Georgia
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State flag
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GEORGIA,
one of the South Atlantic states of the U.S., bounded on the
N by Tennessee and North Carolina, on the E by South Carolina and
the Atlantic Ocean, on the S by Florida, and on the W by Alabama.
The Savannah R. forms part of the E border and the Chattahoochee
R. part of the W border.
Georgia entered the Union on Jan. 2, 1788, as the fourth state.
During the American Civil War it was a member of the Confederate
States of America. Once principally a farming state, known for its
considerable cotton output, Georgia in the early 1990s had an economy
centered on manufacturing and service industries. Atlanta, the state
capital, serves as a major economic center for the South. Georgia
is named for George II of England and is known as the Empire State
of the South.
| GEORGIA STATE FACTS |
| DATE OF STATEHOOD: |
January 2, 1788; 4th state |
| CAPITAL: |
Atlanta |
| MOTTO: |
Wisdom, justice and moderation |
| NICKNAME: |
Empire State of the South |
| STATE SONG: |
“Georgia on My Mind” (words by Stuart Gorrell; music by Hoagy Carmichael) |
| STATE TREE: |
Live oak |
| STATE FLOWER: |
Cherokee rose |
| STATE BIRD: |
Brown thrasher |
| POPULATION (2000 census): |
8,186,453; 10th among the states |
| AREA: |
153,909 sq km (59,425 sq mi); 24th largest
state; includes 3934 sq km (1519 sq mi) of inland water |
| COASTLINE: |
161 km (100 mi) |
| HIGHEST POINT: |
Brasstown Bald, 1458 m (4784 ft) |
| LOWEST POINT: |
Sea level at the Atlantic coast |
| ELECTORAL VOTES: |
15 (as of the 2004 presidential election) |
| U.S. CONGRESS: |
2 senators; 13 representatives |
| GOVERNOR: |
Sonny Perdue (Rep.)
Took office January 2003 |
Georgia, with an area of 153,909 sq km (59,425 sq mi),
is the 24th largest U.S. state and the biggest in land area E of the
Mississippi R.; 5.6% of its land area is owned by the federal
government. The state is roughly rectangular in shape, and its extreme
dimensions are about 515 km (about 320 mi) from N to S and about 410 km
(about 255 mi) from E to W. Elevations range from sea level, along the
Atlantic Ocean, to 1458 m (4784 ft), atop Brasstown Bald, near the N
boundary. The mean elevation of the state is 183 m (600 ft). The
coastline along the Atlantic is 161 km (100 mi) long.
Encompassing parts of six geographical regions, Georgia has
a varied landscape. The S half of the state is made up of sections
of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the East Gulf Coastal Plain. The
two regions had similar origins and are much alike. Each is underlain
mainly by soft, unconsolidated sedimentary beds of sand and clay.
A substantial part of the East Gulf Coastal Plain is underlain by
limestone, which is studded with water-filled holes (sinkholes).
The Atlantic Coastal Plain has richer topsoil. The two regions gradually
increase in elevation toward the interior. The Atlantic coast is
broken by many inlets and contains much marsh and swamp; offshore
are the Sea Islands (a chain that continues N into South Carolina
and S into Florida). Straddling the S border of the two coastal
plains is the Okefenokee Swamp, which is also partly in Florida.
Most of the N half of Georgia is made up of a part of the
Piedmont Plateau, an area of rolling hills underlain by hard crystalline
rocks such as granite. The fall line is at the S edge of this region.
Rivers flowing from the Piedmont Plateau onto the coastal plains
descend in falls and rapids at the fall line. Elevations in the Piedmont
section increase to the N, from about 150 m (about 500 ft) at the
fall line to about 365 m (about 1200 ft) at its N edge.
Three regions of the Appalachian Mts. make up N Georgia. The
most elevated of the regions is the Blue Ridge, in the NE, an area
of rounded, forested mountains separated by narrow valleys. The
Blue Ridge is underlain by extremely hard crystalline rocks such
as gneiss. To the W of the Blue Ridge is the Valley and Ridge Region,
where wide, flat, fertile valleys extending NE to SW are separated
by narrow, steep-sided ridges. The NW corner of Georgia, made up
of a section of the Cumberland Plateau, contains narrow, relatively
infertile valleys bordered by ridges.
