Atlanta

City of Atlanta
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Nickname(s):
Motto(s):
City highlighted in Fulton County, location of Fulton County in the state of Georgia
Coordinates: 33°45′18″N 84°23′24″W
Country	United States of America
State	Georgia
Counties	Fulton, DeKalb
Terminus	1837
Marthasville	1843
City of Atlanta	December 29, 1847
Government
• Mayor	Keisha Lance Bottoms (D)
• Body	Atlanta City Council
Area
• City	134.0 sq mi (347.1 km2)
• Land	133.2 sq mi (344.9 km2)
• Water	0.8 sq mi (2.2 km2)
• Urban	1,963 sq mi (5,080 km2)
• Metro	8,376 sq mi (21,690 km2)
Elevation	738 to 1,050 ft (225 to 320 m)
Population  (2010)
• City	420,003
• Estimate  (2016)	472,522
• Density	3,360/sq mi (1,299/km2)
• Urban	4,975,300
• Urban density	2,540/sq mi (979/km2)
• Metro	5,710,795 (9th)
• Metro density	660/sq mi (255/km2)
• CSA	6,365,108 (11th)
• Demonym	Atlantan
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	30060, 30301-30322, 30324-30334, 30336-30350, 30340, 30353, 30363
FIPS code	13-04000
GNIS feature ID	0351615
Website	atlantaga.gov

Atlanta is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is one of the South's largest cities. Atlanta is known as a major business city. It is the home of Coca-Cola Company, CNN, AT&T, and Home Depot, as well as many other Fortune 500 companies. Atlanta's airport, called Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, is the busiest airport in the world. Atlanta is near the center of Georgia and is on the Chattahoochee River.

Many African Americans live in Atlanta. Some people call it a "black mecca".

History

Atlanta was built on Cherokee Native American land. It was called Terminus until 1843, when the name was changed to Marthasville. In 1845 the name was changed again to Atlanta.

During the American Civil War, Atlanta was where several battles happened. Some of the battles were the Battle of Peachtree Creek, the Battle of Atlanta, and the Battle of Ezra Church. The city was burnt down and almost entirely destroyed. After the war, the city was built again, and got a nickname because it was built so fast: "the Phoenix City", after the bird which burns itself then rises from the ashes in old myths. A picture of the bird is on the city seal.

Atlanta became the state capital in 1868.

There have been racial problems in Atlanta. During riots in 1906, at least 12 people died and more than 70 other people were hurt. In 1913, a Jewish man named Leo Frank was tried in court for raping and killing a girl in a factory where he worked. He was found guilty, but then the government decided not to execute him because not everyone was convinced he had done it. This upset people who thought he had killed the girl, and there were more riots in 1915 and Frank was lynched (hanged with a rope until he died).

In the 1930s, the Great Depression came to Atlanta. Many people did not have jobs and were hungry. The city government was almost out of money and the Coca-Cola company gave the city some money to help. In 1935, the government built the first federal housing project in the United States.

Atlanta's airport is named Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It is the busiest airport in the world. Delta Air Lines is an airline that has its main office in Atlanta, and it uses Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for many of its flights.

Turner Broadcasting, which broadcasts CNN, has their main office in Atlanta. The Coca Cola Company also has their main office in Atlanta.

Education

The City of Atlanta is home to two colleges. Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech for short, and Georgia State University.

Events

Year	Notes
1996	The Olympic Games took place in Atlanta.
2000	The census records Atlanta's population as 416,474 people.

Images

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  Downtown

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  Turner Field