Georgia one of America’s oldest and most interesting states. It is bordered by
Florida (S), Alabama (W), Tennessee and North Carolina (N), and South Carolina
and the Atlantic Ocean (E). With a
history as rich and varied as its people and geography, you are never far from
discovering something exciting and new. The area was originally occupied by the
native Creek and Cherokee Indians who had lived in the region for centuries. Hernando de Soto, the Spanish explorer, first traveled parts of Georgia in
1540. British claims later conflicted with those of Spain. After obtaining a
royal charter, Gen. James Oglethorpe established the first permanent settlement
in Georgia in 1733 as a refuge for English debtors. In 1742, Oglethorpe defeated
Spanish invaders in the Battle of Bloody Marsh. A Confederate stronghold, Georgia was the scene of extensive military action
during the Civil War. Union general William T. Sherman burned Atlanta and
destroyed a 60-mile-wide path to the coast, where he captured Savannah in 1864.
The state is well drained by many rivers, including the Savannah, which forms
the boundary with South Carolina; the Ocmulgee and the Oconee, which merge in
the southeast to form the Altamaha; the Chattahoochee, which forms part of the
Alabama boundary and joins with the Flint in the extreme southwest corner of the
state to form the Apalachicola; and the Saint Marys, which rises in the large
Okefenokee Swamp and forms part of the Georgia-Florida line. The most important
cities are Atlanta, Columbus, Savannah, Macon, and Albany.
Important agricultural products are corn, cotton, tobacco, soybeans, eggs,
and peaches. Georgia produces twice as many peanuts as the next leading state.
From its vast stands of pine come more than half of the world's resins and
turpentine and 74.4 percent of the U.S. supply. Georgia is a leader in the
production of marble, kaolin, barite, and bauxite.
Principal tourist attractions in Georgia include the Okefenokee
National Wildlife Refuge, Andersonville Prison Park and National Cemetery,
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, the Little White House at
Warm Springs where Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945, Sea Island, the
enormous Confederate Memorial at Stone Mountain, Kennesaw Mountain National
Battlefield Park, and Cumberland Island National Seashore. From ancient mountains to rolling rivers, charming
towns to a bustling metropolis, Georgia offers whatever it is you’re looking
for.