One group of Georgia rivers flows to the Atlantic Ocean. The Savannah
and Altamaha are the main rivers in this group. The Altamaha collects
the waters of two important central Georgia rivers, the Ocmulgee
and Oconee. A second group of Georgia rivers flows toward the Gulf
of Mexico. The Chattahoochee and the Flint are the principal rivers
of this group.
Georgia has no large natural lakes, but dams on rivers have
formed a number of large bodies of water. These include Lake Seminole,
Walter F. George Reservoir, and Lake Sidney Lanier, on the Chattahoochee
R.; Lake Sinclair, on the Oconee R.; Hartwell and J. Strom Thurmond
lakes, on the Savannah R.; and Allatoona Lake, on the Etowah R.
Parts of some lakes are in neighboring states.
The two Coastal Plain regions of Georgia and the
Piedmont Plateau area have a humid subtropical climate. The S location,
relatively low elevation, and nearness to the comparatively warm waters
of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico produce a climate with long, hot
summers, short, mild winters, and rainfall at all times of year. The
climate is classified as humid continental in the Blue Ridge, Valley
and Ridge, and Cumberland Plateau regions of the N. Summer temperatures
in these areas are cooler than in S Georgia, and winters are colder,
although not severe. Some winter snowfall occurs in the N regions.
Because moist marine air is forced to rise when it meets the mountains,
the Blue Ridge receives the most precipitation in the state. In Georgia
as a whole, the rainier times of the year are in winter and summer; the
average yearly precipitation is about 1270 mm (about 50 in). The
recorded temperature in the state has ranged from -27.2° C (-17° F), in
1940 near Rome in the NW, to 44.4° C (112° F), in 1952 at Louisville in
the E and in 1983 at Greenville in the W.
| GEORGIA AVERAGE CLIMATE |
| |
Atlanta |
Savannah |
| Average January temperature range |
0.6° to 10.6° C |
33° to 51° F |
3.9° to 16.1° C |
39° to 61° F |
| Average July temperature range |
20.6° to 30.6° C |
69° to 87° F |
21.7° to 32.8° C |
71° to 91° F |
| Average annual temperature |
16.1° C |
61° F |
18.9° C |
66° F |
| Average annual precipitation |
1219 mm |
48 in |
1295 mm |
51 in |
| Average annual snowfall |
38 mm |
1.5 in |
8 mm |
0.3 in |
| Mean number of days per year with appreciable precipitation |
113 |
113 |
| Average daily relative humidity |
70% |
71% |
| Mean number of clear days per year |
108 |
104 |
More than 60 percent of Georgia’s land area is covered
with forest. In the Coastal Plain regions the woodland, part of
the Southeastern Pine Forest of the U.S., is dominated by slash
and longleaf pine. Hardwood trees, notably the large live oak, are
intermixed with the pine. Swamp trees, such as cypress and tupelo,
and marsh grasses grow in some low-lying areas. The forest in the
Piedmont region is mainly a mixture of oak and pine. In N Georgia
the forest covering the mountains is composed principally of oak,
hickory, maple, and other hardwood trees. The state’s forest,
particularly in the N, also contains many beautiful flowering trees
and shrubs such as redbud, dogwood, and azalea.
Wild animals in Georgia include many deer, raccoon, opossum,
fox, and squirrel, plus small numbers of black bear in the mountains
and the SE forest. Ducks, geese, and quail are numerous, as are
songbirds such as the mockingbird and wood thrush. Georgia’s
freshwater rivers and lakes contain many bass, bream, trout, perch,
crappie, and catfish, and crabs, oysters, shrimp, and shad are to
be found in the state’s coastal marine waters.
