Athens, formally Athens-Clarke Coonty, is a unified ceety-coonty in Georgie, U.S., in the northeastren pairt o the state. The Varsity o Georgie is locatit in this college toun an is responsible for the initial growthe o the ceety. In 1991, efter a vote the precedin year, the oreeginal ceety abandoned its chairter in order tae form a unified govrenment wi Clarke County, referred tae collectively as Athens-Clarke Coonty. As o the 2000 census, the consolidatit ceety-coonty haed a total population o 100,266. The maist recent US Census estimate (2009) placed the population at 114,983. Athens-Clarke Coonty is the fift-lairgest ceety in Georgie an the principal ceety o the Athens-Clarke Coonty, Georgie Metropolitan Statistical Aurie, which haed a population o 189,264 as o the 2008 Census Bureau estimate.