city, seat (1831) of Sumter county, southwest-central Georgia, U.S., on Muckalee Creek, 35 miles (55 km) north of Albany. Founded in 1830, it was named for the Italian explorer and navigator Amerigo Vespucci (Vespucci, Amerigo) or, legend says, for the “merry cusses” who were its first settlers. To the northeast is Andersonville, site of a notorious Confederate camp during the American Civil War, where thousands of Union prisoners died. The aviator Charles A. Lindbergh (Lindbergh, Charles A.) made his first solo flight at nearby Souther Field in 1923.

Americus is a trade and processing centre for the surrounding agricultural region, with diversified manufacturing (automotive parts, lighting fixtures, and aerospace equipment); services, including tourism, are also important. It is the seat of Georgia Southwestern State University (1906) and headquarters for the Christian service organization Habitat for Humanity International. Plains, the hometown of Jimmy Carter (Carter, Jimmy), 39th president of the United States, is 10 miles (16 km) west-southwest. Inc. 1855. Pop. (1990) 16,512; (2000) 17,013.