Georgia contains sizable deposits of several important minerals. The
inner Coastal Plain regions have deposits of kaolin, a high-grade
white clay. Beautiful marble is found on the Piedmont Plateau N
of Atlanta, and Stone Mt., E of Atlanta, is one of the largest known
single masses of exposed granite in the world. Other minerals found
in the state include coal, sand and gravel, talc, soapstone, barite,
manganese, and bentonite. Much of the state’s soil has
a reddish tint because of its high clay content.
According to the 2000 census, Georgia had 8,186,453
inhabitants, an increase of 26.4% over 1990. Ranked by percentage,
Georgia in the 1990s was the fastest-growing state east of the Rocky
Mountains; in absolute terms, Georgia’s increase of more than 1.7
million people outpaced that of any previous decade in the state’s
history. The average population density in 2000 was 54.6 people per sq
km (141.4 per sq mi) of land area. Whites made up 65.1% of the
population and blacks 28.7%; other groups included 21,737 American
Indians and Alaska Natives, 173,170 Asians (of whom 26.6% were Asian
Indians), and 4246 Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. (These
figures do not include the 1.4% of people who reported more than one
race.) In all, 435,227 persons, or 5.3%, reported being of Hispanic
origin. The state’s biggest cities were Atlanta, the capital;
Augusta-Richmond; Columbus; Savannah; Athens-Clarke; and Macon.
Metropolitan Atlanta, with a population of more than 4 million, is one
of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing urban regions.
As of 1990, Baptists made up 50.8% of the state
population, followed by Methodists (11.5%) and Roman Catholics (6.3%).
In 1990 approximately 63% of all Georgians lived in areas defined as
urban, and the rest in rural areas.
| POPULATION OF GEORGIA SINCE 1790 |
| Year of Census |
Population |
Classified As Urban |
| 1790 |
83,000 |
0% |
| 1820 |
341,000 |
2% |
| 1850 |
906,000 |
4% |
| 1880 |
1,542,000 |
9% |
| 1900 |
2,216,000 |
16% |
| 1920 |
2,896,000 |
25% |
| 1940 |
3,124,000 |
34% |
| 1960 |
3,943,000 |
55% |
| 1980 |
5,463,000 |
62% |
| 1990 |
6,478,216 |
63% |
| 2000 |
8,186,453 |
-- |
| POPULATION OF TEN LARGEST CITIES IN GEORGIA |
| |
2000 Census |
1990 Census |
| Atlanta |
416,474 |
394,017 |
| Augusta-Richmond |
199,775 |
44,639* |
| Columbus |
186,291 |
179,278 |
| Savannah |
131,510 |
137,560 |
| Athens-Clarke |
101,489 |
45,734* |
| Macon |
97,255 |
106,612 |
| Roswell |
79,334 |
47,923 |
| Albany |
76,939 |
78,122 |
| Marietta |
58,748 |
44,129 |
| Warner Robins |
48,804 |
43,726 |
| * These 1990 population figures apply only to Augusta City and Athens City as incorporated as of that year. |
Georgia has an extensive educational system, many cultural
institutions, and a variety of historical attractions.
In the colonial era, Georgia’s children were educated
in one-room rural schools and in a few church-supported academies.
Publicly financed elementary schools were organized in 1872, and the
state supported high schools beginning in 1912. In the early 2000s,
Georgia’s public educational facilities included 1969 public elementary
and secondary schools, which each year enrolled about 1,043,000 pupils
in kindergarten through 8th grade and 380,000 students in grades 9-12.
Private schools enrolled more than 107,000 students annually in the
late 1990s.
In the same period, Georgia had 104 degree-granting
institutions of higher education, with a combined annual enrollment of
about 306,000 students. These institutions included the
University of Georgia (1785), at Athens, and
Emory University (1836), Georgia
Institute of Technology (1885), and Georgia State University (1913),
all at Atlanta. Since 1993, more than 600,000 Georgia residents have
received a combined total of more than $1.5 billion under the Hope
Scholarship program, which allocates funds from the state lottery to
pay tuition and fees for students who maintain good grades at eligible
Georgia colleges and universities.
