Atlanta ( or ) is the capital and the largest city in the state of Georgia with a population of 519,145, and the core city of the ninth most populous United States metropolitan area at 5,278,904,Table 1. Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007, U.S. Census Bureau, 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2008. with a combined statistical area of 5,626,400. Atlanta is a world city that ranks as the 33rd-largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Fulton County, although a small portion of the city extends into DeKalb County. Residents of the city are known as Atlantans.

Atlanta has in recent years undergone a transition from a city of regional commerce to a city of international influence, and has been among the fastest growing cities in the developed world for much of the 1990s and 2000s. Between 2000 and 2006, the metropolitan area grew by 20.5%, making it the fastest growing metropolitan area in the nation. The Atlanta Metropolitan Area is the central metropolis of the Southeastern United States and is also the largest metropolitan area in the emerging megalopolis known as the Piedmont Atlantic MegaRegion (PAM).

History

main: History of Atlanta

The land where the city of Atlanta now resides was once an American Indian village called Standing Peachtree. The land that became the Atlanta area was sold by the Cherokee and Creeks to white settlers in 1822, with the first area settlement being Decatur. Soon, an informal trading post sprang up as the first white settlement, called Thrashersville (located where the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team now plays).

On December 21, 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western and Atlantic Railroad to provide a trade route to the Midwestern United States. Following the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation between 1838 and 1839 the newly depopulated area was opened for the construction of a railroad. The area around the eastern terminus to the line began to develop first, and so the settlement was named "Terminus" in 1837. By 1842, the settlement had six buildings and 30 residents and the town was renamed "Marthasville". However, some felt the name to be too quaint. The Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, J. Edgar Thomson, suggested that the area be renamed "Atlantica-Pacifica", which was quickly shortened to "Atlanta". The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29, 1847.