Georgia (U.S. state)

This article is about American state. For other uses, see Georgia.

State of Georgia

Flag of Georgia Seal of Georgia Nickname(s): Peach State / Empire State of the South
Official language(s)	English
Capital	Atlanta
Largest city	Atlanta
Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude	Ranked 24th 154,077 km² 370 km 480 km 2.6 30°31'N to 35°N 81°W to 85°53'W
Population  - Total (2000)  - Density	Ranked 9th 8,186,453 54.59/km² (18th)
Elevation  - Highest point  - Mean  - Lowest point	1,458 m 180 m 0 m
Admission to Union	January 2, 1788 (4th)
Date of Secession (Civil War)	January 19, 1861
Date of Readmission	July 15, 1870
Governor	Sonny Perdue (R)
U.S. Senators	Saxby Chambliss (R) Johnny Isakson (R)
Time zone(s)	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Abbreviations	GA US-GA
Web site	www.georgia.gov

Georgia is a southern state of the United States and its U.S. postal abbreviation is GA. Georgia was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. It was the last of the thirteen colonies to be established as a colony. It became the fourth state after ratifying the United States Constitution on January 2, 1788. Georgia's population in 2000 was 8,186,453 (U.S. Census); it is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation, with an estimated 8,829,383 people in 2004. Georgia is also known as the Peach State or Empire State of the South .

The state song, Georgia on My Mind by Hoagy Carmichael was originally written about a woman of that name, but after Georgia native Ray Charles sang it, the state legislature voted it the state song. Ray Charles sang it on the legislative floor when the bill passed. This act was significant in that it symbolized to many the move away from segregation and racism.

The state tree is the Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana), the state bird is the brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), and the state flower is the Cherokee rose (Rosa laevigata).

Several U.S. Navy ships have been named USS Georgia in honor of this state.

History

Main article: History of Georgia (U.S. state)

Early on, a number of Spanish explorers visited the inland region of Georgia, leaving a trail of destruction behind them. The local moundbuilder culture, described by Hernando de Soto in 1540, had completely disappeared by 1560.

The conflict between Spain and Britain over control of Georgia began in earnest in about 1670, when the British, moving south from their Carolina colony in present-day South Carolina met the Spanish moving north from their base in Florida. In 1724, it was first suggested that what was by then a British colony be called Province of Georgia in honor of King George II.

Massive British settlement began in the year 1732 with James Oglethorpe, an Englishman in the British parliament, who promoted the idea that the area be used to settle people in a debtors' prison. On February 12, 1733, 113 settlers landed in the HMS Anne at what was to become the city of Savannah. This day is now known as Georgia Day, which is not a public holiday, but is mainly observed in schools and by some local civic groups. In 1752, Georgia became a royal colony. Georgia's first constitution came in 1777, but was later changed.

On January 18, 1861 Georgia joined the Confederacy and became a major theater of the American Civil War. In December 1864, a large swath of the state from Atlanta to Savannah was destroyed during General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea. This event served as the historical background for the 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and the 1939 film. On July 15, 1870, following Reconstruction, Georgia became the last former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union.

On February 19, 1953 Georgia became the first U.S. state to approve a literature censorship board in the United States.

Georgia has had five "permanent" state capitals: colonial Savannah, which later alternated with Augusta; then for a decade at Louisville (pron. Lewis-ville), and from 1806 through the American Civil War at Milledgeville. In 1868, Atlanta became the fifth capital of the state. The state's legislature also met at other temporary sites, including Macon, especially during the Civil War.

Law and Government

State government

The Georgia Capitol Building in Atlanta with the distinctive gold dome.

The state capital is Atlanta.

As with all other U.S. States and the federal government, Georgia's government is based on the separation of legislative, executive and judicial power. Executive authority in the state rests with the governor, currently Sonny Perdue (Republican). Both the governor and lieutenant governor are elected on seperate ballots to four-year terms of office. Unlike the federal government, but like many other U.S. States, most of the executive officials who comprise the governor's cabinet are elected by the citizens of Georgia, rather than appointed by the governor.

Legislative authority resides in the General Assembly, composed of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Lieutenant Governor presides over the Senate, while the House of Representatives selects their own Speaker. The Georgia Constitution mandates a maximum of 56 Senators, elected from single-member districts, and a minimum of 180 Representatives, apportioned among representative districts (which sometimes results in more than one Representative per district); there are currently 56 Senators and 180 Representatives. The term of office for Senators and Representatives is two years.

State Judicial authority rests with the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, which have statewide authority. In addition, there are smaller courts which have more limited geographical jurisdiction, including State Courts, Superior Courts, Magistrate Courts and Probate Courts. Justices of the Supreme Court and Judges of the Court of Appeals are elected statewide by the citizens in non-partisan elections to six-year terms. Judges for the smaller courts are elected by the state's citizens who live within that court's jurisdiction to four-year terms.

