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increase albedo when it condenses into clouds. Scientists generally treat evapotranspiration as a net cooling impact, and the net climate impact of albedo and evapotranspiration changes from deforestation depends greatly on local climate. In seasonally snowcovered zones, winter albedos of treeless areas are 10 to 50 higher than nearby forested areas because snow does not cover the trees as readily. Deciduous trees have an albedo value of about 0.15 to 0.18 whereas coniferous trees have a value of about 0.09 to 0.15. Variation in summer albedo across both forest types is associated with maximum rates of photosynthesis because plants with high growth capacity display a greater fraction of their foliage for direct interception of incoming radiation in the upper canopy. The result is that wavelengths of light not used in photosynthesis are more likely to be reflected back to space rather than being absorbed by other surfaces lower in the canopy. Studies by the Hadley Centre have investigated the relative gener

ally warming effect of albedo change and cooling effect of carbon sequestration on planting forests. They found that new forests in tropical and midlatitude areas tended to cool; new forests in high latitudes e.g., Siberia were neutral or perhaps warming. Water Water reflects light very differently from typical terrestrial materials. The reflectivity of a water surface is calculated using the Fresnel equations. At the scale of the wavelength of light even wavy water is always smooth so the light is reflected in a locally specular manner not diffusely. The glint of light off water is a commonplace effect of this. At small angles of incident light, waviness results in reduced reflectivity because of the steepness of the reflectivityvs.incidentangle curve and a locally increased average incident angle. Although the reflectivity of water is very low at low and medium angles of incident light, it becomes very high at high angles of incident light such as those that occur on the illuminated side of Earth near t

he terminator early morning, late afternoon, and near the poles. However, as mentioned above, waviness causes an appreciable reduction. Because light specularly reflected from water does not usually reach the viewer, water is usually considered to have a very low albedo in spite of its high reflectivity at high angles of incident light. Note that white caps on waves look white and have high albedo because the water is foamed up, so there are many superimposed bubble surfaces which reflect, adding up their reflectivities. Fresh 'black' ice exhibits Fresnel reflection. Snow on top of this sea ice increases the albedo to 0.9. Clouds Cloud albedo has substantial influence over atmospheric temperatures. Different types of clouds exhibit different reflectivity, theoretically ranging in albedo from a minimum of near 0 to a maximum approaching 0.8. "On any given day, about half of Earth is covered by clouds, which reflect more sunlight than land and water. Clouds keep Earth cool by reflecting sunlight, but they can

also serve as blankets to trap warmth." Albedo and climate in some areas are affected by artificial clouds, such as those created by the contrails of heavy commercial airliner traffic. A study following the burning of the Kuwaiti oil fields during Iraqi occupation showed that temperatures under the burning oil fires were as much as colder than temperatures several miles away under clear skies. Aerosol effects Aerosols very fine particlesdroplets in the atmosphere have both direct and indirect effects on Earth's radiative balance. The direct albedo effect is generally to cool the planet; the indirect effect the particles act as cloud condensation nuclei and thereby change cloud properties is less certain. As per Spracklen et al. the effects are Aerosol direct effect. Aerosols directly scatter and absorb radiation. The scattering of radiation causes atmospheric cooling, whereas absorption can cause atmospheric warming. Aerosol indirect effect. Aerosols modify the properties of clouds through a subset of t

he aerosol population called cloud condensation nuclei. Increased nuclei concentrations lead to increased cloud droplet number concentrations, which in turn leads to increased cloud albedo, increased light scattering and radiative cooling first indirect effect, but also leads to reduced precipitation efficiency and increased lifetime of the cloud second indirect effect. In extremely polluted cities like Delhi, aerosol pollutants influence local weather and induce an urban cool island effect during the day. Black carbon Another albedorelated effect on the climate is from black carbon particles. The size of this effect is difficult to quantify the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that the global mean radiative forcing for black carbon aerosols from fossil fuels is 0.2 W m2, with a range 0.1 to 0.4 W m2. Black carbon is a bigger cause of the melting of the polar ice cap in the Arctic than carbon dioxide due to its effect on the albedo. Human activities Human activities e.g., deforestation,

farming, and urbanization change the albedo of various areas around the globe. However, quantification of this effect on the global scale is difficult, further study is required to determine anthropogenic effects. Albedo in Astronomy In astronomy, the term albedo can be defined in several different ways, depending upon the application and the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation involved. Optical or Visual Albedo The albedos of planets, satellites and minor planets such as asteroids can be used to infer much about their properties. The study of albedos, their dependence on wavelength, lighting angle "phase angle", and variation in time composes a major part of the astronomical field of photometry. For small and far objects that cannot be resolved by telescopes, much of what we know comes from the study of their albedos. For example, the absolute albedo can indicate the surface ice content of outer Solar System objects, the variation of albedo with phase angle gives information about regolith properties,

whereas unusually high radar albedo is indicative of high metal content in asteroids. Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, has one of the highest known optical albedos of any body in the Solar System, with an albedo of 0.99. Another notable highalbedo body is Eris, with an albedo of 0.96. Many small objects in the outer Solar System and asteroid belt have low albedos down to about 0.05. A typical comet nucleus has an albedo of 0.04. Such a dark surface is thought to be indicative of a primitive and heavily space weathered surface containing some organic compounds. The overall albedo of the Moon is measured to be around 0.14, but it is strongly directional and nonLambertian, displaying also a strong opposition effect. Although such reflectance properties are different from those of any terrestrial terrains, they are typical of the regolith surfaces of airless Solar System bodies. Two common optical albedos that are used in astronomy are the Vband geometric albedo measuring brightness when illumination comes from d

irectly behind the observer and the Bond albedo measuring total proportion of electromagnetic energy reflected. Their values can differ significantly, which is a common source of confusion. In detailed studies, the directional reflectance properties of astronomical bodies are often expressed in terms of the five Hapke parameters which semiempirically describe the variation of albedo with phase angle, including a characterization of the opposition effect of regolith surfaces. One of these five parameters is yet another type of albedo called the singlescattering albedo. It is used to define scattering of electromagnetic waves on small particles. It depends on properties of the material refractive index, the size of the particle, and the wavelength of the incoming radiation. An important relationship between an object's astronomical geometric albedo, absolute magnitude and diameter is given by where is the astronomical albedo, is the diameter in kilometers, and is the absolute magnitude. Radar Albedo In

planetary radar astronomy, a microwave or radar pulse is transmitted toward a planetary target e.g. Moon, asteroid, etc. and the echo from the target is measured. In most instances, the transmitted pulse is circularly polarized and the received pulse is measured in the same sense of polarization as the transmitted pulse SC and the opposite sense OC. The echo power is measured in terms of radar crosssection, , , or total power, SC OC and is equal to the crosssectional area of a metallic sphere perfect reflector at the same distance as the target that would return the same echo power. Those components of the received echo that return from firstsurface reflections as from a smooth or mirrorlike surface are dominated by the OC component as there is a reversal in polarization upon reflection. If the surface is rough at the wavelength scale or there is significant penetration into the regolith, there will be a significant SC component in the echo caused by multiple scattering. For most objects in the solar syst

em, the OC echo dominates and the most commonly reported radar albedo parameter is the normalized OC radar albedo often shortened to radar albedo where the denominator is the effective crosssectional area of the target object with mean radius, . A smooth metallic sphere would have . Radar Albedos of Solar System Objects The values reported for the Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Comet P2005 JQ5 are derived from the total OCSC radar albedo reported in those references. Relationship to Surface Bulk Density In the event that most of the echo is from first surface reflections or so, the OC radar albedo is a firstorder approximation of the Fresnel reflection coefficient aka reflectivity and can be used to estimate the bulk density of a planetary surface to a depth of a meter or so a few wavelengths of the radar wavelength which is typically at the decimeter scale using the following empirical relationships . See also Cool roof Daisyworld Emissivity Exitance Global dimming Irradiance Kirchhoff's l

aw of thermal radiation Opposition surge Polar seesaw Radar astronomy Solar radiation management References External links Albedo Project Albedo Encyclopedia of Earth NASA MODIS BRDFalbedo product site Ocean surface albedo lookuptable Surface albedo derived from Meteosat observations A discussion of Lunar albedos reflectivity of metals chart Land surface effects on climate Climate change feedbacks Climate forcing Climatology Electromagnetic radiation Radiometry Scattering, absorption and radiative transfer optics Radiation 1760s neologisms

