FHA Loans in South Carolina

About This State and its People, Places, and Industries

South Carolina is a state in the United States that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was originally named in honor of King Charles I, as Carolus is Latin for Charles. South Carolina was the first state to vote to secede from the Union and was the founding state of the Confederate States of America. According to an estimate by the United States Census Bureau, the state's population in 2009 was 4,561,242 and ranked 24th among the U.S. states. South Carolina contains 46 counties and its capital is Columbia.

South Carolina's center of population is 2.4 mi (3.9 km) north of the State House in the city of Columbia. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2009, South Carolina had an estimated population of 4,561,242, which is an increase of 57,962 from the prior year and an increase of 549,230, or 13.6%, since the year 2000. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 36,401 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 115,084 people. Based on the 2000 Census South Carolina was ranked 21st in population density with just over 133 persons per sq. mi. According to the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health, Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies, South Carolina's foreign-born population grew faster than any other state between 2000 and 2005. The Consortium reports that the number of Hispanics in South Carolina is greatly undercounted by census enumerators and may be more than 400,000.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, South Carolina's gross state product in current dollars was $97 billion in 1997, and $153 billion in 2007. Its per-capita real gross domestic product (GDP) in chained 2000 dollars was $26,772 in 1997, and $28,894 in 2007; that represents 85% of the $31,619 per-capita real GDP for the United States overall in 1997, and 76% of the $38,020 for the U.S. in 2007. Major agricultural outputs of the state are: tobacco, poultry, cattle, dairy products, soybeans, rice and hogs. Industrial outputs include: textile goods, chemical products, paper products, machinery, automobiles and automotive products and tourism. The state was especially hard hit by the 2008 economic crisis. As of January 2010, the state’s unemployment rate is 12.6%.

South Carolina has no major professional franchise of the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLS, or MLB located in the state; however the NFL's Carolina Panthers (based in Charlotte, North Carolina), and the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes (based in Raleigh, North Carolina) represent both North and South Carolina. In addition, the Panthers played their first season in Clemson, and maintain training facilities at Wofford College in Spartanburg. There are numerous minor league teams that are either based in the state, or play much of their schedule within its borders. The Charlotte Knights, an AAA minor league baseball team, play at a stadium in Fort Mill, South Carolina, just across the border from Charlotte. Another minor league franchise is the USL Division 1 Soccer team, the Charleston Battery. The team plays in the soccer-specific Blackbaud Stadium, located on Daniel Island in Charleston. Currently, only Greenville, Myrtle Beach, and Charleston still boast any other level (in each case single-A) of professional baseball. Curiously enough, for a state where natural ice is a rarity, professional ice hockey has been popular in a number of areas of the state since the 1990s. Though 4 teams competed at one time in South Carolina, the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) currently oversees operations of only two franchises, one, the Columbia Inferno, the other, the South Carolina Stingrays (who play in Charleston). According to the league, however, Myrtle Beach is slated to receive a franchise when their new arena is completed in 2008/9. In 2010 the ECHL announced that Greenville would have a new hockey franchise, the team will play in the BI-LO center.

College sports in particular are very big in South Carolina. Clemson University's Tigers and the University of South Carolina's Gamecocks regularly draw more than 80,000 spectators at the schools' home football games. Smaller universities located in South Carolina also have very competitive sports programs, including The Citadel, Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston, Francis Marion, Furman, Anderson University, North Greenville University, Presbyterian College, Lander University, SC State, Southern Wesleyan University, Spartanburg Methodist College, USC Upstate, Winthrop, Wofford.

NASCAR racing was born in the South, and South Carolina has in the past hosted some very important NASCAR races, at the Darlington Raceway. Darlington Raceway still has the one NASCAR race weekend, usually Mother's Day weekend. All four of NASCAR's series come to Darlington including Whelen, Camping World Trucks, Nationwide Cars, and Sprint Cup cars.

