Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 276,093, making it the second most populous city in North Carolina, behind Charlotte.

The estimated Raleigh-Cary metropolitan statistical area population as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2004 is 914,680.

Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill make up the three cities of The Triangle, so named in 1959 with the creation of the Research Triangle Park, a research park between Durham and Raleigh (mostly located within Durham County). The Triangle's total population as of 2004 was over 1.46 million.

As of 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Raleigh's population has increased to 326,653, making it one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. The City of Raleigh estimates its population to be 342,194 as of July 1, 2005.

Raleigh was established in 1792 as both the new county seat and the new state capital. It was named for Sir Walter Raleigh, sponsor of the Colony of Roanoke, known as the "Lost Colony." The site was chosen as being within ten miles of Isaac Hunter's Tavern, a tavern popular with the legislators of the time. No city or town existed on the site before it was chosen to house the capital.