See also: list of Georgia governors and Georgia elected officials

Local government

Georgia has 159 counties, the most of any state except Texas (254). Before 1932, there were 161, with Milton and Campbell being merged into Fulton at the end of 1931, during the Great Depression. Counties have been named for prominent figures in both American and Georgia history. Counties in Georgia have their own elected legislative branch, usually called the Board of Commissioners, which usually also has executive authority in the county. Georgia's Constitution provides all counties and cities with "home rule" authority, and so the county commissions have considerable power to pass legislation within their county as a municipality would.

(See: list of Georgia counties.)

Besides the counties, Georgia only defines cities as local units of government. Every incorporated town, no matter how small, is legally a city. Georgia does not provide for townships or independent cities, but does allow consolidated city-county governments by local referendum. So far, only Columbus, Augusta, and Athens have done this. On average, there is 1 city government for every 23.6 citizens in Georgia, and this is expected to increase to 1 for every 20 by the year 2008.

There is no true metropolitan government in Georgia, though the Atlanta Regional Commission and Georgia Regional Transportation Authority do provide some regional services, and the ARC must approve all major land development projects in metro Atlanta.

Tax policies

Cypress swamps, peaches and plantations

Georgia has a modest income tax and a 4% state sales tax, which is not applied to prescription drugs. Each county may add up to a 2% SPLOST. Counties participating in MARTA have another 1%; MARTA is one of the few metropolitan transit authorities not to receive state funding. The city of Atlanta (in two counties) has the only city sales tax (1%, total 8%) for fixing its old sewers. Local taxes are almost always charged on groceries but never prescriptions. Up to 1% of a SPLOST can go to homestead exemptions. All taxes are collected by the state and then properly distributed according to any agreements that each county has with its cities.

Political makeup

Until recently, Georgia's state government had the longest unbroken record of single-party dominance of any state in the Union. For over 130 years, from 1872 to 2003, Georgians only elected Democratic governors, and Democrats held the majority of seats in the General Assembly. Most of the Democrats elected throughout these years were Southern Democrats or Dixiecrats who were very conservative throughout the 60's segregationist period.

During the 1960s and 1970s Georgia made significant changes in civil rights, governance, and economic growth focused on Atlanta and was a bedrock of the fleeting "New South". This characterization was solidified with the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976. It has since declined with the rise of religious conservatism being a spur for Republicans.

As of the 2001 reapportionment, the state has 13 congressmen and women in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The political dominance of Democrats ended in 2003, when former governor Roy Barnes was defeated by Sonny Perdue in what was regarded as a stunning upset. While Democrats retained control of the State House, they lost their majority in the Senate when four Democrats switched parties. They relinquished their hold on the House in the 2004 election; currently, Republicans control all three primary branches of government. Many conservative Democrats, including former U.S. Senator and governor Zell Miller, have decided to support Republicans in recent years; George W. Bush won the state in the 2004 election, and conservative initiatives such as restrictions on abortion have won broad support.

Geography

Map of Georgia

Georgia is bordered on the south by Florida, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina, on the west by Alabama, and on the north by Tennessee and North Carolina. The northern part of the state is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a mountain range in the mountain system of the Appalachians. The central piedmont extends from the foothills to the fall line, where the rivers cascade down in elevation to the continental coastal plain of the southern part of the state. The highest point in Georgia is Brasstown Bald, 4784 feet (1458 m); the lowest point is sea level.

The capital is Atlanta, in the north central part of Georgia, and the peach is a symbol of the state. The state is an important producer of cotton, tobacco, and forest products, notably the so-called "naval stores" such as turpentine and rosin from the pine forests.

Georgia is also the largest state, in land area, east of the Mississippi River, since West Virginia seceded from Virginia during the Civil War. Michigan (96,810 square miles), Florida (65,768 square miles), and Wisconsin (65,603 square miles) are all larger than Georgia (59,441 square miles) when accounting for both land and water area.

Transportation

Current Georgia License Plate

Atlanta is still a major railroad hub for CSX and Norfolk Southern, in addition to being a major airport hub now as well. Several highways and short line railroads also traverse the state.

Interstate highways

• Interstate 16, Interstate 516
• Interstate 20, Interstate 520
• Interstate 59, Interstate 24
• Interstate 75, Interstate 475, Interstate 575
• Interstate 85, Interstate 185, Interstate 985
• Interstate 95
• Interstate 285 (the Perimeter around Atlanta)
• Interstate 3 (proposed)
• Interstate 14 (proposed)

United States highways

Economy

Georgia's 2003 total gross state product was $320 billion. Its per capita personal income for 2003 put it 31^st in the nation at $29,000.

