sentences:  The northern third of Iredell county is highly rural and contains no large towns.Due to the thinly populated nature of this portion of the state, it is one of the select places in North Carolina where the speed limit on Interstate Highways exceeds 65 mph, as Interstate 77 north of Statesville has a speed limit of 70 mph.Iredell County is one of the longest counties in the state and stretches for nearly fifty miles north to south from Yadkin County in the north to Mecklenburg in the south.