Georgia (U.S. state).html



State of Georgia
Flag of Georgia Seal of Georgia Nickname(s): Peach State, Empire State of the South Motto(s): Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation
Official language(s)	English
Demonym	Georgian
Capital	Atlanta
Largest city	Atlanta
Largest metro area	Atlanta metro area
Area	Ranked 24th in the US
- Total	59,425 sq mi (153,909 km²)
- Width	230 miles (370 km)
- Length	298 miles (480 km)
- % water	2.6
- Latitude	30.356 - 34.985° N
- Longitude	80.840 - 85.605° W
Population	Ranked 9th in the US
- Total	9,544,750 (2007 est.)1
- Density	141.4/sq mi  (54.59/km²) Ranked 18th in the US
- Median income	$43,217 (28th)
Elevation
- Highest point	Brasstown Bald2 4,784 ft  (1,458 m)
- Mean	591 ft  (180 m)
- Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean2 0 ft  (0 m)
Admission to Union	January 2, 1788 (4th)
Governor	Sonny Perdue (R)
Lieutenant Governor	Casey Cagle (R)
U.S. Senators	Saxby Chambliss (R) Johnny Isakson (R)
Congressional Delegation	List
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Abbreviations	GA US-GA
Website	www.georgia.gov

The State of Georgia (/ˈdʒɔɹdʒə/ (help·info)) is a state in the 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, 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, 2007.³ 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 percent. 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. The northern part of the state is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a mountain range in the vast 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, 4,784 feet (1,458 m); the lowest point is sea level.

With an area of 59,424 square miles (153,909 km²), 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.⁴

Geography

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

Boundaries

Beginning from the Atlantic Ocean, the state's eastern border with South Carolina runs up the Savannah River, northwest to its origin at the confluence of the Tugaloo and Seneca rivers. It then continues up the Tugaloo (originally Tugalo) and into the Michael River, its most significant tributary. These bounds were decided in the 1787 Treaty of Mexico, and tested in the U.S. Supreme Court in the two Georgia v. South Carolina cases in 1922 and 1989.

The border then takes a sharp turn around the tip of Rabun County, at latitude 35°N, though from this point it diverges slightly south (possibly due to later resurveying with better accuracy). This originally was the Georgia and North Carolina border all the way back to the Mississippi River, until Tennessee was divided from North Carolina, and Alabama and Mississippi (the Yazoo Lands) were taken from Georgia.

The state's western border then departs in another straight line south-southeastward, at a point southwest of Chattanooga, to meet the westernmost point of the Chattahoochee River near West Point, Georgia. It continues down to the point where it ends at the Flint River (the confluence of the two forming Florida's Apalachicola River), and goes almost due east and very slightly south, in a straight line to the origin of the Saint Mary's River, which then forms the remainder of the boundary back to the ocean.

It should be noted that the water boundaries are still set to be the original thalweg of the rivers. Since then, several have been inundated by man made lakes, including the Apalachicola/Chattahoochee/Flint point now under Lake Seminole.

In 2008, Georgia state legislators had claimed that the state's border with Tennessee had been erroneously placed one mile (1.6 km) further south than intended in an 1818 survey, and proposed that the border should be corrected. This would allow Georgia, in the midst of a significant drought, to access water from the Tennessee River.⁵

Geology and terrain

Map of elevations in Georgia

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

Each region has its own distinctive characteristics. For instance the Ridge and Valley, which lies in the northwest corner of the state, includes limestone, sandstone, shale and other sedimentary rocks, which have yielded construction-grade limestone, barite, ocher and small amounts of coal.

Flora and fauna

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

Georgia has a diverse mix of flora and fauna. The State of Georgia has approximately 250 tree species and 58 protected plants. Georgia's native trees include red cedar, a variety of pines, oaks, maples, sweetgum and scaly-bark and white hickories, as well as many others. Yellow jasmine, flowering quince, and mountain laurel make up just a few of the flowering shrubs in the state.

