Metro Atlanta, designated by the

United States Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and the sixth-largest in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, based on the July 1, 2023 metropolitan area population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Its economic, cultural, and demographic center is

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, and its total population was 6,307,261 in the 2023 estimate from the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

. The core 5 counties of metropolitan Atlanta are Fulton, Gwinnett,

Cobb Cobb may refer to: People * Cobb (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Cobb * Cobb Rooney (1900–1973), American professional football running back Places New Zealand * Cobb River * Cobb Reservoir * Cobb Power ...

, DeKalb, and Clayton, with over 60% of the metro area’s population residing in these counties. The metro area forms the core of a broader trading area, the Atlanta–Athens-Clarke County–Sandy Springs combined statistical area. The combined statistical area spans up to 39 counties in

North Georgia North Georgia is the northern hilly/mountainous region in the U.S. state of Georgia. At the time of the arrival of settlers from Europe, it was inhabited largely by the Cherokee. The counties of north Georgia were often scenes of important eve ...

. The CSA recorded in the 2020 U.S. census a population of 6,930,423. Atlanta is the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Census Bureau's

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

region. It surpassed the

Greater Miami The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the lar ...

area in total population in 2021, and both the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

, and the

Philadelphia metropolitan area Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 2023 (the latter of which is in the Northeast region). About one in ten (10.6%) of residents served by the

Atlanta Regional Commission The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency for the metro Atlanta, Georgia, United States, spanning the 11-county area of Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth ...

(including the core 5 counties of the metropolitan area) live within Atlanta city limits.

Definitions

By U.S. Census Bureau standards, the population of the Atlanta region spreads across a metropolitan area of , comparable to the size of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Because Georgia contains more counties than any other state except

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(explained in part by the now-defunct county-unit system of weighing votes in

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

s), area residents live under a heavily decentralized collection of governments. As of the 2000 census, fewer than one in ten residents of the metropolitan area lived inside Atlanta

city limit City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate li ...

s. A 2006 survey by the

Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

counted 140 cities and towns in the 28‑county Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in mid-2005. Eleven cities – Johns Creek (2006), Milton (2006),

Chattahoochee Hills Chattahoochee Hills (formerly Chattahoochee Hill Country) is a city in southern Fulton County, Georgia, United States. It is the incorporated part of a region called "Chattahoochee Hill Country", an area encompassing approximately southwest of ...

(2007), Dunwoody (2008),

Peachtree Corners Peachtree Corners is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, and is the largest city in Gwinnett County with a population of 42,243 as of the 2020 U.S. census. Peachtree Corners is the on ...

(2012), Brookhaven (2012),

Tucker Tucker may refer to: Places United States * Tucker, Arkansas * Tucker, Georgia * Tucker, Mississippi * Tucker, Missouri * Tucker, Utah, ghost town * Tucker County, West Virginia Outer space * Tucker (crater), a small lunar impact crater in ...

(2016), Stonecrest (2016), South Fulton (2017), Mableton (2022) and

Mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...

(2024) – have incorporated since then, following the lead of

Sandy Springs Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and a suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's 7th most populous city. It is the site of several corporate headquar ...

in 2005. The Atlanta metropolitan area was first defined in 1950 as Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett,

and Clayton counties. Walton, Newton,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

, Fayette, Forsyth,

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

, Rockdale, and Butts counties were added after the 1970 census, with Barrow and Coweta counties joining in 1980 and Bartow, Carroll, Paulding, Pickens and Spalding counties in 1990. Atlanta's larger combined statistical area (CSA) adds the Gainesville and

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

metropolitan areas plus

LaGrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi LagrangiaThomaston, Jefferson,

Calhoun John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) was the 7th vice president of the United States. Calhoun can also refer to: Surname * Calhoun (surname) Inhabited places in the United States *Calhoun, Georgia * Calhoun, Illinois *Calhoun, Kentucky * Calhoun, Louis ...

, and Cedartown micropolitan areas, for a total 2012 population of 6,162,195. The CSA also abuts the Macon and Columbus MSAs. The region is one of the metropolises of the Southeastern United States, and is part of the emerging

megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enough ...

known as Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion along the

I-85 Corridor Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia, ...

Metropolitan statistical area

The counties listed below are included in the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area. In 2023, the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

split the MSA into two conurbated metropolitan divisions. The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metropolitan division consists of the following 24 counties: The Marietta metropolitan division consists of the following five counties. Some entities define a much smaller metropolitan area by including only the counties which have the densest suburban development. Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, and Clayton were the five original counties when the Atlanta metropolitan area was first defined in 1950, and continue to be the core of the metro area. These five counties along with six more (Cherokee, Douglas, Fayette, Henry, Rockdale, and Forsyth) are members of the

, a weak

metropolitan government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

organization which also is a

regional planning Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land-use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town. Regional planning is related to urban planning as it relates land ...

agency. The eleven ARC counties, bolded, and four more (Bartow, Coweta, Hall, Paulding), with an asterisk (*), form part of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, created in 2001.

Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell MSA

The 10 counties listed above with under 60,000 residents are usually not included in any other metropolitan definition except the OMB/Census Bureau's MSA and CSA. Hall County forms the Gainesville MSA, but with astronomical growth to over 200,000 residents, is now also part of the Atlanta CSA. The official tourism website of the State of Georgia features a
"Atlanta Metro" tourism region
that includes only eight counties: Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, Clayton, Douglas, Fayette, and Henry.

Combined statistical area

Atlanta GA-AL CSA

Municipalities

Edge cities

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

* Perimeter Center * Hartsfield-Jackson area * Gwinnett Place/

Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, ...

area More than one half of metro Atlanta's population is in unincorporated areas or areas considered a census-designated-place (CDP) by the census bureau. One notable example is East Cobb, an unincorporated area (though not a CDP) adjacent to Marietta and Roswell in Cobb County. With an estimated population of approximately 164,055 as of 2020, it would be the second largest city in the metro besides Atlanta if incorporated. Metro Atlanta includes the following incorporated and unincorporated suburbs (both inside and outside Atlanta), exurbs, and surrounding cities, sorted by population according to 2020 census data (or later data if the city was incorporated after 2020 and census data is unavailable):

Cities and suburbs

Principal Cities *

pop. 498,044 *

(included in CSA) pop. 127,315 Places with 100,000 to 399,999 inhabitants * East Cobb (unincorporated) pop. 164,055 *

pop. 108,080 * South Fulton pop. 107,436 Places with 75,000 to 99,999 inhabitants * Roswell pop. 92,833 * Big Creek (unincorporated) pop. 83,277 * Johns Creek pop. 82,453 * Mableton (incorporated 2022) pop. 78,000 Places with 50,000 to 74,999 inhabitants *

Lost Mountain Lost Mountain is a mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summ ...

(unincorporated) pop. 73,312 *

Alpharetta Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818; in 2010, the population had been 57,551. ...

pop. 65,818 * Marietta pop. 60,972 * Stonecrest pop. 59,194 *

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

pop. 55,663 * Brookhaven pop. 55,161 * Dunwoody pop. 51,683 Places with 25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants * Ellenwood (unincorporated) pop. 46,967 * Bill Arp (unincorporated) pop. 44,518 *

pop. 43,905 * Newnan pop. 42,549 * Gainesville (included in CSA) pop. 42,296 * Milton pop. 41,296 * East Point pop. 38,358 *

pop. 35,322 *

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

pop. 35,065 *

Douglasville The city of Douglasville is the county seat of and largest city in Douglas County, Georgia, United States. , the city had a population of 34,650, up from 30,961 in 2010 United States census, 2010 and 20,065 in 2000 United States census, 2000. ...

pop. 34,650 * Peachtree City pop. 34,364 * Kennesaw pop. 33,036 * Canton pop. 32,973 * Chamblee pop. 32,251 *

Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

pop. 31,873 *

Redan Redan (a French language, French word for "projection", "salient") is a feature of fortifications. It is a work in a V-shaped Salients, re-entrants and pockets, salient angle towards an expected attack. It can be made from earthworks or other ...

(CDP) pop. 31,749 * Lawrenceville pop. 30,629 * Silver City (unincorporated) pop. 29,495 *

McDonough McDonough is an Irish surname. Origins and variants The surname is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "Mac Donnchadha", which means son of Donnchadh or son of Donough. The name itself consists of elements meaning "brown (donn)" or Donn ...

pop. 29,051 * Stockbridge pop. 28,973 * Union City pop. 26,830 * Carrollton pop. 26,738 * Sugar Hill pop. 25,076 Places with 24,999 or fewer inhabitants * Decatur pop. 24,928 *

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

pop. 23,478 * Clarkdale (unincorporated) pop. 23,401 * Cartersville pop. 23,187 *

Candler-McAfee Candler-McAfee neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, United States a approximately east of Downtown Atlanta and to the south of Decatur, Georgia The population was 22,468 in 2020. Geography Candler-McAfee is located to the eastside ...

(CDP) pop. 22,468 * Acworth pop. 22,440 * Lathemtown pop. 21,110 * Suwanee pop. 20,786 * Snellville pop. 20,573 * North Druid Hills (CDP) pop. 20,385 * Forest Park pop. 19,932 * Fayetteville pop. 18,957 * Winder pop. 18,338 * North Decatur (CDP) pop. 18,511 * Conyers pop. 17,305 * Norcross pop. 17,209 * Buford pop. 17,144 * Villa Rica pop. 16,970 * Powder Springs pop. 16,887 * Lithia Springs (CDP) pop. 16,644 * Rex (unincorporated) pop. 16,580 * Fairburn pop. 16,483 * Riverdale pop. 15,129 * Belvedere Park (CDP) pop. 15,113 *

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

pop. 14,928 * Clarkston pop. 14,756 *

Druid Hills Druid Hills is a community which includes both a census-designated place (CDP) in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, as well as a neighborhood of the city of Atlanta. The CDP's population was 14,568 at the 2010 census. The ...

