Island, off the North Carolina coast, U.S. Situated near the southern entrance to Albemarle Sound , the island is about 12 mi (19 km) long and 3 mi (5 km) wide.
It was the site of the first English settlement in North America; its original colonists, led by Walter Raleigh , remained for only 10 months in 1585. The second group arrived in 1587; Virginia Dare , the first English child born in the Americas, was born there. When a supply ship arrived in 1590, all the colonists, including Virginia, had vanished; their fate is unknown. During the American Civil War the island was captured in 1862 by Union forces under Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside . It is now a resort and residential area.