1. Worldmark Encyclopedia of the States
  2. Georgia
  3. Ethnic groups

Georgia

Ethnic groups

Georgia has been fundamentally a white/black state, with minimal ethnic diversity. Most Georgians are of English or Scotch-Irish descent. The number of Georgians who were foreign born rose dramatically between 1990 and 2000, from 173,126 (or 2.6% of the population) to 577,273 (7.1%). The 1990 figure was, in turn, a considerable increase over the 1980 total of 91,480 foreign-born Georgians and the 1970 figure of 33,000.

Between 1970 and 2000, the number of Georgians from Asia or the Pacific Islands increased from 8,838 in 1970 to 24,461 in 1980, to 76,000 in 1990, to an estimated 177,416 in 2000 (173,170 Asians and 4,246 Pacific Islanders). In 2000, Asian Indians were the largest group, with a population of 46,132, followed by Vietnamese (29,016, up from 6,284 in 1990), Koreans (28,745), and Chinese (27,446).

Georgia's black population declined from a high of 47% of the total population in 1880 to about 26% in 1970, when there were 1,187,149 blacks. Black citizens accounted for 27% of the total population and numbered 1,747,000 in 1990. In 2000, the black population was estimated at 2,349,542, or 28.7% of the state

Georgia
Georgia Counties, County Seats, and County Areas and Populations
Georgia Counties, County Seats, and County Areas and Populations

Georgia Counties, County Seats, and County Areas and Populations

COUNTY COUNTY SEAT LAND AREA (SQ MI) POPULATION (2002 EST.) COUNTY COUNTY SEAT LAND AREA (SQ MI) POPULATION (2002 EST.)
 
