Buncombe County, North Carolina

Buncombe County is a located in the  of. It is part of the. The population estimate for 2005 was 218,876. Its is.

History
The county was formed in from parts of  and. It was named for, a colonel in the , who was captured at the.

In the western part of Buncombe County became. In parts of Burke County and Buncombe County were combined to form, and in  the southern part of what was left of Buncombe County became. In parts of Buncombe County and Yancey County were combined to form. Finally, in 1925 the Broad River township of was transferred to Buncombe County.

In 1820, a U.S. Congressman, whose district included Buncombe County, unintentionally contributed a word to the English language. In the, after lengthy debate on the , members of the called for an immediate vote on that important question. Instead, rose to address his colleagues, insisting that his constituents expected him to make a speech "for Buncombe." It was later remarked that Walker's untimely and irrelevant oration was not just for Buncombe--it "was Buncombe." Thus, buncombe, afterwards spelled  and then shortened to , became a term for empty, nonsensical talk.

Law and government
Buncombe County is a member of the of governments.

Buncombe County has a council/manager form of government.

The 2004 election voted in the current commissioners: David Young, David Gantt, Bill Stanley, Carol Peterson, and chair Nathan Ramsey. The county manager is Wanda Greene.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,709 (660 ). 1,699 km² (656 sq mi) of it is land and 10 km² (4 sq mi) of it (0.58%) is water.

The enters the county at its border with  to the south and flows north into. The source of the, which joins the French Broad River in Asheville, is in northeast Buncombe County at. A milestone was achieved in 2003 when was extended from  (north of Asheville) to  completing a 20-year half-billion dollar construction project through the.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:I-26.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:I-40.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:US 74.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:US 70.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:US 23.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:US 19.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:US 25.svg|23px]]

Townships
The county is divided into fifteen : Asheville, Avery Creek, Black Mountain, Broad River, Fairview, Flat Creek, French Broad, Ivy, Leicester, Limestone, Lower Hominy, Reems Creek, Sandy Mush, Swannanoa, and Upper Hominy.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - northeast
 * - east
 * - southeast
 * - south
 * - west

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 206,330 people, 85,776 households, and 55,668 families residing in the county. The was 121/km² (314/sq mi). There were 93,973 housing units at an average density of 55/km² (143/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 89.06%, 7.48% or , 0.39% , 0.66% , 0.04% , 1.15% from , and 1.23% from two or more races. 2.78% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 85,776 households out of which 27.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.50% were living together, 10.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.10% were non-families. 28.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the county the population was spread out with 21.90% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 29.30% from 25 to 44, 24.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,666, and the median income for a family was $45,011. Males had a median income of $30,705 versus $23,870 for females. The for the county was $20,384. About 7.80% of families and 11.40% of the population were below the, including 15.30% of those under age 18 and 9.80% of those age 65 or over.