South Carolina is a state of the United States of America and,
like North Carolina, was named
after the Latin name Carolus for the English King Charles I.
South Carolina's nickname is Palmetto State. The region that
currently constitutes South Carolina was initially part of the
English colony of Carolina, named in honor of King Charles II of
England (in Latin Charles is Carolus). In 1712, the Carolina
colony separated into two: North Carolina and South Carolina.
South Carolina was one of the Thirteen Colonies that
rebelled against British rule in the American War of
Independence. South Carolina became the eighth state of the
Union on May 23, 1788. It was the first state to secede from the
Union, on December 20, 1860, after the election of Abraham
Lincoln, to found the Confederate States of America. The
American Civil War began in South Carolina on April 12, 1861,
when Confederate troops invaded Fort Sumter. After the end of
the war, the state would be readmitted back into the Union on
June 25, 1868.
South Carolina's nickname, The Palmetto
State, originated during the Revolutionary War. Palmetto is an
English word that in Spanish means palm tree. At the beginning
of the revolution, British forces unsuccessfully attempted to
capture Fort Moultrie made of palm tree trunks, abundant in the
state. The next day, the commander of the fort, seeing a British
warship on fire, commented that the smoke emitted by the burning
ship resembled a palm tree.
Blue Ridge Mountains, the extreme northwestern tip of South Carolina,
above Highway 85
Piedmont, the sprawling highlands of northwest South
Carolina
Coastal Plain, roughly everything southeast of Highways 1+20
and Columbia.
Congaree National Park is situated in Richland County, Florida in United States. This nature reserve covers an area of 21,867.02 acres.
Fort Sumter is a famous site where first shorts of the Civil War were fired in 1861. It is located Charleston County, SC.
The state's main airports are Charleston (CHS), Greenville-Spartanburg
(GSP) and Myrtle Beach (MYR). None of them are directly accessible from
Europe. Much larger is Charlotte Douglas Airport (CLT), which is in
North Carolina but only a few kilometers from the state border and can
be reached with direct flights from Europe. If you want to go all the
way to the south of South Carolina, you can fly to Savannah in
Georgia
(SAV).
Amtrak's Palmetto, Silver Star, and Silver Meteor
long-distance rail lines run through South Carolina, connecting New York
and Washington to the Atlantic coasts of Georgia and Florida, sometimes
overnight. They hold i.a. in Charleston, Columbia and Florence. For
example, the drive from Savannah (Georgia) to Charleston takes 1½ hours,
from Orlando or Richmond (Virginia) a good seven hours, from Washington
just under 9½ hours, from New York over 13 hours and from Miami 15
hours.
South Carolina is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the
east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the southwest by Georgia. The South
Carolina coastline has an extension of about 301 kilometers. Counting
all regions bathed by the sea - bays, estuaries and oceanic islands,
this number increases to 4628 kilometers. The main river in South
Carolina is the Santee River, whose watershed covers about 40% of the
state. It is also the longest river in the state. Other major rivers in
South Carolina are the Pee Dee and the Savannah, respectively the second
and third longest rivers in South Carolina. The state does not have any
large natural lakes. The state's largest lakes were created through
dams. The largest lake in South Carolina is Lake Marion, created by a
dam opened in 1942. Forests cover about 65% of the state.
South
Carolina can be considered divided into three distinct geographic
regions:
The Blue Range forms a narrow strip of land that covers
the northwestern tip of South Carolina. It has the highest and most
rugged terrain in the state — although not as high as the Blue Ridge
region of North Carolina. This region has several peaks with more than
800 meters of altitude, but they rarely exceed a thousand meters of
altitude. The highest point in the state, Sassafras Peak, reaches 1083
meters in altitude.
The Piedmont covers most of the northwestern
region of South Carolina. It is characterized by being the roots of an
ancient eroded mountain range. In South Carolina, the Piedmont tends to
be covered with mountains with fine, infertile and very rocky soils,
with few regions conducive to the practice of agriculture. The altitude
of the Piedmont gradually decreases as one travels from the Blue Ridge
toward the coast, from 600 meters near the Blue Ridge to about 150
meters along the Coastal Plains. Much of the Piedmont has already been
cultivated before, although without much success. Currently, most of the
formerly cultivated areas of the Piedmont are being reforested.
