Orange County, North Carolina

Orange County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 118,227. Its is. It is home to the, the flagship institution of the University of North Carolina System.

History
The county was formed in 1752 from parts of, , and. It was named for the infant, whose mother Anne, daughter of King , was then regent of the.

In 1771 Orange County was greatly reduced in area. The western part of it was combined with the eastern part of to form. Another part was combined with parts of and Johnston County to form. The southern part of what remained became.

In 1777 the northern half of what was left of Orange County became. In 1849 the western third of the still shrinking county became. Finally, in 1881 the eastern half of the county's remaining territory was combined with part of Wake County to form.

Law and government
Orange County is governed by a five-member board of commissioners. The commissioners are elected to four-year terms in at-large partisan elections, which are held in November of even-numbered years.

Due in large part to the, Orange County has gained a reputation as one of the most liberal counties in North Carolina. The county consistently delivers one of the heaviest Democratic majorities in the state in presidential, state, and local elections.

Orange County is a member of the regional.

See also: 

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,040 (401 ). 1,036 km² (400 sq mi) of it is land and 4 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.34%) is water.

The county is drained, in part, by the.

Townships
The county is divided into seven : Bingham, Cedar Grove, Chapel Hill, Cheeks, Eno, Hillsborough, and Little River.

Adjacent Counties

 * - northeast
 * - east
 * - south
 * - west
 * - northwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 118,227 people, 45,863 households, and 26,141 families residing in the county. The was 114/km² (296/sq mi). There were 49,289 housing units at an average density of 48/km² (123/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 78.05%, 13.79% or , 0.39% , 4.10% , 0.02% , 1.96% from , and 1.71% from two or more races. 4.46% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 45,863 households out of which 28.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.60% were living together, 9.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.00% were non-families. 28.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.30% under the age of 18, 21.00% from 18 to 24, 29.90% from 25 to 44, 20.40% from 45 to 64, and 8.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 90.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,372, and the median income for a family was $59,874. Males had a median income of $39,298 versus $31,328 for females. The for the county was $24,873. About 6.20% of families and 14.10% of the population were below the, including 9.00% of those under age 18 and 7.40% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

 * , from North Carolina
 * , former North Carolina Senator, 2008 Presidential candidate
 * , cartoonist and writer
 * , North Carolina politician
 * , North Carolina lieutenant governor
 * , U.S. congressman
 * , author
 * , actress and playwright