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Alabama
State
Map
CountryUnited States
Admitted to the UnionDecember 14, 1819 (22nd)
CapitalMontgomery
Largest cityBirmingham
Government
 • GovernorBob R. Riley (R)
 • Upper house{{{Upperhouse}}}
 • Lower house{{{Lowerhouse}}}
U.S. senatorsRichard Shelby (R)
Jeff Sessions (R)
Population
 • Total
4,447,100
 • Density84.83/sq mi (33.84/km2)
Language
 • Official languageEnglish
 • Spoken languageEnglish 96.17%, Spanish 2.12%
Latitude30°13'N to 35°N
Longitude84°51'W to 88°28'W


A map of Alabama with county boundaries
State motto Audemus jura nostra defendere
State bird Yellowhammer
State flower Camellia
State reptile Alabama red-bellied turtle
State soil Bama
State song "Alabama"
Sweet Home Alabama (unofficial)
State spirit Conecuh Ridge
State tree Longleaf Pine
State fossils Basilosaurus cetoides

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. The twenty-second state admitted to the Union, Alabama seceded from the union in 1861 to become part of the Confederate States of America. Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, Alabama was readmitted to the union in 1868.

Until World War II, Alabama, like many Southern states, remained mired in poverty. In the following years, Alabama would emerge as a growing economic power as the economy of the state transitioned from agriculture to diversified interests in heavy manufacturing, mineral extraction, education, and high technology. Today, the state is heavily invested in the aerospace, education, health care, banking, and various heavy industries including automobile manufacturing and mineral extraction.

Alabama is known as The Heart of Dixie and the Yellowhammer state. The capital is Montgomery and the largest city is Birmingham.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Alabama
See also: List of Alabama counties

Alabama is the 30th largest state in the United States with 52,423 square miles (135,775 km²) of total area. 3.19% of that is water, making Alabama 23rd in the amount of surface water, also giving it the second largest inland waterway system in the United States.[2] About three-fifths of the land area is a gentle plain with a general decline towards the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The North Alabama region is mostly mountainous, with the Tennessee River cutting a large valley creating numerous creeks, streams, rivers, mountains, and lakes.[3] Another natural wonder is "Natural Bridge", the longest land bridge span east of the Mississippi River. Alabama generally ranges in elevation from sea level[1] at Mobile Bay, to a little more than 1,800 feet (550 m) in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeast. The highest point is Mount Cheaha.[3]

States bordering Alabama include Tennessee to the north; Georgia to the east; Florida to the south; and Mississippi to the west. Alabama has coastline at the Gulf of Mexico in the extreme southern edge of the state.[3]

National Parks in Alabama include Horseshoe Bend National Military Park in Daviston; Little River Canyon National Preserve in Fort Payne; Russell Cave National Monument in Bridgeport; Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee; and Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site near Tuskegee.[4]

Alabama also contains the Natchez Trace Parkway, the Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail, and the Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail.

Urban areas

Main article: List of Metropolitan areas of Alabama
See also: List of cities in Alabama
Alabama Population Density map
Rank Metropolitan Area Population
1 Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman CSA 1,170,012
2 Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope CSA 567,625
3 Montgomery MSA 397,961
4 Huntsville MSA 368,661
5 Tuscaloosa MSA 196,885
6 Decatur MSA 149,629
7 Florence-Muscle Shoals MSA 142,950
8 Dothan MSA 136,594
9 Auburn-Opelika MSA 123,254
10 Anniston-Oxford MSA 112,240
11 Gadsden MSA 104,000

Climate

The climate of Alabama is best described as being a humid subtropical climate. This is especially true in the southern part of the state with its close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, while the Northern parts of the state, especially in the Appalachian Mountains in the Northeast, tend to be much closer to a Continental climate. Generally, Alabama has very hot summers and mild winters with copious precipitation throughout the year. March is typically the wettest month and October is the driest month.

Summers in Alabama are among the hottest in the United States, with high temperatures averaging over 90 °F throughout the summer in the entire state. Alabama is also prone to strikes by hurricanes. Even areas of the state far away from the Gulf are not immune to the effects of hurricanes or tropical storms, which often dump tremendous amounts of rain as they move inland and weaken. Southern Alabama, in common with much of the southeastern coast, has frequent thunderstorms, averaging around 70 days per year. Tornadoes are common in Alabama throughout the state, although the peak season for tornadoes varies from the northern to southern parts of the state. Also, Alabama is one of the only places in the world that has a secondary tornado season (November and December) in addition to the Spring severe weather season.