The
Atlantic Coastal Plains cover the rest of South Carolina. The border
between the Coastal Plains and the Piedmont is called the fall line,
where the altitude between the Piedmont region and the Plains drops
drastically, leading to the formation of various waterfalls and
waterfalls. The Coastal Plains are flat and have few geographical
features, and are composed of recent sediments (mainly sand). Various
swamps are located in these plains. The soil of the region is very
fertile.
South Carolina has a subtropical climate, with mild winters and very
hot summers. The average temperature of the state, throughout the year,
drops as you travel north, and from the coast towards the interior. The
highest temperatures are recorded in the extreme south, and the lowest
temperatures are recorded in the extreme northwest.
In winter,
average temperatures vary between 11°C in the south and 5°C in the
northwest. The average minimum is 8°C in the south and 2°C in the
northwest, and the average maximum is 16°C in the south and 12°C in the
northwest. The extremes vary between -20 °C and 26 °C. The lowest
temperature recorded in the state was -28 °C, in Caesars Head, on
January 21, 1985.
During summer, average temperatures vary
between 27°C in the south and 22°C in the northwest. The average minimum
is 24°C in the south and 19°C in the northwest, and the average maximum
is 32°C in the south and 31°C in the northwest. The extremes vary
between 10 °C and 40 °C. The highest temperature recorded in the state
was 44 ° C, recorded three times in the history of South Carolina: on
September 4, 1925, in Blacksville, on September 8 of the same year, in
Calhoun Falls and in Camden, on June 28, 1954.
Average annual
rainfall rates are 114 centimeters statewide. These rates reach 180
centimeters in the Blue Mountains region. The average annual snowfall
rates in the state are 18 centimeters, also in the Blue Mountains, and
less than two centimeters annually in the rest of the state.
About 30 different Native American tribes lived in the region that is
now South Carolina at the time of the first European explorers arrived
in the region. Of these tribes, the most important were the Catawba
(part of the Siouan Native American group), the Cherokee, and the
Yamasee (Muskhogean). The first humans to settle in present-day South
Carolina are believed to have done so about 15,000 years ago.
The
first European explorer to sight and land in present-day South Carolina
was the Spanish Rubén Laboy, in 1521. Five years later, in 1526, another
Spaniard, Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón, founded the first European settlement
in the territory that currently constitutes USA. This settlement was
named by Ayllón as San Miguel de Guadalupe and was founded with 600
expedition members. San Miguel de Guadalupe would be abandoned the
following year, in 1527. The South Carolina region would be claimed by
the Spanish and the French throughout the 16th century. The French made
several attempts to colonize the region, which failed due to the
hostility of local indigenous tribes and a lack of supplies.
England claimed present-day South Carolina at the beginning of the 17th
century. In 1629, King Charles I of England ceded the southern Thirteen
Colonies to Robert Heath. This colony included the regions that
currently constitute North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and
Tennessee. Heath named this colony Carolana, a Latin word meaning 'Land
of Charles'.
In 1663, King Charles II of England confiscated the province of
Carolina from Heath's descendants, and ceded the colony to eight
"lords"—known as Lords Proprietors—who would jointly administer the
province of Carolina. Charles II did it to reward said lords, who had
supported his rise to power. The province of Carolina was divided into
three counties: Albermarle (northern present-day North Carolina and
Tennessee), Clarendon (present-day Cape Fear), and Craven (present-day
South Carolina and Georgia). Clarendon County would last until 1667,
when it was merged with Albermarle County. The first English settlement
in present-day South Carolina would be founded in 1670, at Albermarle
Point. Ten years later, in 1680, settlers from this settlement moved to
the Oyster Point region. The new settlement founded there was called
Charles Town, a name that would be changed to the current Charleston in
1783.
The South Carolina region continued to be claimed by the
Spanish and French until the 1730s. During this period, English
colonists were forced to defend themselves from various attacks by
Spanish and French forces during the War of the Spanish Succession,
between 1710 and 1713, and various indigenous and pirate attacks. The
growing economic and political differences between the population of
Albermarle and Craven counties finally caused the dissolution of the
province of Carolina, in 1712. In its place, two distinct colonial
provinces were founded: North Carolina and South Carolina, in which were
formerly Albermarle and Craven counties. Both colonies continued to be
administered by the lords proprietors.
