Alabama

This article is about the U.S. State; for other meanings, see Alabama (disambiguation).

State of Alabama

( Flag of Alabama) (Seal of Alabama)
State nickname: Camellia State, The Heart of Dixie, Yellowhammer State
Other U.S. States
Capital	Montgomery
Largest city	Birmingham
Governor	Bob Riley (R)
Senators	Richard Shelby (R) Jeff Sessions (R)
Official language(s)	English
Area	52,423 mi²/135,775 km² ( 30th)
- Land	50,750 mi²/131,442 km²
- Water	1,673 mi²/4,333 km² ( 3.19%)
Population (2000)
- Population	4,447,100 ( 23rd)
- Density	33.84 /km² ( 26th)
Admission into Union
- Date	December 14, 1819
- Order	22nd
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/DST-5
Latitude	30°13'N to 35°N
Longitude	84°51'W to 88°28'W
Width	190 mi/306 km
Length	330 mi/531 km
Elevation
- Highest point	Mount Cheaha 2,408 ft/734 m
- Mean	499 ft/152 m
- Lowest point	0 ft/0 m
Abbreviations
- USPS	AL
- ISO 3166-2	US-AL
Web site	www.alabama.gov/ www.alabama.gov

State motto	We Dare Defend Our Rights
State bird	Yellowhammer
State flower	Camellia
State song	"Alabama"
State tree	Longleaf Pine
State spirit	Conecuh Ridge
State reptile	Red-bellied turtle

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States.

History

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

The French established the first European settlement in the state with the establishment of Mobile in 1702. Southern Alabama was French from 1702-1763, part of British West Florida from 1763-1780, and part of Spanish West Florida from 1780-1814. Northern and central Alabama was part of British Georgia from 1763-1783 and part of the American Mississippi territory thereafter. Its statehood delayed by the lack of a coastline (rectified when Andrew Jackson captured Spanish Mobile in 1814), Alabama became the 22nd state in 1819.

The state of Alabama seceded from the Union on January 11, 1861 and became the Alabama Republic and on February 18 1861 became a Confederate state. While not many battles were fought in the state, it contributed about 120,000 soldiers to the Civil War. After the war a provisional government was set up in 1865 and Alabama was officially readmitted to the Union on July 14 1868.

The cradle of the Confederacy during the Civil War, Alabama was at stage center in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Law and government

Local & County Government

Political Climate

During Reconstruction following the American Civil War, Alabama was occupied by federal troops of the Third Military District under General John Pope. In 1877, the Reconstruction period ended with the recognition of Rutherford B. Hayes as President-elect. White Southerners assumed control of the government and 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.

From 1876 through 1956, Alabama supported only Democratic presidential candidates, by margins as high as 73 percentage points. In 1960, Alabama gave most of its electoral votes to segregationist candidate Harry F. Byrd. In 1964, the national Republican Party began to win more votes in the South by following a "Southern strategy" which emphasized "states' rights" and the increasing liberalism of the national Democratic Party. The first such candidate was conservative Barry Goldwater, who became the first Republican candidate supported by Alabama. In 1968, Alabama supported native son and American Independent Party (Segregationist) candidate George Wallace.

The last Democratic candidate to win Alabama's votes in a presidential election was Southerner Jimmy Carter in 1976. Today, the Republican party has become increasingly dominant in conservative Alabama politics. However, in local politics, Democrats still control many offices, including majorities in both houses of the Legislature, and registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state. 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.

• U.S. presidential election, 2004, in Alabama

Geography

Alabama is the 30^th largest state in the United States with 135,775 km² (52,423 mi²) of total area. 3.19% of that is water, making Alabama 23^rd in the amount of surface water. About three-fifths of the land area is a gentle Plain with a general incline towards the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Alabama generally ranges in Elevation from Sea level at Mobile Bay, to a little more than 1800 feet or 550 meters in the Appalachian mountains in the northeast. The highest point is Mount Cheaha.

Economy

Demographics

For more details on this topic, see Demographics of Alabama.

Historical populations
Censusyear \	Population
1800	1,250
1810	9,046
1820	127,901
1830	309,527
1840	590,756
1850	771,623
1860	964,201
1870	996,992
1880	1,262,505
1890	1,513,401
1900	1,828,697
1910	2,138,093
1920	2,348,174
1930	2,646,248
1940	2,832,961
1950	3,061,743
1960	3,266,740
1970	3,444,165
1980	3,893,888
1990	4,040,587
2000	4,447,100

As of 2004, Alabama's population was estimated to be 4,530,182. The state had 108,000 foreign-born (2.4% of the state population), of which an estimated 22.2% were illegal aliens (24,000).

Race and ancestry

Census year: \ 2000 \ 1990 White 71.1% 73.6% Black 26.0% 25.3% Asian 0.7% 0.5% Native American 0.5% 0.4% Other race 0.7% 0.1%

Notes: * Not available; mixed race was first reported in the census of 2000. ‡ Hispanics may be of any race and are included in applicable race categories.

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

Religion

• Christian – 92%
  • Protestant – 79%
    • Baptist – 49%
    • Methodist – 10%
    • Presbyterian – 3%
    • Episcopalian – 2%
    • Church of God – 2%
    • Church of Christ – 2%
    • Pentecostal – 2%
    • Lutheran – 2%
    • Other Protestant – 7%
  • Catholic – 13%
• Other religions – 1%
• Non-religious – 7%

Colleges and Universities (incomplete)

Main article: List of colleges and universities in Alabama

Air University Alabama A&M University Alabama State University Andrew Jackson University Athens State University Auburn University Auburn University at Montgomery Birmingham-Southern College Concordia College-Selma Faulkner University Heritage Christian University Huntingdon College Jacksonville State University Judson College Miles College Oakwood College Samford University Selma University Southeastern Bible College Southern Christian University

Spring Hill College Stillman College Talladega College Troy University System (formerly "Troy State University System") Main Campus (Troy) Troy University at Dothan Troy University at Montgomery Troy University at Phenix City Tuskegee University United States Sports Academy University of Alabama System Main Campus (Tuscaloosa) Birmingham Huntsville University of Mobile University of Montevallo University of North Alabama University of South Alabama University of West Alabama Virginia College

Culture and interests