Alabama
Alabama (/ˌæləˈbæmə/) is a state in the United States. Its capital city is Montgomery. The largest city is Huntsville. It became a state in 1819. Native American tribes such as Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek first lived in Alabama.
Alabama | |
|---|---|
| State of Alabama | |
| Nickname(s): The Yellowhammer State, The Heart of Dixie, and The Cotton State | |
| Motto(s): | |
| Anthem: Alabama | |
 Map of the United States with Alabama highlighted | |
| Country | United States |
| Before statehood | Alabama Territory |
| Admitted to the Union | December 14, 1819 (22nd) |
| Capital | Montgomery |
| Largest city | Huntsville |
| Largest metro and urban areas | Greater Birmingham |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Kay Ivey (R) |
| • Lieutenant Governor | Will Ainsworth (R) |
| Legislature | Alabama Legislature |
| • Upper house | Senate |
| • Lower house | House of Representatives |
| U.S. senators | Tommy Tuberville (R) Katie Britt (R) |
| U.S. House delegation | 6 Republicans 1 Democrat (list) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 52,419 sq mi (135,765 km2) |
| • Land | 50,744 sq mi (131,426 km2) |
| • Water | 1,675 sq mi (4,338 km2) 3.20% |
| Area rank | 30th |
| Dimensions | |
| • Length | 330 mi (531 km) |
| • Width | 190 mi (305 km) |
| Elevation | 500 ft (150 m) |
| Highest elevation | 2,413 ft (735.5 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Population (2019) | |
| • Total | 4,903,185 |
| • Rank | 24th |
| • Density rank | 27th |
| • Median household income | 48,123 |
| • Income rank | 46 |
| Demonym(s) | Alabamian[4] |
| Language | |
| • Official language | English |
| • Spoken language | As of 2010[5]
|
| Time zones | |
| most of state | UTC−06:00 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−05:00 (CDT) |
| Phenix City area | UTC−05:00 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) |
| USPS abbreviation | AL |
| ISO 3166 code | US-AL |
| Traditional abbreviation | Ala. |
| Latitude | 30°11' N to 35° N |
| Longitude | 84°53' W to 88°28' W |
| Website | alabama |
| Alabama state symbols | |
|---|---|
 | |
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| Living insignia | |
| Amphibian | Red Hills salamander |
| Bird | Yellowhammer, wild turkey |
| Butterfly | Eastern tiger swallowtail |
| Fish | Largemouth bass, fighting tarpon |
| Flower | Camellia, oak-leaf hydrangea |
| Horse breed | Racking horse |
| Insect | Monarch butterfly |
| Mammal | American black bear |
| Reptile | Alabama red-bellied turtle |
| Tree | Longleaf pine |
| Inanimate insignia | |
| Beverage | Conecuh Ridge Whiskey |
| Colors | Red, white |
| Dance | Square dance |
| Food | Pecan, blackberry, peach |
| Fossil | Basilosaurus |
| Gemstone | Star blue quartz |
| Mineral | Hematite |
| Rock | Marble |
| Shell | Johnstone's junonia |
| Slogan | Share The Wonder, Alabama the beautiful, Where America finds its voice, Sweet Home Alabama |
| Soil | Bama |
| State route marker | |
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| State quarter | |
 Released in 2003 | |
| Lists of United States state symbols | |
Geography
Alabama is the thirty-first largest state in the United States with 52,419 square miles (135,760 km2) of total area. 3.19% of the area is water, making Alabama twenty-third in the amount of surface water, also giving it the second largest inland waterway system in the United States. About three-fifths of the land area is a plain with a general downward slope towards the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. North Alabama has mostly mountains, with the Tennessee River cutting a large valley creating many creeks, streams, rivers, mountains, and lakes.
The states bordering Alabama are 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 very southern edge of the state. Alabama ranges in elevation from sea level at "Mobile Bay" to over 1,800 feet (550 m) in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeast. The highest point is "Mount Cheaha", at a height of 2,407 feet (734 m). Alabama's land has 22 million acres (89,000 km2) of forest or 67% of total land area. "Suburban Baldwin County", along the Gulf Coast, is the largest county in the state in both land area and water area.
