Portal:Georgia (U.S. state)

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The Georgia (U.S. state) Portal

European honey bee,
Georgia's state insect

Georgia /ˈdʒɔːrdʒə/ ^ⓘ is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. Named after King George II of Great Britain, Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788. It declared its secession from the Union on January 21, 1861, and was one of the original seven Confederate states. It was the last state to be restored to the Union, on July 15, 1870.

Georgia is the 24th most extensive and the 8th most populous of the 50 United States. From 2007 to 2008, 14 of Georgia's counties ranked among the nation's 100 fastest-growing, second only to Texas. Georgia is known as the Peach State and the Empire State of the South. Atlanta is the state's capital and its most populous city.

Georgia is bordered on the south by Florida; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina; on the west by Alabama; 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 Appalachian Mountains system. 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 the Atlantic Ocean.

Georgia is the most extensive state east of the Mississippi River in terms of land area, although it is the fourth most extensive (after Michigan, Florida, and Wisconsin) in total area, a term which includes expanses of water which are part of state territory.

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Piedmont Park is a 189-acre (0.76 km²) urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentleman's farm and residence. He sold the land in 1887 to the Gentlemen's Driving Club (later renamed the Piedmont Driving Club), who wanted to establish an exclusive club and racing ground for horse enthusiasts. The Driving Club entered an agreement with the Piedmont Exposition Company, headed by prominent Atlantan Charles A. Collier, to use the land for fairs and expositions and later gave the park its name. The park was originally designed by Joseph Forsyth Johnson to host the first of two major expositions held in the park in the late 19th century. The Piedmont Exposition opened in October 1887 to great fanfare. The event was a success and set the stage for the Cotton States and International Exposition which was held in the park seven years later in 1895. Both exhibitions showcased the prosperity of the region that had occurred during and after the Reconstruction period. In the early 20th century, a redesign plan called the Olmsted plan, was begun by the sons of New York Central Park architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. The effort led to the addition of scenic paths in the park and the joining of the park with the Ansley park system. Over the years, the park has also served as an athletic center for the city. Atlanta's first professional baseball team, the Atlanta Crackers, played in the park from 1902 to 1904. Several important intercollegiate rivalries were also forged in the park including the University of Georgia vs. Georgia Tech baseball rivalry and Georgia versus Auburn football which has been called the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry".

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Credit: KudzuVine

The Old Harbor Light, which is also known as the Savannah Harbor Rear Range Light or the Beacon Range Light, is a former aid to navigation in Emmet Park on East Bay Street in Savannah, Georgia.

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State facts

Nickname: Peach State
Capital and largest city: Atlanta
Governor: Brian Kemp (R)
Lieutenant Governor: Burt Jones (R)
Total area: 153,909 km² (59,425 sq mi)
Population (2021 estimate): 10,799,566
Date admitted to the Union: January 2, 1788
Senators: Jon Ossoff (D), Raphael Warnock (D)

State symbols:

State amphibian: American green tree frog (Hyla cinerea)
State bird: Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)
State flower: Cherokee Rose (Rosa laevigata)
State marine Mammal: North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis)
Butterfly: Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Fruit: Peach
Insect: Honeybee
Prepared Food: Grits
Fish: Largemouth Bass
Crop: Peanut
Tree: Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana)
Vegetable: Vidalia onion
Reptile: Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)
Game Bird: Bobwhite Quail
Seashell: Knobbed Whelk
Gem: Quartz
Fossil: Shark Tooth
Mineral: Staurolite
Agriculture: Poultry
Art Museum: Georgia Museum of Art in Athens
Atlas: The Atlas of Georgia
Ballet: Atlanta Ballet
Beef Barbecue Championship Cook-off: The Hawkinsville Civitan Club’s “Shoot the Bull” barbecue championship
Center for Character Education: Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum
Folk Dance Square Dance
Folk Festival: Georgia Folk Festival
Folk Life Play: “Swamp Gravy”
Frontier and Southern Indian Interpretive Center: The Funk Heritage/Bennett Center at Reinhardt University, Waleska
Historic Drama: “The Reach of Song” presented on the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds near Hiawassee
Musical Theatre: Peach State Summer Theatre
Peanut Monument: Turner County on the west side of Interstate Highway 75 within the limits of the city of Ashburn
Pork Barbecue Championship Cook-off: The Dooly County Chamber of Commerce’s “Slosheye Trail Big Pig Jig”
Railroad Museum: The Central of Georgia Railroad Shops Complex, Savannah
Songs: "Georgia on My Mind"

