Atlanta is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia, with an estimated 2016 population of 472,522. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5,710,795 people and the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County.In 1837, Atlanta was founded at the intersection of two railroad lines, and the city rose from the ashes of the American Civil War to become a national center of commerce. In the decades following the Civil Rights Movement, the city earned a reputation as "too busy to hate" for the relatively progressive views of its citizens and leaders compared to other cities in the Deep South. Atlanta attained international prominence, and it became the primary transportation hub of the Southeastern United States, via highway, railroad, and air, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being the world's busiest airport since 1998.