Georgia has more than 360 public libraries and
branches; the state’s largest public library system is Atlanta-Fulton
Public Library, with more than 2.4 million volumes. Outstanding
collections on Georgia’s history are available at historical societies
in Atlanta and Savannah. The Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta,
which includes the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum,
houses Jimmy Carter’s presidential papers.
Notable museums are the Telfair Museum of Art (1875),
the oldest art museum in the South, in Savannah; the High Museum of Art
(1926) and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (1992), both in
Atlanta; the Georgia Museum of Art (1945), in Athens; the National
Infantry Museum (1959), at Fort Benning; and the Museum of Coastal
History, including an 1872 brick lighthouse, on Saint Simons Island.
Atlanta and Savannah support symphony orchestras, and Atlanta and
Augusta have opera companies. Atlanta also is home to one of the
nation’s leading ballet ensembles.
Many historical sites and monuments are located in Georgia.
The remains of old Indian mounds and villages are in Ocmulgee National
Monument, near Macon, and Fort Frederica National Monument on Saint
Simons Island, includes a fort constructed in the 18th century by
the British. Civil War battle sites are in Chickamauga and Chattanooga
National Military Park, in the NW corner of the state; and in Kennesaw
Mountain National Battlefield Park, near Marietta. Andersonville
National Historic Site encompasses a Civil War prisoner-of-war camp,
and Fort Pulaski National Monument on Tybee Island, includes a
fort attacked by Union forces in 1862. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Little
White House” is in Warm Springs. The Martin Luther King,
Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta includes the tomb and childhood
home of the civil rights leader.
Georgia’s best-known sports event is the Masters,
a golf tournament held at Augusta every April. Atlanta is the site
of the annual Peach Bowl postseason college football game. Popular
outdoor-recreation activities in Georgia include swimming, fishing,
hunting, hiking, and golfing. Cumberland Island National Seashore
includes unspoiled beaches, dunes, and marshes.
The state’s professional sports teams include the
Atlanta Braves (major league baseball), the Atlanta Hawks (basketball),
the Atlanta Thrashers (ice hockey), and the Atlanta Falcons (football), all based in Atlanta.
Georgia is served by a broad range of communications
media. The state’s first radio station, WSB, began operation in Atlanta
in 1922. Atlanta is the headquarters of the Turner Broadcasting System,
a major cable-television company that in 1980 established the Cable
News Network (CNN).
Georgia was served by 34 daily newspapers with a
combined daily circulation of about 1 million copies in the late 1990s.
Among the leading dailies were the
Constitution
and the
Journal, published in Atlanta; the
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer; the
Macon Telegraph; and the
Savannah Morning News. The oldest newspaper was the Chronicle, first published in Augusta in 1785.
Georgia is governed under a constitution that was adopted
in 1982; previous constitutions had been adopted in 1777, 1789,
1798, 1861, 1865, 1868, 1877, 1945, and 1976. State constitutional
amendments may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of the legislature
or by a constitutional convention; to take effect, an amendment
must be ratified by a majority of the persons voting on the issue
in a general election.
Georgia’s chief executive is a governor, who is popularly
elected to a 4-year term and is prohibited from serving more than
two successive terms. The same regulations apply to the lieutenant
governor, who succeeds the governor should the latter resign, die,
or be removed from office. Other officials popularly elected to
4-year terms are the secretary of state, attorney general, commissioner
of agriculture, commissioner of labor, commissioner of insurance
(who also serves as comptroller general), and superintendent of
schools.
The bicameral Georgia legislature is the General Assembly,
and it consists of a house of representatives, which has 180 members,
and a senate, which has 56 members. All state representatives and
state senators are popularly elected to 2-year terms.
Georgia’s highest tribunal is the supreme court, made
up of seven justices popularly elected to 6-year terms. The chief
justice is elected by the court for the duration of the justice’s term
of office. The second highest court is the court of appeals, consisting
of nine judges popularly elected on a nonpartisan basis to 6-year
terms. The principal trial courts are the superior courts, which have
159 judges; they are elected on a nonpartisan ballot for 4-year terms.
