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US state |
  Name            = Alabama |
  Fullname        = State of Alabama |
  Flag            = Alabama state flag.png |
  Flaglink      = Flag of Alabama |
  Seal            = Alabama state seal.png|
  Map             =
Map_of_USA_highlighting_Alabama.png |
  Nickname        = Camellia State, The Heart of
Dixie#Notes|¹, Yellowhammer State |
  Capital         = Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery
|
  OfficialLang    = English language|English |
  Languages       = English language|English
96.7%, Spanish language|Spanish 2.2% |
  LargestCity     = Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham
|
  Governor        = Bob Riley (Alabama)|Bob Riley
(R)|
  PostalAbbreviation = AL |
  AreaRank        = 30th |
  TotalArea       = 84,360 mi²/135,765 |
  LandArea        = 81,664 mi²/131,426 |
  WaterArea       = 2,696 mi²/4,338 |
  PCWater         = 3.20 |
  PopRank         = 23rd |
  2000Pop         = 4,447,100 |
  DensityRank     = 26th |
  2000Density     = 33.84 |
  AdmittanceOrder = 22nd |
  AdmittanceDate  = December 14, 1819 |
  TimeZone        = Central Standard Time
Zone|Central: UTC-6/Daylight saving time|DST-5 |
  Latitude        = 30°13'N to 35°N |
  Longitude       = 84°51'W to 88°28'W |
  Width           = 190 mi/306 |
  Length          = 330 mi/531 |
  HighestElev     = Mount Cheaha 2,408 ft/734 |
  MeanElev        = 499 ft/152 |
  LowestElev      = 0 ft/0 |
  ISOCode         = US-AL |
  Website         = www.alabama.gov

{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
style="float:right; clear:right; width:300px;
margin:0 0 1em 1em;" class="toccolours"
|List of U.S. state mottos|State motto||We Dare
Defend Our Rights
|-
|List of U.S. state birds|State bird||Northern
Flicker|Yellowhammer
|-
|List of U.S. state flowers|State flower||Camellia
|-
|List of U.S. state songs|State song||"Alabama
(song)|Alabama"
|-
|List of U.S. state trees|State tree||Longleaf
Pine
|-
|List of U.S. state spirits|State spirit||Conecuh
Ridge Whiskey|Conecuh Ridge
|}
Alabama is a U.S. state|state located in the U.S.
Southern States|southern United States.

== History ==
Main article: History of Alabama

Among Native American people once living in
present Alabama were Alabama (people)|Alabama
(Alibamu), Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek
(people)|Creek, Koasati, and Mobile
(people)|Mobile.

The France|French established the first European
settlement in the state with the establishment of
Mobile, Alabama|Mobile in 1701.  Southern Alabama
was French from 1701–1763, 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 Mississipi 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 and
became a Confederate States of America|Confederate
state on January 11, 1861.  While not many battles
were fought in the state, it contributed about
120,000 soldiers to the United States Civil
War|Civil War.  After the war a provisional
government was set up in 1865 and Alabama was
readmitted to the Union in June 1868.

== Law and government ==
Main article: Law and Government of Alabama

The current governor of the state is Bob Riley
(Alabama)|Bob Riley and the two U.S. senators are
Jeff Sessions|Jefferson B. Sessions III and
Richard Shelby|Richard C. Shelby (all three from
the United States Republican Party|Republican
Party).  The current Alabama Constitution was
adopted in 1901.

During Reconstruction following the American Civil
War,  was occupied by federal troops of the Third
Military District under John Pope (military
officer)|General John Pope. In 1877, the
Reconstruction period ended with the recognition
of Rutherford B. Hayes as President-elect. White
people|White Southerners assumed control of the
government and passed laws to
segregation|segregate and disenfranchise black
residents.  The state became part of the "Solid
South," a one-party system in which the Democratic
Party (United States)|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 Byrd.  In 1964, the national
Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party
began its "Southern strategy," a plan to support
segregation and oppose African American civil
rights to win votes in the South.  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 (region
of Alabama)|Black Belt counties, where African
Americans are in the majority.

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

== Geography ==
Main article: Geography of Alabama


Alabama is the 30th largest state in
the United States with 135,765 km2
(52,419 mi2) of total area.  3.2% of
that is water, making Alabama 23rd 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 foot (unit)|feet or 550 metre|meters in
the Appalachian mountains in the northeast.  The
highest point is Mount Cheaha.

== Economy ==
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 are poultry
and Egg (food)|eggs, cattle, nursery stock,
peanuts, cotton, vegetables, milk, and soybeans.
Its Industry|industrial outputs are paper, lumber
and wood products, mining, rubber and plastic
products, transportation equipment and apparel.

