Abbreviated as GA on abbreviationfinder.org, Georgia is one of the United States of America, between 30 ° 21 ′ and 35 ° of lat. N. and 80 ° 46 ‘and 85 ° 36’ long. OR.; it has an area of 153,507 sq km. and borders to north with Tennessee and North Carolina, to east with South Carolina and the Atlantic, to south with Florida, to west with Alabama.
An irregular line that has a direction ENE.-OSO. and which passes almost through the center of the state (Fall line), divides this into two parts. The northern part of the line is essentially formed of ancient crystalline and metamorphic rocks and, in the north-western corner, of Paleozoic rocks, and is a partly mountainous region (extreme southern offshoots of the Appalachians: maximum height, almost 1500 m.) and mostly hilly. At noon on the Fall line, a slightly undulating area first spreads out, averaging 200 m high. (Piedmont), therefore, more towards the sea, a low and flat area, formed by Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary rocks (limestone, sands, clays). Various important rivers, navigable up to the Fall line, flow in wide valleys with a prevalent direction northwest.-SE.; such are: the Savannah, which marks the border with South Carolina and is navigable up to Augusta; the Altamaha, formed by the meeting of Oconee and Ocmulgee, navigable up to Macon; the Chattahoochee, which partly marks the border with Alabama and is navigable up to Columbus.
The climate differs significantly from one part of the state to another. In Clayton, in the northeast corner, at 640 msm, the average annual temperature is 13 °, 8, and in the higher areas it probably does not reach 12 °; in St. Marys, in the SE corner, a short distance from the sea, the average annual temperature is over 20 °. Snow falls frequently in the mountainous region, which is rare in the coastal region. Precipitation falls mainly in winter and spring in the northern part, in late summer in the south, and decreases from the mountainous region (1800 mm., On average) towards the central part (about 1000 mm.). Tornados occur in the interior every year, and the coastal region is sometimes battered by hurricanes. Georgia was once completely covered by forest, which still occupies about 2/3 of its surface. In the northern part, pines (Pinus strobus) and hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis) predominate; in the coastal zone the Pinus australis is characteristic and, in the marshy parts, the Taxodium, a species of cypress. The exploitation of forests has been of great importance, but in recent years it has been declining.
Before colonization (see below), the country was sparsely inhabited by Cherokee and Creek Indians. The first census of the United States, in 1790, recorded 82,500 in Georgia, rising to 2,902,000 in the 1930 census. (20 inhabitants per sq. Km.). The inhabitants are concentrated mainly in the industrial region of Piedmont. The urban population constitutes about 30% of the total; the most notable centers are: Atlanta, the capital, with 270,366 residents in 1930; Savannah, the main port, with 85,024 inhabitants; and then Macon (53.829), Augusta (60.342), Columbus (43.131), Waycross (15.510), La Grange (20.131), Athens (18.192), etc. In 1930 63.2% of the population was of Whites and 36.8% of Negroes; foreigners are few in number: the Russians (2200), the Germans (1682) and the English (1328) prevail, etc. There were 712 Italians in 1930.
The main occupation of the population is agriculture (53.3% of the inhabitants over 10 years old in 1920): the cultivated areas make up about 35% of the region. The most important crop is that of cotton, followed at a great distance by those of maize, fodder, sweet potatoes, tobacco, fruit trees, etc. The industries, in which 15% of the active population works, have developed especially in the Piedmont region, which is very rich in water energy (cotton mills, turpentine factories, chemical fertilizers, machinery, railway repair shops, etc..).
Georgia has very active trade, also because it has an excellent network of communication and transport routes: the railways have a development of about 12,000 km.
History
The territories that now form the state of Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, were ceded to Great Britain in 1729. In February 1733, the English general JE Oglethorpe landed on the site where Savannah stands today, founded by him to colonize the region between the rivers Savannah and Altamaha. In 1734 some Bavarians also arrived; the city of Ebenezer was founded by Protestant refugees from Salzburg. Georgia was the only colony helped in its founding by the British government. In 1736 John and Charles Wesley, the founders of Methodism, also came to Georgia. However, the execution of the Oglethorpe project was unfortunate, due to too small land concessions and the prohibition on keeping slaves that prevented competition with the Charleston landowners. In 1752 the commissioners returned their privileges to the crown. In 1763 the territory reached as far as the Mississippi to the west and was extended southwards to the St. Mary’s River. The population was growing slowly: in 1760 the white settlers did not amount to 6 thousand. The delegates of Georgia (so called by King George II) signed the declaration of independence, and the state was among the first to ratify the Constitution. Inflamed by self-love, also by the proximity of the Spaniards and the Indians, the Georgians were nevertheless staunch defenders of the rights of their state, as they proved in connection with the famous Chisolm case, refusing to recognize a sentence against them by the Supreme Court of the United States, and the more serious and long-standing dispute of the Yazoo Land Companies, to put an end to which Georgia ceded all the territories west of the Chattahoochee to the Union, which created Alabama and Mississippi. The cession of Louisiana to the United States by France (1803) and Florida by Spain (1819) freed the frontiers of Georgia from continuous Spanish incursions and Indian guerrillas. The Georgians were ardent supporters of the war against England in 1812; they had serious difficulties with the Creek and the Cherokee in 1825; and they soon rebelled against the Union, from which they broke away in January 1861. Georgia was the scene of essential phases of the civil war. Only in December 1870 was the state readmitted to the federal congress. Georgia had emerged from the war in disastrous conditions, but after the period of “reconstruction” it is today, with Texas, one of the richest states in the South.
Atlanta
According to countryaah.com, Atlanta is a city of the USA (519.145 residents In 2007), capital of the State of Georgia, near the Chattahoochee River, at 325 m asl. Important railway junction, with an active river port and an international airport; it is a lively commercial and industrial center (iron and steel, mechanical, chemical, textile, wood, paper, publishing, food plants). Tertiary activities (finance, telecommunications, research and development, tertiary decision-making) have had a notable development since the 1990s. It houses the High Museum, built (1981-83) by R. Meier. In 1996 the city hosted the Olympic Games.
Founded in 1837, as the terminal railway center of the Georgia Railroad (hence its primitive name of Terminus), due to its function as the commercial center of the Southern States, it played a notable part in the Civil War, during which (July-September 1864) it was besieged and destroyed by General Sherman’s federal troops.