Climate
The state is classified as subtropical Cfa under the Köppen climate classification. The normal annual temperature is 64 °F (18 °C). Temperatures are often warmer in the southern part of the state because it is close to the Gulf of Mexico, while the northern parts of the state, mostly in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeast, tend to be slightly cooler. Most of the time, Alabama has very hot summers and mild winters with lots of rain throughout the year. Alabama receives an average of 56 inches (1,400 mm) of rainfall annually and enjoys a lengthy growing season of up to 300 days in the southern part of the state.
Summers in Alabama are among the hottest in the United States, with high temperatures averaging over 90 °F (32 °C) throughout the summer in some parts of the state. Alabama also gets many tropical storms and even hurricanes. Areas of the state far away from the Gulf of Mexico can still feel the effects of the storms, which often dump big amounts of rain as they move inland and weaken.
Population
The United States Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2008, estimated Alabama's population at 4,661,900, which is an increase of 214,545, or 4.8%, since the 2000 census. This is a natural increase since the last census of 121,054 people (that is 502,457 births minus 381,403 deaths) and an increase because of a net migration of 104,991 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 31,180 people, and migration within the country got a net gain of 73,811 people. The state had 108,000 foreign-born (2.4% of the state population), of which an estimated 22.2% were illegal immigrants (24,000).
Economy
According to the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis, the 2008 total gross state product was $170 billion, or $29,411 per capita. Alabama's 2008 GDP increased (went up) 0.7% from the past year. The single largest increase came in the area of information. In 1999, per capita income for the state was $18,189.
Alabama's agricultural outputs are 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", many reports say that Alabama is between eight and ten in national cotton making, with Texas, Georgia and Mississippi making up the top three.
Alabama's company outputs are iron and steel products (like cast-iron and steel pipe); paper, lumber, and wood items; mining (mostly coal); plastic things; cars and trucks; and apparel. Alabama also makes aerospace and electronic things, mostly in the "Huntsville" area, location of NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and the US Army Aviation and Missile Command, headquartered at "Redstone Arsenal."
Education
Primary and secondary education
"Public primary and secondary education" in Alabama is under the review of the Alabama State Board of Education as well as local oversight by 67 county school boards and 60 city boards of education. Together, 1,541 separate schools have education for 743,364 elementary and secondary students.
Colleges and universities
Alabama's programs of higher education are 14 four-year public universities, two-year community colleges, and 17 private, undergraduate and graduate universities. In the state are two medical schools, University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of South Alabama, two veterinary colleges, Auburn University and Tuskegee University, a dental school, University of Alabama, an optometry college, two pharmacy schools, Auburn University and Samford University, and five law schools, University of Alabama School of Law, Birmingham School of Law, Cumberland School of Law, Miles Law School, and the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law. Public, post-secondary education in Alabama is overseen by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. Colleges and universities in Alabama offer degree programs from two-year associate degrees to 16 doctor level programs.
Government
The governor of Alabama is Kay Ivey, a Republican. The lieutenant governor of Alabama is Will Ainsworth, a Republican, and the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court is Sue Bell Cobb, a Democrat.
Notable people from Alabama
- Nat King Cole, singer (Montgomery)
- Rosa Parks, Civil Rights Activist (Tuskegee)
- Helen Keller, (Tuscumbia)
- Bobby Eaton, pro wrestler (Huntsville)
- Mia Hamm, soccer star (Selma)
- Harold E. Martin, newspaperman Montgomery
- Scott Oden, writer (Somerville)
- Spooner Oldham; songwriter, keyboardist (Center Star)
- Stanley O'Neal, chairman & CEO of Merrill Lynch (Roanoke)
- Osceola, Seminole leader (Tallassee)
- Randy Owen, lead singer- Alabama (Fort Payne)
- Jesse Owens, track and field athlete (Oakville)
- Terrell Owens, American football player (Alexander City)
- Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State
- Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder (Huntsville)
Related pages
References
- "Cheehahaw". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
- "Elevations and Distances in the United States". United States Geological Survey. 2001. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
- "State of Alabama". The Battle of Gettysburg. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
- Stephens, Challen (October 19, 2015). "A look at the languages spoken in Alabama and the drop in the Spanish speaking population". AL.com. Retrieved September 21, 2016.