Regarding fauna, white-tailed (Virginia) deer can be found in approximately 50 counties. The mockingbird and brown thrasher are just two of the 160 bird species that can be found in the state. The eastern diamondback, copperhead, and cottonmouth as well as salamanders, frogs, alligators and toads are among 79 species of reptile and 63 amphibians that make Georgia their home. The most popular freshwater game fish are trout, bream, bass, and catfish, all but the last of which are produced in state hatcheries for restocking. Dolphins, porpoises, whales, shrimp, oysters, and blue crabs are found off the Georgia coast.⁶

Climate

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

Map of Georgia

The majority of Georgia is primarily a humid subtropical climate tempered somewhat by occasional polar air masses in the winter. Hot and humid summers are typical, except at the highest elevations. The entire state, including the north Georgia mountains, receives moderate to heavy precipitation, which varies from 45 inches (1143 mm) in central Georgia⁷ to approximately 75 inches (1905 mm) around the Northeast part of the state.⁸ The degree to which the weather of a certain area of Georgia is subtropical depends not just on the latitude, but also on how close it is to the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico and the altitude. This is especially true in the mountainous areas in the northern part of the state, which are further away from ocean waters and can be up to 4500 feet (1350 m) or higher above sea level.

The areas near the Florida/Georgia border, extending from the entire Georgia coastline west to the Florida panhandle, experiences the most subtropical weather, similar to that of Florida: hot, humid summers with frequent afternoon thunderstorms and mild, somewhat drier winters. These areas experience snow much less frequently than other parts of Georgia. The Georgia Piedmont area is somewhat cooler in winter than the coastal areas. The southern areas of the Piedmont may receive snow every other year, while areas close to the foothills get snow several times a year. This part of Georgia is especially vulnerable to ice storms. The mountains of Georgia have the coolest climate and most frequent snowfall in the state. In spite of having moderate weather compared to many other states, Georgia has occasional extreme weather. The highest temperature ever recorded is 112 °F (44.4 °C),⁹ while the lowest ever recorded is -17 °F (-27.2 °C).¹⁰ Georgia is one of the leading states in incidents of tornadoes. The areas closest to the Florida border get the same small F0 and F1 tornadoes associated with summer afternoon thunderstorms. However, it is very uncommon for tornadoes to become severe (over F3). A tornado hit downtown Atlanta on Friday, 14 March 2008 causing moderate to severe damage due to all the broken glass on the skyscrapers. The SEC basketball tournament and a few conventions were ongoing at the time of impact and some injuries occurred due to the amount of people downtown. As it is on the Atlantic coast, Georgia is also vulnerable to hurricanes, although the Georgia coastline only rarely experiences a direct hurricane strike. More common are hurricanes which strike the Florida panhandle, weaken over land, and bring strong tropical storm winds and heavy rain to the Georgia interior, as well as hurricanes that come close to the Georgia coastline, brushing the coast on their recurvature on the way up to hit The Carolinas.

In 2006 and 2007, however, Georgia has had severe droughts. Temperatures over 100 degrees have been recorded.

Protected lands

Main article: Protected areas of Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is home to 63 parks, 48 of which are state parks and 15 that are historic sites, and numerous state wildlife preserves, under the supervision of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.¹² Other historic sites and parks are supervised by the National Park Service and include the Andersonville National Historic Site in Andersonville; Appalachian National Scenic Trail; Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area near Atlanta; Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park at Fort Oglethorpe; Cumberland Island National Seashore near Saint Marys; Fort Frederica National Monument on St. Simons Island; Fort Pulaski National Monument in Savannah; Jimmy Carter National Historic Site near Plains; Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park near Kennesaw; Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site in Atlanta; Ocmulgee National Monument at Macon; Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.¹³

History

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

Early history

The local moundbuilder culture, described by Hernando de Soto in 1540, completely disappeared by 1560. Early on, in the course of European exploration of the area, a number of Spanish explorers visited the inland region of Georgia.

The conflict between Spain and England over control of Georgia began in earnest in about 1670, when the English founded the Carolina colony in present-day South Carolina. Nearly a century earlier, the Spanish of Spanish Florida had established the missionary provinces of Guale and Mocama on the coast and Sea Islands of present-day Georgia. After decades of fighting, the Carolinians and allied Indians permanently destroyed the Spanish mission system during the invasions of 1702 and 1704. After 1704, Spanish control was limited to St. Augustine and Pensacola, both in nowadays Florida. The Florida peninsula was subjected to raids as far as the Florida Keys. The coast of Georgia was occupied by now British-allied Indians such as the Yamasee until the Yamasee War of 1715-1717, after which the region was depopulated, opening up the possibility of a new British colony. In 1724, it was first suggested the British colony there be called Province of Georgia in honor of King George II.

