
Charlotte is the biggest city in the state of North Carolina and the eighteenth-biggest city in the US. The Charlotte metropolitan area has an estimated population of 2, 491, 650 including the city of Charlotte and the towns of Lake Norman, Lake Wylie, Fort Mill, Indian Trail, Mint Hill, Matthews, Pineville, Rockhill, Tega Cay, Weddington, and Waxhaw, among others, situated in the counties of Mecklenburg, Iredell, Cabarrus, Union, Lancaster, York, Gaston, and Lincoln. Nicknamed the Queen City, Charlotte, as well as the county containing it, is named in honor of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, who had become queen consort of King George III the year before the city's founding.