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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[http://www.charlottechamber.com/index.php?src=gendocs&refno=1292&category=Demo_ecoProfile&search=population] as of January 1, 2008. It is the county seat of Mecklenburg County,[Find a County. National Association of Counties. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.] 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[http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/27/real_estate/fastest_growing_cities/] and the largest metro area between Atlanta and Washington, D.C.. A resident of Charlotte is referred to as a Charlottean (IPA: /ˌʃarləˈtiːən/).
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