Atlanta is the vanguard of the New South, with the charm and elegance of the Old. It is a city that balances southern traditions with sleek modernism. According to the 2010 Census, Atlanta had 420,000 residents within the city limits and 5.3 million in the metro area. In Atlanta, there is southern hospitality and the tea is sweet, yet this city boasts three skylines and the world’s busiest airport. Atlanta has been burnt to the ground and built back up; it has seen the horrors of war and felt the pain of droughts and floods. Atlanta was host to the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, gave birth to the greatest figure of the civil rights movement (Martin Luther King Jr.), is the capital of the state of Georgia, and according to many, of the American South.
The separated skyscrapers of Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead make Atlanta’s three skylines, and the size of any one of these districts could rival the center of any other city in the South. Atlanta is not all high rises though; each of the city’s urban neighborhoods offer unique atmospheres that are well adapted to living in the shadow of the city.
Located on the Piedmont Plateau in Northern Georgia, Atlanta is located almost entirely in Fulton County, while a part of the city limits extends into DeKalb County. The city covers 132 sq mi (343 km²), but Metro Atlanta, which includes 28 counties, has an area of 8,376 sq mi (21,693.7 km²). The Chattahoochee River, which forms the northwestern boundary of Atlanta, is a major source of water throughout the metro area. Aside from the river, the topography of Atlanta is assorted with rolling hills, forests, lakes and ponds, and granite Stone Mountain to the east.
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