(CDP) pop. 14,568 * Lilburn pop. 14,502 * Covington pop. 14,192 * Loganville pop. 14,127 *

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

pop. 14,092 * College Park pop. 13,930 *

Braselton Braselton ( ) is a town in Jackson, Barrow, Gwinnett, and Hall counties in the U.S. state of Georgia, approximately northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 13,403, and in 2023 the estimated population was 15,5 ...

pop. 13,403 * Mountain Park (Gwinnett) (CDP) pop. 13,089 * Vinings (CDP) pop. 12,581 * Panthersville (CDP) pop. 11,237 * Doraville pop. 10,623 * Thomaston pop. 9,816 * Irondale (CDP) pop. 8,704 * Tyrone pop. 7,658 * Hampton pop. 6,987 * Auburn (CDP) pop. 6,887 * Barnesville pop. 6,775 * Austell pop. 6,581 *

Morrow Morrow may refer to: Places in the United States and Canada United States * Morrow, Arkansas *Morrow, Georgia * Morrow, Louisiana * Morrow, Ohio *Morrow County, Ohio *Morrow County, Oregon Canada *Morrow Lake, Ontario *Mount Morrow, Northwest Ter ...

pop. 6,445 *

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

pop. 6,422 * Hapeville pop. 6,373 *

Conley Conley from ''O′Conghaile'' or Ó Conghalaigh (“hound valiant”) is a surname of Irish or Manx origin. The anglicized forms Conneely, Connealy, and Cunneely emerged due to the loss of the "gh" sound, which lengthened the second syllable o ...

(CDP) pop. 6,228 *

Stone Mountain Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome Inselberg, monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state of Ge ...

pop. 5,802 *

Flowery Branch Flowery Branch is a city in Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 9,391. It is part of the Gainesville, Georgia metropolitan area, and lies on the shores of Lake Lanier. It is most known for be ...

pop. 5,679 * Cumming pop. 5,430 * Locust Grove pop. 5,402 * Jonesboro pop. 4,724 * Palmetto pop. 4,448 * Dacula pop. 4,442 *

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

(CDP) pop. 3,135 * Avondale Estates pop. 2,960 * Lakeview Estates (CDP) pop. 2,695 * Grayson pop. 2,666 * Lake City pop. 2,612 *

pop. 2,378 * Lithonia pop. 1,924 * Berkeley Lake pop. 1,574

Geography

Northern Suburbs: Sandy Springs, Roswell, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Peachtree Corners, Milton, Woodstock, Canton, Duluth, Sugar Hill, Suwanee, Norcross, Buford, Mulberry, Holly Springs, Mountain Park, Cumming, Ball Ground, Berkeley Lake, Nelson, Waleska Eastern Suburbs: Stonecrest, Brookhaven, Tucker, Redan, Lawrenceville, Chamblee, Decatur, Candler-McAfee, Snellville, North Druid Hills, Conyers, North Decatur, Belvedere Park, Clarkston, Lilburn, Scottdale, Doraville, Panthersville, Gresham Park, Druid Hills, Dacula, Stone Mountain, Grayson, Avondale Estates, Lithonia, Lakeview Estates, Pine Lake Southern Suburbs: East Point, Peachtree City, McDonough, Stockbridge, Union City, Forest Park, Fayetteville, Fairburn, Riverdale, College Park, Lovejoy, Locust Grove, Hampton, Irondale, Tyrone, Morrow, Conley, Hapeville, Palmetto, Jonesboro, Bonanza, Heron Bay, Chattahoochee Hills, Lake City, Brooks, Woolsey Western Suburbs: Marietta, Smyrna, Mableton, Douglasville, Kennesaw, Acworth, Lithia Springs, Powder Springs, Vinings, Fair Oaks, Austell, Fairplay

Topography and geology

The area sprawls across the low

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

to the north and the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

to the south. The northern and some western suburbs tend to be higher and significantly more

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

y than the southern and eastern suburbs. The average elevation is around . The highest point in the immediate area is

Kennesaw Mountain Kennesaw Mountain is a mountain between Marietta and Kennesaw, Georgia in the United States with a summit elevation of . It is the highest point in the core ( urban and suburban) metro Atlanta area, and fifth after further-north exurban count ...

at , followed by

at , Sweat Mountain at , and Little Kennesaw Mountain at . Others include Blackjack Mountain,

, Brushy Mountain, Pine Mountain, and

Mount Wilkinson Mount Wilkinson is a low mountain immediately north-northwest of and directly overlooking downtown Vinings, in southeast Cobb County, Georgia, USA. Although it rises significantly from the surrounding terrain, it is actually at or slightly bel ...

(

Vinings Mountain Mount Wilkinson is a low mountain immediately north-northwest of and directly overlooking downtown Vinings, Georgia, Vinings, in southeast Cobb County, Georgia, Cobb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, USA. Although it rises s ...

). Many of these play prominently in the various

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

s of the Atlanta Campaign during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. If the further-north counties are included, Bear Mountain is highest, followed by Pine Log Mountain, Sawnee Mountain, and Hanging Mountain, followed by the others listed above. Stone, Sweat, Bear, and Sawnee are all home to some of the area's broadcast stations. The area's

subsoil Subsoil is the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. Like topsoil, it is composed of a variable mixture of small particles such as sand, silt and clay, but with a much lower percentage of organic matter and humus. The su ...

is a dense clay soil, colored

rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH) ...

y by the

iron oxide An iron oxide is a chemical compound composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Ferric oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of which is rust. Iron ...

present in it. It becomes very

mud Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally cal ...

dy and sticky when wet, and hard when dry, and

stain A stain is a discoloration that can be clearly distinguished from the surface, material, or medium it is found upon. They are caused by the chemical or physical interaction of two dissimilar materials. Accidental staining may make materials app ...

s light-colored

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of Pile (textile), pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fiber, synthetic fibres such as polyprop ...

s and

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

easily. It also tends to have a low pH, further aggravating gardeners. The fineness of it also means it is easily deposited into streams during heavy rains, creating

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

problems where it is exposed due to construction. This transported red soil can be seen downstream on the riverbanks of south Georgia (where the native clay is white), and down to the

Florida panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...

(where the native

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

is also white).

Topsoil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic mat ...

is present only in natural forest areas, created by the

decomposition Decomposition is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is ess ...

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

Earthquakes and fault lines

An extinct

fault line In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

called the Brevard Fault runs roughly parallel to the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...

, but as its last movements were apparently

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

, it is considered extinct and not a threat to the region. Still, minor

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

s do rattle the area (and all of Georgia) occasionally. One notable one was in April 2003 (magnitude 4.6) coming from the northwest, its

epicenter The epicenter (), epicentre, or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Determination The primary purpose of a ...

just across the state line in northeastern Alabama. While many people slept through the 5A.M. quake, it caused a minor panic in others completely unaware of what was happening. Similar earthquakes occur in this region called the Eastern Tennessee seismic zone, often felt much more widely across the stronger crust of eastern North America as compared to the west. Thus, the 1886 Charleston, South Carolina earthquake was also felt in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast. It caused damage as far as central Alabama and West Virginia. Two small earthquakes were also felt on the southeast side near Eatonton in early April 2009. The New Madrid seismic zone (near the Missouri-Tennessee borders) and the

seismic zone In seismology, a seismic zone or seismic belt is an area of seismicity potentially sharing a common cause. It can be referred to as an earthquake belt as well. It may also be a region on a map for which a common areal rate of seismicity is assume ...

producing the 1886 magnitude 7.3 earthquake are still capable of producing moderate or major earthquakes, which the entire Atlanta area will feel moderately or even strongly.

Climate

The Atlanta metro area has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

with four

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

s. Summer is the longest. January daily lows average from north to south, and highs range from , but often reach well above or below this average. There is an average annual snowfall of about , falling mostly from December through March, though there was snow north of the city on April 3, 1987. Snow flurries are actually common during the winter months when there is an especially deep trough in the jet stream. These events usually do not amount to more than a slight dusting and therefore go unrecognized in most weather summaries. Summers are long and consistently hot and humid. July mornings average and afternoons average , with slight breezes, and typically a 20–40% chance of afternoon

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

s. During the summer afternoon thunderstorms, temperatures may suddenly drop to 70–77 degrees with locally heavy rainfall. Average annual rainfall is about . Late winter and early spring, as well as July, are the wettest. Fall, especially October, is the driest. From 1878 to 2011, the highest recorded temperatures at Atlanta were on three days in the extraordinarily hot July 1980, followed by that month and in August 2007, the hottest month ever for the area. This was broken on the last day of June 2012, when the temperature reached , during a massive

heat wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

that hit most of the country, with another 105 the next day tying the July record. The lowest recorded temperatures were and on January 20 and 21 of 1985, and on February 13, 1899, during severe cold snaps that went so far south they devastated the entire

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

industry in

central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...

. Hurricane Opal brought sustained

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its lo ...

conditions to the area one night in early October 1995, uprooting hundreds of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s and causing widespread

power outage A power outage, also called a blackout, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, a power cut, or a power out is the complete loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an el ...

s, after soaking the area with rain for two days prior. Since 1950, some metro counties have been hit more than 20 times by tornadoes. Cobb (26) and Fulton (22) are two of the highest in the state. The Dunwoody tornado in early April 1998 was the worst

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

to have struck the area. A tornado struck downtown Atlanta in March 2008, causing a half-billion dollars in damage. The area experiences a

winter storm A winter storm (also known as snow storm) is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental and subarct ...

with significant

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

fall about once each year. This can be extremely irregular, with several consecutive years receiving no measurable snow. A

blizzard A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...