Other judicial bodies in Georgia include the state (county) courts,
juvenile courts, probate courts, magistrate courts, municipal courts,
civil courts, and county recorders’ courts.
County government is important in Georgia. In the early 2000s the
state had 159 counties, almost all of which were administered by
boards of commissioners. Most cities and towns were governed by
popularly elected mayors and councils.
Based on the 2000 census and effective with the election of
2002, Georgia is represented in the U.S. Congress by 2 senators
and 13 representatives. The state has 15 electoral votes in presidential
elections.
The Democratic party has dominated state and local politics in Georgia. Democrats have held the governorship continuously in the state since 1872, and they retain control of both houses of the state legislature by clear majorities. The Democratic also dominated national politics in the state from 1872
through 1960. In 1964, however, Georgia for the first time cast its
electoral votes for a Republican presidential candidate. George C.
Wallace, running as the nominee of the American Independent party,
carried the state in 1968. Jimmy Carter, a one-term governor (1971-75),
became in 1976 the first native Georgian to win election to the U.S.
presidency. Newt Gingrich, the most influential and controversial
Republican of the 1990s, represented Georgia as a U.S. House member
(1979-99) and served as Speaker of the House (1995-99). The leading
Democrat in the '90s was Zell Miller (1932– ), who served two terms as
governor (1991-99) before entering the U.S. Senate (2000– ).
Republicans scored major gains in the 2002 election, ending the
Democrats’ 131-year hold on the state governorship.
Georgia was primarily an agricultural state until the mid-20th
century. In the early 2000s, manufacturing was a leading economic
sector, and Atlanta was a major commercial, financial, transportation,
health, and research center for the southeastern U.S. Several large
federal military facilities, such as Fort Benning, near Columbus, and associated defense industries were major contributors to the state’s economy.
| GEORGIA STATE ECONOMY |
| STATE BUDGET |
| General revenue |
$21.4 billion |
| General expenditure |
$21.6 billion |
| Accumulated debt |
$6.3 billion |
 |
| STATE AND LOCAL TAXES, PER CAPITA |
$2,761 |
| PERSONAL INCOME, PER CAPITA |
$27,790 |
| POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LEVEL |
12.9% |
| ASSETS, INSURED COMMERCIAL BANKS (331) |
$171.8 billion |
|
| EMPLOYEES ON NONFARM PAYROLLS |
4,013,600 |
| Employed in services |
28% |
| Employed in wholesale and retail trade |
25% |
| Employed in manufacturing and construction |
20% |
| Employed in government |
15% |
| Employed in transportation and public utilities |
7% |
| Employed in finance, insurance, and real estate |
5% |
|
| MAJOR INDUSTRIES |
% CONTRIBUTED TO GSP* |
| Private service-producing industries |
53% |
| Manufacturing and construction |
22% |
| Government |
12% |
| Transportation, communications, and public utilities |
11% |
| Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries |
2% |
* Gross State Product = total value of goods and services produced in a year.