Winters are generally mild in Alabama, as they are throughout most of the southeastern United States, with average January low temperatures around 40 °F in Mobile and around 32° F in Birmingham. Snow is a rare event in much of Alabama. Areas of the state north of Montgomery may receive a dusting of snow a few times every winter, with an occasional moderately heavy snowfall every few years. In the southern Gulf coast, snowfall is less frequent, sometimes going several years without any snowfall.

History

Main article: History of Alabama

Among Native American people once living in present Alabama were Alabama (Alibamu), Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Koasati, and Mobile.[5] Trade with the Northeast via the Ohio River began during the Burial Mound Period (1000 BC-A.D. 700) and continued until European contact.[6] Meso-American influence is evident in the agrarian Mississippian culture that followed.

The French founded the first European settlement in the state with the establishment of Mobile in 1702.[7] Southern Alabama was French from 1702 to 1763, part of British West Florida from 1763 to 1780, and part of Spanish West Florida from 1780 to 1814. Northern and central Alabama was part of British Georgia from 1763 to 1783 and part of the American Mississippi territory thereafter. Its statehood was delayed by the lack of a coastline; rectified when Andrew Jackson captured Spanish Mobile in 1814.[8] Alabama was the twenty-second state admitted to the Union, in 1819. Template:Ussm The economy of the central "Black Belt (region of Alabama)" featured large rich slave plantations that grew cotton.[9] Elsewhere poor whites were subsistence farmers. Alabama seceded and joined the Confederate States of America, 1861–65. While not many battles were fought in the state, Alabama contributed about 120,000 soldiers to the Civil War. All the slaves were freed by 1865.[10] After a period of Reconstruction it emerged as a poor rural state, still tied to cotton, with high racial tensions between the ruling whites and the recently emancipated blacks, who had second-class legal, social and economic status.[9] The blacks lost the right to vote in 1901, and, after 1917, many migrated to northern cities. Politically, the state was one-party Democratic, and produced a number of national leaders. World War II brought prosperity.[9] Cotton faded in importance as the state developed a manufacturing and service base. In the 1960s, under Governor George Wallace, the state opposed federal integration efforts. After the passage of the Civil Rights Laws of 1964 and 1965, African Americans regained the right to vote and de jure segregation and Jim Crow disappeared.[11] After 1972, the state became a Republican stronghold in presidential elections, and leaned Republican in state elections.[12]

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Alabama
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1800 1,250—    
9,046 623.7%—    
1820 127,901—    
1,313.9% 1,830−98.6%
309,527 142.0%—    
1840 590,756—    
90.9% 1,850−99.7%
771,623 30.6%—    
1860 964,201—    
25.0% 1,870−99.8%
996,992 3.4%—    
1880 1,262,505—    
26.6% 1,890−99.9%
1,513,401 19.9%—    
1900 1,828,697—    
20.8% 1,910−99.9%
2,138,093 16.9%—    
1920 2,348,174—    
9.8% 1,930−99.9%
2,646,248 12.7%—    
1940 2,832,961—    
7.1% 1,950−99.9%
3,061,743 8.1%—    
1960 3,266,740—    
6.7% 1,970−99.9%
3,444,165 5.4%—    
1980 3,893,888—    
13.1% 1,990−99.9%
4,040,587 3.8%—    
2000 4,447,100—    
10.1% —    

As of 2005, Alabama has an estimated population of 4,557,808,[13] which is an increase of 32,433, or 0.7%, from the prior year and an increase of 110,457, or 2.5%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 77,418 people (that is 319,544 births minus 242,126 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 36,457 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 25,936 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 10,521 people.

The state had 108,000 foreign-born (2.4% of the state population), of which an estimated 22.2% were illegal aliens (24,000).

