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Geography of Georgia (U.S. state)

Coordinates: 33°00′N 83°30′W / 33°N 83.5°W / 33; -83.5
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This article is about the geography of the U.S state of Georgia. For the country, see Geography of Georgia (country).
Map of Georgia elevations
Geography of Georgia (U.S. state)
Area
Total 153,870 km2 (59,410 sq mi)
Land 149,976 km2 (57,906 sq mi)
Water 854 sq mi (2,210 km2)[1]
Latitude 30° 35′ N to 35° N
Longitude 80° 50′ W to 85° 36′ W
Borders
Florida state
South Carolina state
Alabama state
Tennessee state
North Carolina state
Coastlines 100 miles[2]

Georgia is 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 1,458 m (4,783 ft) above sea level, while the lowest is at sea level, at the Atlantic Ocean. Georgia is located at approximately 33° N 83.5° W. The state has a total area of 154,077 km2 (59,489 sq mi) and the geographic center is located in Twiggs County.[3]

Georgia has primarily a humid subtropical climate with hot and humid summers, except at the highest elevations. Georgia's subtropical climate depends on latitude and how close an area is to the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. The state's weather is mostly moderate, but Georgia has occasional extreme weather. The highest temperature ever recorded is 112 °F (44 °C) and the lowest is −17 °F (−27 °C).[4] Georgia is vulnerable to hurricanes, though the coast rarely experiences a direct hurricane strike.

Georgia has 536 cities in 159 counties and 14 congressional districts. 152 of the 159 counties in the state are governed by a commission of between three and eleven commissioners while the other seven are overseen by a single commissioner.[5] Most of the 536 cities are governed by a mayor-council system. Georgia has almost eight million acres (32,000 km2) of prime farmland while over 60% of the land is made up of pine forests. Georgia has 70,150 miles (112,900 km) of streams and rivers, 425,000 acres (1,720 km2) of lakes, and approximately 4,500,000 acres (18,000 km2) of freshwater wetlands. Manganese, iron, copper, and other minerals make up the natural resources of the state.

Regions of Georgia

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Source: Georgia Department of Economic Development[6]

  1. Northwest (Rome / Dalton) – Paulding, Bartow, Whitfield, Floyd, Catoosa, Walker, Gordon, Polk, Murray, Pickens, Gilmer, Haralson, Fannin, Chattooga, Dade
  2. Northeast (Gainesville) – Forsyth, Hall, Habersham, Lumpkin, White, Dawson, Stephens, Hart, Union, Franklin, Banks, Rabun, Towns
  3. Metro (Atlanta) – Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb, Clayton, Cherokee, Henry, Douglas, Fayette, Rockdale
  4. West Central (Newnan) – Coweta, Carroll, Troup, Spalding, Upson, Butts, Meriwether, Pike, Lamar, Heard
  5. East Central (Athens) – Clarke, Newton, Walton, Barrow, Jackson, Oconee, Madison, Morgan, Elbert, Greene, Oglethorpe, Jasper
  6. Middle (Macon / Warner Robins) – Houston, Bibb, Baldwin, Jones, Peach, Monroe, Putnam, Crawford, Pulaski, Wilkinson, Twiggs
  7. East (Augusta) – Richmond, Columbia, Burke, McDuffie, Washington, Jefferson, Wilkes, Hancock, Jenkins, Lincoln, Warren, Glascock, Taliaferro
  8. West (Columbus) – Muscogee, Harris, Sumter, Crisp, Macon, Dooly, Chattahoochee, Taylor, Marion, Randolph, Talbot, Stewart, Schley, Clay, Webster, Quitman
  9. South (Dublin) – Laurens, Wayne, Toombs, Tattnall, Emanuel, Dodge, Appling, Jeff Davis, Bleckley, Telfair, Candler, Evans, Johnson, Wilcox, Montgomery, Wheeler, Treutlen
  10. Southwest (Albany) – Dougherty, Colquitt, Thomas, Lee, Decatur, Grady, Mitchell, Worth, Early, Terrell, Seminole, Miller, Calhoun, Baker
  11. Southeast (Valdosta) – Lowndes, Coffee, Tift, Ware, Pierce, Berrien, Brantley, Cook, Ben Hill, Brooks, Charlton, Bacon, Lanier, Irwin, Turner, Atkinson, Clinch, Echols
  12. Coastal (Savannah) – Chatham, Glynn, Bulloch, Liberty, Effingham, Camden, Bryan, Long, Screven, McIntosh

Physical geography

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Main article: Geology of Georgia (U.S. state)

There are five major geographical regions of Georgia. They are the Appalachian Plateau region, the Ridge and Valley region, the Blue Ridge region, the Piedmont region, and the Atlantic Plain region.

The Appalachian Plateau region is the southern portion of the Appalachian Plateau that stretches from New York through Georgia and west into Alabama.

The Ridge and Valley region lies in the northwestern portion of the state.[7] The area was formed due to extreme folding and faulting events. This folding and faulting created a series of ridges and valleys that vary in "height, width and geological materials".[8] It consists of limestone, sandstone, chert, mudstone and shale as well as many other types of rocks. Much of the land in the area is heavily forested as forests cover almost half of the region.[9]

The Blue Ridge region of Georgia is situated in the northeast of the state just north of the Piedmont.[7] The mountain peaks in the Blue Ridge, which are among the highest in the state, average between two thousand and five thousand feet.[8] It includes igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary geology; the main types of rocks in the area are gneiss, slate and saprolite. The soils of the Broad Basin are mostly loamy or clayey Ultiso.[9] The Blue Ridge consists primarily of Precambrian metamorphic rocks, and the landscape has relatively high relief.

The Piedmont region consists of Paleozoic metamorphic and igneous rocks, and the landscape has relatively low relief. The Piedmont is the second largest region of Georgia, and it has 3 water systems: the Chattahoochee River, West Point Lake, and Lake Sidney Lanier. The rocks of the Piedmont are made up of Precambrian and Paleozoic metamorphic and igneous rocks and the soils are of a finer texture than those found on the coastal plain. Some specific types of rock in the Piedmont are schist, gneiss, and phyllite among others.[9] Georgia's coastal plain is made up of sedimentary rock dating from the Late Cretaceous to Holocene periods.[10] The primary natural mineral resource in the area is kaolin.[11]

The Coastal Plain region is the largest and includes portions of the Atlantic coastal plain and the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain. The Atlantic Coastal Plain and Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain consist of sediments and sedimentary rocks that range in age from Cretaceous to Present. The boundary between the Piedmont Region and the Coastal Plain Region is the Fall Line. The Sandhills or Carolina Sandhills is a 10–35 mi (16–56 km) wide region within the Atlantic Coastal Plain province, along the inland margin of this province.[12] The Satilla River is in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Alapaha River, Suwanee River, and the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers flow through the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Florida Panhandle into the Gulf of Mexico. Lake Seminole is a reservoir at the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers on the Georgia–Florida border.

Geologic history

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