Georgia's agricultural outputs are poultry and eggs, peanuts, cattle, hogs, dairy products, and vegetables. Its industrial outputs are textiles and apparel, transportation equipment, food processing, paper products, chemical products, electric equipment. Tourism also makes an important contribution to the economy. Georgia is the Granite Capital of the World. Atlanta has been the site of enormous growth in real estate, service, and communications industries.

Atlanta has a very large effect on the state of Geogria and the Southeastern United States. The city is an ever growing addition to communications, industry, transportation, tourism, and government.

Demographics

As of 2005, Georgia has an estimated population of 9,072,576, which is an increase of 154,447, or 1.7%, from the prior year and an increase of 885,760, or 10.8%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 376,105 people (that is 718,764 births minus 342,659 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 425,510 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 192,844 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 232,666 people.

Georgia is the 10th most populous state. Its population has grown 36% (2.35 million) from its 1990 levels, making it one of the fastest-growing states in the country. More than half of the state's population lives in the Atlanta metro area.

Georgia Population Density Map Race The racial makeup of Georgia: 62.6% White non-Hispanic 28.7% Black 5.3% Hispanic 2.1% Asian 0.3% Native American 1.4% Mixed race The state's five largest ancestries are: African, American, British, German, and Irish. As of 2000, 90.1% of Georgia residents age 5 and older speak English at home and 5.6% speak Spanish. French is the third most spoken language at 0.6%, followed by German at 0.4% and Vietnamese at 0.4%. 7.3% of its population were reported as under 5 years of age, 26.5% under 18, and 9.6% were 65 or older. Females make up approximately 50.8% of the population.

Historically, about half of Georgia's population was comprised of black slaves. The Great Migration of blacks from the rural South to the industrial North from 1914-1970, as well as white migration into Georgia after 1970, reduced the black proportion of the population. Today, African-Americans remain dominant in plantation counties of Middle, east-central, Southwestern, and Lowcountry Georgia, as well as in the city of Atlanta and its core southern suburbs.

White Georgians, like other Southerners, usually describe their ancestry on the census questionnaire as "American", "United States", or simply "Southern". Whites of American ancestry are prominent in the northern mountains and upper Piedmont as well as in certain sandy and swampy areas of the southeast. Georgians of British ancestry dominate the northern suburbs of Atlanta. The early settlement of very large numbers of Scots-Irish Americans during colonial days and in subsequent years has strongly influenced the state's culture.

Religion

Like most other Southern states, Georgia is overwhelmingly Protestant Christian. The religious affiliations of the people of Georgia are as follows:

• Christian – 85%
  • Protestant – 76%
    • Baptist – 39%
    • Methodist – 12%
    • Presbyterian – 3%
    • Pentecostal – 3%
    • Other Protestant – 19%
  • Roman Catholic – 8%
  • Other Christian – 1%
• Other Religions – 2%
• Non-Religious – 13%

Georgia shares its Protestant heritage with much of the Southeastern United States. However, the number of Roman Catholics is growing in the state due to the influx of Northeasterners resettling in the Atlanta metro area and also due to large Hispanic immigration into the state. The Northeastern influx has also resulted in a fast-growing Jewish community in the Atlanta area.

Important cities and towns

Midtown Atlanta Skyline

Augusta Skyline

Savannah Riverfront

Education

Colleges and universities

The Georgia Tech Tower

The Emory University Candler Library

Radio and television

Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) operates nine major educational television stations across the state as Georgia Public Broadcasting Television. See also List of television stations in Georgia. It also operates, in whole or in part, several radio stations as Georgia Public Radio (GPR). See also List of radio stations in Georgia (U.S. state).

Georgia is home to Ted Turner, who founded TBS, TNT, and CNN, among others. The CNN Center headquarters is located in Atlanta, GA.

The Weather Channel's headquarters is located in the Vinings area of metropolitan Atlanta in Cobb County, GA.

Professional sports teams

Trivia

• Georgia is the only U.S. state that begins with a G.
• Georgia is the home state to Coca Cola.
• Georgia has the largest land area of any state east of the Mississippi River.

