Georgia (
IPA /'d???d??/) is a
state 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 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. 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&_160;feet (1,458&_160;m); the lowest point is sea level.
With an area of 59,424&_160;square miles (153,909&_160;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.[2]
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 Chattooga River, its most significant tributary. These bounds were decided in the 1787 Treaty of Beaufort, and tested in the U.S. Supreme Court in the two Georgia v. South Carolina cases in 1922 and 1989.
