| Official Name: | Sparta, Georgia |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Georgia |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Hancock |
| Established Date: | December 5, 1805 |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 4.72 |
| Area Land Km2: | 4.69 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.03 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 1.82 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 1.81 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.01 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 1357 |
| Population Density Km2: | 289.27 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 749.31 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | 33.2833°N -140°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 31087 |
| Area Code: | 706 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 13-72584[2] |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 0323330[3] |
Sparta is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Georgia, United States.[4] It used to be part of the Milledgeville micropolitan statistical area until 2023. The city's population was 1,400 at the 2010 census.
Sparta was founded in 1795 in the newly formed Hancock County. The town was designated county seat in 1797. It was incorporated as a town in 1805 and as a city in 1893.[5] The community was named after Sparta, a city-state in Ancient Greece.[6]
In 1864, during Sherman's March to the Sea, the town remained completely unscathed, reportedly due to the efforts of Confederate Captain Henry Culver, the son-in-law of local industrialist William Fraley, who successfully diverted Union troops away from the area.[7] [8]
Sparta is located at (33.2773, -82.9715).[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.8sqmi, all land.
| White (non-Hispanic) | 189 | 13.93% | |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 1,116 | 82.24% | |
| Native American | 1 | 0.07% | |
| Asian | 23 | 1.69% | |
| Other/Mixed | 17 | 1.25% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 11 | 0.81% |
Sparta is the site of Georgia's Hancock State Prison.
The Hancock County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of one elementary school, a middle school, and a high school.[11] The district has 103 full-time teachers and over 1,659 students.[12]