Cape Fear is the southernmost cape of three along the North Carolina Coast. The "greater" Cape Fear area consists of four oceanfront counties. New Hanover, which embraces the city of Wilmington, is the state's smallest county geographically and among the state's wealthiest. It is a triangular area bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, the Cape Fear River on the west, and Pender County to the north (the county line there being the Northeast Cape Fear River). Pender County includes Figure Eight Island and the southern half of Topsail Island. The northern half of Topsail is in Onslow County. On the west side of the Cape Fear River and south to the state line lies Brunswick County, one of the fastest-growing counties in the state.