BESC 2016

Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County,though portions also extend into Wake County in the east and Orange County in the west.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population to be 251,893 as of July 1, 2014. Durham is the core of the four-county Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Area. which has a population of 542,710 as of U.S. Census 2014 Population Estimates. The US Office of Management and Budget also includes Durham as a part of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Combined Statistical Area, which has a population of 2,037,430 as of U.S. Census 2014 Population Estimates.

It is the home of Duke University and North Carolina Central University, and is also one of the vertices of the Research Triangle area (home of the Research Triangle Park).