In the 1800's a survey of Georgia divided much of the state into its present grid system of "land lots" and "districts." In addition, portions of the state use special areas known as "sections," "headrights," and "Georgia Militia Districts." These land area measures are the topics of discussion in the following sections.

The districts are generally square areas of land and do not necessarily correspond with county boundary lines. Each district consists of smaller square grids of land known as land lots which vary in size from as small as 40 acres in the northern portion of the state to as large as 490 acres in the central and southern portions. The 40 acre land lots were purposely made smaller for the gold lotteries in the 1830's. Legal descriptions of property located in those areas of the state so divided must include the land lot number and district number. In some areas of the state legal descriptions may use other land divisions in pinpointing the exact location of the property being described.