Where Is Georgia?

Where Is Georgia?


On August 30, 1961, Thomas Welch and Madelyn Nix walked into Brown High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Unlike most students returning for the fall, they were accompanied by police officers. At three other high schools across Atlanta, seven other students walked into classrooms with police by their sides. They were making history.

Welch, Nix, and the rest of the group, who would come to be known as the Atlanta Nine, were Black. Before that fall, Atlanta public schools had been all-white. At the time, segregation—the separation of Black and white people in public places like schools, buses, and public restrooms—was common in the US, especially in the Southern states. Black students in Georgia were forced to attend separate schools. Other Southern states tried to end segregation in schools. There was violence and protests from white citizens who didn’t want Black and white students educated together. Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield wanted to make sure that violence would not break out in his city. He ordered police to be present at the four high schools on the first day in 1961.

Welch and Nix entered Brown High School without too much disruption and were able to leave at the end of the day. Some of their white classmates were friendly to them. Others did not accept them or were mean. But they and the rest of the Atlanta Nine had fairly peaceful first schooldays. They took the first step toward Atlanta school integration. It was a major advancement in the civil rights movement (the movement to get equal rights for all people regardless of race, sex, or religion) and a moment that the people of Georgia had been working toward for a long time.

Chapter 1
Georgia’s Land, Environment, and Origins


Georgia is in the southeastern United States. It is bordered by Tennessee and North Carolina to the north, South Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Florida to the south, and Alabama to the west. With a population of over eleven million as of 2023, Georgia is the eighth most populous US state.

Georgia’s total land area is 59,425 square miles. That makes it the twenty-fourth-largest US state and the biggest state east of the Mississippi River by land area.

The Blue Ridge Mountains in northeastern Georgia include the highest point in Georgia, Brasstown Bald, at 4,784 feet tall. Thick forests in this mountain range are home to a variety of wildlife, including black bears, red-tailed hawks, and white-tailed deer. The Blue Ridge Mountains are also home to Tallulah Gorge, a spectacular canyon that’s two miles long and nearly one thousand feet deep. The gorge was carved out over millions of years by the Tallulah River cutting through surrounding rock.

The Appalachian Plateau is in the northwest part of the state, which includes the 2,393-foot Lookout Mountain, from which seven states can be seen at once! Also in northwest Georgia is the Ridge and Valley region, where many trees line the sides of steep ridges made of limestone, sandstone, shale, and other rocks that make up the earth.

In the center of the state is the Piedmont region, full of rolling hills, valleys, forests, rivers, and waterfalls. Most of Georgia’s biggest cities are here, including Atlanta (the state capital), Augusta (say: uh-GUS-tuh) (Georgia’s largest city by land area), and Athens.

Georgia’s Coastal Plain covers nearly the entire southern half of the state. This low-lying region is home to many marshes (areas of soft, wet land with many grasses and other plants) and swamps. Okefenokee (say: oh-kee-feh-NOH-kee) Swamp, which stretches from southeast Georgia into northern Florida, is the largest swamp in North America. It is seven hundred square miles—more than double the size of Augusta! Okefenokee is believed to be a word from the Creek language meaning “land of the trembling earth.” Some of the swamp is covered with peat (the dark brown or blackish remains of plants that have partly rotted in water) that moves when the wind blows or when people or animals walk on it.

More than 90 percent of the Okefenokee Swamp is a national wildlife refuge. The animals and plants that live there are protected by the federal government. Alligators, otters, deer, hundreds of bird species, and many more animals live in the Okefenokee Swamp. Some of these species, like the eastern indigo snake, are endangered. There are also over six hundred species of plants. Visitors can take boat tours, ride the Okefenokee Railroad, and even walk into the swamp.

Georgia’s Atlantic coast stretches for about one hundred miles. It includes over a dozen barrier islands. They are called barrier islands because they form a sort of buffer between the ocean and the mainland. They make for a protected, friendly home to marine animals like dolphins, sea turtles, manatees, and sea stars. The islands have gorgeous beaches, dunes, forests, wetlands, and reefs.

Tens of thousands of miles of rivers twist and turn their way through Georgia. The Chattahoochee River forms part of the border between Georgia and Alabama and provides drinking water to half of the people living in Georgia. The Chattooga River flows through two other states, North Carolina and South Carolina. Because no cars or other motor vehicles are allowed within a quarter mile of the river, it is surrounded by forests and can be a very quiet place to visit.

Georgia has hot, humid summers and mild winters. Northern Georgia, near the mountains, is the coldest in winter (and sometimes even has snow). The Piedmont region experiences lots of thunderstorms. In summer and fall, tropical storms can bring heavy rains to Georgia. Hurricanes sometimes hit the state (including 2024’s Hurricane Helene, which caused severe damage and killed over thirty people). Overall, the state’s mild climate allows people to enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, fishing, and boating all year long.

About two-thirds of Georgia is covered in forests, from the northern mountain regions all the way down to the Coastal Plain. These forests are home to about 250 species of trees. They include white and scrub pines and red oaks in the mountains, pecan trees in the south, and oaks and cypresses in the east. Georgia has more commercial forestland—forest that’s used to make sellable products like lumber, or wood used for building—than any other state.

The first people arrived in the area now known as Georgia at least thirteen thousand years ago. These peoples were hunters who built small, temporary camps as they followed their prey. They lived in small groups of about twenty adults and children and hunted large mammals, including mastodons (huge, extinct animals related to elephants) and bison. The animals they hunted also provided antlers for tools, leather for shoes and clothing, and fur for coats.

In the period between 1000 BCE and 900 CE, the Woodland culture grew and included Indigenous nations like the Cherokee and the Choctaw. The Woodland culture is a name we use for a large group of peoples who shared some traditions. They built more permanent settlements because they began planting seeds to grow food. Woodland people lived in dome-shaped huts and built large mounds made of clay and earth. Some of the mounds were human burial sites that also contained jewelry, pottery, and figurines. Others were made in the shapes of animals.

The Mississippian culture came after the Woodland culture and included groups of people such as the Guale (say: GWO-lay) and Creeks. The Mississippian people also grew their own food and built mounds that were used for ceremonies and as homes for leaders. Some of these mounds still exist today, including the six Etowah (say: ee-TOW-wuh) Mounds in northwest Georgia. These flat-topped mounds are now a registered National Historic Landmark that people can visit.