The center of population of Alabama is located in Chilton County, outside of the town of Jemison, an area known as Jemison Division.[14]

Race and ancestry

The racial makeup of the state and comparison to the prior census:

Demographics of Alabama (csv)
By race White Black AIAN* Asian NHPI*
2000 (total population) 72.56% 26.33% 1.00% 0.89% 0.07%
2000 (Hispanic only) 1.48% 0.18% 0.04% 0.02% 0.01%
2005 (total population) 72.14% 26.70% 0.98% 1.02% 0.07%
2005 (Hispanic only) 2.08% 0.17% 0.05% 0.03% 0.01%
Growth 2000–05 (total population) 1.90% 3.95% -0.06% 17.43% 4.90%
Growth 2000–05 (non-Hispanic only) 1.02% 3.97% -0.55% 17.47% 6.67%
Growth 2000–05 (Hispanic only) 43.85% 1.05% 11.46% 16.20% -2.17%
* AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native; NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

The largest reported ancestry groups in Alabama: American (17.0%), English (7.8%), Irish (7.7%), German (5.7%), and Scots-Irish (2.0%). 'American' includes those reported as Native American or African American.

Religion

92% of Alabamians identify themselves as Christians. Of those, 80% are Protestant, with the largest Roman Catholic communities along the Gulf Coast and, in particular, the Mobile Diocese. Almost half of Protestants in Alabama are of the Baptist faith. The next-largest denomination is Methodism, which represents about 1/10th of Protestants in Alabama. 7% of residents identify themselves as non-religious.

Economy

Alabama's quarter depicting famous resident Helen Keller along with the longleaf pine branch and Camellia blossoms from the 50 State Quarters program. Released March 192003.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the 2003 total gross state product was $132 billion. The per capita income for the state was $26,505 in 2003. Alabama's agricultural outputs include poultry and eggs, cattle, plant nursery items, peanuts, cotton, grains such as corn and sorghum, vegetables, milk, soybeans, and peaches. Although known as "The Cotton State", Alabama ranks between eight and ten in national cotton production, according to various reports,[15][16] with Texas, Georgia and Mississippi comprising the top three. Alabama's industrial outputs include iron and steel products (including cast-iron and steel pipe); paper, lumber, and wood products; mining (mostly coal); plastic products; cars and trucks; and apparel. Also, Alabama produces aerospace and electronic products, mostly in the Huntsville area, which is home of the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and the US Army Missile Command, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal.

Also, the city of Mobile is a busy seaport on the Gulf of Mexico, and with inland waterway access to the Midwest via the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

Alabama levies a 2, 4, or 5% personal income tax, depending upon the amount earned and filing status. The state's sales general tax rate is 8%. The collection rate could be substantially higher, depending upon additional city and county sales taxes. The corporate income tax rate is currently 6.5%.

Transportation

Alabama has five major interstate roads that cross it: I-65 runs north-south roughly through the middle of the state; I-59/I-20 travels from the central west border to Birmingham, where I-59 continues to the north-east corner of the state and I-20 continues east towards Atlanta; I-85 goes from the border of Georgia and ends in Montgomery, providing a main thoroughfare to Atlanta; and I-10 traverses the southernmost portion of the state, running from west to east through Mobile. Another interstate road, I-22, is currently under construction. When completed (est. 2012), it will connect Birmingham with Memphis, Tennessee.

Major airports in Alabama include Birmingham International Airport (BHM), Dothan Regional Airport (DHN), Huntsville International Airport (HSV), Mobile Regional Airport (MOB), Montgomery Regional Airport (IATA: MGM, ICAO: KMGM), Muscle Shoals - Northwest Alabama Regional Airport (MSL), and Tuscaloosa Regional Airport (TCL).

Water ports

File:P4150152.JPG
Picture of the main river entrance to the Port of Decatur.

Listed from north to south

Port Name Location Connected To
Port of Guntersville Guntersville, on Lake Guntersville Tennessee River
Port of Decatur Decatur, on Wheeler Lake Tennessee River
Port of Muscle Shoals Florence/Muscle Shoals, on Wilson Lake Tennessee River
Port of Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa, on Black Warrior River Tenn-Tom Waterway
Port of Montgomery Montgomery, on Woodruff Lake Alabama River
Port of Mobile Mobile, on Mobile Bay Gulf of Mexico

Law and government

Main article: Government of Alabama

State government

The foundational document for Alabama's government is the Alabama Constitution, which was ratified in 1901. At more than 770 amendments and 310,000 words, it is the world's longest constitution and is roughly forty times the length of the U.S. Constitution.[17][18]

Alabama is divided into three equal branches:

The legislative branch is the Alabama Legislature, a bicameral assembly composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama Senate, with 35 members. The Legislature is responsible for writing, debating, passing, or defeating state legislation.