(see:

1993 Storm of the Century The 1993 Storm of the Century (also known as the 93 Superstorm, The No Name Storm, or the Great Blizzard of '93/1993) was a devastating cyclonic storm, or nor'easter, that formed over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, 1993. The cold weather, heav ...

) caught much of the Southeast off-guard in 1993, dumping at the Atlanta airport on March 13, and much more than that in the suburbs to the north and west, as well as in the mountains. The only other recorded winter storm of comparable severity was the

Great Blizzard of 1899 The Great Blizzard of 1899, also known as the Great Arctic Outbreak of 1899 and the St. Valentine's Day Blizzard, was an exceptionally severe winter weather event that affected most of the United States, particularly east of the Rocky Mountain ...

. The heaviest snow was in January 1940, when buried the city during its coldest month on record. The second-heaviest was in 1983, when a very late storm dumped on March 24.

Ice storms An ice storm, also known as a glaze event or a silver storm, is a type of winter storm characterized by freezing rain. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least of ice on ...

have occurred in the area. The well-remembered 1973 ice storm was brutal, as was the storm in 1982. The Southeastern U.S. drought of 2006–2008 began with dry weather in 2006, and left area lakes very low. The drought began to abate significantly after the 2009 Atlanta floods, when some areas got up to of rain in a week, with half of that falling in just 24 hours near the end of the period. The

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

calculated it to be a greater-than- 500-year flood.

Environment

The area's prolific rains are drained by many different

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s and creeks. The main basin is that of the

, running northeast to southwest. The further northwestern suburbs drain into the

Etowah River The Etowah River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, Dahlonega, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, ...

via the

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

and

Lake Allatoona Lake Allatoona (officially called Allatoona Lake) is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Etowah River in northwestern part of the State of Georgia. This reservoir is mostly in southeastern Bartow County and southwestern Cherokee C ...

. The southern suburbs are drained by the Flint River, and the east-southeastern ones by the

Oconee River The Oconee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map Accessed April 21, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its origin is in Hall County and it terminates where it join ...

and

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

. By 2005 the metro area was using of water per day (about per person per day) from these rivers. This usage was reduced by more than 10% during the drought, but soared back up after watering restrictions were eased (and before the flooding ensued). The need for water is seen as a barrier to further growth in the area, but permanent measures for non-emergency

water conservation Water conservation aims to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, protect the hydrosphere, and meet current and future human demand. Water conservation makes it possible to avoid water scarcity. It covers all the policies, strateg ...

have never been put in place. The state legislature has refused to pass a requirement for low-flow toilets to be installed in homes that are sold, bowing to

pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and eve ...

from the real estate

sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

industry. Disputes over water are becoming increasingly common, with both

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

filing

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

s and threatening

injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...

s to prevent Georgia from taking too much water, mostly for metro Atlanta.

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

also threatened when a

pipeline A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...

east to the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

was mentioned even informally. The state has now been ordered by a judge to reduce withdrawals from the Chattahoochee south of Lanier to 1970s levels within three years (2012), something that would create an immediate emergency water shortage if it were actually enforced.

Flora

The native

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

is mainly

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

, redbud,

hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''. Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...

, poplar,

tuliptree ''Liriodendron'' () is a genus of two species of characteristically large trees, deciduous over most of their populations, in the magnolia family ( Magnoliaceae). These trees are widely known by the common name tulip tree or tuliptree for their ...

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

, and

sweetgum ''Liquidambar'', commonly called sweetgum (star gum in the UK), gum, redgum, satin-walnut, styrax or American storax, is the only genus in the flowering plant family Altingiaceae and has 15 species. They were formerly often treated as a part of ...

, with

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

having been common decades before in what is now considered oak-hickory forest.

Saw palmetto ''Serenoa repens'', commonly known as saw palmetto, is a small palm, growing to a maximum height around . Taxonomy It is the sole species in the genus ''Serenoa''. The genus name honors American botanist Sereno Watson. Distribution and h ...

Sabal palmetto ''Sabal palmetto'' (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, SAY-bəl''), also known as cabbage palm, cabbage palmetto, sabal palm, blue palmetto, Carolina palmetto, common palmetto, Garfield's tree, and swamp cabbage, is one of 15 species of Saba ...

and

Trachycarpus fortunei ''Trachycarpus fortunei'', also known as the Chusan palm,Bean, W. J. (1980). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'', 8th ed., vol. 4. John Murray. . Chinese windmill palm, or simply the Windmill palm, is a species of hardy evergreen pal ...

have become common ornamentals as well. Traveling from the south, the metro area is generally the first area in which

autumn leaf color Autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the normally green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on, during a few weeks in the autumn season, various shades of yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown. The phenomenon ...

can be seen, due to the different trees growing at the higher elevation and

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

. Underneath, the

flowering dogwood ''Cornus florida'', the flowering dogwood, is a species of flowering tree in the family Cornaceae native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. An endemic population once spanned from southernmost coastal Maine south to northern Florida ...

is very common, the

black cherry ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub in the r ...

are quite prolific, with

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...

popping up sometimes as well. Sourwood is also in its native range, and is easily identified by the fact that it turns fiery red in early October, much brighter and weeks earlier than most other trees (which usually peak in early November). Shrubby plants include

blackberry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

, horsechestnut,

sumac Sumac or sumach ( , )—not to be confused with poison sumac—is any of the roughly 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' (and related genera) of the cashew and mango tree family, Anacardiaceae. However, it is '' Rhus coriaria ...

, and sometimes hawthorn.

Virginia creeper ''Parthenocissus quinquefolia'', commonly known as Virginia creeper, woodbine, five-leaved ivy, or five-finger, is a species of flowering vine in the grape family Vitaceae. The species is native to eastern and central North America, with its r ...

poison ivy Poison ivy is a type of allergenic plant in the genus '' Toxicodendron'' native to Asia and North America. Formerly considered a single species, '' Toxicodendron radicans'', poison ivies are now generally treated as a complex of three separate s ...

, and briar are common

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

s. The Confederate yellow daisy is a

wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, rather than being intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, eve ...

native only to the area around Stone Mountain. Common garden plants include dogwood,

azalea Azaleas ( ) are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Rhododendron sect. Tsutsusi, Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and ''Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate ...

hydrangea ''Hydrangea'' ( or ) is a genus of more than 70 species of Flowering plant, flowering plants native plant, native to Asia and the Americas. Hydrangea is also used as the common name for the genus; some (particularly ''Hydrangea macrophylla, H. m ...

flowering cherry ''The Flowering Cherry'' is a 1958 play written by Robert Bolt. The play was performed on Broadway in 1959. Plot In an English household, the father dreams of giving up his job selling insurance to run an apple orchard, the mother dreams of him ...

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

pin oak ''Quercus palustris'', also called pin oak, swamp oak, or swamp Spanish oak, is a tree in the red oak section (''Quercus'' sect. ''Lobatae'') of the genus ''Quercus''. Pin oak is one of the most commonly used landscaping oaks in its native rang ...

, red-tip photinia,

holly ''Ilex'' () or holly is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

, Bradford pear,

forsythia ''Forsythia'' , is a genus of flowering plants in the olive family Oleaceae. There are about 11 species, mostly native to Eastern Asia, but one native to Southeastern Europe. ''Forsythia'' – also one of the plant's common names – is named ...

, liriope ( mondograss), and

English ivy ''Hedera helix'', the common ivy, European ivy, King's Choice ivy, or just ivy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae. It is native to most of Europe and parts of western Asia. Ivy is a clinging evergreen vine that grows on t ...

Lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

s can be either cool-season

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

es like

fescue ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every ...

and

rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

, or warm-season like

zoysia ''Zoysia'' (;"Zoysia."
entry at CollinsDictionary.com. Retrieved 5 September 2021. , -, ...

and

bermudagrass ''Cynodon dactylon'', commonly known as Bermuda grass, also known as couch grass in Australia and New Zealand, is a grass found worldwide. It is native to Europe, Africa, Australia and much of Asia. It has been introduced to the Americas. Contra ...

which turn brown in late fall. A few

homeowners association A homeowner association (or homeowners' association ''HOA sometimes referred to as a property owners' association ''POA common interest development ''CID or homeowner community) is a private, legally-incorporated organization that governs a h ...

s actually prohibit green grass in the winter. Native to the nearby mountains, maples are now one of the most common landscape trees for new homes and parking lots, giving their color in the fall instead of spring. When planted close to buildings (which provide shelter and radiate heat), they can retain some of their color into December, especially if November has been warm. Common

lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

weeds are mock strawberry,

violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Vi ...

wild onion Wild onion can refer to * any uncultivated species in the genus ''Allium'', especially: **'' Allium bisceptrum'' ** ''Allium canadense'' ** ''Allium tricoccum'' ** '' Allium validum'' ** '' Allium vineale'' ** ''Allium ochotense'' * '' Asphodelus te ...

, and of course the ubiquitous

dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...

, crabgrass, and plantain. By far the most notorious

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

kudzu Kudzu (), also called Japanese arrowroot or Chinese arrowroot, is a group of climbing, coiling, and trailing deciduous perennial vines native to much of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and some Pacific islands. It is invasive species, invasive in ...

, a highly

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

which climbs and smothers trees and shrubs. New effective herbicides as well as increased development of formerly rural areas has greatly reduced kudzu in the metro area (although still quite common elsewhere in Georgia). Wisteria planted decades ago by farmers in then-rural areas has become wild and is common in undeveloped forests. Some vines exceed 50 years of age and cover dozens of acres of forest, creating a dense, purple explosion each spring.