The lords, who had only
political and economic interests in the region, did little to help the
colonists during the Spanish, French, indigenous and pirate attacks, a
fact that greatly displeased the population. Furthermore, the lords did
not allow the colonists to elect their governors. These lords were
deposed in 1719, after rejecting proposed laws created by the state's
population that same year. South Carolina then became a royal colony,
governed by a governor chosen by the monarch of the United Kingdom. The
British monarch of the time, King George I of England, did this in an
attempt to please the population of South Carolina, since the colony
acted as the first defense barrier against Spanish invasions from the
south, especially from Florida. In 1732, the southern part separated
into a separate colony, Georgia.
South Carolina, since the 1700s,
had prospered with the cultivation of rice in the region. From the
mid-1730s, cotton also became widely grown in the region. Cotton was
primarily exported to other countries. Selling cotton at competitive
prices required a lot of cheap labor. This is how thousands of people
were forcibly brought from the African continent to work as slaves. With
the expansion of the cultivated area from the coast to the interior,
more and more settlers and slaves settled in the region. In 1775, South
Carolina had about 175,000 inhabitants. Of these, 100,000 were white and
75,000 were black.
During the 1760s, a series of laws passed by
the United Kingdom, which instituted various taxes or diminished the
independence of the Thirteen Colonies in relation to the metropolis,
displeased the majority of the population, which until then was, in its
majority, loyal to the British. After the institution of these laws, the
population of South Carolina was divided into two groups: the Whigs, who
supported the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, and the Torys,
loyal to the British crown.
The American Revolutionary War began in 1775. Most of South Carolina
would be conquered by the British at the start of the war. The largest
city in South Carolina at the time, Charleston, was in the hands of the
colonists, and would be attacked for the first time by British troops in
June 1776. The city's colonists defeated these troops at the Battle of
Sullivan Island. The British invaded the city of Charleston again in
1779, successfully taking the city in 1780. American troops, under the
command of General Horatio Gates, attempted to gain control of South
Carolina in 1780, starting from North Carolina, but were forced to
retreat after being defeated at the Battle of Camden. It was in 1781
when a new American force, commanded by General Nathanael Greene,
invaded South Carolina and forced the British to retreat towards
Virginia. Charleston would remain under British control until 1782. In
total, nearly 200 battles and conflicts took place between colonial
troops and militias and British troops.
After the independence of
the United States, in 1783, South Carolina would ratify the Constitution
of the United States of America, on May 23, 1788, becoming the 8th state
of the Union.
South Carolina's economy depended primarily on
cotton exports to European countries. Because of this, the state
government supported free trade between countries, and opposed the
adoption of customs tariffs. Various customs tariffs were adopted in the
country during the 1800s and 1810s. In 1819, the country suffered an
economic recession. The South Carolina government then alleged that
customs tariffs were the cause of this recession. South Carolina
pressured the government to remove these tariffs, but without success.
In 1828, the United States government decided to implement new
customs tariffs, which drastically increased the rates on the vast
majority of products imported into the country. The then Vice President
of the United States, John C. Calhoun, a native South Carolinian, stated
that no state in the United States was required to accept a law adopted
by the federal government when the state government considered it
unconstitutional. After the adoption of a further customs tariff, in
1832, the state passed an Act, known as the Order of Annulment, where
the state explicitly rejected the federal law. The federal government
threatened to send troops to South Carolina to force customs duties to
be collected. The issue reached the United States Congress, which
created a new system of customs tariffs, which replaced the old ones.
The new customs rates, which came into force in 1833, were significantly
lower than the old ones. Therefore, South Carolina vacated its Annulment
Order that same year.
During the 1830s, the movement for the
abolition of slave labor began to grow in the industrialized northern
states of the United States, while the South, dependent on agrarian
industry, favored the use of slave labor. In 1850, South Carolina
threatened to secede from the rest of the country because of the
national debate over slave labor — whether or not it should be allowed
in the new territories in the West. However, without the support of the
remaining southern states, South Carolina did not secede.
In 1860, the abolitionist Republican Abraham Lincoln won the
presidential election that year. South Carolina, fearing that Lincoln
would definitively abolish slavery in the country, decided to secede
from the United States. The state did so on December 20 of that year,
becoming the first American state to secede from the rest of the
country. Later, ten other states would also secede from the United
States, and immediately join together to form the Confederate States of
America.