The executive branch is responsible for the execution and oversight of laws. It is headed by the Governor of Alabama. Other members of executive branch include the cabinet, the Attorney General of Alabama, the Alabama Secretary of State, the Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, the Alabama State Treasurer, and the Alabama State Auditor.

The judicial branch is responsible for interpreting the Constitution and applying the law in state criminal and civil cases. The highest court is the Supreme Court of Alabama.

Local and county government

Alabama has 67 counties. Each county has its own elected legislative branch, usually called the Board of Commissioners, which usually also has executive authority in the county. Due to the restraints placed in the Alabama Constitution, all but 7 counties (Jefferson, Lee, Mobile, Madison, Montgomery, Shelby, and Tuscaloosa) in the state have little to no home rule. Instead, most counties in the state must lobby the Local Legislation Committee of the state legislature to get simple local policies such as waste disposal to land use zoning.

Alabama is an alcoholic beverage control state; the government holds a monopoly on the sale of alcohol.

State politics

The current governor of the state is Bob Riley. The lieutenant governor is Jim Folsom Jr. The Democratic Party currently holds a large majority in both houses of the Legislature. Due to the Legislature's power to override a gubernatorial veto by a mere simple majority (most state Legislatures require a 2/3 majority to override a veto), the relationship between the executive and legislative branches can be easily strained when different parties control both branches.

During Reconstruction following the American Civil War, Alabama was occupied by federal troops of the Third Military District under General John Pope. In 1874, the Redeemers took control of the state government from the Republicans. After 1890, a coalition of whites passed laws to segregate and disenfranchise black residents. The state became part of the "Solid South," a one-party system in which the Democratic Party became essentially the only political party in every Southern state. For nearly 100 years, local and state elections in Alabama were decided in the Democratic Party primary, with generally no Republican challenger running in the General Election. It was not until the 1980s that Republicans began to successfully challenge and win elections in local and state offices.

Alabama state politics gained nationwide and international attention in the 1950s and 1960s during the American Civil Rights Movement, when it bureaucratically, and at times, violently resisted protests for electoral and social reform. This ended up hurting Alabama's image and making it out to be a hotbed for racism. The state's governor during the period, George Wallace, remains a notorious and controversial figure.

Federal politics

Presidential elections results
Year Republican Democrat
2004 62.46% 1,176,394 36.84% 693,933
2000 56.47% 944,409 41.59% 695,602
1996 50.12% 769,044 43.16% 662,165
1992 47.65% 804,283 40.88% 690,080
1988 59.17% 815,576 39.86% 549,506
1984 60.54% 872,849 38.28% 551,899
1980 48.75% 654,192 47.45% 636,730
1976 42.61% 504,070 55.73% 659,170
1972 72.43% 728,701 25.54% 256,923
1968* 13.99% 146,923 18.72% 196,579
1964 69.45% 479,085 30.55% 210,732
1960 42.16% 237,981 56.39% 318,303
*State won by George Wallace
of the American Independent Party,
at 65.86%, or 691,425 votes

From 1876 through 1956, Alabama supported only Democratic presidential candidates, by large margins. 1960 was a curious election; the Democrats won with John F. Kennedy on the ballot, but the Democratic electors gave most of their electoral votes as a protest to someone else. In 1964, Republican Barry Goldwater carried the state. In the 1968 presidential election, Alabama supported native son and American Independent Party candidate George Wallace over both Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. In 1976, Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter carried the state, the region, and the nation, but Democratic control of the region slipped thereafter. Since 1980, the Republican party has become increasingly dominant in Alabama's federal elections. In local politics, by contrast, Democrats still control many offices, such as their large and long standing majority in the Alabama Legislature.

In 2004, George W. Bush won Alabama's nine electoral votes by a margin of 25 percentage points with 62.5% of the vote. The only 11 counties voting Democratic were Black Belt counties, where African Americans are in the majority. Alabama is one of the most conservative states in the country; Shelby County, in suburban Birmingham, and the city and county of San Francisco, California are the closest pair of greatly populated areas to being political polar opposites.

