Georgia . . . State 4
Georgia's new official flag was designed in May 2003. Georgia's previous, controversial flag was based on the Confederate flag, which was a painful reminder of slavery to many people. It has three horizontal stripes, red, white, and red, with a blue square in the canton position. In the blue square is a circle of 13 white, five-pointed stars around the seal of the state of Georgia which symbolize the original 13 colonies. The state seal shows three pillars which symbolize the three branches of government in the USA: the Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial. They are under an arch which symbolize the Constitution and the year 1776, and banners reading "CONSTITUTION," "JUSTICE," "WISDOM," and "MODERATION." Under the seal is a yellow banner that states, "GEORGIA'S HISTORY" and shows five flags. A man with sword drawn is defending the Constitution, whose principles are wisdom, justice and moderation.
Georgia was the 4th state in the USA; it became a state on January 2, 1788. Georgia borders Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina. The state capital and largest city is Atlanta. Georgia is the tenth most populous state in the USA. Georgia is centrally located in the fastest growing region of the US and is the 4th fastest growing state in the nation.
Georgia enjoys a consistent and typically mild southern climate. Summers are hot and humid with statewide highs averaging in the mid-80s. Winter temperatures are cool but not too cold with daily highs in the mid-40s. Warmer conditions exist along the coastal areas.
Georgia is mountainous in the north with the Blue Ridge Mountains. To the south the land is hills of the Piedmont Plateau and then the fertile lowlands of the Coastal Plain. Swampy areas are found in the south.
Georgia is considered the economic and cultural center of the southeast. It is named the peach state because its temperate climate with mild winters which makes it the number one producer of peaches in the nation. Georgia also is recognized around the world as a leader in the poultry industry. Major Industries are service industries and manufacturing. Major manufactures are cotton, textiles, apparel, timber, carpets, transportation equipment, processed foods, and paper. Georgia is heavily wooded and is a leading producer of lumber, pulpwood, and resins and turpentine. Georgia also provides 60% of the world's kaolin and is known for its fine marble. Principal crops are peanuts, tobacco, corn, and cotton, and soybeans.
Georgia has 159 counties:
Appling Atkinson
Bacon Baker Baldwin Banks Barrow
Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb
Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan
Bulloch Burke Butts Calhoun
Camden Candler Carroll Catoosa
Charlton Chatham Chattahoochee
Chattooga Cherokee Clarke Clay
Clayton Clinch Cobb Coffee Colquitt
Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford
Crisp Dade Dawson Decatur DeKalb
Dodge Dooly Dougherty Douglas
Early Echols Effingham Elbert
Emanuel Evans Fannin Fayette
Floyd Forsyth Franklin Fulton
Gilmer Glascock Glynn Gordon
Grady Greene Gwinnett Habersham
Hall Hancock Haralson Harris
Hart Heard Henry Houston Irwin
Jackson Jasper Jeff Javis Jefferson
Jenkins Johnson Jones Lamar
Lanier Laurens Lee Liberty Lincoln
Long Lowndes Lumpkin Macon Madison
Marion McDuffie McIntosh Meriwether
Miller Mitchell Monroe Montgomery
Morgan Murray Muscogee Newton
Oconee Oglethorpe Paulding Peach
Pickens Pierce Pike Polk Pulaski
Putnam Quitman Rabun Randolph
Richmond Rockdale Schley Screven
Seminole Spalding Stephens Stewart
Sumter Talbot Taliaferro Tattnall
Taylor Telfair Terrell Thomas
Tift Toombs Towns Treutlen Troup
Turner Twiggs Union Upson Walker
Walton Ware Warren Washington
Wayne Webster Wheeler White
Whitfield Wilcox Wilkes Wilkinson
Worth Campbell/Milton