A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the modern English alphabet and the ISO basic Latin alphabet. Its name in English is a pronounced , plural aes. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version can be written in two forms the doublestorey a and singlestorey . The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type. In the English grammar, "a", and its variant "an", are indefinite articles. History The earliest certain ancestor of "A" is aleph also written 'aleph, the first letter of the Phoenician alphabet, which consisted entirely of consonants for that reason, it is also called an abjad to distinguish it from a true alphabet. In turn, the ancestor of aleph may have been a pictogram of an ox head in protoSinaitic script influence

d by Egyptian hieroglyphs, styled as a triangular head with two horns extended. When the ancient Greeks adopted the alphabet, they had no use for a letter to represent the glottal stopthe consonant sound that the letter denoted in Phoenician and other Semitic languages, and that was the first phoneme of the Phoenician pronunciation of the letterso they used their version of the sign to represent the vowel , and called it by the similar name of alpha. In the earliest Greek inscriptions after the Greek Dark Ages, dating to the 8th century BC, the letter rests upon its side, but in the Greek alphabet of later times it generally resembles the modern capital letter, although many local varieties can be distinguished by the shortening of one leg, or by the angle at which the cross line is set. The Etruscans brought the Greek alphabet to their civilization in the Italian Peninsula and left the letter unchanged. The Romans later adopted the Etruscan alphabet to write the Latin language, and the resulting letter was

preserved in the Latin alphabet that would come to be used to write many languages, including English. Typographic variants During Roman times, there were many variant forms of the letter "A". First was the monumental or lapidary style, which was used when inscribing on stone or other "permanent" media. There was also a cursive style used for everyday or utilitarian writing, which was done on more perishable surfaces. Due to the "perishable" nature of these surfaces, there are not as many examples of this style as there are of the monumental, but there are still many surviving examples of different types of cursive, such as majuscule cursive, minuscule cursive, and semicursive minuscule. Variants also existed that were intermediate between the monumental and cursive styles. The known variants include the early semiuncial, the uncial, and the later semiuncial. At the end of the Roman Empire 5th century AD, several variants of the cursive minuscule developed through Western Europe. Among these were the semi

cursive minuscule of Italy, the Merovingian script in France, the Visigothic script in Spain, and the Insular or AngloIrish semiuncial or AngloSaxon majuscule of Great Britain. By the 9th century, the Caroline script, which was very similar to the presentday form, was the principal form used in bookmaking, before the advent of the printing press. This form was derived through a combining of prior forms. 15thcentury Italy saw the formation of the two main variants that are known today. These variants, the Italic and Roman forms, were derived from the Caroline Script version. The Italic form, also called script a, is used in most current handwriting; it consists of a circle and vertical stroke on the right "". This slowly developed from the fifthcentury form resembling the Greek letter tau in the hands of medieval Irish and English writers. The Roman form is used in most printed material; it consists of a small loop with an arc over it "a". Both derive from the majuscule capital form. In Greek handwriting, it

was common to join the left leg and horizontal stroke into a single loop, as demonstrated by the uncial version shown. Many fonts then made the right leg vertical. In some of these, the serif that began the right leg stroke developed into an arc, resulting in the printed form, while in others it was dropped, resulting in the modern handwritten form. Graphic designers refer to the Italic and Roman forms as "single decker a" and "double decker a" respectively. Italic type is commonly used to mark emphasis or more generally to distinguish one part of a text from the rest set in Roman type. There are some other cases aside from italic type where script a "", also called Latin alpha, is used in contrast with Latin "a" such as in the International Phonetic Alphabet. Use in writing systems English In modern English orthography, the letter represents at least seven different vowel sounds the nearopen front unrounded vowel as in pad; the open back unrounded vowel as in father, which is closer to its original La

tin and Greek sound; the diphthong as in ace and major usually when is followed by one, or occasionally two, consonants and then another vowel letter this results from Middle English lengthening followed by the Great Vowel Shift; the modified form of the above sound that occurs before , as in square and Mary; the rounded vowel of water; the shorter rounded vowel not present in General American in was and what; a schwa, in many unstressed syllables, as in about, comma, solar. The double sequence does not occur in native English words, but is found in some words derived from foreign languages such as Aaron and aardvark. However, occurs in many common digraphs, all with their own sound or sounds, particularly , , , , and . is the thirdmostcommonly used letter in English after and and French, the second most common in Spanish, and the most common in Portuguese. About 8.167 of letters used in English texts tend to be ; the number is around 7.636 in French, 11.525 in Spanish, and 14.634 for Portuguese.

Other languages In most languages that use the Latin alphabet, denotes an open unrounded vowel, such as , , or . An exception is Saanich, in which and the glyph stands for a closemid front unrounded vowel . Other systems In phonetic and phonemic notation in the International Phonetic Alphabet, is used for the open front unrounded vowel, is used for the open central unrounded vowel, and is used for the open back unrounded vowel. in XSAMPA, is used for the open front unrounded vowel and is used for the open back unrounded vowel. Other uses In algebra, the letter a along with various other letters of the alphabet is often used to denote a variable, with various conventional meanings in different areas of mathematics. Moreover, in 1637, Ren Descartes "invented the convention of representing unknowns in equations by x, y, and z, and knowns by a, b, and c", and this convention is still often followed, especially in elementary algebra. In geometry, capital A, B, C etc. are used to denote segments, lines

, rays, etc. A capital A is also typically used as one of the letters to represent an angle in a triangle, the lowercase a representing the side opposite angle A. "A" is often used to denote something or someone of a better or more prestigious quality or status A, A or A, the best grade that can be assigned by teachers for students' schoolwork; "A grade" for clean restaurants; Alist celebrities, etc. Such associations can have a motivating effect, as exposure to the letter A has been found to improve performance, when compared with other letters. "A" is used as a prefix on some words, such as asymmetry, to mean "not" or "without" from Greek. In English grammar, "a", and its variant "an", is an indefinite article, used to introduce noun phrases. Finally, the letter A is used to denote size, as in a narrow size shoe, or a small cup size in a brassiere. Related characters Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet Latin AE ligature A with diacritics

A a Phonetic alphabet symbols related to A the International Phonetic Alphabet only uses lowercase, but uppercase forms are used in some other writing systems Latin letter alpha script A, which represents an open back unrounded vowel in the IPA Latin small letter alpha with retroflex hook Turned A, which represents a nearopen central vowel in the IPA Turned V also called a wedge, a caret, or a hat, which represents an openmid back unrounded vowel in the IPA Turned alpha script A, which represents an open back rounded vowel in the IPA Modifier letter small turned alpha Small capital A, an obsolete or nonstandard symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet used to represent various sounds mainly open vowels A a Modifier letters are used in the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet UPA sometimes encoded with Unicode subscripts and superscripts a Subscript small a is used in IndoEuropean studies Small letter a reversedschwa is used in the Teuthonista phonetic transcripti

on system Glottal A, used in the transliteration of Ugaritic Derived signs, symbols and abbreviations an ordinal indicator ngstrm sign a turned capital letter A, used in predicate logic to specify universal quantification "for all" At sign Argentine austral Ancestors and siblings in other alphabets Semitic letter Aleph, from which the following symbols originally derive Greek letter Alpha, from which the following letters derive Cyrillic letter A Coptic letter Alpha Old Italic A, which is the ancestor of modern Latin A Runic letter ansuz, which probably derives from old Italic A Gothic letter azaasks Armenian letter Ayb Computing codes 1 Other representations Notes Footnotes References External links History of the Alphabet ISO basic Latin letters Vowel letters

