Columbia
Columbia, a wide range of geographic locations, institutions and firms in both North and South America is named after Christoffer Columbus. Most are spelled with u, but the country Colombia is spelled with o after his Spanish name, Cristóbal Colón.
City in South Carolina, USA; 129,300 residents (2010). The city was laid out in 1786 as the capital of the state; a compromise between the plantation owners who preferred the coastal city of Charleston and the residents of the interior of the state. During the Civil War (1861-65) it was occupied and partially destroyed by the Northern State troops.
Charleston
Charleston (South Carolina), a port city in South Carolina, USA; 120,100 residents, of which 45% are black (2010). The city’s oldest quarter is rich in museums and well-preserved buildings from the time up to the Civil War and attracts many tourists. Charleston is also home to a naval base and the military academy The Citadel.
Charleston was built in 1670 and quickly developed into an important port city. It was until 1790 the capital of South Carolina and one of the centers of the slave trade in North America; in the 1800’s. the city was the center of the secessionist movements of the Southern States. The American Civil War began in April 1861 with the shelling of the Union’s garrison Fort Sumter in Charleston. The fort is today a national monument. From 1863, the city was besieged and subjected to heavy artillery fire, but the Southern Army remained in the city until February 1865. In 1886, Charleston was hit by a powerful earthquake off the east coast of the United States, and it has been ravaged by hurricanes several times.
