GEORGIA, an Atlantic state of the American union, and one of the 13 original states, extends in lat. from 30' 21' to n., and in long. from 80° 48' to 85' 40' west. It is bounded on the n. and n.e. by the states of Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina, on the w. by Alabama, and on the s. by Florida. Its extreme length from n. to s., is 320 m.land its greatest breadth, from e. to w., is 254 miles. Its area is 58,000 sq. miles. According to the census of the United States taken in 1870, Geormia contained 1,184,109 inhabitants, of whom 638,926 were whites, and 545.142 colored. In ISUO its population was 162,686. In 1870 the taxation amounted to 945,394 dollars; the value of assessed property, real and personal, was 227,219,519 dollars, and the public indebtedness was 21,753,712 dollars. It sends 9 Members to the federal congress, in addition to the 2 senators to which every state is entitled. Georgia presents every Variety of surface, rising from low alluvial lands and swamps along the Shore, through an undulating and rough hilly country to the Blue Ridge mountains, in the n. and n.w. of the state. The chief rivers are the Savannah, which forms the inc. boundary of the state, and the Chattahoochee, which forms a great portion of its s,w. boundary. The course of all the important rivers is toward the s. and south east. Only about a fifth of the entire area of the state is under cultivation; but owing to the diversity of climate and soil, the productions are wonderful in their variety. The islands that fringe the coast are fertile in cotton of a superior
quality; the bottom lands of the great rivers produce rice, cotton, Indian corn, and sugar; further west are the "pine barrens," valuable for their timber, and easily cultivable; the central region consists of a loamy soil, once productive, but now impover ished; and the north, the Cherokee country, containslands which, although long worked by the Indians, still produce from 50 to of grain to the acre. In 1870, Georgia was second to Mississippi alone in producing cotton. Gold, though now in very small quantity, is found; silver, copper, iron, lead, marble, and precious stones alto occur. In Jan., 1875, 2,279 m. of railway were open for traffic. The state is divided into 136 counties, and the chief towns are Atlanta (the capital), Savannah, Macon, and Augusta. It was colonized in 1733. Having joined in the great revolt which occasioned the American war and shared the defeat, it was readmitted into the union ill 180. There are in the state 33 colleges, with an at•erage of 3;500 students; and in 1870 the total number of educational establishments was 1880, with 66,150 scholars. Immigration is encouraged.