North Carolina is a state located in the Southern United States. According to the 2020 United States census, North Carolina is the 9th-most populous state with 10,439,388 inhabitants, but the 28th-largest by land area spanning 53,819 square miles (139,390 km2) of land.[1][2] North Carolina is divided into 100 counties and contains 551 municipalities consisting of cities, towns, or villages.[3] The three different terms have no legal distinction.