Coordinates: 35°53′N 78°47′W / 35.88°N 78.79°W / 35.88; -78.79 The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to three major research universities: North Carolina State University, Duke University, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, respectively. The nine-county region, officially named the Raleigh–Durham–Cary combined statistical area (CSA), comprises the Raleigh–Cary and Durham–Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Areas and the Henderson Micropolitan Statistical Area. The "Triangle" name originated in the 1950s with the creation of Research Triangle Park, located between the three anchor cities and home to numerous high tech companies. In 2019, a U.S. Census estimate put the population at 2,079,687, making it the second largest combined statistical area in the state of North Carolina behind Charlotte CSA. The Raleigh–Durham television market includes a broader 24-county area which includes Fayetteville, North Carolina, and has a population of 2,726,000 persons. Most of the Triangle is part of North Carolina's first, second, fourth, ninth, and thirteenth congressional districts. The region is sometimes confused with The Triad, which is a North Carolina region adjacent to and directly west of the Triangle comprising Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point, among other cities. From Wikipedia