According to Ehuacom, Atlanta is a city in the US state of Georgia. The city itself is not that big with 496,000 inhabitants, but the conurbation is the 9th largest in the United States, with 6,144,000 inhabitants (2021).
Introduction
According to mcat-test-centers, Atlanta is located in the northwestern part of the state of Georgia, 90 kilometers from the Alabama border and 140 kilometers from the Tennessee border. Larger cities nearby include Birmingham, 225 kilometers to the west, Charlotte, 365 kilometers to the northeast, and Nashville, 350 kilometers to the northwest. Atlanta is a very important hub in the eastern United States, in addition to road traffic, but also for air traffic.
The metropolitan area is very large, and Atlanta is the least populous metropolis in the United States. The agglomeration has extremes of about 135 kilometers from southwest to northeast and 100 kilometers from north to south. The city and metropolis is largely located in the woods, and large parts of the urban area are completely in the woods, with the exception of the center and some industrial areas. Usually only the center is clearly visible from the air, the residential areas are completely hidden in the greenery. The city can easily be counted among the greenest cities in the world. The population is still growing strongly, between 2000 and 2010 the population of the agglomeration increased by 28%. The city is located at about 320 meters altitude, and is the highest major city east of Denver. The climate is humid and subtropical. Temperatures above 30 degrees are no exception in the summer months.
North
North of downtown, the conurbation has grown along roads like I-75, I-575, and US 19. Major sub-centers here include Roswell, Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Marietta, and Kennesaw. The suburbs have clearly grown along the highways, although there are also suburbs that are relatively far from a highway. The suburban area extends up to about 50 kilometers north of the center. The area also has major employment centers, particularly along I-75 from I-285 to Kennesaw, which is a busy area. There is also a major subcenter at the intersection of US 19 and I-285 at Sandy Springs. There is also a second center in Buckhead in the north of Atlanta itself.
West
West of Atlanta are mostly smaller suburbs without major subcenters. There is a lot of industry along the Chattahoochee River. To the west, the suburban area extends to about 40 kilometers from the center. There are also suburbs that are more than 15 kilometers from the nearest highway.
South
The exact boundary between the suburban area and the countryside is difficult to determine, as the area is gradually becoming thinner and more rural. In the south of Atlanta, still within the ring road, is the city’s very important airport. There is also a lot of industry around here. The southernmost suburb is Peachtree City, but sub-centres such as Newnan, Stockbridge and McDonough are also quite far from the center. The southernmost suburbs are about 45 kilometers from the center.
East
Northeast of Atlanta, the suburban area continues furthest, well beyond the beltway. Previously, centers such as Snellville, Lawrenceville, Duluth, and Suwanee were the furthest suburbs, today it extends as far as Gainesville along the I-85/I-985 corridor. Here, too, the boundary between urban and rural areas is rather vague. Gainesville is about 80 kilometers from the center, but the other eastern suburbs are about 45 kilometers from the center.
Population growth
The agglomeration consists of a total of 30 counties, the 10 most important are listed below. The other 20 counties had a further 1.36 million inhabitants in 2021.
| Year | Fulton | DeKalb | Gwinnett | Cobb | Cherokee | Forsyth | Clayton | Henry | Douglas | Fayette | other 20 counties | total | grow |
| 1950 | 474,000 | 136,000 | 32,000 | 62,000 | 21,000 | 11,000 | 23,000 | 16,000 | 12,000 | 8,000 | 322,000 | 1,090,000 | |
| 1960 | 556,000 | 257,000 | 44,000 | 114,000 | 23,000 | 12,000 | 46,000 | 18,000 | 17,000 | 8,000 | 330,000 | 1,397,000 | +307,000 |
| 1970 | 608,000 | 415,000 | 72,000 | 197,000 | 31,000 | 17,000 | 98,000 | 24,000 | 29,000 | 11,000 | 384,000 | 1,853,000 | +456,000 |
| 1980 | 590,000 | 483,000 | 167,000 | 297,000 | 52,000 | 28,000 | 150,000 | 36,000 | 55,000 | 29,000 | 492,000 | 2,338,000 | +485,000 |
| 1990 | 649.000 | 546,000 | 353,000 | 448,000 | 90,000 | 44,000 | 182,000 | 59,000 | 71,000 | 62,000 | 633,000 | 3,081,000 | +743,000 |
| 2000 | 816,000 | 666,000 | 588,000 | 608,000 | 142,000 | 98,000 | 237,000 | 119,000 | 92,000 | 91,000 | 882,000 | 4,263,000 | +1,182,000 |
| 2010 | 921,000 | 692,000 | 805,000 | 701,000 | 215,000 | 176,000 | 274,000 | 201,000 | 132,000 | 107,000 | 1,189,000 | 5,316,000 | +1,053,000 |
| 2020 | 1,077,000 | 762,000 | 943,000 | 763,000 | 265,000 | 251,000 | 293,000 | 239,000 | 148,000 | 116,000 | 1,338,000 | 6,088,000 | +772,000 |
| 2021 | 1,065,000 | 758,000 | 965,000 | 767,000 | 275,000 | 260,000 | 297,000 | 245,000 | 146,000 | 121,000 | 1,358,000 | 6.146,000 | +58,000 |
Fulton County grew fairly steadily through the 1990s, with a brief decline in the 1970s and strong growth from the 1990s. The suburban area first began to grow in the 1950s, although most areas did not grow until the 1970s. One notable fast-growing area is Gwinnett County, which grew from 72,000 in 1970 to 965,000 in 2021.
The definition of the metropolitan area (Metrolitan Statistical Area or MSA) was extended with additional counties in 1970, 1980 and 1990. The metropolitan area of Atlanta therefore has the most counties of all metropolitan areas in the United States. In 1950 only 3 of the later 30 counties had more than 50,000 inhabitants. In 2010, 21 of the 29 counties had more than 50,000 inhabitants. In 2015, Fulton County was the first to cross the 1 million population barrier.
Based on first estimates (census estimates) after 2010 it appears that the growth of the urban area has decreased. Although all counties are still growing, annual growth is low, especially south and southeast of Atlanta. The north side is still growing strongly. Prior to 2000, the Atlanta area was the only metropolitan area in the southeastern United States to experience rapid growth, but since 2000, Atlanta has seen more competitors with strong domestic migration, particularly the cities of North Carolina and Tennessee, but also South Carolina and Virginia. However, the region’s growth started to accelerate again from 2015, although the central part of the agglomeration started to shrink in 2020-2021.