Japanese honeysuckle ''Lonicera japonica'', known as Japanese honeysuckle and golden-and-silver honeysuckle, is a species of honeysuckle native to East Asia, including many parts of China. It is often grown as an ornamental plant, but has become an invasive species i ...

is extremely common, its fragrance an early summer delight. A common ornamental shrub, the Chinese privet, has escaped to become the state's most invasive non-native plant species.

Fauna

Among

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s, the eastern gray squirrel is by far the most ubiquitous, stealing birdseed from the

bird feeder A birdfeeder, bird table, or tray feeder is a device placed outdoors to supply bird food to birds ( bird feeding). The success of a bird feeder in attracting birds depends upon its placement and the kinds of foods offered, as different species ...

s which many locals maintain.

Chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of subtribe Tamiina. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks are classified as four genera: '' ...

s and small brown

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

s are common, but it is relatively rare to hear of them doing any damage.

Opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ...

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

es,

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

s and

armadillo Armadillos () are New World placental mammals in the order (biology), order Cingulata. They form part of the superorder Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. 21 extant species of armadillo have been described, some of which are dis ...

s are frequently seen. Garden and meadow snakes are common; six venomous

pit viper The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . or pit adders, are a subfamily (biology), subfamily of Viperidae, vipers found in Asia and the ...

snakes (

Eastern diamondback rattlesnake The eastern diamondback rattlesnake (''Crotalus adamanteus'') is a species of pit viper in the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to the Southeastern United States. It is the largest rattlesnake species and one of the heaviest venomous sna ...

timber rattlesnake The timber rattlesnake (''Crotalus horridus''), also known Common name, commonly as the canebrake rattlesnake and the banded rattlesnake,Albert Hazen WWright AH, species:Anna Allen WWright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States a ...

, pygmy rattlesnake,

coral snake Coral snakes are a large group of elapid snakes that can be divided into two distinct groups, the Old World coral snakes and New World coral snakes. There are 27 species of Old World coral snakes, in three genera ('' Calliophis'', '' Hemibungar ...

, water moccasin and copperhead) are indigenous, but reports of bites are rare. Many types of frogs, including tree frogs and bullfrogs, are easily heard in early summer, as are

cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

s in July and August. Black bears occasionally wander down from the mountains, and

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

are abundant; overpopulated in some areas. Homeowners in the outer suburbs are prone to landscaping damage due to scavenging deer. The most common

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s are the

brown thrasher The brown thrasher (''Toxostoma rufum''), sometimes erroneously called the brown thrush or fox-coloured thrush, is a bird in the family Mimidae, which also includes the Catbird, New World catbirds and mockingbirds. The brown thrasher is abundant ...

(the GA state bird),

American crow The American crow (''Corvus brachyrhynchos'') is a large passerine bird species of the family (biology), family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America. American crows are the New World counterpart to the carrion cro ...

, European (or common) starling,

American robin The American robin (''Turdus migratorius'') is a migratory bird of the true thrush genus and Turdidae, the wider thrush family. It is named after the European robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not clos ...

mourning dove The mourning dove (''Zenaida macroura'') is a member of the dove Family (biology), family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove, the rain dove, the chueybird, colloquially as the turtle dove, and it was once known a ...

house sparrow The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is a bird of the Old World sparrow, sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of and a mass of . Females and young birds are coloured pa ...

northern cardinal The northern cardinal (''Cardinalis cardinalis''), also commonly known as the common cardinal, red cardinal, or simply cardinal, is a bird in the genus ''Cardinalis''. It can be found in southeastern Canada, through the eastern United States fro ...

, house finch,

Carolina chickadee The Carolina chickadee (''Poecile carolinensis'') is a small passerine bird in the tit (bird), tit family (biology), family Paridae. Taxonomy The Carolina chickadee was often placed in the genus ''Parus'' with most other tits, but mtDNA cyto ...

, tufted titmouse, bluejay,

white-breasted nuthatch The white-breasted nuthatch (''Sitta carolinensis'') is a species of bird in the nuthatch family Sittidae. It is a medium-sized nuthatch, measuring approximately in length. Coloration varies somewhat along the species' range, but the are lig ...

, eastern bluebird, mockingbird,

brown-headed nuthatch The brown-headed nuthatch (''Sitta pusilla'') is a small songbird endemic to pine Temperate coniferous forest, forests throughout the Southeastern United States. Genetic analyses indicated low differentiation between northern and southern populat ...

, and

Carolina wren The Carolina wren (''Thryothorus ludovicianus'') is a common species of wren that is a resident in the Eastern United States, the extreme south of Ontario, Canada, and the extreme northeast of Mexico. Severe winters restrict the northern limits ...

. Birds of prey thrive in the area, with three varieties of hawks common near open fields in even the most populated areas. Falcons roost on skyscrapers in downtown Atlanta and can be regularly seen feasting on pigeons. The American kestrel is sometimes seen. Late in the year, three species of owls can be heard nightly in wooded areas. Various

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...

s can be seen in forested lots, including the red-bellied woodpecker,

northern flicker The northern flicker or common flicker (''Colaptes auratus'') is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker specie ...

(also known as the "yellow-shafted flicker"), and the

downy woodpecker The downy woodpecker (''Dryobates pubescens'') is a species of woodpecker, the smallest in North America. Length ranges from . Downy woodpeckers primarily live in forested areas throughout the United States and Canada, with the exception of desert ...

. The red-headed woodpecker is common in open fields and on golf courses. The

American goldfinch The American goldfinch (''Spinus tristis'') is a small North American bird in the finch Family (biology), family. It is Bird migration, migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of th ...

is present mostly in winter, and the ruby-throated hummingbird only in summer.

Demographics

Numerically, Metro Atlanta is the third fastest growing metropolitan area in the U.S. The 2020 census counted 6,089,815 people in the 28-county metro area. This was an increase of 803,087 from its 2010 population, representing growth of 15.2%. This was, however, a slower rate than the 28.6% increase recorded between 2000 and 2010. Atlanta MSA in 2000 did not include Butts, Dawson, Haralson, Heard, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, and Pike counties, whose population totalled in 2000: 135,783; in 2010: 156,368 (2.96% of total new 28-county metro)
Compares the larger 28-county Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta MSA 2010 with a smaller 20‑county Atlanta MSA 2000; however the 8 new counties represent less than 3% of the larger 28‑county metro.
Source: for race and Hispanic population, U.S. Census Bureau 2010 and 2000 census; for foreign-born population: US Census Bureau 2010 and 2000 American Community Surveys
''Immigrants in 2010 Metropolitan America'', Brookings Institution
/small>

Race and ethnicity

White American White Americans (sometimes also called Caucasian Americans) are Americans who identify as white people. In a more official sense, the United States Census Bureau, which collects demographic data on Americans, defines "white" as " person having ...

s made up 55.4% of metro Atlanta's population in 2010, a relative decrease from 63.0% ten years earlier, but in absolute numbers their population increased by over 330,000. Non-Hispanic whites proportionally dropped from 59.5% to 50.7% of the metro's population, while increasing by about 224,000.

Black American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

s are the largest racial minority with 32.4% of the population in 2010. Metro Atlanta has the second largest African American population behind the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

. From 2000 to 2010, the geographic distribution of blacks in Metro Atlanta changed radically. Long concentrated in the city of Atlanta and DeKalb County, the black population there dropped as more than half a million African Americans settled across other parts of the metro area, including approximately 112,000 in Gwinnett County, 71,000 in Fulton outside Atlanta, 58,000 in Cobb, 50,000 in Clayton, 34,000 in Douglas, and 27,000 each in Newton and Rockdale counties. Due to its availability of jobs, Atlanta has been a destination for young college-educated blacks in the Reverse Great Migration of African Americans from the North since the turn of the 21st century, with many settling quickly into suburban locations. The Atlanta metropolitan area has the second highest total African American population of any metropolitan area, with only the New York City metro area having more.

Hispanic Americans Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spaniards, Spanish or Latin Americans, Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino (demonym), ...

are the fastest growing ethnic group in Metro Atlanta. At 10.4% of the metro's population in 2010, versus only 6.5% in 2000, the metro's Hispanic population increased an astounding 109.6%, or 298,459 people, in ten years. Major Hispanic groups include 354,351

Mexicans Mexicans () are the citizens and nationals of the Mexico, United Mexican States. The Mexican people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish language, Spanish, but many also speak languages from 68 different Languages o ...

, 43,337

Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans (), most commonly known as Puerto Rico#Etymology, Boricuas, but also occasionally referred to as '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borinqueños'', '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borincan ...

and 17,648

Cubans Cubans () are the citizens and nationals of Cuba. The Cuban people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish. The larger Cuban diaspora includes individuals that trace ancestry to Cuba and self-identify as Cuban but are n ...

. All of those groups' populations increased by over 90% in the ten-year period. Of the metro's 299,000-person increase in the Hispanic population from 2000 to 2010, 98,000 were in Gwinnett County, 57,000 in Cobb, 55,000 in Fulton (all but 3,000 outside the city of Atlanta), 20,000 in Hall, and 15,000 in DeKalb County. The

Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for ...

population also increased rapidly from 2000 to 2010. There were 296,956 Asian-Americans in the metro area in 2010, making up 5.9% of the population. This represented an 87% increase over 2000. The largest Asian groups are 108,980 Indian-Americans, 93,870

Korean-American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

s, 67,660 Chinese-Americans, and 66,554 Vietnamese-Americans. Atlanta also has Georgia's largest Bosnian-American population, with approximately 10,000 in the metro area, mainly in Gwinnett County. Metro Atlanta has an increasingly international population, with 716,434 foreign-born residents in 2010, a 69% increase since 2000, with suburban Gwinnett County being one of the most diverse counties in the Southeastern United States. This was the fourth largest rate of growth among the nation's top 100 metros, after

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

and

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. The foreign-born proportion of the population went up from 10.3% to 13.6%, and Atlanta moved up from 14th to 12th in ranking of U.S. metro areas with the largest immigrant population by sheer numbers. Still, its 13.6% proportion of immigrants is only the 29th highest of the nation's top 100 metros. Metro Atlanta's immigrants are more suburban than those of most cities. Out of the top 100 U.S. metros, Atlanta has the 11th highest ratio of the foreign-born living in the suburbs and not in the core city. Atlanta has a few

ethnic enclave In sociology, an ethnic enclave is a geographic area with high ethnic concentration, characteristic cultural identity, and economic activity. The term is usually used to refer to either a residential area or a workspace with a high concentration ...

s such as a

Koreatown A Koreatown (), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have only been in existence s ...

