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2 Geography 3 Demographics 4 Cities and towns 5 External links |
History
The county was formed in 1729 as New Hanover Precinct of Bath County, from Craven Precinct. It was named for the House of Hanover, which was then ruling Great Britain.
In 1734 parts of New Hanover Precinct became Bladen Precinct and Onslow Precinct. With the abolition of Bath County in 1739, all of its constituent precincts became counties.
In 1750 the northern part of New Hanover County became Duplin County. In 1764 another part of New Hanover County was combined with part of Bladen County to form Brunswick County. Finally, in 1875 the separation of northern New Hanover County to form Pender County reduced it to its present dimensions.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 849 km² (328 mi²). 515 km² (199 mi²) of it is land and 334 km² (129 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 39.33% water.
Townships
The county is divided into five townships: Cape Fear, Federal Point, Harnett, Masonboro, and Wilmington.
Adjacent Counties
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 160,307 people, 68,183 households, and 41,591 families residing in the county. The population density is 311/km² (806/mi²). There are 79,616 housing units at an average density of 155/km² (400/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 79.91% White, 16.97% Black or African American, 0.39% Native American, 0.83% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.79% from other races, and 1.05% from two or more races. 2.04% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 68,183 households out of which 26.10% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.50% are married couples living together, 11.50% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.00% are non-families. 28.90% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.50% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.29 and the average family size is 2.83.
In the county the population is spread out with 21.00% under the age of 18, 12.00% from 18 to 24, 30.50% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 12.80% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 93.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.70 males.
The median income for a household in the county is $40,172, and the median income for a family is $50,861. Males have a median income of $35,801 versus $25,305 for females. The per capita income for the county is $23,123. 13.10% of the population and 8.30% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 15.70% are under the age of 18 and 9.00% are 65 or older.
Cities and towns
External links
See also: List of North Carolina counties