British interest in establishing a colony below South Carolina came from varied sources. Spanish Florida was a threat to South Carolina and a haven for runaway slaves. The French in the 1720s established a fort near present-day Montgomery, Alabama, also a threat to British interests in the region. Traders from Charleston, South Carolina, had established trading posts as far west as the Ocmulgee River, near present-day Macon, Georgia. The British trading network kept the Creek Indians allied with them; the French move threatened to wrest these Indians' trade away from the British. These strategic interests made the British government interested in establishing a new colony that would reinforce the British influence in the border country that had been open to Spanish and French penetration.

Meanwhile, many members of the British Parliament had become concerned about the plight of England's debtors. A parliamentary committee investigated and reported on conditions in Britain's debtor prisons. A group of philanthropists organized themselves to establish a colony where the "worthy poor" of England could reestablish themselves as productive citizens. This goal was seen as both philanthropic, helping these distressed people, and patriotic, simultaneously relieving Britain of the burden of the imprisoned debtors and augmenting Britain's vital mercantile empire by planting new, industrious subjects to strengthen her trade. This goal went unfulfilled as Georgia was ultimately not settled by debtors or convicts.

In 1732, a group of these philanthropists were granted a royal charter as the Trustees of the Province of Georgia. They carefully selected the first group of colonists to send to the new colony. On 12 February 1733, 113 settlers aboard the Anne landed 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 observed in schools and by some local civic groups. James Edward Oglethorpe, one of the trustees of the colony, traveled with the first group of colonists, laid out the design of the town of Savannah, and acted as governor of the colony, although technically under the trustees there was no "governor." Oglethorpe acted as the only trustee present in the colony. When he returned to Britain, a series of disputes ended his tenure governing the colony; Georgia was then led by a series of presidents named by the trustees.

At the time Georgia was founded in 1732, the number of non-English immigrants to the colonies was at an all time high. Although religious toleration was not valued in itself, the pragmatic need to attract settlers led to broad religious freedoms. South Carolina wanted German Lutherans, Scottish Presbyterians, Moravians, French Huguenots and Jews, whom they valued as a counter to the French and Spanish Catholic and absolutist presence to the south. When the Moravians turned out to be pacifists who refused to serve in the colonial defense, they were expelled in 1738. Catholics were denied the right to own property. Jewish immigrants fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, which was being carried out by the Spanish colonies in the New World, were allowed in after some debate, owing to the leadership of James Oglethorpe. In 1733, over forty Jews fleeing persecution arrived in Savannah, the largest such group to enter an American colony up to that time. Among them was Dr. Samuel Nunez, who was the first doctor in Georgia. He immediately showed his value as a citizen by playing an invaluable role in curbing an epidemic that had already killed scores of settlers, and was credited with saving the colony by General Oglethorpe.¹⁴

In 1752, after the government failed to renew subsidies that had helped support the colony, the Trustees turned over control to the crown. Georgia became a crown colony, with a governor appointed by the British king.¹⁵ However, even after Georgia eventually became a royal colony (1752), there were so many dissenters (Protestants of minority denominations, that is, non-Anglican) that the establishment of the Church of England was successfully resisted until 1752. These dissenting churches were the mainstay of the Revolutionary movement, culminating in the War for Independence from Britain, through the patriotic and anti-authoritarian sermons of their ministers, and the use of the churches to organize rebellion. Whereas the Anglican Church tended to preach stability and loyalty to the Crown, other Protestant sects preached heavily from the Old Testament and emphasized freedom and equality of all men before God, as well as the moral responsibility to rebel against tyrants.¹⁶