The American Civil War began in South Carolina on April
12, 1861, when Confederate troops began the attack on Fort Sumter, a
Union fort in Confederate territory, near Charleston. The next day, the
troops inside the fort surrendered. The United States, later after the
start of the war, blocked South Carolina's access to the sea, through
the naval blockade of the state's main ports. This ruined South
Carolina's economy. Union troops commanded by William T. Sherman invaded
South Carolina in 1865, burning a large number of plantations throughout
the state. By the end of the war, nearly 65,000 South Carolina men had
fought alongside the Confederacy. Of these, about 18,000 died.
After the war, South Carolina was occupied by American troops.
Republicans took control of the state government by force. These
Republicans placed Southerners who were sympathizers of the North, as
well as various African Americans, in power. In 1868, the state adopted
a new constitution, and on June 25 of the same year, South Carolina
would once again be elevated to the status of a state of the Union.
After the Civil War, the situation for blacks in the state improved
little despite the abolition of slavery. The patrols continued to harass
and even murder blacks; They were also de facto deprived of their civil
rights, although they were theoretically recognized, and the law
prohibited them from practicing any "artistic, commercial or industrial"
profession, allowing them only to be servants or laborers.
South
Carolina began to industrialize rapidly starting in the 1880s. Various
wealthy landowners in the state built various textile factories in South
Carolina, with income from cotton produced on their own farms. Other
companies, coming from the Northern region of the United States, settled
in South Carolina, taking advantage of the abundance of raw materials
and cheap labor. Various dams and hydroelectric plants were founded in
the state.
Until then, the state government was dominated by a
wing of the American Democratic Party, called Bourbon. This wing was
made up of landowners, lawyers and rich merchants. A drop in
agricultural product prices in the late 1880s led to large protests by
the state's small landowners against the Bourbons. In the state
elections of 1890, the Tillmanites wing of the Democratic Party—led by
Benjamin R. Tillman—won the majority of seats in the Legislature, with
Tillman himself winning the governorship. The state, under his
leadership, adopted a new constitution that same year, eliminating the
right to vote for African Americans.
South Carolina's industrialization continued over the course of the
first three decades of the 20th century. The state became one of the
largest centers of the national textile industry. During World War I,
South Carolina factories produced large quantities of fabrics and
general clothing for the United States Armed Forces. At the end of the
war, in 1918, about 55 thousand people worked in the state's textile
industry. This industry continued its expansion during the 1920s. In
this decade, various pests destroyed many of the cotton plantations —
until then the most cultivated product in the entire state. Various
landowners then began to grow other products, such as tobacco and wheat.
South Carolina was hit hard by the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Public construction and socioeconomic assistance programs by state and
federal governments helped minimize the effects of the economic
recession around 1937. The economy largely recovered. around 1940. A
year later, in 1941, the United States entered World War II. South
Carolina's economy, until then with agriculture as the main source of
income, began to have industry as its main source of income, which
accelerated the state's urbanization process. By the end of the 1940s,
more people lived in cities than in rural areas.
African
Americans in South Carolina began fighting for their civil rights
beginning in the 1940s. At the end of World War II, African Americans
again gained the right to vote in state and federal elections held in
the state. From then on, the number of African Americans voting in
elections gradually increased, despite various racist groups
intimidating them not to do so. Racial segregation between whites and
African Americans in public places gradually died out during the 1950s
and 1960s. In 1954, South Carolina began the process of "desegregating"
its public education system — following a Supreme Court order of the
United States, aimed at all states with segregated educational
institutions. This desegregation was slow and gradual, being completed
only at the beginning of the 1970s.
From then on, various African
Americans obtained important positions in municipal and state government
positions. In 1970, three African Americans from South Carolina were
elected state representatives to the United States House of
Representatives. These three representatives were the first African
Americans elected to the House of Representatives since 1902 in any
American state.
South Carolina continued its industrialization
during the decades following World War II. Today, few American states
are as dependent on the industry as South Carolina. This growth has
continued since the 1980s, mainly because of tax incentives for
businesses, as well as the increased attention given by the state to
education.
