For mail and forms, the Georgia abbreviation is GA, all capitals and no periods, the form the US Postal Service assigned. The older traditional form is Ga., and newsrooms still use it in datelines.
There is also a second Georgia: an independent country in the Caucasus region, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. It has its own codes, GE and GEO, which have nothing to do with the US state. This page covers both so you can pick the right one.
Quick facts
Postal code
GATraditional
Ga.AP style
Ga. in datelines, Georgia in textCapital
AtlantaCountry of Georgia
GE (two letter), GEO (three letter)Not to be confused with
GU (Guam)
GA, the Georgia state abbreviation for mail
The Postal Service code is what belongs on envelopes, packages and address fields. Georgia's code goes right after the town, with a comma between them and one space ahead of the ZIP code.
Package label: "Deliver to: 52 Magnolia Ct, Savannah, GA 31401." GA tells the carrier the state, and the ZIP code narrows it to the delivery area. Georgia ZIP codes start with 30 or 31, with a few that start with 39.
The same two letters fill the state box on tax forms, job applications and school records. Both letters stay in capitals.
Georgia abbreviation choices by setting
| Setting | Write | Like this |
|---|---|---|
| Mailing address | GA | Macon, GA 31201 |
| Website or app form | GA | State: GA |
| News dateline (AP style) | Ga. | AUGUSTA, Ga. |
| Older books and citations | Ga. | Athens, Ga.: Pine Press |
| Running text | Georgia | Peaches grow well in Georgia. |
When in doubt in a sentence, spell it out. Short forms are for tight spaces and set formats.
Ga. and AP style
Ga. is one of the traditional state abbreviations that came before the postal codes. It uses a capital G, a lowercase a and a period. AP style keeps these older forms for datelines, the city and state that open a news story, and writes the full state name in the body of the story.
Some reference lists and legal documents also use Ga., so you will see it in court case names and older publications. In everyday writing, though, GA on an address and Georgia in a sentence cover almost every need.
Georgia the country: GE and GEO
The country of Georgia, with its capital Tbilisi, uses international codes rather than postal ones.
- GE is its two-letter country code, used on international forms and in its internet domain.
- GEO is its three-letter code, seen in sports results and some travel documents.
So GA always points to the US state, and GE points to the country. If a news story says "Tbilisi, Georgia," it means the country. More country codes are on the country abbreviations page.
Mix-ups to avoid with GA
A few codes sit close to GA, and a few other meanings share the letters.
- GU is Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, not Georgia.
- GA on a ticket often means general admission, with no assigned seat.
- In government, GA can mean General Assembly, the name of Georgia's own legislature.
Georgia's neighbors use FL (Florida), AL (Alabama), TN (Tennessee), NC and SC. See them all on the state abbreviations page.
Sentences that use the Georgia abbreviation
- "Return to sender: 310 Oak St, Valdosta, GA 31601."
- "COLUMBUS, Ga. Schools will open two hours late Thursday."
- "The team flew from Atlanta, Georgia, to Tbilisi, Georgia, in one long day."
- "Region list: Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL; Nashville, TN."
Notice that the dateline uses Ga. while the mailing line uses GA, and the sentence about travel spells out both places named Georgia.
Questions people ask
What is the abbreviation for Georgia?
The postal abbreviation for the state of Georgia is GA. The traditional form, used in AP datelines, is Ga.
Is GA the code for the country of Georgia?
No. The country of Georgia uses GE as its two-letter code and GEO as its three-letter code. GA is only the US state.
How is Georgia abbreviated in AP style?
AP style uses Ga. in datelines and spells out Georgia in the body of a story.
Is the Georgia state abbreviation GA or GE?
GA. The letters GE belong to the country of Georgia, not the state.