|
About Georgia
| |
The State of
Georgia
is in the Southeastern United States and was one of the original
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, in 1733. It was the fourth state to ratify
the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788. It seceded from
the Union on January 21, 1861 and was one of the original seven
Confederate states. It was the last state to be readmitted to the
Union, on July 15, 1870.
 Georgia is
the ninth-largest state in the nation by population, with an
estimated 9,544,750 residents as of July 1, 2007. It is also the
third fastest-growing state in terms of numeric gain and fifth in
terms of percent gain, adding 202,670 residents at a rate of 2.2%.
From 2006 to 2007, Georgia had 18 counties among the nation's 100
fastest-growing counties, the most of any state. Georgia is also
known as the Peach State and the Empire State of the South. Atlanta
is the most populous city, and the capital.
|
|
| |
Georgia is bordered on the south by
Florida; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and South
Carolina; on the west by Alabama and by Florida in the
extreme southwest; and on the north by Tennessee and
North Carolina. Georgia is ranked 24th in size among the
50 U.S. states. Georgia is the largest state east of the
Mississippi River in terms of land area, although it is
the fourth largest (after Michigan, Florida, and
Wisconsin) in total area, a term which includes expanses
of water claimed as state territory
 World's
Busiest Airport
The Atlanta Airport made great strides in 1942 when it set a record
of 1700 takeoffs and landings in one day and was named "the nation's
busiest airport in terms of flight operations." Candler Field's name
was changed in 1946 to Atlanta Municipal Airport. With a passenger
terminal complex equivalent in size to more than 45 football fields,
Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport bears the proud
distinction of being "the world's busiest passenger airport."
|
|
| |
Some flight
Statistics:
Largest number of passengers annually. (1998–2008)
Most arrivals and departures (operations) annually. (1999–2000,
2005–2008). In 2007, Hartsfield again set the world's record for
most aircraft movements in one year with 994,346.
Most flights (2006). |
|
Fun Facts
Atlanta
 |
There are
approximately 55 streets with the name
"Peachtree" in Georgia. |
|
Atlanta's Westin
Peachtree Plaza is the tallest hotel in the
western hemisphere. |
|
At 723 feet, the
Westin Peachtree Plaza is the fifth tallest
building in Atlanta, surpassed in height by the
Bank of America building (1023 feet), Sun Trust
Plaza (871 feet), One Atlantic Center 820 feet),
and 121 Peachtree Tower (770 feet). |
|
Atlanta is host to
over 16.5 million visitors each year. |
|
Atlanta is the
fifth city to be the capital of the state of
Georgia. |
|
The Varsity
Restaurant in Atlanta has earned the distinction
of serving the highest volume of Coca-Cola
anywhere. It dispenses nearly 3 million servings
of Coca-Cola annually. |
|
The Capitol Dome
is layered in 43 ounces of pure gold that was
mined in Dahlonega, Georgia - the site of
America's first Gold Rush. |
|
Atlanta has 130
retail centers, 71 public golf courses, 54
public parks. |
|
Atlanta has more
shopping center space per capita than any other
city except Chicago. |
|
Atlanta is home to
the Peachtree Road Race, the largest 10K race in
the world with approximately 45,000 runners
annually. |
|
Atlanta was
briefly named Marthasville. |
|
Atlanta is the
only city in North America destroyed by a fire
as an act of war. Today, the city's symbol is
the Phoenix, a legendary bird of Egyptian
mythology that rose from its own ashes with
renewed strength and beauty. |
|
Home of Martin
Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, the
largest museum in the world solely dedicated to
the famous civil rights leader. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Georgia Economy:
Georgia's 2006 total gross state
product was $380 billion. Its per capita personal income
for 2005 put it 10th in the nation at $40,155. If
Georgia were a stand-alone country, it would be the 28th
largest economy in the world.
There are 15 Fortune 500 companies and
26 Fortune 1000 companies with headquarters in Georgia,
including such names as Home Depot, UPS, Coca Cola,
Delta Air Lines, AFLAC, Southern Company, and SunTrust
Banks.
Georgia has over 1,700 internationally
headquartered facilities representing 43 countries,
employing more than 112,000 Georgians with an estimated
capital investment of $22.7 billion.
Demographics:
According to the U.S census,
Georgia's population is as follows: 62% White, 28.1%
African-American, 2.1% Asian American, 1.2% mixed, and
6% are Hispanics or Latino (of any race).
As of 2005, 90% of Georgia residents age
5 and older speak only English at home and 5.6% speak
Spanish. French is the third most spoken language at
0.9%, followed by German at 0.8% and Vietnamese at 0.6%.
As of 2004, 7.7% of its population was reported as under
5 years of age, 26.4% under 18, and 9.6% were 65 or
older. Also as of 2004, females made up approximately
50.6% of the population and African Americans made up
approximately 29.6%.
Historically, about half of Georgia's population was
composed of African Americans who, prior to the Civil
War, were almost exclusively enslaved. The Great
Migration of hundreds of thousands of blacks from the
rural South to the industrial North from 1914-1970
reduced the African American population. This population
has since increased, with some African Americans
returning to the state for new job opportunities. Today,
African Americans remain the most populous race in many
rural counties in middle, east-central, southwestern,
and Low Country Georgia, as well as in the city of
Atlanta and in most of its suburbs. According to census
estimates, Georgia ranks fourth among the states in
terms of the percent of the total population that is
African American.
As of 2005, approximately 2.7% of
Georgia's population was Asian American. Georgia is the
nation's third-fastest growing area for Asians, behind
only Nevada and North Carolina. Asian buying power in
the state was $8.1 billion this year, up from $1.1
billion in 1990, according to statistics from the
University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth
|
 
|
"I have a dream
that one day on the red hills of
Georgia, the sons of
former slaves and the sons of former slave owners, will be able to
sit down
together at the table of brotherhood."
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr |
|