Alabama is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered by Tennessee to the north; Georgia to the east; Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south; and Mississippi to the west. Alabama is the 30th largest by area and the 24thmost populous of the U.S. states. With a total of of inland waterways, Alabama has among the most of any state. Alabama is nicknamed the Yellowhammer State, after the state bird. Alabama is also known as the "Heart of Dixie" and the "Cotton State". The state tree is the longleaf pine, and the state flower is the camellia. Alabama's capital is Montgomery, and its largest city by population and area is Huntsville. Its oldest city is Mobile, founded by French colonists in 1702 as the capital of French Louisiana. Greater Birmingham is Alabama's largest metropolitan area and its economic center. Originally home to many native tribes, presentday Alabama was a Spanish territory beginning in the sixteenth century until the French acquired it in the early eighteenth centu

ry. The British won the territory in 1763 until losing it in the American Revolutionary War. Spain held Mobile as part of Spanish West Florida until 1813. In December 1819, Alabama was recognized as a state. During the antebellum period, Alabama was a major producer of cotton, and widely used African American slave labor. In 1861, the state seceded from the United States to become part of the Confederate States of America, with Montgomery acting as its first capital, and rejoined the Union in 1868. Following the American Civil War, Alabama would suffer decades of economic hardship, in part due to agriculture and a few cash crops being the main driver of the states economy. Similar to other former slave states, Alabamian legislators employed Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise and discriminate against African Americans from the late 19th century up until the 1960s. In the early 20th century, despite the growth of major industries and urban centers, white rural interests dominated the state legislature through th

e mid20th century. During this time, urban interests and African Americans were markedly underrepresented. Highprofile events such as the Selma to Montgomery march made the state a major focal point of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. During and after World War II, Alabama grew as the state's economy diversified with new industries. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville would help Alabama's economic growth in the midtolate 20th century, by developing an aerospace industry. Alabama's economy in the 21st century is based on automotive, finance, tourism, manufacturing, aerospace, mineral extraction, healthcare, education, retail, and technology. The state's geography is diverse, with the north dominated by the mountainous Tennessee Valley and the south by Mobile Bay, a historically significant port. Politically, as part of the Deep South, Alabama is predominantly a conservative state, and culturally is known for its Southern culture. Within Alabama, American football, particularly a

t the college level at schools such as the University of Alabama, Auburn University, Alabama AM University, Alabama State University, Troy University, the University of South Alabama, and Jacksonville State University, play a major part of the state's culture. Etymology The EuropeanAmerican naming of the Alabama River and state was derived from the Alabama people, a Muskogeanspeaking tribe whose members lived just below the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers on the upper reaches of the river. In the Alabama language, the word for a person of Alabama lineage is or variously or in different dialects; the plural form is . The suggestion that "Alabama" was borrowed from the Choctaw language is unlikely. The word's spelling varies significantly among historical sources. The first usage appears in three accounts of the Hernando de Soto expedition of 1540 Garcilaso de la Vega used , while the Knight of Elvas and Rodrigo Ranjel wrote Alibamu and Limamu, respectively, in transliterations of the term. As

early as 1702, the French called the tribe the , with French maps identifying the river as . Other spellings of the name have included Alibamu, Alabamo, Albama, Alebamon, Alibama, Alibamou, Alabamu, Allibamou. and possibly Alabahmu. The use of state names derived from Native American languages is common in the U.S.; an estimated 27 states have names of Native American origin. Sources disagree on the word's meaning. Some scholars suggest the word comes from the Choctaw meaning 'plants' or 'weeds' and meaning 'to cut', 'to trim', or 'to gather'. The meaning may have been 'clearers of the thicket' or 'herb gatherers', referring to clearing land for cultivation or collecting medicinal plants. The state has numerous place names of Native American origin. However, there are no correspondingly similar words in the Alabama language. An 1842 article in the Jacksonville Republican proposed it meant 'Here We Rest'. This notion was popularized in the 1850s through the writings of Alexander Beaufort Meek. Experts in

the Muskogean languages have not found any evidence to support such a translation. History PreEuropean settlement Indigenous peoples of varying cultures lived in the area for thousands of years before the advent of European colonization. Trade with the northeastern tribes by the Ohio River began during the Burial Mound Period 1000BCE700CE and continued until European contact. The agrarian Mississippian culture covered most of the state from 1000 to 1600 CE, with one of its major centers built at what is now the Moundville Archaeological Site in Moundville, Alabama. This is the secondlargest complex of the classic Middle Mississippian era, after Cahokia in presentday Illinois, which was the center of the culture. Analysis of artifacts from archaeological excavations at Moundville were the basis of scholars' formulating the characteristics of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex SECC. Contrary to popular belief, the SECC appears to have no direct links to Mesoamerican culture, but developed independently. Th

e Ceremonial Complex represents a major component of the religion of the Mississippian peoples; it is one of the primary means by which their religion is understood. Among the historical tribes of Native American people living in presentday Alabama at the time of European contact were the Cherokee, an Iroquoian language people; and the Muskogeanspeaking Alabama Alibamu, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Koasati. While part of the same large language family, the Muskogee tribes developed distinct cultures and languages. European settlement The Spanish were the first Europeans to reach Alabama during their exploration of North America in the 16th century. The expedition of Hernando de Soto passed through Mabila and other parts of the state in 1540. More than 160 years later, the French founded the region's first European settlement at Old Mobile in 1702. The city was moved to the current site of Mobile in 1711. This area was claimed by the French from 1702 to 1763 as part of La Louisiane. After the French lost

to the British in the Seven Years' War, it became part of British West Florida from 1763 to 1783. After the United States victory in the American Revolutionary War, the territory was divided between the United States and Spain. The latter retained control of this western territory from 1783 until the surrender of the Spanish garrison at Mobile to U.S. forces on April 13, 1813. Thomas Bassett, a loyalist to the British monarchy during the Revolutionary era, was one of the earliest white settlers in the state outside Mobile. He settled in the Tombigbee District during the early 1770s. The district's boundaries were roughly limited to the area within a few miles of the Tombigbee River and included portions of what is today southern Clarke County, northernmost Mobile County, and most of Washington County. What is now the counties of Baldwin and Mobile became part of Spanish West Florida in 1783, part of the independent Republic of West Florida in 1810, and was finally added to the Mississippi Territory in 1812

. Most of what is now the northern twothirds of Alabama was known as the Yazoo lands beginning during the British colonial period. It was claimed by the Province of Georgia from 1767 onwards. Following the Revolutionary War, it remained a part of Georgia, although heavily disputed. With the exception of the area around Mobile and the Yazoo lands, what is now the lower onethird of Alabama was made part of the Mississippi Territory when it was organized in 1798. The Yazoo lands were added to the territory in 1804, following the Yazoo land scandal. Spain kept a claim on its former Spanish West Florida territory in what would become the coastal counties until the AdamsOns Treaty officially ceded it to the United States in 1819. Early 19th century Before Mississippi's admission to statehood on December 10, 1817, the more sparsely settled eastern half of the territory was separated and named the Alabama Territory. The United States Congress created the Alabama Territory on March 3, 1817. St. Stephens, now abando

ned, served as the territorial capital from 1817 to 1819. Alabama was admitted as the 22nd state on December 14, 1819, with Congress selecting Huntsville as the site for the first Constitutional Convention. From July5 to August 2, 1819, delegates met to prepare the new state constitution. Huntsville served as temporary capital from 1819 to 1820, when the seat of government moved to Cahaba in Dallas County. Cahaba, now a ghost town, was the first permanent state capital from 1820 to 1825. The Alabama Fever land rush was underway when the state was admitted to the Union, with settlers and land speculators pouring into the state to take advantage of fertile land suitable for cotton cultivation. Part of the frontier in the 1820s and 1830s, its constitution provided for universal suffrage for white men. Southeastern planters and traders from the Upper South brought slaves with them as the cotton plantations in Alabama expanded. The economy of the central Black Belt named for its dark, productive soil was built

around large cotton plantations whose owners' wealth grew mainly from slave labor. The area also drew many poor, disenfranchised people who became subsistence farmers. Alabama had an estimated population of under 10,000 people in 1810, but it increased to more than 300,000 people by 1830. Most Native American tribes were completely removed from the state within a few years of the passage of the Indian Removal Act by Congress in 1830. From 1826 to 1846, Tuscaloosa served as Alabama's capital. On January 30, 1846, the Alabama legislature announced it had voted to move the capital city from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery. The first legislative session in the new capital met in December 1847. A new capitol building was erected under the direction of Stephen Decatur Button of Philadelphia. The first structure burned down in 1849, but was rebuilt on the same site in 1851. This second capitol building in Montgomery remains to the present day. It was designed by Barachias Holt of Exeter, Maine. Civil War and Reconstructi

on By 1860, the population had increased to 964,201 people, of which nearly half, 435,080, were enslaved African Americans, and 2,690 were free people of color. On January 11, 1861, Alabama declared its secession from the Union. After remaining an independent republic for a few days, it joined the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy's capital was initially at Montgomery. Alabama was heavily involved in the American Civil War. Although comparatively few battles were fought in the state, Alabama contributed about 120,000 soldiers to the war effort. A company of cavalry soldiers from Huntsville, Alabama, joined Nathan Bedford Forrest's battalion in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The company wore new uniforms with yellow trim on the sleeves, collar and coattails. This led to them being greeted with "Yellowhammer", and the name later was applied to all Alabama troops in the Confederate Army. Alabama's slaves were freed by the 13th Amendment in 1865. Alabama was under military rule from the end of the war in

