Alabama

Welcome to our **Wiki** about Alabama!!!
 * Hi folks!** Do you want to learn something about Alabama? Well, here`s your chance!

Hope you enjoy it! Best regards, Mats and Mads.

**__ ALABAMA __**


 * __BASIC FACTS__**

Alabama is one of 50 states in America. It is also called Yellowhammer which is the name of the of the state bird. It`s located in the south of USA. It`s bordered to Tennessee from north, Georgia to east, Florida and Gulf of Mexico in the south and Mississippi in the west. Alabama has around 4.6 million citizens. That’s about the same as whole of Norway. The capital o  f Alabama is Montgomery, but the largest city is Birmingham. The largest city by land area is Huntsville, while the oldest is Mobile. Alabama is ranked as the 30th largest state of America. The flag of Alabama is similar to England’s, but with a red “x” instead of a cross. Alabama’s flag was first shown in 1895.


 * __HISTORY__**

Alabama was first founded by the Native Americans which were known as Alibamu, and was the basis for the name Alabama. Around 1700, the French settled down in this area, and called it Mobile (this lasted for around 60 years). Later, the British owned the state until 1780. In the 1820s and 1830s a large cotton production started. This was a big success because most of the people working there were African-American slaves. Actually about 45% of Alabama`s population were slaves. There were only 2690 free coloured people. When the Civil war erupted, Alabama managed to send over 120000 soldiers, but few battles emerged in Alabama. By 1865 all slaves were freed. Alabama has also through history suffered economic problems, but after WW2, Alabama recovered from the problems due higher production rate.


 * __RELIGION__**

In Alabama 92% of the population is Christians. This comes from the British Empire. Out of these 92% about 2/3 believe in the Christian faith. About 1/3 call them self Christians because they have been baptised or goes to church. So many people call themselves Christians because Christianity is a tradition for them, while about 45% go to church and believe in the name of Jesus. About 80% are Protestants. In Alabama 8% are Catholics and 11% do not have a religion. So most of them are Protestants and believe what Martin Luther said. Churches in Alabama are amazing, In Alabama the preachers talk loud and they have Gospel music. At meetings they dance and praise the lord.


 * __STATE POLITICS__**

The president in America is Barack Obama. He is the first coloured President through times. When he was voted as the new president of America, people from all states including Alabama danced at the streets. The governor in Alabama is a Republican named Bob Riley (2004.) The fact that he is a Republican is not strange. Over the past 50 years around 55-60% of all citizens in Alabama has voted for the Republican side. This is because Alabama is a south State. The lieutenant governor is Jim Folsom Jr. The Chief of Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court is Sue bell Cobb. She is a Democrat. From 1901 to 1960 Alabama failed to get people to live outside the city. Instead more people moved in and they were on their way to be overcrowded. Most of the people that moved were black people. In 1960 they got some of the same rights as white people. Many famous people are linked to Alabama, one of them is Rosa Parks (born in Alabama), which refused to give up her seat on a bus fora white man. When this happened, black people didn`t ride the bus on Monday. Thanks to this, Black people were later given the same rights as the white. This was a huge step up for the African-American People.
 * __SIMILARITIES__**

Alabama and Great Britain are celebrating Christmas, valentine and Halloween. As I mentioned earlier Alabama is a Christian state. This is because of the British Empire which ruled form the 17th century until the end of WW2. They both have the same culture. Alabama also have a governor who comes from Great Britain.


 * __GEOGRAPHY__**

Alabama lies in the south-east of USA and is the thirtieth largest state of USA with 135,775 km2. 3.19% of Alabama is covered with water, which is making it the twenty-third state of America in amount of water. About three fifths of Alabama is a gentle plain, while the northern region of Alabama is mostly mountains. Alabama’s tallest point is Mount Cheaha, which is about 730metres. Alabama also has a lot of forests, 67% of the land area are covered with woods. There are 67 counties in Alabama, and the 5 largest cities are Montgomery, Birmingham, Mobile, Huntsville and Tuscaloosa.


