Georgia
Travel Information
Georgia is the gateway to the southern Atlantic States of North
Carolina, Florida and South Carolina; and the southern States
of Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
It is the largest State east of the Mississippi, founded in
1735 by James Oglethorpe, an Englishman who landed in Savannah
and founded the 13th colony in the New World. Georgia is the
only State to be named after a British monarch. It is a mixture
of the Old and New South, and is geographically diverse, with
landscapes ranging from mountains in the northeast to the mysterious,
low-lying Okefenokee Swamp in the south, called the land of
the trembling earth' by the region's Native American tribes.
It was in this State that gold was first struck in North America
and the gold rush that followed centred around the town of Dahlonega.
Its varied climate ranges from the low humidity of the Blue
Ridge Mountains to the subtropical southern coastal region.
The state of Georgia conjures up images of warm Southern nights,
mint juleps on the porch of an antebellum mansion, soul food
and traditional Southern hospitality. From the state capital
of Atlanta, with its famous Atlanta History Center and the unique
Stone Mountain Park, to Georgia's Historic South that includes
the cities of Macon with the Ocmulgee National Monument and
the Museum of History in Augusta - the state of Georgia offers
a myriad of opportunities to visitors. While in Georgia be sure
to take a trip to Savannah in Coastal Georgia and visit the
little known but very beautiful Golden Islands - a true semi-tropical
paradise. These include St Simons Island. Many of the islands
are accessed by ferry from Brunswick, Georgia. In the Georgia
Mountains don't miss the Oak Hill and the Martha Berry Museum
in Rome.
Georgia is one of America’s oldest and most interesting
states. With a history as rich and varied as its people and
geography, you are never far from discovering something exciting
and new. The area was originally occupied by the native Creek
and Cherokee Indians who had lived the region for centuries.
However, this changed in 1733, when Oglethorpe and other European
settlers landed on what is now present-day Savannah. Soon thereafter,
they colonized the area, looking to take advantage of the mild
climate as well as the many abundant local resources. Georgia
officially became a state in 1788 and was the fourth state to
enter the Union. The state quickly grew and prospered, and Atlanta,
the state capital, became the unofficial hub of the south. Since
then, Georgia has been thrust into the world spotlight as it
has witnessed many prominent historical events including the
Civil War, the advent of Martin Luther King’s Civil Rights
Movement and more recently, the 1996 Olympics.
Atlanta
Long known as the 'Capital of the New South,' Atlanta has benefitted
in recent years from a booming economy, the 1996 Olympics and
a baseball dynasty. The city has also suffered from overzealous
college get-downs and from the relentless development that's
razed much of what it hasn't converted to shopping malls. But
there are offbeat neighborhoods to explore and old-fashioned
towns nearby where you can still savor something of bygone days.
Atlantans are among the most progressive folks in the South,
and many of them are college students - who, when they're not
wilding during Spring Break, keep the local culture fresh.
Population: 425,000
Area: 130 sq miles (340 sq km)
Elevation: 1035ft (310m)
State: Georgia
Time Zone: Eastern Time (GMT/UTC minus 5 hours)
Telephone area code: 404, 678 & 770 |