*Atlanta city limits extend into DeKalb County
Appling Baxley 510 17,650 Jenkins Millen 353 8,647
Atkinson Pearson 344 7,712 Johnson Wrightsville 307 8,676
Bacon Alma 286 10,055 Jones Gray 394 24,492
Baker Newton 347 4,025 Lamar Barnesville 186 16,442
Baldwin Milledgeville 258 44,787 Lanier Lakeland 194 7,216
Banks Homer 234 15,123 Laurens Dublin 816 45,890
Barrow Winder 163 51,016 Lee Leesburg 358 27,382
Bartow Cartersville 456 82,607 Liberty Hinesville 517 61,749
Ben Hill Fitzerald 254 17,450 Lincoln Lincolnton 196 8,459
Berrien Nashville 456 16,285 Long Ludowici 402 10,761
Bibb Macon 253 154,824 Loundes Valdosta 507 93,658
Bleckley Cochran 219 11,855 Lumpkin Dahlonega 287 22,665
Brantley Nahunta 444 15,060 Macon Oglethorpe 404 14,062
Brooks Quitman 491 16,428 Madison Danielsville 285 26,717
Bryan Pembroke 441 25,256 Marion Buena Vista 366 7,238
Bulloch Statesboro 678 57,307 McDuffie Thomson 256 21,438
Burke Waynesboro 833 22,794 McIntosh Darien 425 11,150
Butts Jackson 187 21,346 Meriwether Greenville 506 22,623
Calhoun Morgan 284 6,395 Miller Colquitt 284 6,400
Camden Woodbine 649 44,702 Mitchell Camilla 512 23,974
Candler Metter 248 9,764 Monroe Forsyth 397 22,675
Carroll Carrollton 502 94,907 Montgomery Mt. Vernon 244 8,397
Catoosa Ringgold 163 56,341 Morgan Madison 349 16,301
Charlton Folkston 780 10,533 Murray Chatsworth 345 38,544
Chatham Savannah 444 233,702 Muscogee Columbus 218 185,948
Chattahoochee Cusseta 250 15,440 Newton Covington 277 71,594
Chattooga Summerville 314 26,161 Oconee Watkinsville 186 27,264
Cherokee Canton 424 159,295 Oglethorpe Lexington 442 13,176
Clarke Athens 122 103,881 Paulding Dallas 312 94,184
Clay Ft. Gaines 197 3,392 Peach Ft. Valley 151 24,224
Clayton Jonesboro 148 252,733 Pickens Jasper 232 25,619
Clinch Homerville 821 6,904 Pierce Blackshear 344 15,982
Cobb Marjetta 343 651,485 Pike Zebulon 219 14,599
Coffee Douglas 602 38,298 Polk Cedartown 312 39,444
Colquitt Moultrie 556 42,802 Pulaski Hawkinsville 249 9,716
Columbia Appling 290 94,958 Putman Eatonton 344 19,390
Cook Adel 232 16,122 Quitman Georgetown 146 2,621
Coweta Newman 444 97,771 Rabun Clayton 370 15,521
Crawford Knoxville 328 12,509 Randolph Cuthbert 431 7,451
Crisp Cordele 275 22,018 Richmond Augusta 326 197,842
Dade Trenton 176 16,615 Rockdale Conyers 132 73,558
Dawson Dawsonville 210 17,538 Schley Ellaville 169 3,975
Decatur Bainbridge 586 28,243 Screven Sylvania 655 15,201
DeKalb Decatur 270 676,996 Seminole Donalsonville 225 9,310
Dodge Eastman 504 19,047 Spalding Griffin 199 59,410
Dooly Vienna 397 11,505 Stephens Toccoa 177 25,712
Dougherty Albany 330 95,875 Stewart Lumpkin 452 5,040
Douglas Douglasville 203 98,650 Sumter Americus 488 33,247
Early Blakely 516 12,172 Talbot Talbotton 395 6,713
Echols Statenville 420 3,842 Taliaferro Crawfordville 196 1,977
Effingham Springfield 482 40,832 Tattnall Reidsville 484 22,560
Elbert Elberton 367 20,667 Taylor Butler 382 8,913
Emanuel Swainsboro 688 22,099 Telfair MacRae 444 11,780
Evans Claxton 186 11,095 Terrell Dawson 337 10,871
Fannin Blue Ridge 384 20,986 Thomas Thomasville 551 42,976
Fayette Fayetteville 199 96,611 Tift Tifton 268 39,338
Floyd Rome 519 92,606 Toombs Lyons 371 26,388
Forsyth Cumming 226 116,924 Towns Hiawassee 165 9,768
Franklin Carnesville 264 20,778 Treutlen Soperton 202 6,837
Fulton Atlanta* 534 825,431 Troup La Grange 415 59,767
Gilmer Ellijay 427 25,203 Turner Ashburn 289 9,691
Glascock Gibson 144 2,598 Twiggs Jeffersonville 362 10,545
Glynn Brunswick 412 69,036 Union Blairsville 320 18,275
Gordon Calhoun 355 46,531 Upson Thomaston 326 27,773
Grady Cairo 459 23,838 Walker La Fayette 446 61,949
Greene Greensboro 390 15,101 Walton Monroe 330 67,069
Gwinnett Lawrenceville 435 650,771 Ware Waycross 970 35,558
Habersham Clarkesville 278 37,979 Warren Warrenton 286 6,211
Hall Gainesville 379 152,235 Washington Sandersville 683 20,803
Hancock Sparta 469 10,026 Wayne Jesup 647 27,062
Haralson Buchanan 283 26,755 Webster Perston 210 2,315
Harris Hamilton 464 25,092 Wheeler Alamo 299 6,183
Hart Hartwell 230 23,249 White Cleveland 242 21,904
Heard Franklin 292 11,340 Whitefield Dalton 291 87,037
Henry McDonough 321 139,699 Wilcox Abbeville 382 8,529
Houston Perry 380 116,768 Wilkes Washington 470 10,734
Irwin Ocilla 362 9,945 Wilkinson Irwinton 451 10,357
Jackson Jefferson 342 45,374 Worth Sylvester 575 21,767
Jasper Monticello 371 12,283     ———— —————
Jeff Davis Hazlehurst 335 12,910 TOTALS 58,056 8,560,310
Jefferson Louisville 529 17,138

total, and the 3rd-largest black population among the 50 states. Atlanta, which had 255,689 black residents (61.4%) in 2000, has been a significant center for the development of black leadership, especially at Atlanta University. With its long-established black elite, Atlanta has also been a locus for large black-owned business enterprises. There are elected and appointed blacks in the state government, and in 1973, Atlanta elected its first black mayor, Maynard Jackson. By 1984 there were 13 black mayors, including Andrew J. Young of Atlanta.

The American Indian population in Georgia was estimated to be 21,737 in 2000. The great Cherokee nation and other related tribes had been effectively removed from the state 150 years earlier. About 5.3% of the population (435,227 people) were of Hispanic or Latino origin as of 2000.