May 1865 until its official restoration to the Union in 1868. From 1867 to 1874, with most white citizens barred temporarily from voting and freedmen enfranchised, many African Americans emerged as political leaders in the state. Alabama was represented in Congress during this period by three AfricanAmerican congressmen Jeremiah Haralson, Benjamin S. Turner, and James T. Rapier. Following the war, the state remained chiefly agricultural, with an economy tied to cotton. During Reconstruction, state legislators ratified a new state constitution in 1868 which created the state's first public school system and expanded women's rights. Legislators funded numerous public road and railroad projects, although these were plagued with allegations of fraud and misappropriation. Organized insurgent, resistance groups tried to suppress the freedmen and Republicans. Besides the shortlived original Ku Klux Klan, these included the Pale Faces, Knights of the White Camellia, Red Shirts, and the White League. Reconstruction

in Alabama ended in 1874, when the Democrats regained control of the legislature and governor's office through an election dominated by fraud and violence. They wrote another constitution in 1875, and the legislature passed the Blaine Amendment, prohibiting public money from being used to finance religiousaffiliated schools. The same year, legislation was approved that called for racially segregated schools. Railroad passenger cars were segregated in 1891. 20th century The new 1901 Constitution of Alabama included provisions for voter registration that effectively disenfranchised large portions of the population, including nearly all African Americans and Native Americans, and tens of thousands of poor European Americans, through making voter registration difficult, requiring a poll tax and literacy test. The 1901 constitution required racial segregation of public schools. By 1903 only 2,980 African Americans were registered in Alabama, although at least 74,000 were literate. This compared to more than 181

,000 African Americans eligible to vote in 1900. The numbers dropped even more in later decades. The state legislature passed additional racial segregation laws related to public facilities into the 1950s jails were segregated in 1911; hospitals in 1915; toilets, hotels, and restaurants in 1928; and bus stop waiting rooms in 1945. While the planter class had persuaded poor whites to vote for this legislative effort to suppress black voting, the new restrictions resulted in their disenfranchisement as well, due mostly to the imposition of a cumulative poll tax. By 1941, whites constituted a slight majority of those disenfranchised by these laws 600,000 whites vs. 520,000 AfricanAmericans. Nearly all Blacks had lost the ability to vote. Despite numerous legal challenges which succeeded in overturning certain provisions, the state legislature would create new ones to maintain disenfranchisement. The exclusion of blacks from the political system persisted until after passage of federal civil rights legislation i

n 1965 to enforce their constitutional rights as citizens. The ruraldominated Alabama legislature consistently underfunded schools and services for the disenfranchised African Americans, but it did not relieve them of paying taxes. Partially as a response to chronic underfunding of education for African Americans in the South, the Rosenwald Fund began funding the construction of what came to be known as Rosenwald Schools. In Alabama these schools were designed and the construction partially financed with Rosenwald funds, which paid onethird of the construction costs. The fund required the local community and state to raise matching funds to pay the rest. Black residents effectively taxed themselves twice, by raising additional monies to supply matching funds for such schools, which were built in many rural areas. They often donated land and labor as well. Beginning in 1913, the first 80 Rosenwald Schools were built in Alabama for AfricanAmerican children. A total of 387 schools, seven teachers' houses, and

several vocational buildings were completed by 1937 in the state. Several of the surviving school buildings in the state are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Continued racial discrimination and lynchings, agricultural depression, and the failure of the cotton crops due to boll weevil infestation led tens of thousands of African Americans from rural Alabama and other states to seek opportunities in northern and midwestern cities during the early decades of the 20th century as part of the Great Migration out of the South. Reflecting this emigration, the population growth rate in Alabama see "historical populations" table below dropped by nearly half from 1910 to 1920. At the same time, many rural people migrated to the city of Birmingham to work in new industrial jobs. Birmingham experienced such rapid growth it was called the "Magic City". By 1920, Birmingham was the 36thlargest city in the United States. Heavy industry and mining were the basis of its economy. Its residents were under

represented for decades in the state legislature, which refused to redistrict after each decennial census according to population changes, as it was required by the state constitution. This did not change until the late 1960s following a lawsuit and court order. Industrial development related to the demands of World War II brought a level of prosperity to the state not seen since before the civil war. Rural workers poured into the largest cities in the state for better jobs and a higher standard of living. One example of this massive influx of workers occurred in Mobile. Between 1940 and 1943, more than 89,000 people moved into the city to work for warrelated industries. Cotton and other cash crops faded in importance as the state developed a manufacturing and service base. Despite massive population changes in the state from 1901 to 1961, the ruraldominated legislature refused to reapportion House and Senate seats based on population, as required by the state constitution to follow the results of decennial

censuses. They held on to old representation to maintain political and economic power in agricultural areas. One result was that Jefferson County, containing Birmingham's industrial and economic powerhouse, contributed more than onethird of all tax revenue to the state, but did not receive a proportional amount in services. Urban interests were consistently underrepresented in the legislature. A 1960 study noted that because of rural domination, "a minority of about 25 of the total state population is in majority control of the Alabama legislature." In the United States Supreme Court cases of Baker v. Carr 1962 and Reynolds v. Sims 1964, the court ruled that the principle of "one man, one vote" needed to be the basis of both houses of state legislatures, and that their districts had to be based on population rather than geographic counties. In 1972, for the first time since 1901, the legislature completed the congressional redistricting based on the decennial census. This benefited the urban areas that had

developed, as well as all in the population who had been underrepresented for more than sixty years. Other changes were made to implement representative state house and senate districts. African Americans continued to press in the 1950s and 1960s to end disenfranchisement and segregation in the state through the civil rights movement, including legal challenges. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that public schools had to be desegregated, but Alabama was slow to comply. During the 1960s, under Governor George Wallace, Alabama resisted compliance with federal demands for desegregation. The civil rights movement had notable events in Alabama, including the Montgomery bus boycott 19551956, Freedom Rides in 1961, and 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches. These contributed to Congressional passage and enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 by the U.S. Congress. Legal segregation ended in the states in 1964, but Jim Crow customs often continued unti

l specifically challenged in court. According to The New York Times, by 2017, many of Alabama's AfricanAmericans were living in Alabama's cities such as Birmingham and Montgomery. Also, the Black Belt region across central Alabama "is home to largely poor counties that are predominantly AfricanAmerican. These counties include Dallas, Lowndes, Marengo and Perry." Alabama has made some changes since the late 20th century and has used new types of voting to increase representation. In the 1980s, an omnibus redistricting case, Dillard v. Crenshaw County, challenged the atlarge voting for representative seats of 180 Alabama jurisdictions, including counties and school boards. Atlarge voting had diluted the votes of any minority in a county, as the majority tended to take all seats. Despite African Americans making up a significant minority in the state, they had been unable to elect any representatives in most of the atlarge jurisdictions. As part of settlement of this case, five Alabama cities and counties, inc

luding Chilton County, adopted a system of cumulative voting for election of representatives in multiseat jurisdictions. This has resulted in more proportional representation for voters. In another form of proportional representation, 23 jurisdictions use limited voting, as in Conecuh County. In 1982, limited voting was first tested in Conecuh County. Together use of these systems has increased the number of African Americans and women being elected to local offices, resulting in governments that are more representative of their citizens. Beginning in the 1960s, the state's economy shifted away from its traditional lumber, steel, and textile industries because of increased foreign competition. Steel jobs, for instance, declined from 46,314 in 1950 to 14,185 in 2011. However, the state, particularly Huntsville, benefited from the opening of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in 1960, a major facility in the development of the Saturn rocket program and the space shuttle. Technology and manufacturing in

dustries, such as automobile assembly, replaced some the state's older industries in the late twentieth century, but the state's economy and growth lagged behind other states in the area, such as Georgia and Florida. 21st century In 2001, Alabama Supreme Court chief justice Roy Moore installed a statue of the Ten Commandments in the capitol in Montgomery. In 2002, the 11th US Circuit Court ordered the statue removed, but Moore refused to follow the court order, which led to protests around the capitol in favor of keeping the monument. The monument was removed in August 2003. A few natural disasters have occurred in the state in the twentyfirst century. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan, a category 3 storm upon landfall, struck the state and caused over 18 billion of damage. It was among the most destructive storms to strike the state in its modern history. A super outbreak of 62 tornadoes hit the state in April 2011 and killed 238 people, devastating many communities. Geography Alabama is the thirtiethlargest sta

