Northeast Georgia
Northeast Georgia is a region of Georgia in the United States. The northern part is also in the north Georgia mountains, while the southern part is still hilly but much flatter in topography. Northeast Georgia is also served by the Asheville/Spartanburg/Greenville/Anderson market.
The mountainous part of the region contains the Georgia counties of:
Cities in the region include Helen, Cleveland, Blairsville, Sautee Nacoochee, Clarkesville, Clayton, Dahlonega, Gainesville, Hiawassee, Young Harris, and Toccoa in the northern section. Elberton, Hartwell and Lavonia are located farther south.
Athens is the largest city; however, it is often considered its own separate area, in the same way that metro Atlanta is often considered separately from the rest of north Georgia.
Northeast Georgia contains colleges such as North Georgia Technical College in Clarkesville, Young Harris College in Young Harris, Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Toccoa Falls College in Toccoa, University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, Brenau University in Gainesville, and University of Georgia in Athens.
Northeast Georgia is part of two media markets: metro Atlanta's toward the southwest, and the western Carolinas to the northeast.
For the purpose of weather warnings, the westernmost counties of the region are considered to be north-central Georgia by the National Weather Service in Atlanta. The easternmost counties, bordering South Carolina in the Savannah River valley, are the responsibility of the Greenville/Spartanburg office.
Besides the Savannah River, and its tributaries the Tugaloo River and Chattooga River, the other major rivers are the Chattahoochee River and its tributary the Chestatee River, which are the headwaters for much of metro Atlanta's water supply, held in Lake Lanier by Buford Dam. The Oconee River also begins near Athens, and the Little Tennessee River flows north from Rabun county.
The Chattahoochee and Chestatee are west of the Eastern Continental Divide along with the Little Tennessee, while the others are east. The divide bisects northeast Georgia, running from near the northeastern tip down to the city of Atlanta.
