The Roanoke Colony, also known as the Lost Colony, was established on Roanoke Island in what is today's Dare County, North Carolina, United States. It was a late 16th-century attempt by Queen Elizabeth I to establish a permanent English settlement in North America. The colony was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh.
The colonists disappeared during the Anglo-Spanish War, three years after the last shipment of supplies from England. Their disappearance gave rise to the nickname "The Lost Colony." There has been no conclusive evidence as to what happened to the colonists.