Charlotte is the largest city in the state of North Carolina and the 20th largest city in the United States. It has a 2008 estimated population of approximately 695,995 as of January 1, 2008. It is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, and is located in the south-central part of the state in the Piedmont region, extending to the South Carolina border. The city's economy has and is continuing to mature starting in the 1990s and continuing through the 2000s to become dominated by financial services, as well as retail commerce. According to 2006 estimates, Charlotte is the 5th–fastest-growing among large U.S. cities and the largest metro area between Atlanta and Washington, D.C.. A resident of Charlotte is referred to as a Charlottean ( ).

Nicknamed The Queen City, Charlotte (as well as the county containing it) was named in honor of the German Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818) (Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg), who had become queen consort of King George III the previous year. During the American Revolution the British Commander in the Southern Colonies, General Cornwallis, occupied Charlotte but was driven out soon afterwards by the fierce opposition of the city's residents to British rule. Cornwallis famously wrote that Charlotte was "a hornet's nest of rebellion", leading to another city nickname: The Hornet's Nest.

As of 2006, the Charlotte metropolitan area had a population of 1,583,016. The Charlotte metropolitan area is part of a wider thirteen-county labor market region or combined statistical area that has an estimated population (as of 2008) of 2,491,650.