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Outbank north carolina11/30/2022 ![]() ![]() It is separated by the Currituck Sound and the Intracoastal Waterway, which passes through the Great Dismal Swamp occupying much of the mainland west of the Outer Banks. The northern part of the Outer Banks, from Oregon Inlet northward, is actually a part of the North American mainland, since the northern inlets of Bodie Island and Currituck Banks no longer exist. Some authors exclude Carteret's Bogue Banks others exclude the county entirely. ![]() Other sources limit the definition to two capes ( Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout) and coastal areas in four counties ( Currituck County, Dare County, Hyde County, and Carteret County). ![]() The most extensive definition includes the state's three prominent capes: Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, and Cape Fear. Sources differ regarding the southern terminus of the Outer Banks. ![]() The Outer Banks stretch southward from Sandbridge in Virginia Beach down the North Carolina coastline. Over time, the exact number of islands and inlets changes as new inlets are opened up, often during a breach created during violent storms, and older inlets close, usually due to gradually shifting sands during the dynamic processes of beach evolution. From north to south, the largest of these include: Bodie Island (which used to be an island but is now a peninsula due to tropical storms and hurricanes that closed inlets that separated it from the Currituck Banks), Pea Island (which has, at times, been contiguous with neighboring Bodie Island or Hatteras Island), Hatteras Island, Ocracoke Island, Portsmouth Island, and the Core Banks. The Outer Banks is a string of peninsulas and barrier islands separating the Atlantic Ocean from mainland North Carolina. View from the International Space Station in 2019 (north in the lower left) Tropical storms like Hurricane Irene in 2011 have already destroyed significant infrastructure and property. Some sections have significantly eroded already, with portions of Hatteras Island at 25% of its original width as of 2014. In some locations on the banks, sea levels rose 5 inches from 2011 to 2015. The Outer Banks are particularly vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal erosion the effects of climate change compounds existing coastal erosion caused by poor coastal management and construction practices. During the 20th century the region became increasingly important for coastal tourism. The Outer Banks were also home to the Wright brothers' first flight in a controlled, powered, heavier-than-air vehicle on December 17, 1903, at Kill Devil Hills. The hundreds of shipwrecks along the Outer Banks have given the surrounding seas the nickname Graveyard of the Atlantic. Most notably the English Roanoke Colony vanished from Roanoke Island in 1587 and was the first location where an English person, Virginia Dare, was born in the Americas. The Outer Banks were sites of early European settlement in the United States and remain important economic and cultural sites. The seashore and surrounding ecosystem are important biodiversity zones, including beach grasses and shrubland that help maintain the form of the land. A major tourist destination, the Outer Banks are known for their wide expanse of open beachfront and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separating Currituck Sound, Albemarle Sound, and Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a 200 mi (320 km) string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. The Outer Banks, separating the Atlantic Ocean (east) from Currituck and Albemarle Sounds (north) and Pamlico Sound (south) ![]()
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