Atlanta
Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, USA. Atlanta is one of the country’s fastest growing cities with a city population of 420,000 residents, of which 54% are black (2010). Atlanta covers with suburbs 340 km2, and the entire metropolitan area has 5.27 million residents (2010). The town was founded in 1837; after the devastation during the American Civil War (1861-65) it was quickly rebuilt and has from the late 1800’s. been the economic center of the southeastern United States. The “Forward Atlanta” campaign in the 1960’s ushered in a period of growth with a large influx of businesses and extensive new construction in the urban area and suburbs.
Apart from the Martin Luther King Memorial District, the center is dominated by modern skyscrapers with hotels, offices and convention centers. But social inequalities are evident: Nearly 1/3 of the families have income below the official poverty line, and crime rates are among the highest in the United States.
With Hartsfield International Airport, the city has one of the world’s largest airports. In 1998, it overtook Chicago’s O’Hare as the world’s busiest airport. Internal traffic is provided by a well-functioning public transport system with subway and bus lines. The city’s metro, which runs underground in the central city, was extended through the 1990’s and now reaches e.g. out to the airport.
The city is home to Coca-Cola and the television channel CNN. Atlanta hosted the 1996 Olympics. 
History
Atlanta was laid out in an area ceded by the Creek Indians in 1821. During the Civil War, it was an important supply center, and the northern state army’s destruction of the city in 1864 is immortalized in the novel and not least in the film Gone with the Wind.
Columbus
Columbus (Georgia), a city in Georgia, USA, located on the Chattahoochee River on the border with Alabama; 189,900 residents, of which 45% are black (2010). With hydropower from the river and sailing to the Gulf of Mexico, it became in the 1800’s. one of the South’s largest producers of textiles, steam engines and hardware. Today, it is best known for the nearby Fort Benning Military Reservation, which houses the United States’ largest infantry.
Savannah
Savannah, a port city in Georgia, USA on the border with South Carolina at the mouth of the Savannah River in the Atlantic Ocean; founded 1733, 136,300 residents (2010), of which 55% black. The city is known for its historic neighborhood with mansions and department stores from the heyday in the 1700’s and 1800’s, when it was a shipping place for cotton and tobacco. Many neighborhoods, such as the Victorian District, are dominated by blacks whose slave history is depicted in the Black History Museum.
In addition to tourism, the economy is based on the port and related industries (chemical, paper, food industry, etc.). Savannah hosted the 1996 Olympic sailing competitions.
Albany
Albany (Georgia), a town on the Flint River in Georgia, USA; 77,400 residents (2010), of which 72% are black. Processing and trade in agricultural products, in particular peanuts and pecans; previously dominated cotton. The Marine Corps has a large base in the city.