Sources: U.S. government publications. Based on most recent data available as of 2002. |
| PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS OF GEORGIA |
| |
Quantity Produced |
Value |
| FARM PRODUCTS |
|
$5.0 billion |
|
| CROPS |
|
$1.9 billion |
| Cotton |
372,000 metric tons |
$411 million |
| Peanuts |
608,000 metric tons |
$352 million |
| Greenhouse and nursery products |
-- |
$267 million |
| Tobacco |
31,400 metric tons |
$150 million |
| Pecans |
144,000 metric tons |
$82 million |
|
| LIVESTOCK AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS |
|
$3.1 billion |
| Chickens (broilers) |
2.8 million metric tons |
$2.0 billion |
| Eggs, chicken |
5.1 billion |
$370 million |
| Cattle and calves |
193,000 metric tons |
$333 million |
| Dairy products |
--- |
$183 million |
| Hogs |
103,000 metric tons |
$104 million |
|
| MINERALS |
|
$1.7 billion |
| Clays |
10.1 million metric tons |
$982 million |
| Stone |
75.1 million metric tons |
$476 million |
| Sand, gravel |
7.9 million metric tons |
$42 million |
|
| FISHING |
4400 metric tons |
$21 million |
|
| |
|
Annual Payroll |
|
| MANUFACTURING |
|
$16.7 Million |
| Textiles and apparel |
|
$2.8 billion |
| Transportation equipment |
|
$2.2 billion |
| Food, beverages, and tobacco products |
|
$2.0 billion |
| Paper |
|
$1.1 billion |
| Fabricated metal products |
|
$1.0 billion |
| Chemicals |
|
$1.0 billion |
| Machinery |
|
$964 million |
| Plastics and rubber products |
|
$894 million |
| Wood products |
|
$796 million |
| Electrical equipment |
|
$750 million |
| Computers and electronic products |
|
$696 million |
| Printing and related activities |
|
$691 million |
| Nonmetallic mineral products |
|
$675 million |
|
| OTHER |
|
$49.2 billion |
| Government |
|
$19.7 billion |
| Health care and social assistance |
|
$10.2 billion |
| Finance, insurance, and real estate |
|
$9.1 billion |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services |
|
$9.0 billion |
| Retail trade |
|
$8.6 billion |
| Wholesale trade |
|
$8.6 billion |
| Management of companies and enterprises |
|
$6.5 billion |
| Construction |
|
$6.2 billion |
| Information |
|
$5.7 billion |
| Transportation, warehousing, and utilities |
|
$5.5 billion |
| Accommodation and food services |
|
$3.3 billion |
| Sources: U.S. government publications. |
The Georgia economy has an important agricultural
sector. Sales of livestock and livestock products account for more than
60% of the yearly farm income, and sales of crops provide the rest. The
output is produced on about 50,000 farms, averaging 107 ha (265 acres)
in size. Leading agricultural products include broiler chickens,
chicken eggs, cotton, peanuts, cattle, dairy products, greenhouse and
nursery items, and tobacco. Georgia usually ranks with Arkansas and
Alabama as the top three U.S. producers of broiler chickens; most
broilers are raised in the NE part of the state. Georgia typically
leads all states in peanut and pecan production and ranks among the top
five states in the volume of tobacco output; these three crops are
grown mainly in the S half of the state. Other major crops include
onions, corn, greens, hay, tomatoes, wheat, cabbage, and watermelons.
In addition, Georgia produces large quantities of peaches, especially
in Peach Co., near Macon. Many hogs are raised in the state.
Georgia has an estimated 9.6 million ha (23.8 million
acres) of commercial forestland, more than any other state. Hardwoods,
including oak, maple, and sweet gum, cover about 53 percent of the
timberland; much of the annual softwood harvest is used to make paper.
Naval stores such as turpentine, pitch, and rosin are produced from the
pine trees of the SW part of the state.
The relatively small commercial fishing industry of
Georgia operates mainly in the coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The yearly marine catch is about 4400 metric tons and has a total value
of approximately $21 million. Edible shellfish make up the bulk of the
catch in terms of both volume and value, and shrimp is the leading
variety landed. Crabs, oysters, and clams also are caught.
The principal minerals recovered in Georgia are clays, stone,
and sand and gravel. Georgia is the leading state in the production
of clay, and kaolin—a clay used in producing china, paint,
paper, and other goods—is the most important single mineral
product. It is mined chiefly along the fall line, from Columbus
to Augusta. Fuller’s earth is another major type of clay
produced in the state. Granite and marble are quarried in great
quantities in N Georgia. Other important mineral products include
barite, feldspar, and mica.
Georgia contains nearly 9000 manufacturing
establishments, which together are responsible for the employment of
more than 550,000 workers. Manufacturing accounts for about 17% of the
annual gross state product. The leading types of manufactures, based on
annual payroll, are textiles and apparel, transportation equipment,
processed foods and beverages, and paper and paper products. The
principal textiles produced are woven cotton fiber, floor covering, and
yarn and thread. NW Georgia contains the largest concentration of
tufted-carpet producers in the U.S. and accounts for more than 50% of
the nation’s output. Many other textile mills, as well as clothing
factories, are in the Piedmont Plateau region of the state, especially
in small towns.
