thirds of the state. Included within the region are the Sea Islands, a chain of small and often marshy islands that lie along the coast. Near the coast, the land is flat and often swampy, and the soils are generally sandy and infertile. Except for an important truck-crop growing region south of Charleston, little farming is practiced, and forests of longleaf pines cover large areas. Farther inland, the land has better natural drainage and rises gently to 150 m (500 ft) in the rolling Red Hills and Sandhills (or Sand Hills). The soils of the Inner Plain before rising into the Sandhills are more fertile than along the coast, and much cotton and soybeans are grown.

The Piedmont is an upland area that rises gradually northwestward from 120 m (400 ft) above sea level near the Fall Line to 370 m (1,200 ft) along the northwestern edge. The Lower Piedmont formerly was an important cotton-growing area, but most crop production has ceased and the region is now typified by forests and pasture. The Upper Piedmont contains a belt of many manufacturing establishments.

The Blue Ridge province, in northwestern South Carolina, occupies less than 2 percent of the state’s total area. It is a mountainous and mainly forested region. Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in the state, rises 1,085 m (3,560 ft) above sea level in this region.

B

Rivers and Lakes

All the major rivers in South Carolina flow generally southeastward across the state to the Atlantic Ocean. The three principal rivers are the Santee, Great Pee Dee, and Savannah rivers. The Santee River, 230 km (143 mi) long, is the longest river entirely within the state. It is formed by the junction of two headstreams, the Wateree River (known in its upper reaches as the Catawba River) and the Congaree River, which, in turn, is formed by the junction of the Broad and Saluda rivers. The Great Pee Dee River, which rises as the Yadkin River in North Carolina, flows through eastern South Carolina to the ocean. Its principal tributaries include the Lynches and Little Pee Dee rivers. The Savannah River, which is formed by the junction of the Seneca and Tugaloo rivers in northwestern South Carolina, together with two of its tributaries, the Tugaloo and Chattooga rivers, forms most of the South Carolina-Georgia state line.

There are no large natural lakes in South Carolina, but a number of large lakes have been created behind power dams on the major rivers.

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