Georgia
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What is Georgia?
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. Founded in 1732, it was one of the original 13 English colonies. Atlanta is its capital city.
Georgia's landscape varies, from the Appalachian Mountains in the north to the Atlantic coast in the southeast, resulting in a diverse range of soil types. The Savannah and Chattahoochee rivers form many of its borders with South Carolina and Alabama, respectively.
Initially reliant on a slave-plantation economy, Georgia was one of the first states to secede from the Union during the Civil War. In the post-Civil War era, Georgia transitioned towards industry, especially with the expansion of its rail system centered in Atlanta.
In the 21st century, Georgia's economy is largely based on the service sector, particularly in the Atlanta area, which has superior rail and air connections and is a hub for major corporations.
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Where is Georgia located in the United States?
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States of America. It is bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina, to the east by South Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by Florida, and to the west by Alabama.
The northern part of the state is covered by the Blue Ridge Mountains, while the southern part consists of a coastal plain that levels out to flatlands near the coast. The state's capital, Atlanta, is a major hub for rail and air connections.
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What is the capital city of Georgia?
The capital of the U.S. state of Georgia is Atlanta. The city lies in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Atlanta is the state's largest city and the main trade and transportation hub for the southeastern United States. Atlanta is the center of a large metropolitan area that includes 20 counties and cities such as Decatur, East Point, and Marietta. Atlanta became the capital in 1868.
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What are some important natural features of Georgia?
Georgia has diverse natural features, including the Appalachian Mountains in the north and the Okefenokee Swamp in the south. The state's varied topography contributes to a wide array of plant life, from mountain forests to coastal marsh grasses.
The Chattahoochee and Savannah rivers form boundaries with Alabama and South Carolina, respectively. Georgia's streams either flow into the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. The state also has many artificial lakes that support water recreation.
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Why is Georgia historically important?
Georgia holds significant historical importance due to its early establishment as one of the original 13 English colonies in 1732. Founded by James Oglethorpe, it served as a buffer between the other colonies and Spanish Florida.
Savannah was the first city established in Georgia and served as the seat of the colonial government. The state played a key role in the Civil War, seceding from the Union in 1861 and enduring significant devastation during General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea.
Atlanta became a central hub for the civil rights movement, with Martin Luther King, Jr. playing a pivotal role. Atlanta was also the first major city in the South to elect an African American mayor, Maynard Jackson, in 1973.
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What are some major industries in Georgia today?
Georgia has shifted from an agriculture-based economy to one focused on manufacturing and services. The service sector accounts for approximately four-fifths of jobs, including government, finance, real estate, trade, construction, transportation, and public utilities.
Leading manufacturing industries include food processing, textiles and apparel, paper and lumber, chemicals, plastics and rubber, automobiles, machinery, transportation equipment, and electrical and electronic supplies. The Coca-Cola Company, a major multinational corporation, originated in Atlanta.
Georgia is also a leader in high-technology employment, with massive growth in the service sector since the mid-20th century, notably in construction, retail, food and beverages, communications, information technology, and transportation. Tourism is also an important component of service activities, with Atlanta drawing the largest number of tourists each year.
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News •
Georgia, constituent state of the United States of America. Ranking fourth among the U.S. states east of the Mississippi River in terms of total area (though first in terms of land area) and by many years the youngest of the 13 former English colonies, Georgia was founded in 1732, at which time its boundaries were even larger—including much of the present-day states of Alabama and Mississippi. Its landscape presents numerous contrasts, with more soil types than any other state as it sweeps from the Appalachian Mountains in the north (on the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina) to the marshes of the Atlantic coast on the southeast and the Okefenokee Swamp (which it shares with Florida) on the south. The Savannah and Chattahoochee rivers form much of Georgia’s eastern and western boundaries with South Carolina and Alabama, respectively. The capital is Atlanta.
Georgia’s early economy was based on the slave-plantation system. One of the first states to secede from the Union in 1861, Georgia strongly supported the Confederate States of America (Confederacy) during the American Civil War. However, it paid a high price in suffering from the devastation accompanying the Union army’s siege of northern Georgia and Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s fiery capture of Atlanta in 1864. Sherman’s subsequent March to the Sea laid waste a broad swath of plantation from Atlanta to Savannah—one of the first examples of total war.
