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. The production of textiles is the principal industrial activity, and South Carolina ranks third, behind only North Carolina and Georgia, among the states in the value of annual textile production. However, manufacturing has become more diversified since 1960. 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.
Tourism has become South Carolina's second most important industry, and more than 30 million people visited the state annually in the mid-1990s. Two-thirds of the tourists focused their visits on the coast. Myrtle Beach, Charleston, and Hilton Head Island are the leading destinations, but popular low-density resorts are also found at Kiawah, Seabrook, and Fripp islands. South Carolina offers tourists and residents a great variety of year-round recreational activities. The scenic mountainous section in the northwest affords good camping and hiking in wilderness areas, and water sports are the major attraction at the many fine resorts that line the state's coast. Inland swamps and coastal areas abound in wildlife, and fish are abundant in both saltwater and freshwater regions. In addition, thousands of tourists visit the state's numerous places of historic interest.
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.
