High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! North Charleston is one of the premier cities within the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville metropolitan area and is located in Charleston and Dorchester Counties. The population, as of 2009, currently stands at more than 100,000. This ranks the City of North Charleston as 3rd in city limit population within the state of South Carolina, after Columbia and Charleston, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Incorporated in June 1972, North Charleston had a population of 21,000 and an area of seven square miles. Since that time, the city has more than tripled its population and now encompasses more than 76.6 square miles. It is considered one of the state's major industrial cities.