Athens, Georgia | |
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![]() Athens City Hall | |
Nickname: "The Classic City" | |
![]() Location of Athens in Clarke County (left) and of Clarke County in Georgia (right) | |
Coordinates: 33°57′N 83°23′W / 33.950°N 83.383°W | |
Country | ![]() |
State | ![]() |
County | Clarke |
Settled | 1801 |
As Town | December 1806 |
As City | August 24, 1872 |
Named for | Athens, Greece |
Government | |
• Mayor | Kelly Girtz[1] |
Area | |
• Consolidated city–county | 118.10 sq mi (305.87 km2) |
• Land | 116.33 sq mi (301.29 km2) |
• Water | 1.77 sq mi (4.58 km2) |
Elevation | 636 ft (194 m) |
Population | |
• Consolidated city–county | 127,315 |
• Rank | 218th in the United States 6th in Georgia |
• Density | 1,094.43/sq mi (422.57/km2) |
• Metro | 215,415 (212th) |
Demonym | Athenian |
Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
ZIP Codes | 30601–30609, 30612 |
Area code | 706 |
FIPS code | 13-03440[5] |
Website | accgov.com |
Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about 70 miles (110 km) northeast of downtown Atlanta.[6] The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an R1 research institution, is in Athens and contributed to its initial growth. In 1991, after a vote the preceding year, the original City of Athens abandoned its charter to form a unified government with Clarke County, referred to jointly as Athens–Clarke County where it is the county seat.[7]
As of 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau's population of the consolidated city-county (all of Clarke County except Winterville and a portion of Bogart) was 127,315.[3] Athens is the sixth-most populous city in Georgia, and the principal city of the Athens metropolitan area,[8] which had a 2020 population of 215,415, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.[4] Metropolitan Athens is a component of the larger Atlanta–Athens–Clarke County–Sandy Springs Combined Statistical Area.[9]
The city is dominated by a pervasive college town culture and music scene centered in downtown Athens, next to the University of Georgia's North Campus.[10] Major music acts associated with Athens include numerous alternative rock bands such as R.E.M., the B-52's, Widespread Panic, Drive-By Truckers, of Montreal, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Harvey Milk. The city is also known as a recording site for such groups as the Atlanta-based Indigo Girls. The 2020 book Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture describes Athens as the model of the indie culture of the 1980s.[11]