Research Triangle Park (RTP) is the largest research park in the United States. It is located near Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill, in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina. A small part of the Park stretches into Wake County, but the majority of the land is in Durham County.

It is one of the most prominent high-tech research and development centers in the United States and is often compared to Silicon Valley. It was created in 1959 by state and local governments, nearby universities, and local business interests. Karl Robbins bought the land where the park is now built. The Research Triangle along with the Cummings Research Park located in Huntsville, Alabama, and the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park in Richmond, three of the largest research parks in the country, have made the "New South" home to three global centers of scientific leadership.

The park is 7,000 acres (28 km²) situated in a pine forest with approximately 630 acres (2.5 km²) for development. As of 2007, there are over 130 R&D facilities existing in RTP with more than 39,000 employees working for a total of 157 organizations. The park is adjacent to Interstate 40 and the Durham Freeway. It is managed by the Research Triangle Foundation, a private non-profit organization.

The park is home to one of the largest IBM operations in the world; the company has around 11,000 employees in RTP. The park hosts one of GlaxoSmithKline's largest R&D centres with approximately 5,000 employees.

 

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