te in the United States with of total area 3.2 of the area is water, making Alabama 23rd in the amount of surface water, also giving it the secondlargest inland waterway system in the United States. About threefifths of the land area is part of the Gulf Coastal Plain, a gentle plain with a general descent towards the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The North Alabama region is mostly mountainous, with the Tennessee River cutting a large valley and creating numerous creeks, streams, rivers, mountains, and lakes. Alabama is bordered by the states of Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama has coastline at the Gulf of Mexico, in the extreme southern edge of the state. The state ranges in elevation from sea level at Mobile Bay to more than in the northeast, to Mount Cheaha at . Alabama's land consists of of forest or 67 of the state's total land area. Suburban Baldwin County, along the Gulf Coast, is the largest county in the state in b

oth land area and water area. Areas in Alabama administered by the National Park Service include Horseshoe Bend National Military Park near Alexander City; Little River Canyon National Preserve near Fort Payne; Russell Cave National Monument in Bridgeport; Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee; and Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site near Tuskegee. Additionally, Alabama has four National Forests Conecuh, Talladega, Tuskegee, and William B. Bankhead. Alabama also contains the Natchez Trace Parkway, the Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail, and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. Notable natural wonders include the "Natural Bridge" rock, the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies, located just south of Haleyville; Cathedral Caverns in Marshall County, named for its cathedrallike appearance, features one of the largest cave entrances and stalagmites in the world; Ecor Rouge in Fairhope, the highest coastline point between Maine and Mexico; DeSoto Caverns in Childersburg, t

he first officially recorded cave in the United States; Noccalula Falls in Gadsden features a 90foot waterfall; Dismals Canyon near Phil Campbell, home to two waterfalls, six natural bridges and allegedly served as a hideout for legendary outlaw Jesse James; Stephens Gap Cave in Jackson County boasts a 143foot pit, two waterfalls and is one of the most photographed wild cave scenes in America; Little River Canyon near Fort Payne, one of the nation's longest mountaintop rivers; Rickwood Caverns near Warrior features an underground pool, blind cave fish and 260millionyearold limestone formations; and the Walls of Jericho canyon on the AlabamaTennessee state line. A wide meteorite impact crater is located in Elmore County, just north of Montgomery. This is the Wetumpka crater, the site of "Alabama's greatest natural disaster". A wide meteorite hit the area about 80 million years ago. The hills just east of downtown Wetumpka showcase the eroded remains of the impact crater that was blasted into the bedrock, with

the area labeled the Wetumpka crater or astrobleme "starwound" because of the concentric rings of fractures and zones of shattered rock that can be found beneath the surface. In 2002, Christian Koeberl with the Institute of Geochemistry University of Vienna published evidence and established the site as the 157th recognized impact crater on Earth. Climate The state is classified as humid subtropical Cfa under the Koppen Climate Classification. The average annual temperature is 64F 18C. Temperatures tend to be warmer in the southern part of the state with its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, while the northern parts of the state, especially in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeast, tend to be slightly cooler. Generally, Alabama has very hot summers and mild winters with copious precipitation throughout the year. Alabama receives an average of of rainfall annually and enjoys a lengthy growing season of up to 300 days in the southern part of the state. Summers in Alabama are among the hottest in the U.

S., with high temperatures averaging over throughout the summer in some parts of the state. Alabama is also prone to tropical storms and hurricanes. Areas of the state far away from the Gulf are not immune to the effects of the storms, which often dump tremendous amounts of rain as they move inland and weaken. South Alabama reports many thunderstorms. The Gulf Coast, around Mobile Bay, averages between 70 and 80 days per year with thunder reported. This activity decreases somewhat further north in the state, but even the far north of the state reports thunder on about 60 days per year. Occasionally, thunderstorms are severe with frequent lightning and large hail; the central and northern parts of the state are most vulnerable to this type of storm. Alabama ranks ninth in the number of deaths from lightning and tenth in the number of deaths from lightning strikes per capita. Alabama, along with Oklahoma and Iowa, has the most confirmed F5 and EF5 tornadoes of any state, according to statistics from the Nati

onal Climatic Data Center for the period January 1, 1950, to June 2013. Several longtracked F5EF5 tornadoes have contributed to Alabama reporting more tornado fatalities since 1950 than any other state. The state was affected by the 1974 Super Outbreak and was devastated tremendously by the 2011 Super Outbreak. The 2011 Super Outbreak produced a record amount of tornadoes in the state. The tally reached 62. The peak season for tornadoes varies from the northern to southern parts of the state. Alabama is one of the few places in the world that has a secondary tornado season in November and December besides the typically severe spring. The northern partalong the Tennessee River Valleyis most vulnerable. The area of Alabama and Mississippi most affected by tornadoes is sometimes referred to as Dixie Alley, as distinct from the Tornado Alley of the Southern Plains. Winters are generally mild in Alabama, as they are throughout most of the Southeastern United States, with average January low temperatures around

in Mobile and around in Birmingham. Although snow is a rare event in much of Alabama, areas of the state north of Montgomery may receive a dusting of snow a few times every winter, with an occasional moderately heavy snowfall every few years. Historic snowfall events include New Year's Eve 1963 snowstorm and the 1993 Storm of the Century. The annual average snowfall for the Birmingham area is per year. In the southern Gulf coast, snowfall is less frequent, sometimes going several years without any snowfall. Alabama's highest temperature of was recorded on September 5, 1925, in the unincorporated community of Centerville. The record low of occurred on January 30, 1966, in New Market. Flora and fauna Alabama is home to a diverse array of flora and fauna in habitats that range from the Tennessee Valley, Appalachian Plateau, and RidgeandValley Appalachians of the north to the Piedmont, Canebrake, and Black Belt of the central region to the Gulf Coastal Plain and beaches along the Gulf of Mexico in the sout

h. The state is usually ranked among the top in nation for its range of overall biodiversity. Alabama is in the subtropical coniferous forest biome and once boasted huge expanses of pine forest, which still form the largest proportion of forests in the state. It currently ranks fifth in the nation for the diversity of its flora. It is home to nearly 4,000 pteridophyte and spermatophyte plant species. Indigenous animal species in the state include 62 mammal species, 93 reptile species, 73 amphibian species, roughly 307 native freshwater fish species, and 420 bird species that spend at least part of their year within the state. Invertebrates include 97 crayfish species and 383 mollusk species. 113 of these mollusk species have never been collected outside the state. Censusdesignated and metropolitan areas Cities Demographics According to the 2020 United States census the population of Alabama was 5,024,279 on April 1, 2020, which represents an increase of 244,543 or 5.12, since the 2010 census. This inclu

des a natural increase since the last census of 121,054 502,457 births minus 381,403 deaths and an increase due to net migration of 104,991 into the state. Immigration from outside the U.S. resulted in a net increase of 31,180 people, and migration within the country produced a net gain of 73,811 people. The state had 108,000 foreignborn 2.4 of the state population, of which an estimated 22.2 were undocumented 24,000. The center of population of Alabama is located in Chilton County, outside the town of Jemison. Ancestry Those citing "American" ancestry in Alabama are of overwhelmingly English extraction, however most English Americans identify simply as having American ancestry because their roots have been in North America for so long, in many cases since the early sixteen hundreds. Demographers estimate that a minimum of 2023 of people in Alabama are of predominantly English ancestry and state that the figure is probably much higher. In the 1980 census 1,139,976 people in Alabama cited that they were o

f English ancestry out of a total state population of 2,824,719 making them 41 of the state at the time and the largest ethnic group. In 2011, 46.6 of Alabama's population younger than age1 were minorities. The largest reported ancestry groups in Alabama are American 13.4, Irish 10.5, English 10.2, German 7.9, and ScotsIrish 2.5 based on 20062008 Census data. The ScotsIrish were the largest nonEnglish immigrant group from the British Isles before the American Revolution, and many settled in the South, later moving into the Deep South as it was developed. In 1984, under the DavisStrong Act, the state legislature established the Alabama Indian Affairs Commission. Native American groups within the state had increasingly been demanding recognition as ethnic groups and seeking an end to discrimination. Given the long history of slavery and associated racial segregation, the Native American peoples, who have sometimes been of mixed race, have insisted on having their cultural identification respected. In the pas