Georgia was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution by signing the 1776 Declaration of Independence, despite a large population of people loyal to the crown. Since Georgia was a relatively new colony at the time compared to the other twelve colonies, Georgia was not as active in the war. Also, the Georgian militia was not fully developed, which led to the capture of Savannah by British forces in December of 1778. American forces under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln combined with French forces under the command of Charles Henri Comte d’Estaing to lay siege to Savannah in 1779. The attempt was incredibly unsuccessful, and Savannah remained in British hands until the end of the war. During the war, nearly one-third of the slaves, more than 5,000 enslaved African Americans, exercised their desire for independence by escaping and joining British forces, where they were promised freedom. Some went to Great Britain or the Caribbean; others were resettled in Canada provinces.¹⁷ Other estimates show an even greater impact from the war, when slaves escaped during the disruption. "The sharp decline between 1770 and 1790 in the proportion of the population made up of blacks (almost all of whom were slaves) [went] from 45.2 percent to 36.1 percent in Georgia."¹⁸

Following the war, Georgia became the fourth state of the United States of America after ratifying the United States Constitution on 2 January 1788. Georgia established its first state constitution in 1777. The state established new constitutions in 1788, 1799, 1861, 1865, 1868, 1877, 1945, 1976, and 1983, for a total of 10 — more constitutions than any other state, except for Louisiana, which has had 11.

Confederate history

Main article: Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War

On January 18, 1861, Georgia joined the Confederacy and became a major theater of the American Civil War. Major battles took place at Chickamauga, Kennesaw Mountain, and Atlanta. 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 of the same name. On July 15, 1870, following Reconstruction, Georgia became the last former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union.

Capitals

Georgia has had five official state capitals: colonial Savannah, which later alternated with Augusta; then for a decade at Louisville (pronounced Lewis-ville); and from 1806 through 1868, including during the American Civil War, at Milledgeville. In 1868, the capital was moved to the new city of Atlanta — one with a better access by railroad — and it became the fifth capital city of the state. It remains so to the present. The state legislature also met at some other temporary sites, including Macon, especially during the turmoil of the War.

Cities

Downtown Atlanta, Georgia

Macon, Georgia

Augusta, Georgia

Savannah, Georgia

See also: Georgia census statistical areas

The largest city, Atlanta, is located in north-central Georgia, atop a ridge southeast of the Chattahoochee River. The Atlanta metropolitan area has a population of 5,278,904 (2007 census estimate), though the city proper has around 519,000 people.

The state of Georgia has twenty metropolitan and micropolitan areas with populations above fifty-thousand. In descending order, they are Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah, Columbus, Macon, Athens, Gainesville, Albany, Dalton, Warner Robins, Valdosta, Brunswick, Rome, Hinesville, LaGrange, Statesboro, Dublin, Milledgeville, Waycross, and Calhoun.¹⁹

Ten largest cities

• Atlanta: 519,145 people
• Augusta: 195,182 people
• Columbus: 188,660 people
• Savannah: 128,500 people
• Athens: 111,580 people
• Macon: 97,606 people
• Roswell: 87,334 people
• Sandy Springs: 85,771 people
• Albany: 76,939 people
• Johns Creek: 62,049 people

Demographics

In 2006, Georgia had an estimated population of 9,363,941 which was an increase of 231,388 from the previous year, and an increase of 1,177,125 since 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 438,939 people (that is 849,414 births minus 410,475 deaths) and an increase from net migration of 606,673 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 228,415 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 378,258 people.

As of 2006, Georgia is the 9th most populous state. Its population has grown 44.5% (2,885,725) since 1990, making it one of the fastest-growing states in the country. Beginning with the 1990s, Georgia took over as the fastest-growing state in the South with a 26% population increase during the decade, surpassing its neighbor Florida which had held the title for every decade in the 20th century prior to the 90s. More than half of the state's population lives in the Atlanta metro area. Nineteen Georgia counties were among the 100 fastest growing counties from 2004 to 2005.²⁰ The center of population of Georgia is located in Butts County, in the city of Jackson.²¹

Georgia population density map.

Race, language, and age

According to the U.S. census, Georgia's population is as follows: 62.01% White, 29.91% Black, 2.78% Asian American, 1.24% multiracial, 0.23% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 0.05% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 3.77% of some other race.²² Additionally, 7.64% are of Hispanic or Latino descent (of any race).²³

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.²⁴ 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 its southern suburbs. According to census estimates, Georgia ranks third among the states in terms of the percent of the total population that is African American (after Mississippi and Louisiana) and third in numerical Black population after New York and Florida. Georgia was the state with the largest numerical increase in the black population from 2006 to 2007 with 84,000.²⁵

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.²⁶

White Georgians, like other Southerners, usually describe their ancestry on the census questionnaire as "American", "United States", or simply "Southern".^{citation needed} The colonial settlement of large numbers of Scots-Irish Americans in the mountains and piedmont, and coastal settlement by English Americans and African Americans, have strongly influenced the state's culture in food, language and music.

