a city and seaport, capital of a district of the same name in the state of South Carolina, North America, stands on a tongue of land formed by the junction of the Ashley and Cooper rivers. N. Lat. 32° 46' 33", W. Long. 79° 57' 27". The bay is a large estuary formed by the junction of the two rivers, and extends about 7 miles S.E. from Charleston to the ocean, having an average width of 2 miles. A sand-bar extends across its mouth, but there are several channel entrances, the deepest of which, passing close to Sullivan's Island, admits at high tide vessels drawing 16 feet of water. Cooper and Ashley rivers are both deep and capable of accommodating the largest class of vessels, the former being 1400, and the latter 2100 yards wide opposite the city. The harbour is open to easterly winds, and vessels are much exposed during storms from that quarter. The city is protected by Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island, and by Castle Pinckney and Fort Johnson, the former 2 miles and the latter 4 below the city.

of the oldest cities in the Union, was founded as early as 1672, and was first called Oyster-Point Town. It soon became a place of considerable trade, and was chartered as a city in 1783. The ground on which it is built is low, being only 8 or 9 feet above high tide, which rises here about 6 feet; and the city has several times suffered from inundations by the water of the harbour being driven up by violent winds. The city is divided into four wards, and is governed by a mayor and 12 aldermen. It is regularly laid out in parallel streets running E. and W. from the Cooper to the Ashley, and intersected by others at nearly right angles. The streets vary in width from 35 to 70 feet, the houses are neat and elegant, and mostly built of brick. The streets are lined with a tree termed the "Pride of India;" while elegant villas adorned with verandahs, and surrounded with orange trees, magnolias, and palmettoes, add much to the elegance and beauty of the city. Among the public buildings are the city hall, exchange, court-house, jail, two arsenals, custom-house, theatre, college buildings, and orphan asylum. The college, one of the most flourishing institutions of the southern states, was founded in 1785, and has a president and 6 professors, with (in 1860) 70 students. The medical college was founded in 1833, and in 1850 had 8 professors and 158 students. The literary and philosophical society has a fine collection of objects in natural history, &c.; and the academy of fine arts possesses some valuable paintings. The city library contains about 2400 volumes. Four daily, 4 weekly, 1 bi-monthly, and 3 monthly newspapers and periodicals are published in Charleston. The floating dry dock is considered one of the best in the Union. The South Carolina railway extends from Charleston to Augusta, 136 miles, and has numerous branches going off in different directions. A canal 22 miles long connects the harbour with the Santee river; and by means of the railways now in the course of construction it will communicate with the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The staple exports of Charleston are rice and cotton. Of cotton the receipts from the interior in 1850 were 400,714 bales, and of sea-island 17,994 bales; the exports were 365,327 bales upland, and 16,437 sea-island; the receipts of rice amounted to 147,690 barrels, the exports to 134,417 barrels. In 1852, 6,587,764 lb. sea-island, and 122,785,275 lb. upland cotton, 33,185 tierces of rice, and 329,279 bushels rough rice were exported. Charleston carries on very little foreign traffic. Its principal trade is coastwise with New York, whence the commodities are shipped to other countries. For the year ending June 1850 only 351 vessels of 121,367 tons cleared, and 303 vessels of 96,619 tons entered from foreign ports. The registered shipping of the port at this period consisted of 15,277 tons, and the shipping employed in the coasting trade of 17,916. The population of Charleston in 1790 was 16,359; in 1800, 18,711; 1810, 24,711; 1820, 24,780; 1830, 30,289; 1840, 29,261; and in 1850, 42,985. This is exclusive of the suburb St Philip, which contains about 16,000 inhabitants.