New Bern /ˈnuːbərn/ is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 30,242 as of 2013. It is the county seat of Craven County and the principal city of the New Bern Metropolitan Statistical Area.It is located at the confluence of the Neuse and the Trent rivers, near the North Carolina coast. It lies 112 miles east of Raleigh, 87 miles northeast of Wilmington, and 162 miles south of Norfolk. New Bern is the birthplace of Pepsi Cola.New Bern was settled in 1710 by Bernese and Palatine immigrants under the auspices of Christoph von Graffenried, 1st Baron of Bernberg. The new colonists named their settlement after Bern, Switzerland, home state of their patron. The English connection with Switzerland had been established by some Marian exiles who sought refuge in Protestant parts of Switzerland.