See also

• Famous people from the State of Georgia
• Politics of Georgia (U.S. state)
• List of gold mines in Georgia

External links

• http://www.state.ga.us/ or http://www.georgia.gov/
• http://stateofgeorgia.com/ Georgia Information Locator
• http://georgia.net Georgia Community Wiki
• Constitution of the State of Georgia (PDF)
• Literature and Authors of Georgia at Southern Literary Review
• Georgia Constitution Web Page, Carl Vinson Institute of Government at The University of Georgia (includes historical Constitutions of Georgia)
• Summary of duties, powers and responsibilities of the branches of Georgia State government (Georgia Secretary of State website)
• Georgia History
• Georgia Info from UGA
• Roadside Georgia Information on things to do in the state of Georgia
• The New Georgia Encyclopedia
• U.S. Census Bureau
• Georgia Obituary Links Page
• GenealogyBuff.com - Georgia Library of Files
• Georgia Magazine
• County Maps of Georgia Full color county maps. List of cities, towns, county seats

Further reading

• New Georgia Encyclopedia (2005). Scholarly resource covering all topics.
• Bartley, Numan V. The Creation of Modern Georgia (1990). Scholary history 1865-1990.
• Coleman, Kenneth. ed. A History of Georgia (1991). Survey by scholars.
• London, Bonta Bullard. (1999) Georgia: The History of an American State Montgomery, Alabama: Clairmont Press ISBN 1-56733-994-8. A middle school textbook.
• Peirce, Neal R. The Deep South States of America: People, Politics, and Power in the Seven Deep South States (1974) information on politics and economics 1960-72

Primary Sources

• BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIALS OF JAMES OGLETHORPE, by Thaddeus Mason Harris, 1841
• A BRIEF DESCRIPTION AND STATISTICAL SKETCH OF GEORGIA, United States of America: developing its immense agricultural, mining and manufacturing advantages, with remarks on emigration. Accompanied with a map & description of lands for sale in Irwin County, By Richard Keily, 1849.
• ESSAY ON THE GEORGIA GOLD MINES, by William Phillips, 1833 (Excerpt from: American Journal of Science and Arts. New Haven, 1833. Vol. XXIV, No. i, First Series, April (Jan.-March), 1833, pp. 1-18.)
• AN EXTRACT OF JOHN WESLEY'S JOURNAL, from his embarking for Georgia to his return to London, 1739. The journal extends from October 14, 1735, to February 1, 1738.
• GEORGIA SCENES, characters, incidents, &c. in the first half century of the Republic, by Augustus Baldwin Longstreet (1840, 2nd ed)
• REPORT ON THE BRUNSWICK CANAL AND RAIL ROAD, Glynn County, Georgia. With an appendix containing the charter and commissioners's report, by Loammi Baldwn, 1837
• SOCIETY, A journal devoted to society, art, literature, and fashion, published in Atlanta, Georgia [Society Pub. Co.], 1890-
• VIEWS OF ATLANTA, and The Cotton State and International Exposition, 1895

Regions of Georgia
Colonial Coast | Metro Atlanta | North Georgia Mountains | Historic South | Inland Empire | Southern Rivers
Largest cities
Albany | Atlanta | Athens | Augusta | Columbus | Macon | Savannah
Counties of Georgia
Appling | Atkinson | Bacon | Baker | Baldwin | Banks | Barrow | Bartow | Ben Hill | Berrien | Bibb | Bleckley | Brantley | Brooks | Bryan | Bulloch | Burke | Butts | Calhoun | Camden | Candler | Carroll | Catoosa | Charlton | Chatham | Chattahoochee | Chattooga | Cherokee | Clarke | Clay | Clayton | Clinch | Cobb | Coffee | Colquitt | Columbia | Cook | Coweta | Crawford | Crisp | Dade | Dawson | Decatur | DeKalb | Dodge | Dooly | Dougherty | Douglas | Early | Echols | Effingham | Elbert | Emanuel | Evans | Fannin | Fayette | Floyd | Forsyth | Franklin | Fulton | Gilmer | Glascock | Glynn | Gordon | Grady | Greene | Gwinnett | Habersham | Hall | Hancock | Haralson | Harris | Hart | Heard | Henry | Houston | Irwin | Jackson | Jasper | Jeff Davis | Jefferson | Jenkins | Johnson | Jones | Lamar | Lanier | Laurens | Lee | Liberty | Lincoln | Long | Lowndes | Lumpkin | Macon | Madison | Marion | McDuffie | McIntosh | Meriwether | Miller | Mitchell | Monroe | Montgomery | Morgan | Murray | Muscogee | Newton | Oconee | Oglethorpe | Paulding | Peach | Pickens | Pierce | Pike | Polk | Pulaski | Putnam | Quitman | Rabun | Randolph | Richmond | Rockdale | Schley | Screven | Seminole | Spalding | Stephens | Stewart | Sumter | Talbot | Taliaferro | Tattnall | Taylor | Telfair | Terrell | Thomas | Tift | Toombs | Towns | Treutlen | Troup | Turner | Twiggs | Union | Upson | Walker | Walton | Ware | Warren | Washington | Wayne | Webster | Wheeler | White | Whitfield | Wilcox | Wilkes | Wilkinson | Worth || (Campbell) | (Milton)