, and areas such as the Buford Highway Corridor in DeKalb County and parts of

Gwinnett County Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, being located about northeast of Atlanta city limits. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the ...

are commercial centers for multiple ethnic communities. In 1990, greater Atlanta had the largest Japanese population in the Southeast United States. The

Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a h ...

estimated that, during that year, 7,500 to 10,000 Japanese lived in greater Atlanta. Of the metropolitan areas in the Southeast United States, as of 1990 greater Atlanta had the most extensive education network for Japanese nationals.Lively, Kit.
Education is made in Japan, exported to Atlanta
." ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

''. December 24, 1990. A1. Retrieved on January 11, 2012.

Language

In 2008, approximately 83.3% of the population five years and older spoke only English at home, which is roughly 4,125,000 people. Over 436,000 people (8.8%) spoke

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

at home, giving Metro Atlanta the 15th highest number of Spanish speakers among American metropolitan areas (MSAs). Over 193,000 people (3.9%) spoke other

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

at home. People who speak an Asian language at home numbered over 137,000 and made up 2.8% of the population.

Economy

The Atlanta area is home to 31

Fortune 1000 {{location map+ , United States , float=right , width=400, relief=1 , caption=''Fortune'' 1000 company headquarters locations. Top 20 companies labeled, places= {{location map~ , United States , lat= 36.365378 , long= -94.217629 , label= Walmart, ...

headquarters. 2022 rankings: The

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (informally the Atlanta Fed and the Bank), is the sixth district of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States and is headquartered in midtown Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta Fed covers the U.S. state ...

is the sixth district of the 12

Federal Reserve Banks A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve A ...

of the United States and is headquartered in midtown

. The Atlanta Fed covers the U.S. states of

, and

, the eastern two-thirds of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, the southern portion of

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, and southern

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

as part of the

Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

Utilities

The area is the world's largest toll-free calling zone spanning , has four active

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

area codes A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, reach ...

, and local calling extending into portions of two others.

404 404 may refer to: * 404 (number) * AD 404 * 404 BC * HTTP 404, the HTTP error response status for "Not Found" Cars * Peugeot 404, a large family car * Bristol 404, a luxury car * Unimog 404, an offroad-capable truck Highways * A404(M ...

, which originally covered all of northern

until 1992, now covers mostly the area inside the

Perimeter A perimeter is the length of a closed boundary that encompasses, surrounds, or outlines either a two-dimensional shape or a one-dimensional line. The perimeter of a circle or an ellipse is called its circumference. Calculating the perimet ...

(Interstate 285). In 1995 the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

s were put into 770, requiring mandatory ten‑digit dialing even for local calls under

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...

rules. This made Atlanta one of the US's first cities to employ

ten-digit dialing Ten-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure in the countries and territories of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is the practice of including the area code of a telephone number when Dialling (telephony), dialing to initiate a t ...

, which was begun by

BellSouth BellSouth, LLC (stylized as ''BELLSOUTH'' and formerly known as BellSouth Corporation) was an American telecommunications holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies after ...

the year before the Centennial

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. In 1998,

678 __NOTOC__ Year 678 ( DCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 678 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Euro ...

was overlaid onto both of the existing 404 and 770 area codes.

Mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

s, originally only assigned to 404, may now have any local area code regardless of where in the region they were issued. Area code 470, the newest area code, was overlaid with 404 and 770 in the same fashion as 678. The local calling area also includes portions of 706/762 and a small area of

256 Year 256 ( CCLVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Claudius and Glabrio (or, less frequently, year 1009 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 256 for this y ...

on the Georgia border. The city of Atlanta is the most wired city in the United States. Many residents access the internet on a high-speed broadband and/or WiFi connection. It is home to one of the world's largest

fiber-optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

bundles. Major

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

pipelines A pipeline is a system of pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries around the world. The Un ...

cross the area, running from the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

, and

to the population centers of the Northeastern U.S. This includes

Colonial Pipeline Colonial Pipeline Company is a pipeline operating company headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia. The company was founded in 1961 and started construction of the Colonial Pipeline in 1962, the largest pipeline system for refined oil products in t ...

and Plantation Pipeline, both based in Alpharetta. Metro Atlanta primarily uses

for

central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. A central heating system has a Furnace (central heating), furnace that converts fuel or electricity to heat through processes. The he ...

and water heaters, with the major exception of

heat pump A heat pump is a device that uses electricity to transfer heat from a colder place to a warmer place. Specifically, the heat pump transfers thermal energy using a heat pump and refrigeration cycle, cooling the cool space and warming the warm s ...

s in

apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...

s built during and since the 1980s. This is because winters are mild, and large apartment buildings usually require little energy to heat. Backup heat (also used during defrosting) is usually supplied by electric resistance heating, though some homes have hybrid heating units which use gas backup when it is cold. Exurban homes may also use all-electric instead of gas, if gas mains have not been extended to an area.

Cooktop A cooktop (American English), stovetop (Canadian and American English) or hob (British English), is a device commonly used for cooking that is commonly found in kitchens and used to apply heat to the base of cookware, pans or pots. Cooktops are o ...

s and

oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool that is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...

s are a mix of gas and electric, while gas

clothes dryer A clothes dryer (tumble dryer, drying machine, drying device, or simply dryer) is a powered Home appliance, household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing, bedding and other textiles, usually after they are washed in ...

s are rather rare. with a manual-

valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

gas starter, and some are now equipped with permanent gas logs with electric switch start. Some homes also have natural gas barbecue grills, formerly sold at

utility company A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

stores.

Georgia Power Georgia Power is an electric utility headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was established as the Georgia Railway and Power Company and began operations in 1902 running streetcars in Atlanta as a successor to the Atlanta Consol ...

is the main

electric power Electric power is the rate of transfer of electrical energy within a electric circuit, circuit. Its SI unit is the watt, the general unit of power (physics), power, defined as one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with oth ...

company across the state and the metro area, beginning in 1902 as Georgia Railway and Power Company, Atlanta's

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

( trolley) company’s. Several

electric membership corporation A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity, water or telecommunications to its members. Profits are either reinvested for infrastructure or distributed to members in t ...

s also serve the suburbs. These include the second-largest EMC in the nation in Jackson EMC, Cobb EMC, Walton EMC, and Sawnee EMC. The city of Marietta operates its own electric utility, Marietta Power, under the Board of Lights & Water (BLW). It is also a member of the Municipal Electric Association of Georgia (MEAG). Atlanta Gas Light is the

utility for the region, and has been so for over a

century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

and a half, since it installed

gas lamp Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly by ...

s in Atlanta in 1856. It operated as a

regulated monopoly A monopoly (from Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic competition to produce a particular thing, a lack of viable sub ...

until November 1998, the after the state legislature voted in early 1997 to deregulate natural gas

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

, and make customers choose among nearly 20 different marketers still selling the same AGL-

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

d gas, such as Gas South, Infinite Energy,

SCANA SCANA Corporation was an American regulated electric and natural gas public utility. The company was based in Cayce, South Carolina, a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina. Following the Nukegate scandal, the company's stock fell and the company ...

and Georgia Natural Gas. Most of the gas comes via

from

. Water is provided by various county and a few city systems. Several of these systems actually serve parts of neighboring counties and cities as well. The Cobb-Marietta Water Authority serves not only Cobb, but also parts of neighboring Paulding and Cherokee counties, for example. During

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

or other

emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

, cities and counties can enact

outdoor water-use restriction An outdoor water-use restriction is a ban or other lesser restrictions put into effect that restricts the outdoor use of water supplies. Often called a watering ban or hosepipe ban, it can affect: *irrigation of lawns * car washing *recreatio ...

s, however some cross-

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

water system A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see water purification – sourc ...

s have also acted to put bans in place. In late September 2007, the state Environmental Protection Division of the

Georgia Department of Natural Resources The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is an administrative agency of the U.S. state of Georgia. Structure The agency has statewide responsibilities for managing and conserving Georgia’s natural, cultural, and historical resource ...

, stepped-in with its first-ever ban, covering most of the northern half of the state. While

surface water Surface water is water located on top of land, forming terrestrial (surrounding by land on all sides) waterbodies, and may also be referred to as ''blue water'', opposed to the seawater and waterbodies like the ocean. The vast majority of surfac ...

is by far the primary source of water for the region, the drought had many systems (and a few wealthy homeowners) drilling new wells for

ground water Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidat ...

, though the local

water table The water table is the upper surface of the phreatic zone or zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with groundwater, which may be fresh, saline, or brackish, depending on the loc ...

is around deep, on

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

Sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff ( stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and scr ...

is also handled by the water utilities, but the various water and sewer networks may not conform to the same boundaries, resulting in

interbasin water transfer Interbasin transfer or transbasin diversion are (often hyphenated) terms used to describe man-made conveyance schemes which move water from one river basin where it is available, to another basin where water is less available or could be utilized ...

s. This is for practical reasons, because the area is hilly and divided by several watersheds, because the area has developed irregularly and erratically, and because

water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, ...

plants are usually not near

sewage treatment plant Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...

Septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatment ...

s are still used in the older homes of some exurbs.

Housing

Low-density

residential subdivision Subdivisions are land that is divided into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a plat. The former single piece as a whole is then known as a subdivision. Subdivisions may be simple, involving only a single seller ...

development dominates the metro Atlanta suburbs. Changes in house prices for the metro area are publicly tracked on a regular basis using the

Case–Shiller index The Standard & Poor's CoreLogic Case–Shiller Home Price Indices are repeat-sales house price index, house price indices for the United States. There are multiple Case–Shiller home price indices: A national home price index, a 20-city com ...

; the statistic is published by

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is co ...

and is also a component of S&P's 20‑city composite index of the value of the U.S. residential real estate market.

Community improvement districts

All of Georgia's community improvement districts are located in metro Atlanta. * Buckhead Community Improvement District, covering

Buckhead Buckhead is the wikt:uptown, uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within ...

Perimeter Center Community Improvement Districts A perimeter is the length of a closed boundary that encompasses, surrounds, or outlines either a two-dimensional shape or a one-dimensional line. The perimeter of a circle or an ellipse is called its circumference. Calculating the perimeter ...

, covering the Perimeter Center area of Sandy Springs and Dunwoody/ * Cumberland Community Improvement District, around Cumberland Mall * Town Center Area Community Improvement District, around Town Center at Cobb mall * Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District, around Gwinnett Place Mall
Gateway85 Community Improvement District
covering area southeast of Norcross * Evermore Community Improvement District, or Highway 78 Community Improvement District, covering part of the U.S. 78 corridor in Gwinnett near Snellville * Lilburn Community Improvement District, established early 2010 in Lilburn * Aerotropolis Atlanta CIDs * Boulevard CID (industrial district), created 2010 In May 2016, the City of Atlanta launched Atlanta City Studio, the city's first "pop-up urban design laboratory focused on shaping the future of city neighborhoods." The studio hosts "lectures, open forums, urban art presentations and other neighborhood and design components." Atlanta City Studio will relocate twice per year in order for residents to interact with staff and share their ideas about improving city design. The studio is located on the second floor of

Ponce City Market Ponce City Market is a mixed-use development located in a former Sears catalogue facility in Atlanta, with national and local retail anchors, restaurants, a food hall, boutiques and offices, and residential units. It is located adjacent to the ...

and in January 2017 will relocate "to a retail location on the Westside, possibly on MLK Jr. Drive or Cascade Road."

Education

Colleges and universities

Agnes Scott College Agnes Scott College is a Private university, private Women's Colleges in the Southern United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Decatur, Georgia. The college enrolls approximately 1,000 undergra ...

– Decatur * Atlanta Metropolitan State College –

* Atlanta Technical College – Atlanta *

Atlanta University Center The Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUC Consortium) is a collaboration between four historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in southwest Atlanta, Georgia: Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, and the Mo ...

– Atlanta **

Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the South ...

Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

Morehouse School of Medicine Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) is an independent and private historically-Black medical school in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally a part of Morehouse College, the school became independent in 1981. History MSM was established at the sugges ...

Spelman College Spelman College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia ...

Brenau University Brenau University is a private university in Gainesville, Georgia. Founded in 1878, the university enrolls more than 2,800 students from approximately 48 states and 17 foreign countries who seek degrees ranging from associate through doctoral ...

– Gainesville *

Chattahoochee Technical College Chattahoochee Technical College (Chattahoochee Tech, CTC, or Chatt Tech) is a Public college, public technical school, technical college in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is governed by the Technical College System of Georgi ...

– Acworth and Marietta *

Clayton State University Clayton State University is a public university in Morrow, Georgia, United States. It serves Metro Atlanta and is part of the University System of Georgia. The main campus includes of wooded grounds and five lakes. Located in the north-central ...

–

Columbia Theological Seminary Columbia Theological Seminary is a Presbyterian seminary in Decatur, Georgia. It is one of ten theological institutions affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History Columbia Theological Seminary was founded in 1828 in Lexington, Geor ...

– Decatur *

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

– Atlanta *

Georgia College & State University Georgia College & State University (Georgia College or GCSU) is a public liberal arts university in Milledgeville, Georgia, United States. The university enrolls approximately 7,000 students and is a member of the University System of Georgia ...

– Milledgeville *

Georgia Gwinnett College Georgia Gwinnett College (Georgia Gwinnett or GGC) is a public college in Lawrenceville, Georgia. It is a member of the University System of Georgia. Georgia Gwinnett College opened on August 18, 2006. It has grown from its original 118 students ...

– Lawrenceville *

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

– Atlanta *

Georgia Piedmont Technical College Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) is a public community college based in Clarkston, Georgia. It is part of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) and provides education for a three-county service area, mostly in the metro Atlanta ...

– Clarkston *

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

– Atlanta ** Perimeter College –

, Clarkston, Covington, Decatur and Dunwoody * Gwinnett Technical College – Lawrenceville *

Interdenominational Theological Center The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a consortium of five predominantly African-American denominational Christian seminaries in Atlanta, Georgia, operating together as a professional graduate school of theology. It is the largest ...

– Atlanta * John Marshall Law School – Atlanta *

Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia with two campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in the Kennesaw area and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was founded ...

– Kennesaw and Marietta * Lanier Technical College – Gainesville, Cumming, Winder, Dawsonville and

Commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

Life University Life University is a private university focused on training chiropractors and located in Marietta, Georgia, United States. It was established in 1974 by a chiropractor, Sid E. Williams. A 2024 report found that students in Life's doctor of chi ...

– Marietta *

Mercer University Mercer University is a Private university, private Research university, research university in Macon, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the s ...

– Atlanta *

Morris Brown College Morris Brown College (MBC) is a Private university, private African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlan ...

– Atlanta *

Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, United States. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder ...

– Brookhaven * Oxford College –

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Reinhardt University Reinhardt University is a private university with its main campus in Waleska, Georgia, and its Cauble School of Nursing and Health Sciences in Jasper, Georgia, Jasper. Over 50 graduate and undergraduate programs are offered on campus and online ...

– Waleska *

Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. It was founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the United ...

– Atlanta * Southern Crescent Technical College –

University of North Georgia The University of North Georgia (UNG) is a public university with multiple campuses in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university was established on January 8, 2013, through a m ...

– Gainesville *

University of West Georgia The University of West Georgia is a public university in Carrollton, Georgia, United States. The university offers a satellite campus in Newnan, Georgia, Newnan, Georgia, select classes at its Douglasville Center, and off-campus Museum Studies c ...

– Carrollton and Newnan * West Georgia Technical College – Carrollton,

, Newnan and

Waco Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 population of 146,608, making i ...

School districts

Atlanta Public Schools Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson. The system has an active enrollment of 54,956 students, attending ...

Barrow County Schools Barrow County Schools is a public school district based in Winder, Georgia, United States, serving Barrow County. The boundary of the district is that of the county. Schools Elementary schools * Auburn Elementary * Austin Road Elementary ...

* Bartow County School District * Buford City School District * Butts County School District * Carroll County School District * Carrollton City School District *

Cartersville City School District The Cartersville City School District is a public school district in Bartow County, Georgia, United States, based in Cartersville. It serves the city of Cartersville in Bartow County. The school board maintains schools for pre-school to grade ...

* Cherokee County School District *

Clayton County Public Schools The Clayton County Public School District (CCPS) is a public school district headquartered in Jonesboro, Georgia, U.S. It administers schools inside of Clayton County, Georgia. Serving more than 52,000 students, Clayton County Public Schools ...

* Cobb County Public Schools * Coweta County School System * Dawson County School District * Decatur City School District * DeKalb County School System * Douglas County School District * Fayette County School System * Forsyth County Schools * * Fulton County Public Schools * Gainesville City School District * Griffin-Spalding County School District *

Gwinnett County Public Schools The Gwinnett County Public Schools is a school district operating in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. GCPS is the largest school system in Georgia,Hall County School District * Haralson County School District * Heard County School District * Henry County School District * Jasper County School District * Lamar County School District * Marietta City School District * Meriwether County School District * Morgan County School District *

Newton County School District The Newton County School District is a public school district based in Decatur, Mississippi (USA). In addition to Decatur, the district also serves the towns of Hickory, Chunky, Text list/ref> Little Rock, the community of Conehatta, and mu ...

* Paulding County School District * Pickens County School District *

Pike County School District The Pike County School District is a public school district in Pike County, Georgia, Pike County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, based in Zebulon, Georgia, Zebulon. It serves the communities of Concord, Georgia, Concord, Hillt ...

* Rockdale County School District * Social Circle City School District * Walton County School District

Government and politics

In geographic terms, Georgia has the smallest average county size of any state. This focuses government more locally but allows greater conflict between multiple jurisdictions, each with its own agenda. The first significant

intergovernmental agency An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own leg ...

in metro Atlanta was the

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA ) is the principal public transport operator in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of Public transport bus service, bus route ...

, which runs the MARTA

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

system. Alongside other factors such as race and

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

, as well as a lack of planning and perceived lack of need, problems associated with the

inner city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

of Atlanta (

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

, and poor public school performance) influenced Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton county voters to refuse to allow construction of MARTA into their respective counties during the 1970s. These decisions resulted in permanent effects on

land development Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways, such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or House, housing * subdivision (land), Subdividing real estate into Lot ( ...

in the region, making use of private

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

s even more of a necessity. The

is so far the closest that the area has come to a

. It approves only those projects deemed to have a positive effect beyond the immediate area in which they are to be constructed. The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority is somewhat of a cross between ARC and MARTA, working to improve mobility, air quality, and land use practices in the region. GRTA also operates Georgia Regional Transportation Authority#'Xpress' service, Xpress buses from 11 counties, and could operate commuter rail service in the future. Currently, plans for commuter rail and eventual intercity rail (including the long-proposed but still unfunded Atlanta Multimodal Passenger Terminal) are the responsibility of the Georgia Rail Passenger Authority, which receives almost no funding. Since 2007 proposals have been floated to allow new multi-county sales taxes, in addition to existing county sales taxes for roads, to pay for regional transportation initiatives. Politics Due to demographic shifts and population increases in the region, Metro Atlanta has trended toward the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, so much so that Democrats have been able to win statewide due to turnout from this area. In 2020, Joe Biden won the area by 15.4 points, enough to narrowly capture the state's 16 electoral votes. In 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020 and 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia, 2022, Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock successfully won full terms to represent the state in the United States Senate, U.S. Senate, mainly due to winning by large margins in Metro Atlanta.