The concentration of Africans imported to coastal areas in the 18th century repeatedly from rice growing regions of West Africa led to the development of Gullah-Geechee language and culture in the Low Country among African Americans. They share a unique heritage in which African traditions of food, religion and culture were continued more than in some other areas. In the creolization of Southern culture, their foodways became an integral part of all Southern cooking in the Low Country.²⁷

Religion

Like most other Southern states, Georgia is largely Protestant Christian. The religious affiliations of the people of Georgia are as follows:²⁸

• Protestant: 70%
  • Baptist: 24%
  • Methodist: 12%
  • Presbyterian: 3%
  • Pentecostal: 3%
• Roman Catholic: 22%
• Other: 3%
  • 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 because of the influx of Northeasterners resettling in the Atlanta metro area and also because of large Hispanic immigration into the state.

The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Southern Baptist Convention with 1,719,484; the United Methodist Church with 570,674; and the Roman Catholic Church with 374,185.²⁹

Georgia's Jewish community dates to the settlement of 42 mostly Sephardic Portuguese Jews in Savannah in 1733. Atlanta also has a large and established Jewish community.

Economy

Savannah's River Street is a popular destination among tourists visiting coastal Georgia.

Map showing land use in Georgia

Georgia's 2006 total gross state product was $380 billion.³⁰ Its per capita personal income for 2005 put it 10th in the nation at $40,155^{citation needed}. If Georgia were a stand-alone country, it would be the 28th largest economy in the world.³¹

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.

Agriculture and industry

Georgia's agricultural outputs are poultry and eggs, pecans, peaches, peanuts, rye, cattle, hogs, dairy products, turfgrass, tobacco, and vegetables. Its industrial outputs are textiles and apparel, transportation equipment, cigarettes, food processing, paper products, chemical products, electric equipment. Tourism also makes an important contribution to the economy. Georgia is home to the Granite Capital of the World (Elberton). 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 Georgia and the Southeastern United States. The city is an ever growing addition to communications, industry, transportation, tourism, and government. Food is also a major industry in Georgia.

Industry in Georgia is now quite diverse. Major products in the mineral and timber industry include a variety of pines, clays, stones, and sands. Textile industry is located around the cities of Rome, Columbus, Augusta, and Macon. Atlanta is a leading center of tourism, transportation, communications, government, and industry. Some industries there include automobile and aircraft manufacturing, food and chemical processing, printing, publishing, and large corporations. Some of the corporations headquartered in Atlanta are: Arby's, Chick-fil-A, The Coca-Cola Company, Georgia Pacific, Hooters, ING Americas, Cox, and Delta Air Lines. Major corporations in other parts of the state include: Aflac, CareSouth, Home Depot, Newell Rubbermaid, Primerica Financial Services, United Parcel Service, Waffle House and Zaxby's.

Several United States military installations are located in Georgia including Fort Stewart, Hunter Army Airfield, Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Fort Benning, Moody Air Force Base, Robins Air Force Base, Naval Air Station Atlanta, Fort McPherson, Fort Gillem, Fort Gordon, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Coast Guard Air Station Savannah and Coast Guard Station Brunswick. However, due to the latest round of BRAC cuts, Forts Gillem and McPherson will be closing and NAS Atlanta will be transferred to the Georgia National Guard.

