| County: | Lanier County |
| State: | Georgia |
| Founded Date: | August 7 |
| Founded Year: | 1920 |
| Seat Wl: | Lakeland |
| Largest City Wl: | Lakeland |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 200 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 185 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 15 |
| Area Percentage: | 7.3% |
| Census Yr: | 2020 |
| Pop: | 9877 |
| Density Sq Mi: | 53 |
| Time Zone: | Eastern |
| District: | 8th |
| Web: | http://laniercountyboc.com/ |
| Ex Image: | Lanier County Courthouse, Lakeland, GA, US.jpg |
| Ex Image Cap: | Lanier County Courthouse in Lakeland |
| Footnotes: | [1] |
Lanier County is a county in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,877.[2] The county seat is Lakeland.[3] The county is named after the Georgia poet Sidney Lanier.[4]
Lanier County is part of the Valdosta, GA metropolitan statistical area. Lanier shares Moody Air Force Base with Lowndes County on its western boundary.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of, of which is land and (7.3%) is water.[5]
The vast majority of Lanier County is in the Alapaha River sub-basin of the Suwannee River basin. Just a narrow section of the western border of the county, northeast and southeast of Ray City, is in the Withlacoochee River sub-basin of the same Suwannee River basin, and a very narrow section of the eastern border of Lanier County is in the Upper Suwannee River sub-basin of the same Suwannee River basin.[6]
The Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1985, hosts approximately 20,000 visitors annually. It provides hiking, fishing, and boating opportunities on more than 4000acres of water, Banks Lake marsh, and swamp. The Robert Simpson III Nature Trail, dedicated in August 2001, is in the Lakeland, Georgia city limits on 75acres of pine and hardwood forests. The county is known for its excellent fishing in the Alapaha River, Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge as well as in its many small lakes.
| White (non-Hispanic) | 6,595 | 66.77% | |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 2,138 | 21.65% | |
| Native American | 31 | 0.31% | |
| Asian | 81 | 0.82% | |
| Pacific Islander | 14 | 0.14% | |
| Other/Mixed | 446 | 4.52% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 572 | 5.79% |
The county's economy has remained rural in nature, but the educational, health and social service sector was the largest employment category in 2006. Factors contributing to this economy include the presence of Moody Air Force Base (shared by adjoining Lowndes County), the several lakes and nature reserve, the hospital, and a large state correctional facility.
The top ten employers in Lanier County are:
Historic sites include Governor Eurith D. Rivers' home, which was moved from its original spot on Banks Lake to West Main Street in Lakeland in the early 1980s; Union Baptist Church, located near Georgia Highway 135; and Fender Cemetery, located east of Lakeland at the junction of U.S. 221 and Georgia Highway 37 on land that once belonged to David Fender. The site of the cemetery, in which many of the area's first settlers are buried, was chosen so that mourners would not have to ferry their dead across the river for burial. Also, the "Murals of Milltown," which depict community life in the 1920s, grace the exteriors of buildings in downtown Lakeland.
The Lanier County School District operates four schools: Lanier County Primary School, Lanier County Elementary School, Lanier County Middle School, and Lanier County High School.