t, their selfidentification was often overlooked as the state tried to impose a binary breakdown of society into white and black. The state has officially recognized nine American Indian tribes in the state, descended mostly from the Five Civilized Tribes of the American Southeast. These are the following. Poarch Band of Creek Indians who also have federal recognition MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians Star Clan of Muscogee Creeks Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama CherOCreek Intra Tribal Indians MaChis Lower Creek Indian Tribe Piqua Shawnee Tribe AniYunWiya Nation The state government has promoted recognition of Native American contributions to the state, including the designation in 2000 for Columbus Day to be jointly celebrated as American Indian Heritage Day. Language Most Alabama residents 95.1 of those five and older spoke only English at home in 2010, a minor decrease from 96.1 in 2000. Alabama English is predominantly Southern, and is related to South Midland spe

ech which was taken across the border from Tennessee. In the major Southern speech region, there is the decreasing loss of the final r, for example the "boyd" pronunciation of "bird". In the northern third of the state, there is a South Midland "arm" and "barb" rhyming with "form" and "orb". Unique words in Alabama English include redworm earthworm, peckerwood woodpecker, snake doctor and snake feeder dragonfly, tow sack burlap bag, plum peach clingstone, French harp harmonica, and dog irons andirons. Religion In the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, 86 of Alabama respondents reported their religion as Christian, including 6 Catholic, with 11 as having no religion. The composition of other traditions is 0.5 Mormon, 0.5 Jewish, 0.5 Muslim, 0.5 Buddhist, and 0.5 Hindu. Alabama is located in the middle of the Bible Belt, a region of numerous Protestant Christians. Alabama has been identified as one of the most religious states in the United States, with about 58 of the population attending church

regularly. A majority of people in the state identify as Evangelical Protestant. , the three largest denominational groups in Alabama are the Southern Baptist Convention, The United Methodist Church, and nondenominational Evangelical Protestant. In Alabama, the Southern Baptist Convention has the highest number of adherents with 1,380,121; this is followed by the United Methodist Church with 327,734 adherents, nondenominational Evangelical Protestant with 220,938 adherents, and the Catholic Church with 150,647 adherents. Many Baptist and Methodist congregations became established in the Great Awakening of the early 19th century, when preachers proselytized across the South. The Assemblies of God had almost 60,000 members, the Churches of Christ had nearly 120,000 members. The Presbyterian churches, strongly associated with ScotsIrish immigrants of the 18th century and their descendants, had a combined membership around 75,000 PCA28,009 members in 108 congregations, PCUSA26,247 members in 147 congregations,

the Cumberland Presbyterian Church6,000 members in 59 congregations, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America5,000 members and fifty congregations plus the EPC and Associate Reformed Presbyterians with 230 members and nine congregations. In a 2007 survey, nearly 70 of respondents could name all four of the Christian Gospels. Of those who indicated a religious preference, 59 said they possessed a "full understanding" of their faith and needed no further learning. In a 2007 poll, 92 of Alabamians reported having at least some confidence in churches in the state. Although in much smaller numbers, many other religious faiths are represented in the state as well, including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, the Bah Faith, and Unitarian Universalism. Jews have been present in what is now Alabama since 1763, during the colonial era of Mobile, when Sephardic Jews immigrated from London. The oldest Jewish congregation in the state is Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim in Mobile. It was formally recognize

d by the state legislature on January 25, 1844. Later immigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries tended to be Ashkenazi Jews from eastern Europe. Jewish denominations in the state include two Orthodox, four Conservative, ten Reform, and one Humanistic synagogue. Muslims have been increasing in Alabama, with 31 mosques built by 2011, many by AfricanAmerican converts. Several Hindu temples and cultural centers in the state have been founded by Indian immigrants and their descendants, the bestknown being the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Birmingham, the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Birmingham in Pelham, the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama in Capshaw, and the Hindu Mandir and Cultural Center in Tuscaloosa. There are six Dharma centers and organizations for Theravada Buddhists. Most monastic Buddhist temples are concentrated in southern Mobile County, near Bayou La Batre. This area has attracted an influx of refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam during the 1970s and thereafter. The fou

r temples within a tenmile radius of Bayou La Batre, include Chua Chanh Giac, Wat Buddharaksa, and Wat Lao Phoutthavihan. The first community of adherents of the Bah Faith in Alabama was founded in 1896 by Paul K. Dealy, who moved from Chicago to Fairhope. Bah centers in Alabama exist in Birmingham, Huntsville, and Florence. Health In 2018, life expectancy in Alabama was 75.1 years, below the national average of 78.7 years and is the third lowest life expectancy in the country. Factors that can cause lower life expectancy are maternal mortality, suicide, and gun crimes. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study in 2008 showed that obesity in Alabama is a problem, with most counties having more than 29 of adults obese, except for ten which had a rate between 26 and 29. Residents of the state, along with those in five other states, were least likely in the nation to be physically active during leisure time. Alabama, and the southeastern U.S. in general, has one of the highest incidences of adult ons

et diabetes in the country, exceeding 10 of adults. On May 14, 2019, Alabama passed the Human Life Protection Act, banning abortion at any stage of pregnancy unless there is a "serious health risk", with no exceptions for rape and incest. The law, if enacted, would punish doctors who perform abortions with 10 to 99 years imprisonment and be the most restrictive abortion law in the country. However, on October 29, 2019, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson blocked the law from taking effect. Economy The state has invested in aerospace, education, health care, banking, and various heavy industries, including automobile manufacturing, mineral extraction, steel production and fabrication. By 2006, crop and animal production in Alabama was valued at 1.5billion. In contrast to the primarily agricultural economy of the previous century, this was only about one percent of the state's gross domestic product. The number of private farms has declined at a steady rate since the 1960s, as land has been sold to developers

, timber companies, and large farming conglomerates. Nonagricultural employment in 2008 was 121,800 in management occupations; 71,750 in business and financial operations; 36,790 in computerrelated and mathematical occupation; 44,200 in architecture and engineering; 12,410 in life, physical, and social sciences; 32,260 in community and social services; 12,770 in legal occupations; 116,250 in education, training, and library services; 27,840 in art, design and media occupations; 121,110 in healthcare; 44,750 in fire fighting, law enforcement, and security; 154,040 in food preparation and serving; 76,650 in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; 53,230 in personal care and services; 244,510 in sales; 338,760 in office and administration support; 20,510 in farming, fishing, and forestry; 120,155 in construction and mining, gas, and oil extraction; 106,280 in installation, maintenance, and repair; 224,110 in production; and 167,160 in transportation and material moving. According to the U.S. Bureau of E

conomic Analysis, the 2008 total gross state product was 170billion, or 29,411 per capita. Alabama's 2012 GDP increased 1.2 from the previous year. The single largest increase came in the area of information. In 2010, per capita income for the state was 22,984. The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.8 in April 2015. This compared to a nationwide seasonally adjusted rate of 5.4. Alabama has no minimum wage and in February 2016 passed legislation preventing municipalities from setting one. A Birmingham city ordinance would have raised theirs to 10.10. , Alabama has the sixth highest poverty rate among states in the U.S. In 2017, United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston toured parts of rural Alabama and observed environmental conditions he said were poorer than anywhere he had seen in the developed world. Largest employers The five employers that employed the most employees in Alabama in April 2011 were The next twenty largest employers, , included Agriculture Alabama's agricultura

l outputs include poultry and eggs, cattle, fish, plant nursery items, peanuts, cotton, grains such as corn and sorghum, vegetables, milk, soybeans, and peaches. Although known as "The Cotton State", Alabama ranks between eighth and tenth in national cotton production, according to various reports, with Texas, Georgia and Mississippi comprising the top three. Aquaculture Aquaculture is a large part of the economy of Alabama. Alabamians began to practice aquaculture in the early 1960s. U.S. farmraised catfish is the 8th most popular seafood product in America. By 2008, approximately 4,000 people in Alabama were employed by the catfish industry and Alabama produced 132 million pounds of catfish. In 2020, Alabama produced of the United States' farmraised catfish. The total 2020 sales of catfish raised in Alabama equaled 307 million but by 2020 the total employment of Alabamians fell to 2,442. From the early 2000s to 2020, the Alabamian catfish industry has declined from 250 farms and 4 processors to 66 farm

s and 2 processors. Reasons for this decline include increased feed prices, catfish alternatives, COVID19s impact on restaurant sales, disease, and fish size. Industry Alabama's industrial outputs include iron and steel products including castiron and steel pipe; paper, lumber, and wood products; mining mostly coal; plastic products; cars and trucks; and apparel. In addition, Alabama produces aerospace and electronic products, mostly in the Huntsville area, the location of NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. Army Materiel Command, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal. A great deal of Alabama's economic growth since the 1990s has been due to the state's expanding automotive manufacturing industry. Located in the state are Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, MercedesBenz U.S. International, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, as well as their various suppliers. Since 1993, the automobile industry has generated more than 67,800 new jobs in the state. Ala

bama currently ranks 4th in the nation for vehicle exports. Automakers accounted for approximately a third of the industrial expansion in the state in 2012. The eight models produced at the state's auto factories totaled combined sales of 74,335 vehicles for 2012. The strongest model sales during this period were the Hyundai Elantra compact car, the MercedesBenz GLClass sport utility vehicle and the Honda Ridgeline sport utility truck. Steel producers Outokumpu, Nucor, SSAB, ThyssenKrupp, and U.S. Steel have facilities in Alabama and employ more than 10,000 people. In May 2007, German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp selected Calvert in Mobile County for a 4.65billion combined stainless and carbon steel processing facility. ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel division, Inoxum, including the stainless portion of the Calvert plant, was sold to Finnish stainless steel company Outokumpu in 2012. The remaining portion of the ThyssenKrupp plant had final bids submitted by ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel for 1.6billion in March