The state's two current U.S. senators are Jefferson B. Sessions III and Richard C. Shelby, both from the Republican Party.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, the state is represented by seven members, five of whom are Republicans, and two Democrats. The Representatives are Jo Bonner, Terry Everett, Mike D. Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Bud Cramer, Spencer Bachus, and Artur Davis.

Further information: [[:U.S. presidential election, 2004, in Alabama]]

Education

Colleges and universities

Main article: List of colleges and universities in Alabama

There are fourteen 4-year public universities in Alabama:

In addition, the Alabama Association of Independent Colleges and Universities recognizes 17 member institutions as "private senior colleges":

Miscellaneous topics

  • The phrase The Heart of Dixie is required by state law to be included on standard state vehicle license plates, but has recently been reduced to a very small size and eclipsed by the phrase Stars Fell on Alabama. As of October 2006, Alabama also provides an alternative "God Bless America" license plate at no additional charge.[19] Both plates are considered the standard plate for the state.[20]


See also

Cultural sites

File:Saxes-4.jpg
The Old State Bank in Decatur

Events

Sports teams

List of Venues:

References

  1. ^ a b c "Elevations and Distances in the United States". U.S Geological Survey. 29 April 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  2. ^ "GCT-PH1-R. Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density (geographies ranked by total population): 2000". Geographic Comparison Table. US Census Bureau. Census Year 2000. Retrieved 2006-09-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b c "The Geography of Alabama". Geography of the States. NetState.com. 2006-08-11. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  4. ^ "National Park Guide". Geographic Search. National Park Service - U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  5. ^ "Alabama Indian Tribes". Indian Tribal Records. AccessGenealogy.com. Updated 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Alabama". The New York Times Almanac 2004. The New York Times. 2006-08-11. Retrieved 2006-09-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Alabama State History". theUS50.com. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  8. ^ "AL-Alabama". Landscapes and History by state. StateMaster.com. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  9. ^ a b c "The Black Belt". Southern Spaces Internet Journal. Emory University. 2004-04-19. Retrieved 2006-09-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865)". Historical Documents. HistoricalDocuments.com. 2005. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  11. ^ "Voting Rights". Civil Rights: Law and History. US Department of Justice. 2002-01-09. Retrieved 2006-09-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "The New South Rises, Again". Civil Rights: Law and History. Southerner.net. Spring 1999. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  13. ^ "Alabama QuickFacts from the US CEnsus Bureau". US Census Bureau. US Census Bureau. 2006-06-08. Retrieved 2006-09-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/statecenters.txt". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  15. ^ "Alabama and CBER: 75 Years of Change" (PDF). Alabama Business. Center for Business and Economic Research, Culverhouse College of Commerce, The University of Alabama. Q4 2005. Retrieved 2006-09-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "State Highlights for 2004-2005" (PDF). Alabama Cooperative Extension System. USDA, NASS, Alabama Statistical Office. 2005. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  17. ^ Roig-Franzia, Manuel (2004-11-28). "Alabama Vote Opens Old Racial Wounds". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-09-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Constitution of Alabama - 1901". The Alabama Legislative Information System. Retrieved 2006-09-22.
  19. ^ Matt Dischinger. "'God Bless America' license plate debuts in October, offers new option for drivers". Retrieved 2006-11-09.
  20. ^ "New God Bless America License Plate".

Bibliography

  • Atkins, Leah Rawls, Wayne Flynt, William Warren Rogers, and David Ward. Alabama: The History of a Deep South State (1994)
  • Flynt, Wayne. Alabama in the Twentieth Century (2004)
  • Owen Thomas M. History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography 4 vols. 1921.
  • Jackson, Harvey H. Inside Alabama: A Personal History of My State (2004)
  • Mohl, Raymond A. "Latinization in the Heart of Dixie: Hispanics in Late-twentieth-century Alabama" Alabama Review 2002 55(4): 243-274. ISSN 0002-4341
  • Peirce, Neal R. The Deep South States of America: People, Politics, and Power in the Seven Deep South States (1974). Information on politics and economics 1960–72.
  • Williams, Benjamin Buford. A Literary History of Alabama: The Nineteenth Century 1979.
  • WPA. Guide to Alabama (1939)
  • for a detailed bibliography see History of Alabama

33°N 87°W / 33°N 87°W / 33; -87

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