 * __ATTRACTIONS__**

Alabama has also got a lot of attractions; mostly of them are National Parks. Among Alabama’s parks are “Horseshoe Bend National Military Park”, “Little River Canyon National Preserve” and “Russell Cave National Monument”. But Alabama’s most precious attraction is a 5mile wide meteorite crater which is located in Elmore County. It is called “Wetumpka crater” and was created about 80 million years ago when a 1000foot meteorite hit the area.


 * __CLIMATE__**

The climate of Alabama is average compared to other American states with a normal temperature of 18 °C. The climate is slightly warmer in the southern regions of Alabama, with hot summers and mild winters. The summers of Alabama are among Americas hottest with an average temperature of 32 °C. But Alabama is also vulnerable against tropical storms and hurricanes, but luckily, these weather phenomenons are quite r  are. Storms on the other hand is quite  common in Alabama, it is reported that it rains and even hails more in Alabama than any other state in the USA.


 * __ECONOMY OF ALABAMA__**

The products Alabama ship out of their state are: poultry, eggs, cattle plant nursery items, peanuts, cotton, grain, vegetables, milk, soybeans and peaches. This large amount of shipment has made Alabama a rich and wealthy state. Most of the Alabaman industry is based on iron and steel productions. Other industry productions are paper, lumber and wood, mining (coal), plastic, cars and trucks, and clothes.


 * __EDUCATION__**

Alabama’s public schools are controlled by Alabama State Board of Education, but even after lots of improvement, Alabama’s school system is among the worst in USA. While the primary and secondary schools are quite bad, Alabama’s colleges and universities are very good. They got 14 four years universities, a lot of two years universities, and 17 private universities.


 * __SPORT__**

Alabama also has got professional sport teams, in such sports as baseball, ice hockey, football and soccer. The major sport in Alabama is (like every state in USA) baseball. Alabama got 4 professional baseball teams: “Birmingham Barons”, “Huntsville Stars”, “Mobile BayBears” and “Montgomery Biscuits”. In Ice hockey, they got Huntsville Havoc; in Football they got Alabama Renegades, while in Soccer they got Rocket City United.


 * __LANGUAGE__**

Alabama’s official language is English. As an American state, the reason they are speaking English is because Great Britain had lots of colonies in America early 1600. And after a while, America has created an American English, similar to original English, but with a different accent. When USA won the war against England in late 1700, American English became the official language of America. And since Alabama is a southern state, their version of American English got another accent which is normal in the southern states. About 96% of Alabama speak English, while 2% speak Spanish.

The state-flower in Alabama is called camellia. It`s been the official state flower since 1959. The state bird is called yellowhammer and that’s how Alabama got its nickname. The official three in Alabama is longleaf. It`s been the state three since 1949. The fish that is the easiest to get in Alabama in salt water is “Fighting Tarpon”. In freshwater it`s “Largemouth Bass”. The official horse is “Racking Horse”. The mineral that Alabama have lots of is hematite. It`s kind of like iron, but not quite. The national rock is marble. Alabama have a game bird, which is called “Wild Turkey”. Alabama is known for square dance. Square dance is when people dance and move like they walk on a line that`s squared. In Alabama they sell all sorts of nuts, and “pecan” is Alabama`s favourite. The official mascot is “Eastern Tiger Swallowtail”; a butterfly that lives in the south states also got the same name.
 * __GOOD TO KNOW__**

The capitol in Alabama (Montgomery) is the largest town in Alabama. It has about 200 000 citizens (2000). At first it was two towns that where close to each other by the Alabama River. But they were made to one large town. In 1846 it was decided that Montgomery would be the capitol of Alabama. It has a total area of 152.5 square miles (402 km2). Montgomery also got a morning newspaper called “Montgomery Advertiser”. Marin Luther King also visited Montgomery through his lifetime, trying to make Montgomery to treat black and white equally, and to get rid of the rule that didn’t allowed the black to vote. This was successful and today most of Alabama’s racist view towards the black people is gone.
 * __CAPITAL__**

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