Like its neighbors North Carolina and Georgia, South Carolina is a
southern state shaped by conservative-republican ideas. Strom Thurmond,
the Segregationist wing of the Democrats (Dixiecrats) presidential
candidate in the 1948 election, was a Senator here. However, new
metropolises such as the IT districts of North Carolina or modern
Atlanta did not arise here after the decline of agriculture. Therefore,
the population is increasing proportionally less than in the other Sun
Belt states. Between 1960 and 2004 the Democrats only won the 1976
election. Since there are no larger cities apart from Charleston and
Columbia, the Democrats lack the voter structure of the metropolitan
areas, which is so important for them in Virginia. The strong influence
of the Bible Belt outweighs the Democrats' advantage of the high
proportion of African Americans in the total population. From 1932 to
2008, South Carolina continuously provided eight electoral college
electors; In 2012 it was nine again for the first time.
Republicans Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott currently represent the state
in the US Senate. The South Carolina delegation to the 116th Congress of
Representatives consists of five Republicans and two Democrats.
Nikki Haley was the first woman to resign from the governorship from
2011 to 2017 after being named US Ambassador to the United Nations. Her
successor was Henry McMaster.
The state legislature, the South
Carolina General Assembly, is a bicameral legislature. It consists of
the Senate with 46 members and the House of Representatives with 124
seats. Republicans hold a majority in both chambers. The seat of the
South Carolina General Assembly is the South Carolina State House, the
state capitol of the state in the capital Columbia.
The current Constitution of South Carolina was adopted in 1895.
Previous Constitutions were approved in 1776, 1778, 1790, 1861, 1865 and
1868. Amendments to the Constitution are proposed by the legislative
branch, and to be valid, they need to be approved by at least 67% of the
State Senate and House of Representatives, in two successive votes, and
subsequently by 51% or more of the South Carolina voting population, in
a referendum. Amendments may also be proposed and introduced by a
constitutional convention, which need to receive the approval of at
least 67% of the members of both chambers of the Legislature and 51% of
the state's voters in a referendum.
The chief executive officer
of South Carolina is the governor. He is elected by the state's voters
for terms of up to four years in length. The same person can serve as
governor as many times as he can, but not twice consecutively. Eight
other executive officers are also elected by the state electorate to
four-year terms.
The legislative branch of South
Carolina—officially called the General Assembly—is made up of the Senate
and the House of Representatives. The Senate has a total of 46 members,
while the House of Representatives has a total of 124 members. South
Carolina is divided into 45 senatorial districts and 124 different
representative districts. The electorate of these districts elect a
senator/representative—who will act as the representative of their
respective districts in the Senate/House of Representatives—for terms of
up to four years in the case of senators and two years in the case of
senators. case of representatives.
The highest court of the South
Carolina judiciary is the South Carolina Supreme Court, composed of five
justices, elected by the Legislature for terms of up to ten years in
length. The second highest court in the state is the Court of Appeals,
made up of six judges elected by the Legislature for terms of up to six
years. The state is divided into 16 judicial districts, which employ a
total of 40 judges elected by the Legislature for terms of up to six
years in length.
South Carolina is divided into 46 counties.
These counties are governed by boards of commissioners, whose membership
varies greatly from county to county. All commissioners are chosen by
the population of the respective counties, for terms of two or four
years. These commissioners have legislative and executive authority over
the county.
About half of South Carolina's budget is generated by
state taxes, and the rest comes from budgets received from the federal
government. In 2002, the state government spent $20 billion, having
generated $17 billion. South Carolina's Public Debt is $10.1 billion.
The debt per capita is $2,465, the value of state taxes per capita is
$1,483, and the value of government expenditures per capita is $4,878.
According to the 2000 national census of the United States Census
Bureau, the population of South Carolina in 2000 was 4,012,012, a growth
of 15.7% relative to the state's population in 1990. , with 3,486,703
inhabitants. An estimate made in 2005 calculates the population of the
state in that year at 4,255,083 inhabitants, a growth of 22% in relation
to the population of the state in 1990, of 6.1%, in relation to the
population of the state in 2000, and 1.4% in relation to the estimated
population in 2004.
The natural growth of the natural population
between 2000 and 2005 was 97,715 inhabitants - 295,425 births and
197,710 deaths - the population growth caused by immigration was 36,401
inhabitants, while interstate migration increased by 115,084
inhabitants. Between 2000 and 2005, North Carolina's population grew by
243,267, and between 2004 and 2005, by 57,191.
6.6% of South
Carolina's population is under 5 years of age, 25.2% under 18 years of
age, and 12.1% are 65 years of age or older. Males make up 48.6% of the
state's population, and females make up 51.4%.