Energy use and production

Georgia's electricity generation and consumption are among the highest in the United States, with coal being the primary electrical generation of fuel. However, the state also has two nuclear power plants which contribute less than one fourth of Georgia's electricity generation. The statistics are 75% coal, 16% nuclear, 7% oil and natural gas, and 1% hydroelectric/other. The leading area of energy consumption is the industrial sector because Georgia "is a leader in the energy-intensive wood and paper products industry".³²

State taxes

Georgia's personal income tax ranges from 1% to 6% within six tax brackets. There is a 4% state sales tax, which is not applied to prescription drugs, certain medical devices, and groceries. Each county may add up to a 2% SPLOST. Counties participating in MARTA have another 1%; MARTA is the only major metropolitan rapid transit authority in the U.S. not to receive state funding. The city of Atlanta (in two counties, roughly 90% in Fulton and 10% in Dekalb) has the only city sales tax (1%, total 8%) for fixing its aging sewers. Local taxes are almost always charged on groceries but never prescriptions. Up to 1% of a SPLOST can go to homestead exemptions (the HOST). All taxes are collected by the Georgia Department of Revenue and then properly distributed according to any agreements that each county has with its cities.

Culture

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

Fine and performing arts

Georgia's major fine art museums include the Georgia Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art, the Michael C. Carlos Museum, the Morris Museum of Art and the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art.³³ The Atlanta Opera is a full time company that brings opera to Georgia stages.³⁴ The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is the most widely recognized orchestra and largest arts organization in the southeastern United States.³⁵ Moreover, almost all of the universities, colleges, and junior colleges in Atlanta provide some musical instruction.³⁶ Georgia is also home to many "underground"^{clarification needed} art galleries which also serve as performance venues catering to the more unconventional art crowd. One of the most well known and longest running is the Eyedrum Gallery in Atlanta, a large non-profit art and performance space run by volunteers.^{citation needed}

Literature

Georgia literature is distinct among the literature of other places in the world in its historical and geographical context and the values it imparts. Dramas such as the play (on which a successful movie was also based) Driving Miss Daisy are one example of Georgia's literary culture. The most popular and famous novel has probably been Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, also the basis of a wildly successful movie. Other authors who challenged popular ideas were Carson McCullers and Flannery O'Connor. Contemporary authors such as Alice Walker have also used Georgia's complex past as subjects for fiction, as in her The Color Purple.

Georgia's poets, such as James Dickey and Sidney Lanier, and nonfiction writers like humorist Lewis Grizzard also have a place in the state's literary life.³⁷

Entertainment

Music

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

Music in Georgia ranges from folk music to rhythm and blues, rock and roll, country music and hip hop. The Georgia Music Hall of Fame, located in Macon is the state's museum of music. Georgia's folk musical traditions include important contributions to the Piedmont blues, shape note singing and African American music. The Sacred Harp, compiled and produced by Georgians Benjamin Franklin White and Elisha J. King, was published in 1844. The Sacred Harp system use notes expressed with shapes to make it easy for people to learn to sight-read music and performed complex pieces without a lot of training.³⁸

The city of Athens, Georgia, home to the University of Georgia has been a fertile field for alternative rock bands since the late 1970s. Notable bands from Athens include R.E.M.,³⁹ The Black Crowes, The B-52s, Widespread Panic, Drive-By Truckers, as well as bands from the Elephant 6 Recording Company most notably Neutral Milk Hotel.

Rock bands such as Norma Jean, The Chariot, With Blood Comes Cleansing, Counting Crows, Underoath, The Knife Trade, and Mastodon all hail from Georgia.

Rhythm and Blues is another important musical genre in Georgia. Ray Charles was born in Albany, Georgia. Augusta native James Brown and Macon native Little Richard, two important figures in R&B history, started performing in Georgia clubs on the chitlin' circuit, fused gospel music with blues and boogie-woogie to lay the foundations for R&B and soul music, and rank among the most iconic musicians of the 20th century. In the 1960s, Atlanta native Gladys Knight proved one of the most popular Motown recording artists, while Otis Redding, born in the small town of Dawson but raised in Macon, defined the grittier Southern soul sound of Memphis-based Stax Records.⁴⁰ Opera singer Jessye Norman is native to Augusta.⁴¹

Collective Soul, a hard rock band known for their song "Shine", are from Stockbridge, Georgia.

Atlanta has become a central player in hip hop as the home of artists Outkast. Ludacris, T.I., and Young Jeezy and producers Jermaine Dupri and Jazzy Pha. Atlanta is also home to multiple R&B and neo soul artists including India Arie, Ciara, Bobby Brown, and Usher.

