Geography
Approximately 30 miles northeast of Atlanta
County seat: Lawrenceville, GA
437 square miles
Adjacent counties: Barrow, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Hall, Jackson, Rockdale, and Walton
80 percent of the U. population is within a two-hour flight
Gateway to metro Atlanta from north and northeast via I-85 and I-985
Easy access to University of Georgia (at Athens) via University Parkway/GA Highw
ay 316
Minutes from scenic Lake Lanier
Home to 15 municipalities. History:
Created in 1818 by state legislature
Some of the land had been part of Jackson County
The rest was frontier land ceded to the state by the Creek Indians
Named for Button Gwinnett, signer of the Declaration of Independence
The county was named for Button Gwinnett, one of the delegates who signed the United States Declaration of Independence on behalf of Georgia. This county is within the five-county core part of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area (Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area). It contains many suburbs of Atlanta, many of whose residents commute using the major highway, Interstate 85. Despite recent efforts of forming a public bus system, the average commute time in Gwinnett County is 30.8 minutes, ranking it the highest in metropolitan Atlanta and 18th highest nationwide (2003 census). Gwinnett County's population is approximately 18.3 percent of the total Atlanta region population and has captured 26% of the region's growth since 2000,[3] growing faster numerically than any other county in the region for the past 25 years running. It was the third-largest county on the list of 100 fastest-growing counties in the nation from 2000–2004.[3]
Gwinnett County Public Schools is the largest school system in Georgia and the fastest-growing in the Southeastern United States,[4] with 113 total school facilities and a projected 2007–2008 enrollment of 159,258 students.
