Atlanta

This article is about the capital of the U.S. state of Georgia. For other uses, see Atlanta (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Alanta or Atalanta.

Atlanta
State capital
Downtown
Ebenezer Baptist Church and Behold statue
Georgia State Capitol
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Centennial Olympic Park
Bank of America Plaza
The World of Coca-Cola
The Fox Theatre
Flag of Atlanta
Flag
Official seal of Atlanta
Seal
Nicknames: 
The City in a Forest,[1] ATL,[2] The A,[3] Hotlanta,[4] The Gate City,[5] Hollywood of the South[6]
(See also Nicknames of Atlanta)
Motto(s): 
Resurgens (Latin for Rising again, alluding to the myth of the phoenix)
Map
Interactive map of Atlanta
Atlanta is located in Georgia
Atlanta
Atlanta
Location within Georgia
Atlanta is located in the United States
Atlanta
Atlanta
Location within the United States
Coordinates: 33°44′56″N 84°23′24″W / 33.74889°N 84.39000°W / 33.74889; -84.39000
CountryUnited States
StateGeorgia
CountiesFulton, DeKalb
Founded
(Terminus)		1837; 187 years ago (1837)
(Marthasville)1843; 181 years ago (1843)
(City of Atlanta)December 29, 1847; 176 years ago (1847-12-29)
Government
 • TypeStrong–mayor council
 • MayorAndre Dickens (D)
 • BodyAtlanta City Council
Area
[7]
 • State capital136.31 sq mi (353.04 km2)
 • Land135.32 sq mi (350.48 km2)
 • Water0.99 sq mi (2.57 km2)
Elevation
[8]
1,050 ft (320 m)
Population
 (2020)[9]
 • State capital498,715
 • Estimate 
(2023)[9]
510,823
 • Rank37th in the United States
1st in Georgia
 • Density3,685.45/sq mi (1,422.96/km2)
 • Urban
[10]
5,100,112 (US: 9th)
 • Urban density1,997.7/sq mi (771.3/km2)
 • Metro
[11]
6,307,261 (US: 6th)
DemonymAtlantan
GDP
[12]
 • Atlanta (MSA)$525.9 billion (2022)
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes
30301–30322, 30324–30329, 30331–30334, 30336-30346, 30348-30350, 30353-30364, 30366, 30368-30371, 30374-30375, 30377-30378, 30380, 30384-30385, 30388, 30392, 30394, 30396, 30398, 31106-31107, 31119, 31126, 31131, 31136, 31139, 31141, 31145-31146, 31150, 31156, 31192-31193, 31195-31196, 39901
Area codes404/678/770/470/943
FIPS code13-04000[13]
GNIS feature ID351615[8]
Websiteatlantaga.gov Edit this at Wikidata

Atlanta (/ætˈlæntə/ ⓘ at-LAN-tə)[14] is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, and a portion of the city extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 510,823 living within the city limits, Atlanta is the eighth most populous city in the Southeast and 37th most populous city in the United States according to the 2020 U.S. census.[9] It is the principal city of the much larger Atlanta metropolitan area, the core of which includes Cobb, Clayton and Gwinnett counties, in addition to Fulton and DeKalb. Metro Atlanta is home to more than 6.3 million people (2023 estimate), making it the sixth-largest U.S. metropolitan area.[15] Situated among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains at an elevation of just over 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, Atlanta features unique topography that includes rolling hills, lush greenery, and the densest urban tree coverage of any major city in the United States.[16]

