Lake Oconee is a man-made lake in central Georgia on the Oconee River near Greensboro and Eatonton. It is operated by Georgia Power. It was created in 1979 when Georgia Power completed the construction of the Wallace Dam on the Oconee River. Lake Oconee is also the second largest lake in the state of Georgia. Lake Oconee runs through Georgia's Morgan, Greene, and Putnam counties and is separated from its sister lake, Sinclair, by Wallace Dam. Numerous housing developments and golf courses have been built on the banks of the lake since 1979.

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,241 people, 2,593 households, and 1,931 families residing in the county. The population density was 15/km² (39/mi²). There were 3,011 housing units at an average density of 6/km² (16/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 71.61% White, 25.63% Black or African American, 0.57% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 1.20% from two or more races. 1.74% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 2,593 households out of which 37.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.00% were married couples living together, 13.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.50% were non-families. 21.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.12.