History:
Spanish explorers are believed to have arrived at Mobile Bay in 1519, and the territory was visited in 1540 by the explorer Hernando de Soto. The first permanent European settlement in Alabama was founded by the French at Fort Louis de la Mobile in 1702. The British gained control of the area in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris but had to cede almost all the Alabama region to the U.S. and Spain after the American Revolution. The Confederacy was founded at Montgomery in Feb. 1861, and, for a time, the city was the Confederate capital.
During the later 19th century, the economy of the state slowly improved with industrialization. At Tuskegee Institute, founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington, Dr. George Washington Carver carried out his famous agricultural research.
In the 1950s and '60s, Alabama was the site of such landmark civil-rights actions as the bus boycott in Montgomery (1955–56) and the “Freedom March” from Selma to Montgomery (1965).
Today paper, chemicals, rubber and plastics, apparel and textiles, primary metals, and automobile manufacturing constitute the leading industries of Alabama. Continuing as a major manufacturer of coal, iron, and steel, Birmingham is also noted for its world-renowned medical center. The state ranks high in the production of poultry, soybeans, milk, vegetables, livestock, wheat, cattle, cotton, peanuts, fruits, hogs, and corn.
Points of interest: The Helen Keller birthplace at Tuscumbia, the Space and Rocket Center at Huntsville, the White House of the Confederacy, the restored state Capitol, the Civil Rights Memorial, the Rosa Parks Museum & Library, and the Shakespeare Festival Theater Complex in Montgomery; the Civil Rights Institute and the McWane Center in Birmingham; the Russell Cave near Bridgeport; the Bellingrath Gardens at Theodore; the USS Alabama at Mobile; Mound State Monument near Tuscaloosa; and the Gulf Coast area.
Famous natives and residents:
Hank Aaron: Baseball Player;
Ralph Abernathy : Civil Rights Activist;
Tallulah Bankhead : Actress;
Hugo L. Black : Jurist;
George Washington Carver : Educator, Agricultural Chemist;
Nat “King” Cole : Entertainer;
Marva Collins : Educator;
Kenneth Gibson: First Black Mayor of a Major Eastern City (Newark);
Lionel Hampton : Jazz Musician;
W. C. Handy : Composer;
Courtney Cox-Arquette : Actress;
Helen Keller : Author and Educator;
Coretta Scott King : Civil Rights Leader;
Harper Lee : Writer;
Joe Louis : Boxer;
Willie Mays : Baseball Player;
Jim Nabors : Actor, Singer;
Jesse Owens : Athlete;
Rosa Parks : Civil Rights Activist;
Wayne Rogers : Actor;
Tascaluza Choctaw: Chief;
George Wallace : Governor;
William Weatherford : (Red Eagle) Creek Leader;
Heather Whitestone : Miss America (1995).
Capital: Montgomery
Governor: Bob Riley, R (to Jan. 2007)
Lieut. Governor: Lucy Baxley, D (to Jan. 2007)
Senators: Jeff Sessions, R (to Jan. 2009); Richard C. Shelby, R (to Jan. 2005)
Secy. of State: Nancy Worley, D (to Jan. 2007)
Treasurer: Kay Ivey, R (to Jan. 2007)
Atty. General: William Pryor, R (to Jan. 2007)
Organized as territory: March 3, 1817
Entered Union (rank): Dec. 14, 1819 (22)
Present constitution adopted: 1901
Motto: Audemus jura nostra defendere (We dare defend our rights)
State Symbols:
Flower: Camellia (1959)
Bird: Yellowhammer (1927)
Song: “Alabama” (1931)
Tree: Southern longleaf pine (1949, 1997)
Salt water fish: Fighting tarpon (1955)
Fresh water fish: Largemouth bass (1975)
Horse: racking horse (1975)
Mineral: hematite (1967)
Rock: marble (1969)
Game bird: Wild turkey (1980)
Dance: Square dance (1981)
Nut: pecan (1982)
Fossil species: Basilosaurus Cetoides (1984)
Official mascot and butterfly: Eastern tiger swallowtail (1989)
Insect: Monarch butterfly (1989)
Reptile: Alabama red-bellied turtle (1990)
Gemstone: star blue quartz (1990)
Shell: Scaphella junonia johnstoneae (1990)
Nickname: Yellowhammer State
Origin of name: May come from Choctaw meaning “thicket-clearers” or “vegetation-gatherers”
10 largest cities (2000): Birmingham, 242,820; Montgomery, 201,568; Mobile, 198,915; Huntsville, 158,216; Tuscaloosa, 77,906; Hoover, 62,742; Dothan, 57,737; Decatur, 53,929; Auburn, 42,987; Gadsden, 38,978
Land area: 50,744 sq mi. (131,427 sq km)
Geographic center: In Chilton Co., 12 mi. SW of Clanton
Number of counties: 67
Largest county by population and area: Jefferson, 659,743 (2001); Baldwin, 1,596 sq mi.
State forests: 21 (48,000 ac.)
State parks: 22 (45,614 ac.)
Residents: Alabamian, Alabaman
2002 resident population est.: 4,486,508
2000 resident census population (rank): 4,447,100 (23). Male: 2,146,504 (48.3%); Female: 2,300,596 (51.7%). White: 3,162,808 (71.1%); Black: 1,155,930 (26.0%); American Indian: 22,430 (0.5%); Asian: 31,346 (0.7%); Other race: 28,998 (0.7%); Two or more races: 44,179 (1.0%); Hispanic/Latino: 75,830 (1.7%). 2000 percent population 18 and over: 74.7; 65 and over: 13.0; median age: 35.8.
