City Profile

Capital of Georgia and the State's largest city. Host city to the 1996 Olympic Games, Atlanta, which became a city in 1845, at 1998 had a population of 3,746,059, of which a little more than 400,000 were resident in the central business district. Atlanta is steeped in Southern tradition. It was the first of the major cities in the South to elect a black mayor, this was in 1973. Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King Jr. is buried in Atlanta at the Ebenezer Baptish Churchyard. The City is nestled in the valleys of the Blue Ridge Mountains, on the outskirts of the Chattahoochee River, to the south of the Appalachian Mountains. The city has a major convention centre, and with, its large range of international hotels, is one of the key conference and convention cities in the US. Its airport, the Hartsfield-Atlanta International Airport, is one of the busiest in the nation, registering most years in the top three. It is also the hub for Delta Air Lines. It lies approximately 8 miles, or 13 kilometres, south west of the City.

Major corporates such as Coca-Cola, Bell South, Georgia-Pacific and Cox Communications have made Atlanta their headquarters. Atlanta was also home to the worldwide hotel chain, Holiday Inn, prior to the group's takeover by Bass Hotels of the United Kingdom.

The lifestyle in Atlanta is best described as cosmopolitan with its population now made up from people of all walks, and origins, of life. The city has a burst of energy, enthusiasm and is littered with tourist attractions, fine restaurants , recreational and sporting attractions and venues. The city is swamped with luscious tree-lined roads and parkways, fine old Southern homes and mansions, theatre, ballet, science, art, culture, archaeology and nature museums. A major highlight is the Stone Mountain Park and of course there is the Olympic Stadium, which had its two weeks of fame in the Summer Olympics of 1996. Atlanta is rich with colleges and other educational institutions including the famous Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Emory University, the Georgia State University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Oglethorpe University. But for the Georgia State University (1913), all of these institutions have their roots in the 19th century. Atlanta was burned to the ground in the Civil War in 1864, but what arose from the ashes, has gone on to become one of the finest cities in America