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Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich (/ˈɡɪŋɡrɪtʃ/; born Newton Leroy McPherson; June 17, 1943) is an American politician, author, and political consultant, who served as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. He represented Georgia's 6th congressional district as a Republican from 1979 until his resignation in 1999. He is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination. Born in south central Pennsylvania, Gingrich was adopted in infancy by his stepfather, a career soldier. Gingrich received his undergraduate degree from Emory University and then earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Tulane University. In the 1970s he taught history and geography at West Georgia College. During this period he ran several times for the United States House of Representatives before winning in November 1978. He served as House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995. A co-author and architect of the "Contract with America", Gingrich was a major leader in the Republican victory in the 1994 congressional election. In 1995, Time named him "Man of the Year" for his role in ending 40 years of majority control by the Democratic Party. While he was House speaker, the House enacted welfare reform, passed a capital gains tax cut in 1997, and in 1998 passed the first balanced budget since 1969. As House speaker his popularity declined in Congress gradually due to controversies he was attached to. In 1997 84 House ethics charges made were made against Gingrich; all of which but one were dropped when he received a reprimand for making inaccurate statements to a fourteen-month House investigation of his alleged misuse of tax-exempt donations. The poor showing of Republican candidates in the 1998 Congressional election and pressure from Republican colleagues preceded Gingrich's November 5, 1998, resignation from the speakership and from the House, effective January 3, 1999. Since leaving the House, Gingrich has remained active in public policy debates and worked as a political consultant. He founded and chaired several policy think tanks, including American Solutions for Winning the Future and the Center for Health Transformation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has written or co-authored 27 books. In May 2011, he announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Gingrich converted to Roman Catholicism in 2009, after being raised Lutheran and spending most of his adult life as a Southern Baptist. He has been married three times, with the first two marriages ending in divorce. He has two children from his first marriage and has been married to Callista (Bisek) Gingrich since 2000.

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Selected anniversaries for June

June 1, 1980 - The Cable News Network (CNN) is officially launched.
June 8, 2004 - The G8 Summit takes place over the next 2 days on Sea Island, in Georgia, United States.
June 20, 1908 - The Georgia Tech Alumni Association is chartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
June 29, 1981 - Morris Edwin Robert, armed with a machine gun, holds hostages in the FBI section at the Atlanta, Georgia Federal Building. After three hours the hostages are rescued and Robert is killed in a shootout with Federal Agents.

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...that, by the end of the 20th century, the Peachtree Presbyterian megachurch had the largest Presbyterian congregation of any church in the United States?

...that the highest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. state of Georgia is 112 °F (44 °C), while the lowest ever recorded is -17 °F (-27 °C)?

...that among the effects of Hurricane Dennis in Georgia was the death of a Decatur man from a tree that fell on his bedroom?

...that the Franklin House, built on a lot once owned by the University of Georgia, has held a hotel and a hardware company, and now leases office space to the university?

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WikiProjects

You are invited to participate in WikiProject Georgia of the United States, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about the State of Georgia.

Parent projects: North America • United States

Main project: Georgia (U.S. state)

Sub-projects

WikiProjects

Atlanta • Education in Georgia • Georgia State Routes • Georgia Tech • South Georgia

Related projects: U.S. Roads • Geography • Alabama • Florida • North Carolina • South Carolina • Tennessee

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Credit: DarkEvil

Panoramic view of the Atlanta skyline, spanning from Midtown on the left to Downtown on right.

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