Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh
State capital city
Downtown Raleigh skyline North Carolina State Capitol NCSU Belltower Lenovo Center Fayetteville Street The Warehouse District Raleigh Convention Center
Flag Seal Logo
Nickname(s):  City of Oaks, Raleigh Wood, Oak City[1][2]
Motto(s):  Amore et Virtute (Latin for "by Love and Virtue")
Interactive map of Raleigh
Raleigh Location within North Carolina Show map of North Carolina Raleigh Location within the United States Show map of the United States Raleigh Location within North America Show map of North America
Coordinates: 35°51′15″N 78°45′43″W / 35.85417°N 78.76194°W / 35.85417; -78.76194
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
Counties	Wake, Durham
Chartered	December 31, 1794
Named for	Sir Walter Raleigh
Government [3]
• Type	Council–manager
• Body	Raleigh City Council
• Mayor	Mary-Ann Baldwin (D)
• Council	Members Jonathan Melton at-large (D) Stormie Forte at-large (D) Mary Black-Branch (A) (D) Megan Patton (B) (D) Corey Branch (C) (D) Jane Harrison (D) (D) Christina Jones (E) (D)
Area [4]
• Total	149.60 sq mi (387.50 km2)
• Land	148.54 sq mi (384.73 km2)
• Water	1.07 sq mi (2.77 km2)  0.72%
Elevation [5]	331 ft (101 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	467,665
• Estimate  (2023)	482,295
• Rank	41st in the United States 2nd in North Carolina
• Density	3,148.33/sq mi (1,215.57/km2)
• Urban	1,106,646 (US: 43rd)
• Urban density	1,994.6/sq mi (770.1/km2)
• Metro [6]	1,509,231 (US: 41st)
Demonym	Raleighite
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes	276XX 27601, 27603, 27604, 27605, 27606, 27607, 27608, 27609, 27610, 27612, 27613, 27614, 27615, 27616, 27617
Area code(s)	919, 984
FIPS code	37-55000[7]
GNIS feature ID	2404590[5]
Primary Airport	Raleigh–Durham International Airport
Website	raleighnc.gov

Raleigh (/ˈrɔːli/ ^ⓘ RAW-lee)^[8] is the capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeast, the 41st-most populous city in the U.S., and the largest city of the Research Triangle metro area. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees, which line the streets in the heart of the city.^[9] The city covers a land area of 148.54 square miles (384.7 km²).^[4] The U.S. Census Bureau counted the city's population as 467,665 at the 2020 census.^[10] It is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States.^[11][12] It is ranked as a sufficiency-level world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.^[13] The city of Raleigh is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who established the now-lost Roanoke Colony in present-day Dare County.

Raleigh is home to North Carolina State University (NC State or NCSU) and is part of the Research Triangle together with Durham (home of Duke University and North Carolina Central University) and Chapel Hill (home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). The name of the Research Triangle (often shortened to "The Triangle") originated after the 1959 creation of Research Triangle Park (RTP), located in Durham and Wake counties, among the three cities and universities. The Triangle encompasses the Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC Combined Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 2,368,947 in 2023. The Raleigh-Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated population of 1,509,231 in 2023.^[6]

Most of Raleigh is located within Wake County, with a small portion extending into Durham County.^[14] The towns of Apex, Cary, Clayton, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Morrisville, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Wendell, and Zebulon are some of Raleigh's primary nearby suburbs and satellite towns.

Raleigh is an early example in the United States of a planned city.^[15] Following the American Revolutionary War when the U.S. gained independence, the area was chosen as the site of the state capital in 1788 and incorporated in 1792 as such. The city was originally laid out in a grid pattern with the North Carolina State Capitol at the center, in Union Square. During the American Civil War, the city was spared from any significant battle. It fell to the Union in the closing days of the war and struggled with the economic hardships in the postwar period, related to the reconstitution of labor markets, over-reliance on agriculture, and the social unrest of the Reconstruction Era. The establishment of the Research Triangle Park (RTP) in 1959 helped create tens of thousands of jobs in the fields of science and technology. By the early 21st century, Raleigh had become one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States.