- Capital:
- Atlanta
- Population1:
- (2020) 10,711,908; (2025 est.) 11,302,748
- Governor:
- Brian Kemp (Republican)
- Date Of Admission:
- January 2, 17882
- U.S. Senators:
- Raphael Warnock (Democrat)
- Jon Ossoff (Democrat)
- State Nickname:
- Empire State of the South
- Peach State
- State Motto:
- “Wisdom, Justice and Moderation”
- State Bird:
- brown thrasher
- State Flower3:
- Cherokee rose, azalea
- State Song:
- “Georgia on My Mind”
- Seats In U.S. House Of Representatives:
- 14 (of 435)
- Time Zone:
- Eastern (GMT − 5 hours)
- Total Area (Sq Km):
- 153,911
- Total Area (Sq Mi):
- 59,425
- Excluding military abroad.
- Original state; date shown is that of ratification of Constitution.
- The azalea is the state wildflower; no species was designated.
At the same time that post-Civil War Georgians were romanticizing the old plantation, many were also rapidly forsaking agriculture for industry, even embracing the pro-Northern, pro-industry ideology of Atlanta journalist Henry Grady. Subsequently, the manufacture of cotton and iron grew, but the real spur to Georgia’s postwar growth was the expansion of the rail transportation system, which was centred in Atlanta.
The degree to which some of the wounds of this history have been healed in Georgia is most strikingly exemplified in contemporary Atlanta. This city was home to Martin Luther King, Jr., and, for all practical purposes, it was the headquarters for the civil rights movement. In the 1960s the business community in Atlanta ensured that the kinds of racial conflicts that had damaged the reputation of other Southern cities were not repeated.
By the early 21st century the state’s prosperity was based mainly in the service sector and largely in and around Atlanta, on account of that city’s superior rail and air connections. Atlanta is home to the state’s major utilities and to banking, food and beverage, and information technology industries and is indeed one of the country’s leading locations for corporate headquarters. Propelled especially by Atlanta’s progressive image and rapid economic and population growth, Georgia had by the late 20th century already pulled ahead of other states of the Deep South in terms of overall prosperity and convergence with national socioeconomic norms. The state continues to be a leader in the southern region. Area 59,425 square miles (153,911 square km). Population (2020) 10,711,908; (2025 est.) 11,302,748.
Land
Relief
The southernmost portions of the Blue Ridge Mountains cover northeastern and north-central Georgia. In the northwest a limestone valley-and-ridge area predominates above Rome and the Coosa River. The higher elevations extend southward about 75 miles (120 km), with peaks such as Kennesaw and Stone mountains rising from the floor of the upper Piedmont. The highest point in the state, Brasstown Bald in the Blue Ridge, reaches to an elevation of 4,784 feet (1,458 meters) above sea level. Below the mountains the Piedmont extends to the fall line of the rivers—the east-to-west line of Augusta, Milledgeville, Macon, and Columbus. Along the fall region, which is nearly 100 miles (160 km) wide, sandy hills form a narrow, irregular belt. Below these hills the rolling terrain of the coastal plain levels out to the flatlands near the coast—the pine barrens of the early days—much of which are now cultivated.
Drainage
About half the streams of the state flow into the Atlantic Ocean, and most of the others travel through Alabama and Florida into the Gulf of Mexico. A few streams in northern Georgia flow into the Tennessee River and then via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers into the gulf. The river basins have not contributed significantly to the regional divisions, which have been defined more by elevations and soils. The inland waters of Georgia consist of some two dozen artificial lakes, about 70,000 small ponds created largely by the federal Soil Conservation Service, and natural lakes in the southwest near Florida. The larger lakes have fostered widespread water recreation.
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Because of the region’s bedrock foundation, Piedmont communities and industries must rely on surface runoff for their primary water supply. The coastal plain, underlain by alternating layers of sand, clay, and limestone, draws much of its needed water from underground aquifers. The increasing domestic and industrial use of underground water supplies in Savannah, St. Marys, and Brunswick threatens to allow brackish water to invade the aquifers serving these coastal cities.
How big is Georgia?
Soils
From the coast to the fall line, sand and sandy loam predominate, gray near the coast and increasingly red with higher elevations. In the Piedmont and Appalachian regions these traits continue, with an increasing amount of clay in the soils. Land in northern Georgia is referred to as “red land” or “gray land.” In the limestone valleys and uplands in the northwest, the soils are of loam, silt, and clay and may be brown as well as gray or red.