Actual Factual Georgia

Q: What are the generally accepted lines dividing North Georgia from Middle Georgia and Middle Georgia from South Georgia?

--Sarah Cooper, Gainesville

A: That probably depends on who you ask, because defining Georgia isn't that simple. When folks talk about North Georgia, they're often referring to the mountainous areas north of Atlanta. Geographically, metro Atlanta is in the northern part of the state, but if you ask city folks how they like living in North Georgia, they'll probably look at you like you just stuck your finger in their latte. Middle Georgia usually means Macon, Warner Robins and about 15 other counties around that area, leaving South Georgia as this large mass encompassing most of the rest of the state. Trying to lump parts of east and west Georgia into either Middle or South Georgia leaves a lot of people and cities – including Augusta, Columbus and even Savannah -- unconnected. Geographers have broken our state into five areas based on topography: the Appalachian Plateau, which is the northwest tip; the Valley and the Ridge, which surrounds the Appalachian Plateau; the Blue Ridge, which includes the mountainous areas of Northeast Georgia; the Piedmont, which cuts a wide swath across the northern central part of the state, from the Alabama line to the South Carolina line; and the Coastal Plain, which is everything below a geological feature called the "Fall Line," which runs from Columbus to Macon to Milledgeville to Augusta. And just because you see a Stuckey's, doesn't mean you're in South Georgia.