Savannah is a city located in the state of Georgia, United States. It is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Chatham County. Savannah was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia. Savannah attracts millions of visitors, who enjoy the city's architecture and historic buildings: the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America), the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (one of the South's first public museums), the First African Baptist Church (one of the oldest African American Baptist congregations in the United States), Temple Mickve Israel (the third-oldest synagogue in America), and the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex (the oldest standing antebellum rail facility in America). Today, Savannah's downtown area, the Savannah Historic District, is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States (designated by the U.S. government in 1966).

Location and geography

[[image:Savannah-Hinesville-Fort Stewart CSA.png|thumb|right|250px|Location of the Savannah-Hinesville-Fort Stewart CSA and its components: legend: Savannah MSA legend: Hinesville-Fort Stewart MSA ]]Savannah is located at (32.050706, -81.103762).GR: 1 According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 78.1 square miles (202.3 km²), of which, 74.7 square miles (193.6 km²) of it is land and 3.4 square miles (8.7 km²) of it (4.31%) is water. It is the primary port on the Savannah River and is located along the U.S. Intracoastal Waterway.

Because of its marshiness and flat topography, Savannah is prone to flooding. Four canals and pumping stations have been built to help reduce the effects: Fell Street Canal, Kayton Canal, Springfield Canal and the Casey Canal, with the first three draining north into the Savannah River.

Climate

Due to its proximity to the coast, Savannah experiences milder winters and cooler summers than the Georgia interior. Despite this, temperatures as high as 105°F and as low as 3°F have been recorded. Summers tend to be humid with many thunderstorms. Nearly half of Savannah's precipitation falls during the months of June through September, characteristic of monsoon-type climates. As the city is south of the snow line, it rarely receives snow in winter. Occasional Arctic cold fronts in winter can push nighttime temperatures into the 20s, but usually not much further than that (http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-se1.html).

Demographics

Savannah is the largest principal city of the Savannah-Hinesville-Fort Stewart CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Savannah and Hinesville-Fort Stewart metropolitan areas, which had a combined estimated population of just over 394,000 in 2006 (up from 364,914 at the 2000 census).GR: 2