Georgia, GA

Georgia is a state in the southern region of the United States of America and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution.

It was the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established as a colony, in 1733. It was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788.

It seceded from the Union on January 21, 1861 and was one of the original seven Confederate states. It was the last state readmitted to the Union, on July 15, 1870. Georgia is one of the fastest-growing states in the United States, with its population increasing from 8,186,453 in 2000 to an estimated 9,072,576 people in 2005.

Georgia is also known as the Peach State and the Empire State of the South. The largest city, and capital, is Atlanta. Georgia is bordered on the south by Florida; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina; on the west by Alabama and by Florida in the extreme southwest; and on the north by Tennessee and North Carolina.

The northern part of the state is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a mountain range in the vast mountain system of the Appalachians. The central piedmont extends from the foothills to the fall line, where the rivers cascade down in elevation to the continental coastal plain of the southern part of the state.

The highest point in Georgia is Brasstown Bald, 4,784 feet (1,458 m); the lowest point is sea level. With an area of 59,441 square miles (153,951 kmē), Georgia is ranked 24th in size among the 50 U.S. states.

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

Geography

The geography of Georgia describes a state in the southeastern United States in North America. The Golden Isles of Georgia lie off the coast of the state.

The main geographical features include mountains such as the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians in the northwest, the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northeast, the Piedmont plateau in the central portion of the state and Coastal Plain in the south.

The highest area in Georgia is Brasstown Bald which is 1,458m (4,784 ft) above sea level, while the lowest is at sea level, at the Atlantic Ocean. Georgia is located at approximately33° N 83.5° W. The state has a total area of 154,077 kmē (57,906 sq mi) and the geographic center is located in Twiggs County.

The oldest known rock found in Georgia comes from the Precambrian Proterozoic era and is about 1 to 1.3 billion years old and is found in the Piedmont Plateau and Blue Ridge mountain regions.

Approximately 1 billion years ago a metamorphic change occurred during the an event called the Grenville Orogeny and caused the rocks, which were originally sediment, to compress into a form of rock called gneiss due to heat and pressure. Around 630 million years ago the Grenville mountains began to erode carrying sediments from streams to the sea.

The gneiss formed from these sediments created the marble, metaconglomerate, phyllite, quartzite, schist, and slate found in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont areas. Three separate orogeny events impacted the eastern portion of North America during the Paleozoic.

From these orogeny came folding, faulting, and igneous intrusions in the Piedmont, the Blue Ridge, the Valley and Ridge and the Appalachian Plateau.

The Georgia Mountains Region are part of the Blue Ridge Mountains and begin in the northeast corner of Georgia. Brasstown Bald, the highest mountain in Georgia at 4,784 feet (1,458 m) above mean sea level, is part of the chain and sits in an area known as Wolfpen Ridge.

Other mountains in Georgia include Arabia Mountain, Big Bald Mountain, Black Mountain, and Blood Mountain among many others.

Several major rivers run through the state of Georgia. Some of them are the Altamaha River, the Savannah River, and the Suwannee River.

The Chattahoochee River is Georgia's longest, at 436 miles. Lake Lanier is the largest lake in Georgia followed by Lake Oconee as the second largest.

Other lakes in the state include Lake Acworth, Lake Allatoona, Lake Blackshear, and Walter F. George Lake.

Climate

The majority of Georgia is primarily a humid subtropical climate tempered somewhat by occasional polar air masses in the winter. Hot and humid summers are typical, except at the highest elevations. The entire state, including the north Georgia mountains, receives moderate to heavy precipitation, which varies from 45 inches (1143 mm) in central Georgia to approximately 75 inches (1905 mm) around the Northeast part of the state.

 The degree to which the weather of a certain area of Georgia is subtropical depends not just on the latitude, but also on how close it is to the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico and the altitude.

This is especially true in the mountainous areas in the northern part of the state, which are further away from ocean waters and can be up to 4500 feet (1350 m) or higher above sea level. The areas near the Florida/Georgia border, extending from the entire Georgia coastline west to the Florida panhandle, experiences the most subtropical weather, similar to that of Florida: hot, humid summers with frequent afternoon thunderstorms and mild, somewhat drier winters.

These areas experience snow much less frequently than other parts of Georgia. The Georgia Piedmont area is somewhat cooler in winter than the coastal areas. The Southern areas of the Piedmont may receive snow every other year, while areas close to the foothills get snow several times a year. This part of Georgia is especially vulnerable to ice storms.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Georgia". and the Wikipedia article "Georgia Geography"