The state produces a great variety of foodstuffs,
notably processed peanuts and fruit, dressed broilers, and frozen
shrimp. The manufacture of transportation equipment, mainly motor
vehicles and aerospace equipment, is concentrated in the Atlanta
metropolitan area. The state has many paper mills and produces
substantial quantities of pine lumber and hardwood flooring. Other
fabricated goods made in Georgia include chemicals, machinery, plastics
and rubber products, electrical equipment, and electronic components.
In the early 2000s, millions of travelers visited
Georgia each year, and the state annually earned more than $16 billion
from tourism; of that total, more than half was spent in the Atlanta
metropolitan area. Tourist attractions, in addition to Atlanta, include
the Atlantic coast and the mountains of the N part of the state. Near
Atlanta is Stone Mountain Park, which features the equestrian figures
of the Confederate leaders Robert E. Lee,
Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis
carved on the N face of the granite mountain. The Six Flags Over
Georgia amusement park is another popular attraction in the Atlanta
region. Points of interest in the coastal area include Savannah, one of
the oldest cities in the U.S., and Cumberland, Saint Simons, and Jekyll
islands. Among the notable attractions of the W part of the state are
Warm Springs, which was frequented by Franklin D. Roosevelt, and
Plains, the hometown of Jimmy Carter.
Georgia’s transportation network encompasses about
184,640 km (about 114,730 mi) of federal, state, and local roads,
including some 7400 km (some 4600 mi) of national highway system roads.
The first railroad in Georgia was opened in 1837; in the late 1990s the
state was served by 7460 km (4635 mi) of operated railroad track. The
Atlanta area is a major rail hub as well as the site of William B.
Hartsfield International Airport, one of the busiest in the U.S. In the
late 1990s Georgia had 304 airports and 93 heliports. Its principal
seaports are Savannah and Brunswick; along the coast is a section of
the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Parts of the Chattahoochee, Flint,
and Savannah rivers are used to transport freight.
As of 2000, Georgia had an installed electricity
generating capacity of about 28.4 million kw, and its annual
electricity production was about 123 billion kw. Approximately 69% of
the electricity was generated from fossil fuels (mostly coal), about
26% by nuclear power plants, and the remaining 5% from hydroelectric
and other sources.
The major Indian groups in Georgia at the time of European
settlement were the Lower Creeks and the Cherokees, both of which
had established cultures. The earliest known European settlement
in Georgia was the Spanish mission of Santa Catalina, established
in 1566 on Saint Catherines Island. The mission was overrun in 1680
by the British and their Indian allies.
In 1732, the British philanthropists James Oglethorpe and
John Percival (1683–1748) secured a royal charter to establish
a colony in the area, providing for a board of trustees to govern
it. The early settlers included many English debtors, but also Scots,
Germans, Swiss, and some German Jews. Oglethorpe arrived with the
first group and founded Savannah in 1733. The British desired a
buffer between South Carolina and the Spanish in Florida and the
French in Louisiana. Georgia served this purpose well. It did not
begin to prosper economically, however, until the charter expired in
1753, and economic growth became pronounced after the appointment
of James Wright (1716–85) as royal governor in 1760. Relations
between the colonists and the Indians were generally friendly, and
slavery was prohibited until 1749.
Although loyalty to the British crown was strong in Georgia,
the colony joined the American Revolution and sent representatives
to the Second Continental Congress. The British seized Savannah
in 1778, but guerrilla fighters prevented them from gaining control
of the interior, and they evacuated the state in 1782.
After the Revolution, Georgia supported a strong central government
and was one of three states to ratify the Constitution unanimously.