Healthcare

The area is served by a network of healthcare facilities including private practice, urgent care, hospital systems, and specialty care facilities. There are approximately 37 hospitals serving the metro. There are both private for profit systems and community not-for-profit systems.

Hospitals with # beds

''Trauma Centers - Level I * ; Level II **'' Children's Healthcare of Atlanta *Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Arthur M Blank Hospital - Brookhaven - 446 * *Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Hughes Spalding Hospital - Atlanta - 82 *Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Scottish Rite Hospital - Sandy Springs - 319 Emory Healthcare *Emory University Hospital - Atlanta - 733 *Emory University Hospital-Midtown - Atlanta - 511 *Emory University Hospital-Wesley Woods - Atlanta - 71 *Emory University Orthopedic and Spine Hospital - Tucker - 75 *Emory Decatur Hospital - Decatur - 422 *Emory Hillandale Hospital - Lithonia - 90 *Emory Johns Creek Hospital - Johns Creek - 118 *Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital - Sandy Springs - 410 Grady Memorial Hospital - Atlanta - 974 * Northeast Georgia Medical Center - Gainesville - 872 ** Northside Hospital System *Northside Hospital, Northside Hospital Atlanta - Sandy Springs - 621 *Northside Hospital Cherokee - Canton - 126 *Northside Hospital Duluth - Duluth - 81 *Northside Hospital Forsyth - Cumming - 304 *Gwinnett Medical Center, Northside Hospital Gwinnett - Lawrenceville - 353 ** Piedmont Healthcare *Piedmont Hospital, Piedmont Atlanta Hospital - Atlanta - 512 *Piedmont Eastside Hospital - Snellville - 287 *Piedmont Fayette Hospital - Fayetteville - 290 *Piedmont Henry Hospital - Stockbridge - 341 *Piedmont Mountainside Hospital - Jasper - 52 *Piedmont Newnan Hospital - Newnan - 154 *Piedmont Newton Hospital - Covington - 94 *Piedmont Rockdale Hospital - Conyers - 138 *Piedmont Walton Hospital - Monroe - 77 Shepherd Center - Atlanta - 152 WellStar Health System, Wellstar Health System *Wellstar Cobb Hospital - Austell - 387 *WellStar Douglas Hospital, Wellstar Douglas Hospital - Douglasville - 102 *WellStar Kennestone Hospital, Wellstar Kennestone Hospital - Marietta - 662 * *Wellstar North Fulton Hospital - Roswell - 202 ** *Wellstar Paulding Hospital - Hiram - 294 *Wellstar Spalding Regional Hospital - Griffin - 160 Veterans Administration Medical Center, Veterans Administration Health Care *Veterans Administration Medical Center - Decatur

Media

Radio

* Q99.7, 99.7 * Star 94, 94.1 * The River, 97.1 * V-103, 103.3 * El Patron 105.3 * Radio 105.7 * Kiss 104.1 * 96.1 The Beat * praise 102.5 * Bull 94.9 * 99X 100.5 * hot 107.9 * 104.7 Air1 * 106.7 K-Love * 92.9 The Game WZGC * WSB Radio 95.5FM and 750AM * WREK 91.1 - Georgia Tech's Student Radio

TV - Broadcast

*WSB-TV 2 ABC *WAGA-TV 5 Fox *WGTV-TV 8 GPB *WXIA-TV 11 NBC *WPCH-TV 17 The CW *WUVG-TV 34 Univision *WATL-TV 36 MyNetworkTV *WANF-TV 46 CBS

TV - Cable

* CNN * Turner Broadcasting * The Weather Channel * Georgia Public Broadcasting (PBS), 9 stations * Adult Swim

Print

* ''Atlanta Business Chronicle'' * ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' * ''Atlanta (magazine), Atlanta Magazine'' * ''Atlanta Parent'' * ''The Atlantan'' * ''Gwinnett Daily Post'' * ''Jezebel'' * ''Marietta Daily Journal''

Culture and attractions

Professional sports teams

Former teams include the Atlanta Flames (now Calgary Flames) and Atlanta Thrashers (now Winnipeg Jets), both of the National Hockey League. Atlanta also plays host to two NASCAR Cup Series races each year at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Atlanta metropolitan area is also home to three Division I (NCAA), NCAA Division I programs, with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Georgia State Panthers in Atlanta proper and the Kennesaw State Owls in Kennesaw. Both Georgia Tech and Georgia State are members of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Sun Belt Conference, respectively, while Kennesaw State is a member of the ASUN Conference in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision; however, Kennesaw State accepted an invitation to move up to the FBS level from Conference USA starting in 2024.

Performing arts venues

* Atlanta Symphony Hall * Alliance Theatre, Alliance Theater * Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Cobb Energy Centre * Fox Theatre (Atlanta), Fox Theatre * Infinite Energy Arena * Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center * Spivey Hall

Museums

* Center for Puppetry Arts * Children's Museum of Atlanta * Delta Flight Museum * Fernbank Museum of Natural History * Fernbank Science Center * High Museum of Art * Jimmy Carter Library and Museum

Amusement

* College Football Hall of Fame * Georgia Aquarium * Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament * National Center for Civil and Human Rights * Six Flags Over Georgia * Six Flags White Water * World of Coca-Cola * Zoo Atlanta

Parks

* Atlanta Botanical Garden * The BeltLine, Beltline * Centennial Olympic Park * Chastain Park * Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area * Clayton County International Park/The Beach * Freedom Parkway, Freedom Park * Grant Park, Atlanta, Grant Park * Historic Fourth Ward Park * Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park * Piedmont Park *

* Woodruff Park

Festivals

*Music Midtown

Other

* CNN Center

Military presence

* Dobbins Air Reserve Base * Fort Gillem, closed * Fort McPherson, closed

Transportation

The U.S. Census Bureau has defined a metropolitan area for Atlanta which includes, but is not limited to, Roswell, Georgia and Sandy Springs, Georgia. According to the 2016 American Community Survey, about 78% of working metropolitan residents commuted by driving alone, 9% carpooled, 3% used public transportation, and 1% walked. Less than 1% of working residents commuted by bicycle, while about 2% of commuters traveled by all other means. About 7% of residents worked at home.

Transit systems

Atlanta has always been a rail town, and the city once had an extensive Streetcars in Atlanta, streetcar system, which also provided interurban service as far out as Marietta, to the northwest. The streetcars were replaced by an extensive Trolleybuses in Atlanta, trolleybus system, supplemented by buses, in the 1940s and 1950–52, and then converted to all buses in the 1950s and 1960–62. However, building a modern rapid transit system proved a difficult and drawn-out process and, compared to the original plans for a regional system, has only partially been accomplished. Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, MARTA operates buses and a subway system in the city of Atlanta, Fulton, Clayton and Dekalb counties, while Cobb Community Transit, Cobb and Gwinnett County Transit, Gwinnett counties operate their own independent Suburban Transit Systems that feed into MARTA. This is a result of those counties' refusal to join the MARTA system (Gwinnett voted in March 2019 to reject MARTA again), a situation which was originally closely related to white flight from the city. It is the only US system in which the state does not provide any funds for operation or expansion, instead relying entirely on a 1% sales tax in its three counties. Due to the passage of a 1% sales tax in Clayton County on November 4, 2014, MARTA replaced the defunct C-Tran system bringing buses and commuter rail to the county beginning March 2015, with full bus service in 2016. The Atlanta Streetcar, a light rail loop, connects Centennial Olympic Park and MARTA heavy rail subway to the Sweet Auburn district and points in between. GRTA Xpress, Xpress GA, a suburban commuter bus service operated by the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority or GRTA, has over 32 routes running from the suburbs and exurbs to downtown Atlanta in 12 metropolitan counties. Plans are underway for commuter rail and bus rapid transit (BRT), though these are some years away. The $20 billion Northwest Corridor HOV/BRT project appears to conflict with other plans, such as the metro-wide Concept 3 approved by the Transit Planning Board, and the no-Jersey barrier, barrier High-occupancy toll lane, HOT lanes on I‑85 in Gwinnett. MARTA is also considering a BRT line of its own to the east. The first commuter rail line would run south of the city, eventually extended to

and possibly Hampton near Atlanta Motor Speedway. The "Brain Train" would likely be the second route, connecting the University of Georgia in Athens to

and Georgia Tech in Atlanta. As planned, all commuter trains would arrive at the Atlanta Multimodal Passenger Terminal (MMPT), the long-delayed facility just across Peachtree Street from the Five Points (MARTA station), Five Points MARTA station, where all of its lines meet. Planning for the system and its extension as intercity rail across the state are the responsibility of the Georgia Rail Passenger Authority. Another proposed plan that has received very strong grassroots support in recent years is the BeltLine, a Green belt, greenbelt and transit system that takes advantage of existing and unused rail tracks to set up a light rail or

circuit around the core of Atlanta, as well as establishing more Open space reserve, green space and footpaths for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Commercial railways

Before Atlanta was even a city, it was a railroad Transport hub, hub. From this came the joke, popular among other SCulture of the Southern United States, Southerners, that "regardless of whether one goes to heaven or hell, everyone must go through Atlanta first". Many of its suburbs pre-date it as depots or train stations along the major lines in and out of town. Many of these historic stations, including Atlanta's Atlanta Union Station (1930), Union Station and Terminal Station (Atlanta), Terminal Station, were demolition, demolished like many county courthouses and other historic buildings. Many have been saved however, including the L&N station in Woodstock, and the stations along the main W&A line in Marietta and Smyrna. Through mergers, the main railroads in the area are now Norfolk Southern and CSX. The Georgia Northeastern Railroad is a short-line railroad, short line that also services part of the area. There are also several railyards of Atlanta and vicinity, as well as the Southeastern Railway Museum and the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History. The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, more commonly known as Amtrak, runs the intercity rail line Crescent (Amtrak), Crescent through metro Atlanta twice daily, with one train heading towards New Orleans and the other headed towards New York (city), New York. All trains make a scheduled stop at Peachtree Station in northern Midtown Atlanta, but it is also possible for arrange for trains to stop in Gainesville, Georgia as well.