Currently the state of South Carolina has a population of 4,321,249
people, of which:
65.5% are white (European or of European descent).
28.4% are African American.
3.4% are Latino or Hispanic.
1.1% are
Asian.
1.3% are of other races.
1.3% are of two or more races.
The five largest groups in South Carolina by ancestry are: African
Americans (comprising 28.4% of the state's population), Americans
(13.9%), Germans (8.4%), English (8.4%). %) and Irish (7.9%). Most of
the inhabitants who claim "American" ancestry are likely descendants of
the early Scots and Irish settlers of South Carolina, who settled in the
northern region of the present state.
For most of South
Carolina's history, African Americans have been the majority of the
state's population — making up 75% of the population. The percentage
gradually fell from the 1890s until the 1960s, when large numbers of
African Americans left the state and migrated north. African Americans
still predominate in the Piedmont region and in the southern part,
regions where large plantations of wheat and rice were previously grown.
Whites, primarily of American and British descent, predominate in the
north and most urban regions of the state.
The first schools in South Carolina were private, where only the
children of families who had the financial conditions to pay for the
services provided by such schools studied. South Carolina—then Craven
County of the British colonial province of Carolina—established a
semi-public education system in 1710, which aimed to provide educational
services free of charge to children from poor families, while charging
for such services to children from families that were financially able
to pay for such a service. These schools were called free schools.
Craven County approved the construction of these schools throughout the
region in 1711. However, because of the limited budgetary means provided
by the county government, few of these schools were built, especially in
the major cities of Craven County. . It was only in 1868 when the state
of South Carolina instituted a system of public education, supported
through taxes and budgetary contributions from the state government.
Currently, all educational institutions in South Carolina need to
follow the rules and regulations issued by the State Board of Education.
The board directly controls the state's public school system, which is
divided into different school districts. The council is made up of one
member chosen by the governor and another 16 from each of the state's 16
judicial districts, for terms of up to four years.
The population
of South Carolina elects a superintendent of public education, for terms
of up to four years, whose objective is to preside over the Board of
Education. Each primary city (city), various secondary cities (towns)
and each county are supervised by a school district. In cities, the
responsibility for managing schools falls to the municipal school
district, while in less densely populated regions, this responsibility
falls to county school districts. South Carolina allows the operation of
charter schools — independent public schools, which are not managed by
school districts, but which depend on public budgets for their
operation. Schooling is compulsory for all children and adolescents over
five years of age, until the completion of secondary education or until
the age of sixteen.
In 1999, the state's public schools served
approximately 666.8 thousand students, employing approximately 45.5
thousand teachers. Private schools served about 55.6 thousand students,
employing approximately 4.9 thousand teachers. The state's public school
system consumed about $3.759 million, and public school spending was
approximately six thousand dollars per student. About 80.8% of the
state's inhabitants over 25 years of age have a high school diploma.
The first library in the British Thirteen Colonies was founded in
South Carolina, in present-day Charleston, in 1698, although it closed
only four years later. The first university library built with a
structure separate from the rest of the country's educational system was
founded by the University of South Carolina in 1840. Currently, South
Carolina has 41 public library systems, which annually move an average
of 4.5 books per inhabitant.
The first institution of higher
education in South Carolina was the College of South Carolina—now the
University of South Carolina—which was founded in 1805 by the state
government. Currently, South Carolina has 66 higher education
institutions, of which 36 are public and 30 are private. Of these
institutions, 15 are universities, and the rest are faculties. The
largest institution of higher education in the state is the University
of South Carolina, which has several campuses in several cities in the
state.
Abortion in the state of South Carolina is available up to the sixth week of pregnancy. However, after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade case in 2022, which guaranteed the right to abortion, Republican legislators decided to completely ban abortion in the state, except in cases where the mother's life was at risk. endangered. Senators also introduced a bill that would make it illegal to provide "information [about how to obtain an abortion] to a pregnant woman, or to a person seeking information on behalf of a pregnant woman, by telephone, the Internet, or any other means of communication." The legislation would make it illegal to simply refer a woman to an abortion provider.
South Carolina's gross domestic product was $115 billion in 2003. The
state's per capita income, meanwhile, was $28,663. The unemployment rate
is 6.8%, the fifth highest in the country.
