Atlanta is the capital and the largest city in the state of Georgia with a population of 519,145, and the core city of the ninth most populous United States metropolitan area at 5,278,904, with a combined statistical area of 5,626,400. Atlanta is a world city that ranks as the 33rd-largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Fulton County, although a small portion of the city extends into DeKalb County. Residents of the city are known as Atlantans.

Atlanta has in recent years undergone a transition from a city of regional commerce to a city of international influence, and has been among the fastest growing cities in the developed world for much of the 1990s and 2000s. Between 2000 and 2006, the metropolitan area grew by 20.5%, making it the fastest growing metropolitan area in the nation. The Atlanta Metropolitan Area is the central metropolis of the Southeastern United States and is also the largest metropolitan area in the emerging megalopolis known as the Piedmont Atlantic MegaRegion (PAM).