Alabama
Map of US with Alabama highlighted

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Abbreviation AL
Source: United States Postal Service - Abbreviations
Capital Montgomery
Population 4,779,736
Source: Resident Population Data - 2010 Census
Governor Robert Bentley (Republican, to January 2015)
Entered the Union December 14, 1819
as the 22nd state
Motto Audemus Jura Nostra Defendere (We Dare Defend Our Rights)
Nickname The Heart of Dixie, The Cotton State, The Yellowhammer State
Flower Camellia
Bird Yellowhammer
Song "Alabama"
Professional Sports Teams No NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS, or NHL teams.
(sports listing policy)
Origin of Name May come from Choctaw word meaning "thicket-clearers" or "vegetation-gatherers"
Historical Sites Montgomery, founding site of the Confederate States of America in 1861, and later the site of the Montgomery bus boycotts in the 1950s and 1960s; Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in downtown Montgomery, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., served as minister; the Tuskegee Institute, founded by Booker T. Washington in 1881
Points of Interest Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller in Tuscambia; the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville; and the White House of the Confederacy in Montgomery
Bordering States Alabama borders Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
Flag Alabama's flag

Follow these links to read articles about Alabama from Encyclopedias and Almanacs:

Offical State Links

Other State Links

  • 50states.com: Alabama
    http://www.50states.com/alabama.htm
    The site provides a wealth of information about Alabama. It includes everything from the highest point to county profile to climate.
  • Things To Do in Alabama
    http://www.thingstodo.com/states/AL/index.htm
    ThingsToDo.com is an online guide to information about Alabama's entertainment, recreation, and travel, and includes the state's interesting facts, famous people, and special events.
  • Roadside America: Alabama Attractions
    http://www.roadsideamerica.com/map/al.html
    Roadside America describes itself as an online guide to offbeat attractions. This site offers reviews of "weird sites along the highway" in Alabama.
  • The Alabama Information Directory
    http://www.alabamainfo.com/
    This site provides information on Alabama business, education, government, history, tourism, weather, cities, and media.
  • FedStats: MapStat: United States: Alabama
    http://www.fedstats.gov/qf/states/01000.html
    Fast access to statistics from more than 100 federal agencies on "economic and population trends, crime, education, health care, aviation safety, energy use, farm production and more" in Alabama.
  • The reason Alabama is called the "Heart of Dixie" originally had nothing to do with Alabama! Before the Civil War (1861-1865), the Citizens Bank of Louisiana issued $10 notes that bore the French word "dix" meaning 10. This led to the South becoming known as Dixieland, and since Alabama served as the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War, it became known as the "Heart of Dixie."
  • The first statue ever erected in honor of an insect pest, Boll Weevil Monument, is in Enterprise.
  • The Women's Army Corp Museum at Fort McClellan, in Anniston, is the only museum in the world dedicated to women in the military.
  • Dothan is the Peanut capital of the World, and fifty percent of all the peanuts produced in the U.S. are grown within 100 miles of Dothan.

Some Famous People from this State

  • Hank Aaron, baseball player
  • George Washington Carver, educator and agricultural chemist at Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute
  • Nat King Cole, 1917-1965, pianist and singer
  • Helen Keller, 1880-1968, author and educator about blindness
  • Coretta Scott King, civil rights leader (with her husband, Martin Luther King, Jr.)
  • Rosa Parks, 1913- , civil rights leader who refused to give up her bus seat to a white man
  • Tuscaloosa, Choctaw chief