USA Georgia - The People : USA  

USA Georgia - The People - Travel guide

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USA Georgia - The People

The People

Most white Georgians are of British descent. The first settlers in Georgia came mainly from England but also included some Germans, Austrians, and Swiss. They settled mainly along the coast. Northern Georgia was settled during the 1830s, mostly by people of Scottish and Irish descent, who came mainly from North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

By 1860, blacks, most of them slaves, accounted for nearly one-half of the state's population. They lived mainly on plantations in the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont. After the Civil War many blacks were unable to survive as farmers and moved to Northern cities. The black portion of the population of Georgia declined, until they represented only about one-quarter of the people. By the 1970s, however, a trend of reverse migration began, with many blacks returning to the cities of Georgia seeking industrial and service employment, and the percentage of blacks in the state began increasing.

In 2000 whites made up 65.1 percent of the population and blacks 28.7 percent. The percentage of black residents is much higher in some cities. In Atlanta they are nearly two-thirds of the people, in Savannah more than one-half. Asians are 2.1 percent of the population, Native Americans 0.3 percent, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 0.1 percent, and those of mixed heritage or not reporting ethnicity 3.8 percent. Hispanics, who may be of any race, are 5.3 percent of the people.

The 1998 census had Georgia's population at 7,642,000. The State Capital is Atlanta, other major cities or towns include Albany, Athens, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Savannah, Valdosta.