The primary sector
accounts for 1% of South Carolina's GDP. Agriculture and livestock both
contribute about 0.95% of the state's GDP, and employ approximately 59
thousand people. South Carolina has about 25,000 farms, covering
approximately 25% of the state. South Carolina is one of the largest
tobacco producers in the country. The cultivation of flowers in
greenhouses, corn and poultry in general are other important products.
Forestry and fishing together contribute about 0.05% of the GDP,
employing about nine thousand people. The value of the fish caught
annually is about 30 million dollars.
The secondary sector
accounts for 29% of the GDP. The manufacturing industry contributes 24%
of the state's GDP and employs approximately 370 thousand people. The
total value of manufactured products is 34 billion dollars. The main
industrialized products manufactured in the state are cigarettes,
chemical products, textiles, transportation equipment, furniture in
general, paper and clothing. The state is the second largest producer of
cigarettes in the country, behind only North Carolina. The construction
industry corresponds to about 4.95% of the state's GDP, employing
approximately 147 thousand people, and mining accounts for 0.5%,
employing about 2.4 thousand people. The main mineral products in the
state are granite and sandstone.
The service sector contributes
70% of South Carolina's GDP. Wholesale and retail trade accounts for 17%
of the state's GDP, and employs approximately 493 thousand people.
Community and personal services contribute 16% of South Carolina's GDP,
employing approximately 562 thousand people, and government services
15%, employing approximately 364 thousand people. Financial services and
the real estate sector account for about 14% of the state's GDP,
employing approximately 136 thousand people. Transportation,
telecommunications and public services employ 88 thousand people, and
contribute 8% of the GDP. 55% of the electricity generated in the state
is produced in nuclear power plants, 35% in coal-fired thermoelectric
plants, 8% in natural gas-fired thermoelectric plants, and most of the
rest generated in hydroelectric plants. The state produces more
electricity than it consumes, and the surplus is sold to neighboring
states, primarily North Carolina.
In 2002, South Carolina owned 3,745 kilometers of railroad tracks. In 2003, the state owned 106,587 kilometers of public roads, of which 1,355 kilometers were interstate highways, considered part of the United States federal highway system.
The first newspaper published in South Carolina was the South
Carolina Weekly Journal, in 1732, in Charleston. It stopped being
published six months later. Currently, about 110 newspapers are
published, of which 14 are daily newspapers.
South Carolina's
first radio station was founded in 1930, in Spartanburg. The first
television station was founded in 1949, in Columbia. In 2002, South
Carolina owned 132 radio stations—of which 57 were AM and 75 were FM—and
23 television stations.
The first Spanish-language newspaper
aimed at the Latino community for the Charleston, Beaufort, Bluffton and
Hilton Head regions was El Informador Spanish Language Newspaper,
founded in 2008.
Among the state's top universities are the University of South Carolina, Furman University, Clemson University, and Coastal Carolina University.
The state does not have major league sports teams, due to the
proximity of the city of Charlotte to the border between North and South
Carolina. However, the NFL's Carolina Panthers and the NHL's Carolina
Hurricanes represent both states.
The two most prominent college
sports teams are the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers.
The Darlington oval is one of the traditional NASCAR Cup ovals, and
the Southern 500 is held there on the Labor Day holiday.
The
Heritage is a PGA Tour golf tournament that has been held since 1969 in
Harbor Town. Additionally, Kiawah Island Golf Course has hosted the
Ryder Cup, PGA Championship, World Cup of Golf and Senior PGA
Championship.
Since 2001, the Charleston Tournament, a WTA Tour
tennis tournament, has been held.
Amphibian: Spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)
Tree: Palm
Drink: Milk
Butterfly: Papilio (Papilio glaucus)
Nickname:
Palmetto State
Dance: Shag
Sport: Golf
Flower: Carolina jasmine
(Gelsemium sempervirens)
Fruit: Peach
Insect: South Carolina
praying mantis.
Mottos:
Dum spiro, spero (from Latin: "While I
breathe, there are hopes" or "As long as there is breath, there is
hope")
Animis Opibusque Parati (from Latin: Prepared in Mind and
Resources)
Mammal: Virginia deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Music:
Carolina
Bird: Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
Gemstone:
Amethyst
Fish: Striped bass (Morone saxatilis)
Reptile: Loggerhead
turtle Caretta caretta
Rock: Blue granite
Slogan: Smiling Faces.
Beautiful Places. (Smiling Faces. Beautiful Places).