== Demographics ==
seesubarticle|Demographics of Alabama

{| class="toccolours" align="right"
cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin:0 0
1em 1em; font-size: 95%;"
|-
! colspan=2 bgcolor="#ccf" align="center"|
Historical populations
|-
! align="center"| Census
year !! align="right"|
Population
|-
| colspan=2|

|-
| align="center"| 1800 || align="right"| 1,250
|-
| align="center"| 1810 || align="right"| 9,046
|-
| align="center"| 1820 || align="right"| 127,901
|-
| align="center"| 1830 || align="right"| 309,527
|-
| align="center"| 1840 || align="right"| 590,756
|-
| align="center"| 1850 || align="right"| 771,623
|-
| align="center"| 1860 || align="right"| 964,201
|-
| align="center"| 1870 || align="right"| 996,992
|-
| align="center"| 1880 || align="right"| 1,262,505
|-
| align="center"| 1890 || align="right"| 1,513,401
|-
| align="center"| 1900 || align="right"| 1,828,697
|-
| align="center"| 1910 || align="right"| 2,138,093
|-
| align="center"| 1920 || align="right"| 2,348,174
|-
| align="center"| 1930 || align="right"| 2,646,248
|-
| align="center"| 1940 || align="right"| 2,832,961
|-
| align="center"| 1950 || align="right"| 3,061,743
|-
| align="center"| 1960 || align="right"| 3,266,740
|-
| align="center"| 1970 || align="right"| 3,444,165
|-
| align="center"| 1980 || align="right"| 3,893,888
|-
| align="center"| 1990 || align="right"| 4,040,587
|-
| align="center"| United States 2000 Census|2000
|| align="right"| 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===
The racial makeup of the state and comparison to
the prior census:
Racial_demographics_begin | year1=2000 |
year2=1990 
Racial_demographics_White | year1=71.1% |
year2=73.6% 
Racial_demographics_Black | year1=26.0% |
year2=25.3% 
Racial_demographics_Asian | year1=0.7% |
year2=0.5% 
Racial_demographics_Amerindian | year1=0.5% |
year2=0.4% 
Racial_demographics_Other | race=Other race |
year1=0.7% | year2=0.1% 
Racial_demographics_Mixed | year1=1.0% |
year2=* 
Racial_demographics_Hispanic | year1White=70.3% |
year2White=73.3% | year1Hispanic=1.7% |
year2Hispanic=0.6% 
Racial_demographics_end

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

===Religion===
The major religions of Alabama:

*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|List of colleges and universities in Alabama
{|
|-
| valign="top" |
*http://www.au.af.mil/ 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
| valign="top" |
*Spring Hill College
*Stillman College
*Talladega College
*Troy University System (formerly "Troy State
University System")
**Troy University|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
**University of Alabama|Main Campus (Tuscaloosa)
**University of Alabama at Birmingham|Birmingham
**University of Alabama at Huntsville|Huntsville
*University of Mobile
*University of Montevallo
*University of North Alabama
*University of South Alabama
*University of West Alabama
*Virginia College
|}

== Culture and interests ==

*Famous Alabamians
*Music of Alabama
*Alabama Public Television, state wide public TV
network
*List of television stations in Alabama
*Alabama Shakespeare Festival
*Rickwood Field
*Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
*Visionland Theme Park
*Vulcan statue



== References ==
*Pickett, Albert J. (1851) History of Alabama: And
Incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the
Earliest Period. Charleston, South Carolina:
Walker and James.
*Armes, Ethel. (1910) "The Story of Coal and Iron
in Alabama." Cambridge, Massachusetts: The
University Press.
*Adams, George I.; Butts, Charles; Stephenson, L.
W.; & Cooke, Wythe (1926). Geology of Alabama.
Geological Survey of Alabama, Special Report No.
14. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama
Press.
*Carmer, Carl. (1934) Stars Fell on Alabama. New
York, New York: The Literary Guild.
*Workers of the Writer's Program of the Works
Progress Administration. (1941) Alabama: A Guide
to the Deep South. American Guide Series.
Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama State Planning
Commission.
*U.S. Census Bureau.
**http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/01000.ht
ml Alabama QuickFacts.  Geographic and demographic
information.
**http://www.census.gov/population/documentation/t
wps0056/tab15.pdf Alabama - Race and Hispanic
Origin: 1800 to 1990 (Portable Document
Format|PDF)

== External Links ==
*http://alabama.gov/ Alabama.gov - Official
website.
*http://www.touralabama.org/ TourAlabama.org -
Alabama Department of Tourism and Travel
*http://www.archives.state.al.us/
Archives.state.al.us - Alabama Department of
Archives and History
**http://www.archives.state.al.us/aaa.html All
About Alabama at the Archives Department site
*http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeofAlabama/
1975/coatoc.htm Code of Alabama 1975 - at the
Alabama Legislature site
*http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/01000.htm
l Alabama QuickFacts from the U.S. Census Bureau

== Notes ==
¹ The phrase The Heart of Dixie is required
by state law to be included on standard state
license plates, but has recently been reduced to a
very small size and eclipsed by the phrase Stars
Fell on Alabama.

Alabama
United States