South Carolina is a popular golf destination. With nearly one hundred golf courses, the Grand Strand region has more public golf courses per capita than any other place in the country. Some have hosted PGA and LGPA events in the past, but most have been designed for the casual golfer. Hilton Head Island & Kiawah Island have several very nice golf courses and host professional events every year. The upstate of South Carolina also has many nice golf course’s, most of the nicer courses are private including the Cliff's courses and Cross Creek Plantation (the Cliff's courses host the annual BMW PRO/AM that brings many celebrities and professionals to South Carolina. Cross Creek Plantation located in Seneca, also private hosted a PGA Qualifier in the 90's). In 2007, "The Ocean Course" On Kiawah Island was ranked #1 in Golf Digest Magazine's "America's 50 Toughest Golf Courses" and #38 on their "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses".

Water sports are also an extremely popular activity in South Carolina. With a large coast line, South Carolina has many different beach activities such as surfing, boogie boarding, deep sea fishing, and shrimping. The Pee Dee region of the state offers exceptional fishing. Some of the largest catfish ever caught were caught in the Santee Lakes. The Upstate of South Carolina also offers outstanding water activities. The Midlands region also offers water-based recreation revolving around Lakes Marion and Murray and such rivers as the Congaree, Saluda, Broad, and Edisto. While there are no race tracks with betting in South Carolina there is significant horse training activity, particularly in Aiken and Camden, which hold steeplechase races. Professional bass fishing tournaments are also found in South Carolina. Lake Hartwell, Lake Wylie, and Lake Murray both host Bassmaster Classic tournaments.

Choose Your City >>>

• Aiken
• Akien
• Allendale
• Anderson
• Andrews
• Aynor
• Barnwell
• Beaufort
• Belton
• Bethune
• Bishopville
• Bluffton
• Blythe Wood
• Blythewood
• Boiling Springs
• Bonneau
• Camden
• Cayce
• Chapin
• Chappells
• Charleson
• Charleston
• Cheraw
• Chesnee
• Clemson
• Clinton
• Columbia
• Conway
• Coulmbia
• Cowpens
• Dalzell
• Darlington
• Dillon
• Duncan
• Easley
• Eastover
• Edgefield
• Edisto Island
• Elgin
• Florence
• Fort Mill
• Fountain Inn
• Fripp Island
• Gaffney
• Gaston
• Georgetown
• Gilbert
• Goose Creek
• Goose Greek
• Gray Court

• Greenvilee
• Greenville
• Greenwood
• Greer
• Hanahan
• Hardeeville
• Hartsville
• Heath Springs
• Hilton Head
• Hilton Head Is
• Hilton Head Isl
• Hilton Head Islan
• Hollywood
• Honea Path
• Inman
• Irmo
• Ladson
• Lake City
• Lake Wylie
• Lancaster
• Landrum
• Landum
• Laurens
• Leesville
• Lex
• Lexington
• Liberty
• Little River
• Longs
• Lugoff
• Manning
• Marietta
• Marion
• Mauldin
• Moncks Corner
• Moore
• Mooresville
• Mount Pleasant
• Mountain Rest
• Mountville
• Mt Pleasant
• Mt. Pleasant
• Mt.Pleasant
• Mullins
• Murrells Inlet
• Myrtle Beach
• N Charleston
• N Myrtle Beach
• N. Charleston
• N. Myrtle Beach

• Nichols
• Norris
• North Augusta
• North Augustus
• North Charleston
• North Myrtle Beac
• Orangeburg
• Pageland
• Pawleys Island
• Pelzer
• Pendleton
• Pickens
• Richburg
• Ridgeland
• Ridgeway
• Rock Hill
• Rock Hills
• Saint Matthews
• Salley
• Saluda
• Santee Orangeburg
• Seneca
• Simpsonville
• Spartanburg
• Spartanburg
• Summerville
• Sumter
• Surfside Beach
• Swansea
• Taylors
• Tega Cay
• Timmonsville
• Townville
• Travelers Rest
• Travlers Rest
• Troy
• Union
• Varnville
• W. Columbia
• Wagener
• Walhalla
• Walterboro
• Walterboroe
• Ware Shoals
• Waterloo
• Wellford
• West Columbia
• Winnsboro
• Winsboro
• York

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