The Charlotte metropolitan area is a metropolitan area/region of North and South Carolina within and surrounding the city of Charlotte. Located in the Piedmont of the Southeastern United States, the Charlotte metropolitan area is well-known for its auto racing history and is the United States' second largest banking and financial hub, behind New York City. It is also the Carolinas' largest manufacturing region. It is also the fifth largest metropolitan area in the Southeastern region of the United States, behind Miami, Atlanta (2nd), Washington, DC (3rd), and Tampa (4th). The Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is defined as five counties in North Carolina and one county in South Carolina. The population of the MSA was at 1,405,173 in the 2000 Census; 2005 estimates place the population at 1,521,278. At present, the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is the 35th largest in the U.S and the city of Charlotte is the 18th largestcity in the U.S.