The University of North Carolina is a multi-campus public university system composed of all 16 of North Carolina 's public universities, as well as the NC School of Science and Mathematics , the nation's first public residential high school for gifted students. Commonly referred to as the University of North Carolina system or the UNC system to differentiate it from the original campus in Chapel Hill, the university has a total enrollment of over 183,001 students and confers over 75 percent of all baccalaureate degrees in North Carolina in 2008. UNC campuses conferred 43,686 degrees for 2008–2009, the bulk of which were Bachelor's level with 31,055 degrees awarded.
The first European settlement in North Carolina is the famous Lost Colony of Roanoke Island that vanished sometime after 1587. North Carolina is the northern portion of the original 1629 land grant made by England's King Charles I, which was named in his honor (Carolus is Latin for Charles). North Carolina joined the Union in 1789 and is the 12th of the original 13 states. Today, North Carolina is a growing research center and banking state. The capital of the "Tar Heel State" is Raleigh, and the dogwood blossom is the state flower.