Air

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world's busiest airport and is the only international airport for the region (and only major international airport for the state). Domestic-only carriers from Atlanta: * Alaska Airlines * American Airlines * Avelo Airlines * JetBlue Airways * Spirit Airlines * Southern Airways Express * Sun Country Airlines * United Airlines Domestic and international from Atlanta: * Delta Air Lines * Frontier Airlines * Southwest Airlines Foreign-based international carriers: * Aeromexico (Joint venture with Delta Air Lines) * Air Canada * Air France (Joint venture with Delta Air Lines) * British Airways * Copa Airlines * Ethiopian Airlines * KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Joint venture with Delta Air Lines) * Korean Air (Joint venture with Delta Air Lines) * Lufthansa German Airlines * LATAM Airlines (Joint venture with Delta Air Lines) * Qatar Airways * Scandinavian Airlines * Turkish Airlines * Virgin Atlantic (Joint venture with Delta Air Lines) * WestJet (Joint venture with Delta Air Lines) Other airports (maintained by local counties) include Charlie Brown Field (Fulton), McCollum Field (Cobb), Cartersville Airport (Bartow), DeKalb Peachtree Airport (DeKalb), Briscoe Field (Gwinnett), Coweta County Airport (Coweta), Cherokee County Airport (Georgia), Cherokee County Airport (Cherokee), Clayton County Airport - Tara Field, Atlanta Speedway Airport (Henry), and Paulding County Airport (Paulding). Former local airports were Stone Mountain Airport and Parkaire Field, among others. DeKalb Peachtree Airport is the primary business jet airport. This is due to its proximity to Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead, and the Perimeter office areas.

Roads and freeways

Atlanta is served by three major interstate highways. Including tributaries, they are the following: (Note: The cities used below are also the control cities used for the Metro Atlanta Bypass/I-285 signs entering from the suburbs.) Interstate 75 in Georgia, Interstate 75 passes through from Macon to the south, and from Chattanooga to the north. Interstate 575 is a spur which merges with I‑75 near Kennesaw. I‑575 serves northeast portions of Cobb County and a large portion of Cherokee County. It ends in Ball Ground. Interstate 675 (Georgia), Interstate 675 is a route which connects I‑75 in Henry County to I‑285 in southern Dekalb County. Most of the corridor is within Clayton County. Interstate 85 in Georgia, Interstate 85 passes through from Montgomery on the southwest and from Greenville on the northeast. I-75 merges with I-85 to form the Downtown Connector from the Brookwood Interchange, just north of Midtown Atlanta, to just south of the Lakewood Freeway in south Atlanta. Interstate 185 (Georgia), Interstate 185 is a spur which merges with I‑85 in LaGrange and stretches southward to Columbus. Interstate 985 is a spur which merges with I‑85 in Suwanee and serves the northern suburbs of Gwinnett and Hall Counties. It terminates just northeast of Gainesville. Interstate 285 (Georgia), Interstate 285 is the beltway which encircles the city and its immediate eastern suburbs. It is commonly known as the Perimeter. I‑285 passes through Clayton, Cobb, Fulton, and DeKalb Counties. Interstate 20 in Georgia, Interstate 20 passes through from Birmingham to the west and from Augusta to the east. It serves Douglasville, the major suburb west of Atlanta. It serves Lithonia and Conyers to the east. Atlanta is also served by several other freeways, in addition to the interstate highways, including: Georgia 400 is the main corridor serving the north-central suburbs, and was the only toll road in the metropolitan Atlanta area. As of November 23, 2013, the tolls ended and the toll plazas were demolished. It reaches into the northern portion of Fulton County and gradually turns northeast before entering Forsyth County. The controlled-access portion terminates just northeast of the city of Cumming. To the south, it terminates and merges into southbound I‑85 just south of the Buckhead business district. Cumming/Dahlonega is used on I‑285 as the northbound sign, and Atlanta/Buckhead as the southbound. From I‑85 northbound, it uses Buckhead/Cumming. Stone Mountain Freeway, or U.S. 78, is an 8‑mile corridor east of Downtown Atlanta and the neighboring suburb of Decatur. It serves northeast portions of Dekalb County, including the city of Stone Mountain. It continues east as a divided highway into south Gwinnett County, including the suburbs of Lilburn, Snellville and Loganville. U.S. 78 also stretches east to Athens. Lakewood Freeway, or Georgia State Route 166, Georgia 166, extends between Lakewood Park in south Atlanta and Campbellton Road, just west of I‑285. Peachtree Industrial Blvd, or Georgia State Route 141, Georgia 141, is a route north-northeast of Atlanta which begins on the north side of I‑285 and runs parallel to I‑85 for about four miles until it terminates when it splits into GA‑141 and Peachtree Industrial (continuing as a normal divided highway). Georgia State Route 316 is a four-mile-long route that branches from I‑85 and stretches eastward into Gwinnett County. It continues east as a normal divided highway through the suburb of Lawrenceville and on to Athens. There are many historic roads across the area, named after historic mills of the Atlanta area, its mills and historic ferries of the Atlanta area, early ferries, and historic bridges of the Atlanta area, the bridges later built to replace the ferries. Pace's Ferry is perhaps the best known. Owing to the area's long history of settlement and uneven terrain, most arterial roads are not straight but meander instead, which can be confusing as much as the famed proliferation of Atlanta streets with "Peachtree" in the name. It is also often joked that half the streets are named Peachtree, while the other half have several names to make up for it. Partly, confusion is because the region maintains the historic nomenclature of each county naming its roads for the towns they connect with in surrounding counties. Thus, from Dallas to Roswell, Georgia State Route 120, Georgia 120 is Marietta Highway to the Paulding/Cobb county line, is Dallas Highway to the city of Marietta, Whitlock Avenue to the town square, South Park Square for just one city block, Roswell Street to Cobb Parkway (at the Big Chicken), Roswell Road to the Cobb/Fulton county line, and finally Marietta Street to the town square in Roswell. Further confusion is from the arbitrary location of state routes by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), so that they travel an erratic path requiring several turns by drivers instead of traveling the original straight route; and the renaming of roads by state legislators to honor their friends. There are many roads like this throughout the area, leading to duplication of names in different counties. In Fulton, "Roswell Road" refers to Georgia 9 through northern Atlanta and across Sandy Springs, in addition to the above-mentioned use in Cobb, for example. Numeric street addressing is done by county as well, with the origin usually being at one corner of the town square in the county seat. The U.S. Postal Service ignores these actual and logical boundaries however, overlapping ZIP codes and their associated place names across counties. The Cumberland/Galleria area has Cobb's numbers and an "SE" suffix, but is called "Atlanta" by the USPS (despite being Vinings, which the USPS ironically calls "unacceptable"), which can confuse visitors to think it is far away in southeast Atlanta. Where more than one town in the same county has a road to the same place, the smaller towns have their own name prefixed to it, while the county seat does not. The road need not go directly to the other place, but may connect through other roads. Examples include Due West Road west from Marietta, Kennesaw Due West Road southwest from Kennesaw, and Acworth Due West Road south from Acworth. Some are usually hyphenated, like Peachtree-Dunwoody Road, Ashford-Dunwoody Road, Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, and Chamblee-Tucker Road. There are also several roads named for communities which have been overwhelmed by the urban and suburban sprawl, and so are somewhat odd to newcomers. These include Sandy Plains, Georgia, Sandy Plains, Crabapple, Georgia, Crabapple, Toonigh, Georgia, Toonigh, Luxomni, Georgia, Luxomni, and Due West, Georgia, Due West. Some of these communities are in the middle of the road, while some are at or very near one end. Some areas are renamed, either over time (Sandy Plains gradually became "Sprayberry" when Sprayberry High School moved there and similarly named shopping centers popped up around it); by the USPS (Toonigh is identified as "Lebanon"), or after rapid development. In such cases, the roads usually maintain their historic names even if the neighborhoods do not. There are also a few U.S. highways that cross the area, including U.S. Route 19 in Georgia, 19, U.S. Route 23 in Georgia, 23, U.S. Route 29 in Georgia, 29, U.S. Route 41 in Georgia, 41, and U.S. Route 78 in Georgia, 78. Other arterials are completely new, like much of Barrett Parkway, Sugarloaf Parkway and South Fulton Parkway, constructed by their counties but partly covered with a state route number. Occasionally, roads are realigned or extended to meet each other directly at a cross-road, leading to odd curves and name changes.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlanta Metropolitan Area Atlanta metropolitan area, Regions of Georgia (U.S. state) Metropolitan areas of Georgia (U.S. state)

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Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell MSA

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Atlanta GA-AL CSA

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