Film

Hundreds of feature films have been located in Georgia. By 2007 more than $4 billion had been generated for the state's economy by the film and television industry since the 1970s.⁴² Such films include Deliverance; Smokey and the Bandit; Diary of a Mad Black Woman; Driving Miss Daisy and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, with settings ranging from Appalachia to the manicured squares of Savannah.⁴² Due to the success of Deliverance, as governor Jimmy Carter established a state film commission, now known as the Georgia Film, Video and Music Office, in 1973 to market Georgia as a shooting location for future projects. The commission had recruited more than 550 major projects to the state by 2007.⁴² Actress Julia Roberts is one of the most well-known natives of Georgia. Additionally, the first African American owned and operated film studio was opened in Atlanta on October 4, 2008 by Tyler Perry. The Tyler Perry Studios has truly brought the film industry fully into Atlanta.

Popular culture

Stereotypical Georgian traits include manners known as "Southern hospitality", a strong sense of community and shared culture, and a distinctive Southern dialect. Georgia's Southern heritage makes turkey and dressing a traditional holiday dish during both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Movies like Gone with the Wind and the book If I Ever Get Back to Georgia, I'm Gonna Nail My Feet to the Ground by Lewis Grizzard highlight Georgia culture, speech and mannerisms.

Girl Scouting in the United States of America began on March 12, 1912 when Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low organized the first Girl Scout troop meeting of 18 girls in Savannah, Georgia.

Health care and education

Georgia Tech's Tech Tower

Anderson Hall at Savannah College of Art and Design

Health care

See also: List of hospitals in Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgians can find medical and dental care "via 151 general hospitals, more than 15,000 doctors and nearly 6,000 dentists."⁴³ The state is ranked forty-first in the percentage of residents who engage in regular exercise.⁴⁴

Education

See also: List of colleges and universities in Georgia (U.S. state), List of schools in Georgia (U.S. state), and List of school districts in Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia high schools (grades nine through twelve) are required to administer a standardized, multiple-choice End of Course Test, or EOCT, in each of eight core subjects including Algebra I, Geometry, U.S. History, Economics, Biology, Physical Science, Ninth Grade Literature and Composition, and American Literature and Composition. The official purpose of the tests is to assess "specific content knowledge and skills." Although a minimum test score is not required for the student to receive credit in the course, completion of the test is mandatory. The EOCT score comprises 15% of a student's grade in the course.⁴⁵

High school students must also receive passing scores on four Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) and the Georgia High School Writing Assessment in order to receive a diploma. Subjects assessed include Mathematics, Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies. These tests are initially offered during students' eleventh-grade year, allowing for multiple opportunities to pass the tests before graduation at the end of twelfth grade.⁴⁶

Georgia is home to almost 70 public colleges, universities, and technical colleges in addition to over 45 private institutes of higher learning.

The HOPE Scholarship, funded by the state lottery, is available to all Georgia residents who have graduated from high school with a 3.0 or higher grade point average and who attend a public college or university in the state. The scholarship covers the cost of tuition and provides a stipend for books for up to 120 credit hours. If the student does not maintain a 3.0 average while in college they may lose the scholarship in which case they will have the chance to get it back by bringing their grade point average above a 3.0 within a period of 30 credit hours. This scholarship has had a significant impact on the state university system, increasing competition for admission and increasing the quality of education.

Transportation

Main article: Transportation in Georgia (U.S. state)

Transportation in Georgia is overseen by the Georgia Department of Transportation, a part of the executive branch of the state government. Georgia's major Interstate Highways are I-75 and I-85. On March 18, 1998, the Georgia House of Representatives passed a resolution naming the portion of Interstate Highway 75, which runs from the Chattahoochee River northward to the Tennessee state line the Larry McDonald Memorial Highway.

[edit] Other important interstate highways are I-95, I-20, I-16, I-59 and I-24. I-285 is Atlanta, Georgia's perimeter route and I-575 connects with counties in north Georgia on I-75.⁴⁷ Major freight railroads in Georgia include CSX and Norfolk Southern. Passenger service in Georgia is available on two Amtrak routes: the Crescent, which runs from New York to Washington, D.C., through north Georgia and Atlanta to New Orleans and the other runs from New York to the Georgia coast and from there to Florida.⁴⁸