2013. Companhia Siderrgica Nacional submitted a combined bid for the mill at Calvert, plus a majority stake in the ThyssenKrupp mill in Brazil, for 3.8billion. In July 2013, the plant was sold to ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel. The Hunt Refining Company, a subsidiary of Hunt Consolidated, Inc., is based in Tuscaloosa and operates a refinery there. The company also operates terminals in Mobile, Melvin, and Moundville. JVC America, Inc. operates an optical disc replication and packaging plant in Tuscaloosa. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company operates a large plant in Gadsden which employs about 1,400 people. It has been in operation since 1929. Construction of an Airbus A320 family aircraft assembly plant in Mobile was formally announced by Airbus CEO Fabrice Brgier from the Mobile Convention Center on July 2, 2012. The plans include a 600million factory at the Brookley Aeroplex for the assembly of the A319, A320 and A321 aircraft. Construction began in 2013, with plans for it to become operable by 2015 an

d produce up to 50 aircraft per year by 2017. The assembly plant is the company's first factory to be built within the United States. It was announced on February 1, 2013, that Airbus had hired Alabamabased Hoar Construction to oversee construction of the facility. Tourism and entertainment According to Business Insider, Alabama ranked 14th in most popular states to visit in 2014. An estimated 26 million tourists visited the state in 2017 and spent 14.3 billion, providing directly or indirectly 186,900 jobs in the state, which includes 362,000 International tourists spending 589 million. The state is home to various attractions, natural features, parks and events that attract visitors from around the globe, notably the annual Hangout Music Festival, held on the public beaches of Gulf Shores; the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, one of the ten largest Shakespeare festivals in the world; the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, a collection of championship caliber golf courses distributed across the state; casinos su

ch as Victoryland; amusement parks such as Alabama Splash Adventure; the Riverchase Galleria, one of the largest shopping centers in the southeast; Guntersville Lake, voted the best lake in Alabama by Southern Living Magazine readers; and the Alabama Museum of Natural History, the oldest museum in the state. Mobile is known for having the oldest organized Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, beginning in 1703. It was also host to the first formally organized Mardi Gras parade in the United States in 1830, a tradition that continues to this day. Mardi Gras is an official state holiday in Mobile and Baldwin counties. In 2018, Mobile's Mardi Gras parade was the state's top event, producing the most tourists with an attendance of 892,811. The top attraction was the U.S. Space Rocket Center in Huntsville with an attendance of 849,981, followed by the Birmingham Zoo with 543,090. Of the parks and natural destinations, Alabama's Gulf Coast topped the list with 6,700,000 visitors. Alabama has historically

been a popular region for film shoots due to its diverse landscapes and contrast of environments. Movies filmed in Alabama include Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Get Out, 42, Selma, Big Fish, The Final Destination, Due Date, Need For Speed and many more. Healthcare UAB Hospital, USA Health University Hospital, Huntsville Hospital, and Children's Hospital of Alabama are the only LevelI trauma centers in Alabama. UAB is the largest state government employer in Alabama, with a workforce of about 18,000. A 2017 study found that Alabama had the least competitive health insurance market in the country, with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama having a market share of 84 followed by UnitedHealth Group at 7. Banking Regions Financial Corporation is the largest bank headquartered in or operating in Alabama. PNC Financial Services and Wells Fargo also have a major presence in Alabama. Wells Fargo has a regional headquarters, an operations center campus, and a 400million data center in Birmingham. Many smal

ler banks are also headquartered in the Birmingham area, including ServisFirst and New South Federal Savings Bank. Birmingham also serves as the headquarters for several large investment management companies, including Harbert Management Corporation. Electronics and communications Telecommunications provider ATT, formerly BellSouth, has a major presence in Alabama with several large offices in Birmingham. Many technology companies are headquartered in Huntsville, such as ADTRAN, a network access company; Intergraph, a computer graphics company; and Avocent, an IT infrastructure company. Construction Brasfield Gorrie, BEK, Hoar Construction, and B.L. Harbert International, based in Alabama and subsidiaries of URS Corporation, are all routinely are included in the Engineering NewsRecord lists of top design, international construction, and engineering firms. Law and government State government The foundational document for Alabama's government is the Alabama Constitution, which was ratified in 1901. With

over 850 amendments and almost 87,000 words, it is by some accounts the world's longest constitution and is roughly forty times the length of the United States Constitution. There has been a significant movement to rewrite and modernize Alabama's constitution. Critics argue that Alabama's constitution maintains highly centralized power with the state legislature, leaving practically no power in local hands. Most counties do not have home rule. Any policy changes proposed in different areas of the state must be approved by the entire Alabama legislature and, frequently, by state referendum. One criticism of the current constitution claims that its complexity and length intentionally codify segregation and racism. Alabama's government is divided into three coequal branches. The legislative branch is the Alabama Legislature, a bicameral assembly composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama Senate, with 35 members. The Legislature is responsible for writing, debating, pass

ing, or defeating state legislation. The Republican Party currently holds a majority in both houses of the Legislature. The Legislature has the power to override a gubernatorial veto by a simple majority most state Legislatures require a twothirds majority to override a veto. Until 1964, the state elected state senators on a geographic basis by county, with one per county. It had not redistricted congressional districts since passage of its constitution in 1901; as a result, urbanized areas were grossly underrepresented. It had not changed legislative districts to reflect the decennial censuses, either. In Reynolds v. Sims 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court implemented the principle of "one man, one vote", ruling that congressional districts had to be reapportioned based on censuses as the state already included in its constitution but had not implemented. Further, the court ruled that both houses of bicameral state legislatures had to be apportioned by population, as there was no constitutional basis for states t

o have geographically based systems. At that time, Alabama and many other states had to change their legislative districting, as many across the country had systems that underrepresented urban areas and districts. This had caused decades of underinvestment in such areas. For instance, Birmingham and Jefferson County taxes had supplied onethird of the state budget, but Jefferson County received only 167th of state services in funding. Through the legislative delegations, the Alabama legislature kept control of county governments. The executive branch is responsible for the execution and oversight of laws. It is headed by the governor of Alabama. Other members of the executive branch include the cabinet, the lieutenant governor of Alabama, the Attorney General of Alabama, the Alabama Secretary of State, the Alabama State Treasurer, and the State Auditor of Alabama. The current governor is Republican Kay Ivey. The members of the Legislature take office immediately after the November elections. Statewide offic

ials, such as the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and other constitutional officers, take office the following January. The judiciary is responsible for interpreting the Constitution of Alabama and applying the law in state criminal and civil cases. The state's highest court is the Supreme Court of Alabama. Alabama uses partisan elections to select judges. Since the 1980s judicial campaigns have become increasingly politicized. The current chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court is Republican Tom Parker. All sitting justices on the Alabama Supreme Court are members of the Republican Party. There are two intermediate appellate courts, the Court of Civil Appeals and the Court of Criminal Appeals, and four trial courts the circuit court trial court of general jurisdiction, and the district, probate, and municipal courts. Some critics believe the election of judges has contributed to an exceedingly high rate of executions. Alabama has the highest per capita death penalty rate in the country.