Atlanta was originally founded as the terminus of a major state-sponsored railroad, but it soon became the convergence point among several railroads, spurring its rapid growth. The largest was the Western and Atlantic Railroad, from which the name "Atlanta" is derived, signifying the city's growing reputation as a major hub of transportation.[17] During the American Civil War, it served a strategically important role for the Confederacy until it was captured in 1864. The city was almost entirely burned to the ground during General William T. Sherman's March to the Sea. However, the city rebounded dramatically in the post-war period and quickly became a national industrial center and the unofficial capital of the "New South". After World War II, it also became a manufacturing and technology hub.[18] During the 1950s and 1960s, it became a major organizing center of the American civil rights movement, with Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and many other locals becoming prominent figures in the movement's leadership.[19] In the modern era, Atlanta has remained a major center of transportation, with Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport becoming the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic in 1998 (a position it has held every year since, except for 2020), with an estimated 93.7 million passengers in 2022.[20][21][22]

With a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $473 billion in 2021, Atlanta has the 11th-largest economy among cities in the U.S. and the 22nd-largest in the world.[23] Its economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors in industries including transportation, aerospace, logistics, healthcare, news and media operations, film and television production, information technology, finance, and biomedical research and public policy. Atlanta established itself on the world stage when it won and hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics. The Games impacted Atlanta's development growth into the 21st century, and significantly sparked investment in the city's universities, parks, and tourism industry.[24] The gentrification of some of its neighborhoods has intensified in the 21st century with the growth of the Atlanta Beltline. This has altered its demographics, politics, aesthetics, and culture.[25][26][27]

  1. ^ "Atlanta May No Longer Be the City in a Forest". WSB-TV. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  2. ^ "Buses to link tourist favorites". nl.newsbank.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  3. ^ "Because we're the only city easily identified by just one letter". Creative Loafing. November 23, 2011. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  4. ^ "Love it or loathe it, the city's nickname is accurate for the summer". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. June 16, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  5. ^ "Our Quiz Column". Sunny South. p. 5. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  6. ^ "How Atlanta became the Hollywood of the South". The Washington Times. August 29, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  7. ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Geographic Names Information System". edits.nationalmap.gov. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c "QuickFacts: Atlanta city, Georgia". census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  10. ^ "List of 2020 Census Urban Areas". census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  11. ^ "2020 Population and Housing State Data". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  12. ^ "Total Gross Domestic Product for Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA (MSA)". Federal Reserve Economic Data.
  13. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  14. ^ Magazine, Atlanta (November 6, 2020). "It's "duh-CAB," and other things out-of-towners need to know about Atlanta and Georgia". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  15. ^ Tannous, Christine (March 14, 2024). "Population in Atlanta: How large is metro Atlanta?". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  16. ^ Gournay, Isabelle (1993). AIA Guide to the Architecture of Atlanta. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 0820314390.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference NGEAtlanta was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Hair, William I. (1985). "Engineering the New South: Georgia Tech, 1885–1985". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 69 (4): 509–517. JSTOR 40581436. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  19. ^ Stirgus, Eric (June 28, 2011). "Who's right? Cities lay claim to civil rights "cradle" mantle". Politifact. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  20. ^ Hinz, Greg (January 26, 2017). "World's busiest airport title slips further from O'Hare's grasp". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  21. ^ "Top Industry Publications Rank Atlanta as a LeadingCity for Business". AllBusiness.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  22. ^ "Doing Business in Atlanta, Georgia". Business.gov. Archived from the original on April 2, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  23. ^ "CAGDP2 Gross domestic product (GDP) by county and metropolitan area". Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. Archived from the original on June 14, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  24. ^ "Atlanta: Economy – Major Industries and Commercial Activity". City-data.com. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  25. ^ Robert, Cochran (May 22, 2012), IDEALS @ Illinois: Governmentality: the new urbanism and the creative class within Atlanta, Georgia, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, hdl:2142/31169
  26. ^ Pooley, Karen Beck (April 15, 2015). "Segregation's New Geography: The Atlanta Metro Region, Race, and the Declining Prospects for Upward Mobility". Southern Spaces. doi:10.18737/M74S47. ISSN 1551-2754. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  27. ^ Lartey, Jamiles (October 23, 2018). "Nowhere for people to go: who will survive the gentrification of Atlanta?". The Guardian.