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Charleston is a city in the county of Charleston with some incorporated areas located within the boundaries of Berkeley
County and Dorchester County in the U.S. state of South Carolina; the city serves as the county seat and largest city of
Charleston County. The city proper consists of five distinct areas: the Peninsula/Downtown, West Ashley, Johns Island,
James Island, Daniel Island, and the Cainhoy Peninsula. The city was founded as Charlestown or Charles Towne, Carolina
in 1670, and moved to its present location in 1680; it adopted its present name in 1783. In 1690, Charleston was the
fifth largest city in North America, and remained among the ten largest cities in the United States through the 1840
census. Charleston is known as The Holy City due to the prominence of churches on the low-rise cityscape, particularly
the numerous steeples which dot the city's skyline.
As of July 2006, the estimated population of the city proper is 107,845, making it the second most populous city in South Carolina behind the state capital Columbia. Current trends put Charleston as the fastest growing central city in South Carolina. The metropolitan area population of Charleston and North Charleston, which includes the entire populations of Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties, was estimated to be 603,178 in 2007. This ranks Charleston-North Charleston as the second largest metropolitan statistical area in the state behind Columbia. Nearly 80% of the Charleston metro population lives inside the city and its surrounding urbanized area (2000 pop.: 423,410).
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The city of Charleston is located just south of the mid-point of South Carolina's coastline, at the junction of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers. Charleston's name is derived from Charles Towne, named after King Charles II of England.
America's most-published etiquette expert, Marjabelle Young Stewart, has recognized the city since 1995 as the "best-mannered" city in the U.S, a claim lent credibility by the fact that it has the only Livability Court in the country.
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