What is the Triangle?

Those familiar with the Raleigh-Durham metropolitan area may have heard the region referred to as “the Triangle.” There’s a great reason this area in the middle of North Carolina has earned this name.

The name stems from two very specific features of the area. First, the areas that make up the Triangle include its three cities that are home to prestigious research institutions, which create a literal triangle on a map. The three points on the triangle come from Raleigh’s North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Duke University in Durham, which are known for bringing cutting-edge research, world-renowned academics, and top talent to the region.

Second, the Research Triangle Park, or RTP, is situated at at the heart of these communities. The RTP is a 7,000-acre research and innovation center that connects these three communities and their universities. Since 1959, this area has drawn in major tech and healthcare companies, a fact that began to establish this part of the Carolinas as a Silicon Valley of the East Coast. That’s because RTP is designed to facilitate industry and create a positive economic impact for all of North Carolina.

Today, nearly 300 global companies—including Apple, Red Hat, IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, GlaxoSmithKline, and Toshiba—make the Research Triangle Park home, and new businesses are joining regularly and investing billions of dollars, plus bringing thousands of outstanding jobs, into the region.

Since the start of the RTP, its Research Triangle Foundation, which manages the park, focused on creating strategic partnerships and empowering businesses to invest dollars and keep exceptional talent in the region. By the 1990s, the region had earned the name “The Research Triangle” and the name has begun to define what the Raleigh-Durham area has to offer.

While the three cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill first helped drive the name “The Triangle,” the moniker has helped create demand throughout the entire metropolitan area. Now, cities like Cary, Apex, and Morrisville continue to grow due to their proximity to the RTP. Likewise, the entire region is experiencing massive growth because of the reputation the area has earned as the place to be for successful businesses.

The Triangle is a term the region is proud to own as the area continues to earn its name as a prestigious center of research and innovation.

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