This popular support, however, did not prevent conflict with the
new national government. Georgia claimed virtually all of what is
now Mississippi and much of Alabama, and granted this territory
to private land companies. These grants (the Yazoo Land Frauds)
were declared invalid in 1800 by the U.S. Congress. Georgia agreed
in 1802 to cede these lands to the U.S. and received a federal commitment
to remove the Indians to the West. After a series of constitutional
squabbles involving the state, the president of the U.S., and the
U.S. Supreme Court, by 1838 the Creeks and Cherokees were largely
removed from Georgia, thus opening up vast new cotton lands that
were quickly settled by whites.
Two factions dominated Georgia politics in the early 19th
century, one representing the coastal communities and the slaveholders
and the other including the up-country people and the nonslaveholders.
Nonslaveholders frequently failed to support the coastal planters
in their struggles with the North over slavery. Nevertheless, when
the final showdown came in 1861, a majority voted to secede from
the Union. Federal forces quickly blockaded the state and captured
many offshore islands. Georgia provided large numbers of troops
for the Confederate army, but Gov. Joseph E. Brown (1821–94)
also resisted the authority of the Confederate government in Montgomery
on the basis of states’ rights. In 1864 Georgia was invaded
by Union forces under Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, which took
Atlanta on September 2 and then proceeded on the famous “March
to the Sea,” ending in Savannah in December.
Georgia adopted a new constitution and ratified the 13th amendment
abolishing slavery in 1865, but was nevertheless placed under federal
military control by terms of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867. Because
of continuing resistance by state officials to the political conditions
established by the federal government, however, Georgia was not
restored to the Union until July 1870.
State politics were staunchly Democratic after Reconstruction.
The Bourbons (conservative Democrats) dominated from 1872 until
1890, combining support for business interests with low taxes and
limited public services. In Atlanta, the journalist and lecturer
Henry W. Grady (1851–89) led the “New South” movement, which
advocated industrial development and urbanization for the region.
Poor agricultural conditions created widespread support for the
Populists, who challenged the Bourbons for political power in the
1890s but quickly faded thereafter.
In 1908 new voter registration requirements virtually disenfranchised
blacks, and the county unit system of Democratic primary voting
(1917) placed political power firmly in the hands of rural white
voters. Eugene Talmadge (1884–1946), elected governor in
1933, opposed most New Deal measures, especially those promoting
social and racial equality. The election of Ellis Arnall (1907–92)
as governor in 1942 ushered in a period of reform, which included
abolition of the poll tax and adoption of a new constitution in
1945. Talmadge was reelected in 1946, but he died before he could take
office. The General Assembly declared his son, Herman E. Talmadge
(1913–2002), governor,
but this action was nullified by the state supreme court. Talmadge
eventually won election, however, in 1948.
Georgia was very much a part of southern resistance to the
civil rights movement. In response to the 1954 Supreme Court decision
declaring public school racial segregation unconstitutional, an
amendment was adopted permitting state support of private education
as an alternative to public schools. The state legislature passed
a law in 1955 to implement this tactic if federal courts ordered
any public school to integrate. After 1959, however, closing schools
to avoid integration became a local option.
In 1961 the University of Georgia and the Atlanta
public school system were integrated. White and black leaders in
Atlanta worked to avoid violence and meet black demands, while the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a major civil rights
organization led by Martin Luther King, Jr., made its headquarters in
the city.
Georgia’s population increased rapidly in the 1960s and
'70s. Atlanta, the state capital, became the leading financial and
transportation hub of the Southeast, with one of the country’s busiest
commercial airports and, by 2000, a metropolitan area with a population
exceeding 4 million. Atlanta has attracted worldwide attention as the
home of CNN (see above Communications), the Carter Center, and the
federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
emblematic of the city’s rise to prominence was the selection of
Atlanta to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
Georgia’s break with the past was underscored by the decision of the
state legislature in 2001 to replace the state flag, adopted in 1956,
which was dominated by the Confederate "stars and bars," with a new
design in which the Confederate battle flag was one of five small
images arrayed on a banner under a large state seal and the phrase
“Georgia’s History.” Civil rights leaders, who objected to the earlier
design as a reminder of slavery and segregation, had threatened to
launch an economic boycott if the state did not take action.