In some years, it imposes more death sentences than does Texas, a state which has a population five times larger. However, executions per capita are significantly higher in Texas. Some of its cases have been highly controversial; the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned 24 convictions in death penalty cases. It was the only state to allow judges to override jury decisions in whether or not to use a death sentence; in 10 cases judges overturned sentences of life imprisonment without parole that were voted unanimously by juries. This judicial authority was removed in April 2017. Taxes Taxes are collected by the Alabama Department of Revenue. Alabama levies a 2, 4, or5 personal income tax, depending on the amount earned and filing status. Taxpayers are allowed to deduct their federal income tax from their Alabama state tax, even if taking the standard deduction; those who itemize can also deduct FICA the Social Security and Medicare tax. The state's general sales tax rate is 4. Sales tax rates for cities and cou

nties are also added to purchases.ref For example, the total sales tax rate in Mobile County, Alabama is 10 and there is an additional restaurant tax of 1, which means a diner in Mobile County, Alabama would pay an 11 tax on a meal. In 2020, sales and excise taxes in Alabama accounted for 38 of all state and local revenue. Only Alabama, Mississippi, and South Dakota tax groceries at the full state sales tax rate. The corporate income tax rate in Alabama is 6.5. The overall federal, state, and local tax burden in Alabama ranks the state as the second least taxburdened state in the country. Property taxes of .40 of assessed value per year, are the secondlowest in the U.S., after Hawaii. The current state constitution requires a voter referendum to raise property taxes. County and local governments Alabama has 67 counties. Each county has its own elected legislative branch, usually called the county commission. It also has limited executive authority in the county. Because of the constraints of the Alabama

Constitution, which centralizes power in the state legislature, only seven counties Jefferson, Lee, Mobile, Madison, Montgomery, Shelby, and Tuscaloosa in the state have limited home rule. Instead, most counties in the state must lobby the Local Legislation Committee of the state legislature to get simple local policies approved, ranging from waste disposal to land use zoning. The state legislature has retained power over local governments by refusing to pass a constitutional amendment establishing home rule for counties, as recommended by the 1973 Alabama Constitutional Commission. Legislative delegations retain certain powers over each county. United States Supreme Court decisions in Baker v. Carr 1964 required that both houses have districts established on the basis of population, and redistricted after each census, to implement the principle of "one man, one vote". Before that, each county was represented by one state senator, leading to underrepresentation in the state senate for more urbanized, populo

us counties. The rural bias of the state legislature, which had also failed to redistrict seats in the state house, affected politics well into the 20th century, failing to recognize the rise of industrial cities and urbanized areas. "The lack of home rule for counties in Alabama has resulted in the proliferation of local legislation permitting counties to do things not authorized by the state constitution. Alabama's constitution has been amended more than 700 times, and almost onethird of the amendments are local in nature, applying to only one county or city. A significant part of each legislative session is spent on local legislation, taking away time and attention of legislators from issues of statewide importance." Alabama is an alcoholic beverage control state, meaning the state government holds a monopoly on the sale of alcohol. The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board controls the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages in the state. A total of 25 of the 67 counties are "dry counties" which

ban the sale of alcohol, and there are many dry municipalities in counties which permit alcohol sales. Politics During Reconstruction following the American Civil War, Alabama was occupied by federal troops of the Third Military District under General John Pope. In 1874, the political coalition of white Democrats known as the Redeemers took control of the state government from the Republicans, in part by suppressing the black vote through violence, fraud, and intimidation. After 1890, a coalition of White Democratic politicians passed laws to segregate and disenfranchise African American residents, a process completed in provisions of the 1901 constitution. Provisions which disenfranchised blacks resulted in excluding many poor Whites. By 1941 more Whites than Blacks had been disenfranchised 600,000 to 520,000. The total effects were greater on the black community, as almost all its citizens were disfranchised and relegated to separate and unequal treatment under the law. From 1901 through the 1960s, the

state did not redraw election districts as population grew and shifted within the state during urbanization and industrialization of certain areas. As counties were the basis of election districts, the result was a rural minority that dominated state politics through nearly threequarters of the century, until a series of federal court cases required redistricting in 1972 to meet equal representation. Alabama state politics gained nationwide and international attention in the 1950s and 1960s during the civil rights movement, when whites bureaucratically, and at times violently, resisted protests for electoral and social reform. Governor George Wallace, the state's only fourterm governor, was a controversial figure who vowed to maintain segregation. Only after passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 did African Americans regain the ability to exercise suffrage, among other civil rights. In many jurisdictions, they continued to be excluded from representation by atlarge ele

ctoral systems, which allowed the majority of the population to dominate elections. Some changes at the county level have occurred following court challenges to establish singlemember districts that enable a more diverse representation among county boards. In 2007, the Alabama Legislature passed, and Republican governor Bob Riley signed a resolution expressing "profound regret" over slavery and its lingering impact. In a symbolic ceremony, the bill was signed in the Alabama State Capitol, which housed Congress of the Confederate States of America. In 2010, Republicans won control of both houses of the legislature for the first time in 136 years. , there are a total of 3,589,839 registered voters, with 3,518,285 active, and the others inactive in the state. Elections In a 2020 study, Alabama was ranked as the 12th most difficult state for citizens to vote. State elections With the disfranchisement of Blacks in 1901, the state became part of the "Solid South", a system in which the Democratic Party operat

ed as effectively the only viable political party in every Southern state. For nearly a hundred years local and state elections in Alabama were decided in the Democratic Party primary, with generally only token Republican challengers running in the General Election. Since the mid to late 20th century, however, white conservatives started shifting to the Republican Party. In Alabama, majoritywhite districts are now expected to regularly elect Republican candidates to federal, state and local office. Members of the nine seats on the Supreme Court of Alabama and all ten seats on the state appellate courts are elected to office. Until 1994, no Republicans held any of the court seats. In that general election, the thenincumbent chief justice, Ernest C. Hornsby, refused to leave office after losing the election by approximately 3,000 votes to Republican Perry O. Hooper Sr. Hornsby sued Alabama and defiantly remained in office for nearly a year before finally giving up the seat after losing in court. The Democrats

lost the last of the nineteen court seats in August 2011 with the resignation of the last Democrat on the bench. In the early 21st century, Republicans hold all seven of the statewide elected executive branch offices. Republicans hold six of the eight elected seats on the Alabama State Board of Education. In 2010, Republicans took large majorities of both chambers of the state legislature, giving them control of that body for the first time in 136 years. The last remaining statewide Democrat, who served on the Alabama Public Service Commission, was defeated in 2012. Only three Republican lieutenant governors have been elected since the end of Reconstruction, when Republicans generally represented Reconstruction government, including the newly emancipated freedmen who had gained the franchise. The three GOP lieutenant governors are Steve Windom 19992003, Kay Ivey 20112017, and Will Ainsworth 2019present. Local elections Many local offices county commissioners, boards of education, tax assessors, tax collect

ors, etc. in the state are still held by Democrats. Many rural counties have voters who are majority Democrats, resulting in local elections being decided in the Democratic primary. Similarly many metropolitan and suburban counties are majorityRepublican and elections are effectively decided in the Republican Primary, although there are exceptions. Alabama's 67 county sheriffs are elected in partisan, atlarge races, and Democrats still retain the narrow majority of those posts. The current split is 35 Democrats, 31 Republicans, and one Independent Fayette. However, most of the Democratic sheriffs preside over rural and less populated counties. The majority of Republican sheriffs have been elected in the more urbansuburban and heavily populated counties. , the state of Alabama has one female sheriff, in Morgan County, Alabama, and ten AfricanAmerican sheriffs. Federal elections The state's two U.S. senators are Republican Richard C. Shelby and Republican Tommy Tuberville. Shelby was originally elected to the

Senate as a Democrat in 1986 and reelected in 1992, but switched parties immediately following the November 1994 general election. In the U.S. House of Representatives, the state is represented by seven members, six of whom are Republicans Bradley Byrne, Mike D. Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Morris J. Brooks, Martha Roby, and Gary Palmer and one Democrat Terri Sewell who represents the Black Belt as well as most of the predominantly black portions of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery. Education Primary and secondary education Public primary and secondary education in Alabama is under the purview of the Alabama State Board of Education as well as local oversight by 67 county school boards and 60 city boards of education. Together, 1,496 individual schools provide education for 744,637 elementary and secondary students. Public school funding is appropriated through the Alabama Legislature through the Education Trust Fund. In FY 20062007, Alabama appropriated 3,775,163,578 for primary and secondary educatio

n. That represented an increase of 444,736,387 over the previous fiscal year. In 2007, more than 82 percent of schools made adequate yearly progress AYP toward student proficiency under the National No Child Left Behind law, using measures determined by the state of Alabama. While Alabama's public education system has improved in recent decades, it lags behind in achievement compared to other states. According to U.S. Census data 2000, Alabama's high school graduation rate 75 is the fourth lowest in the U.S. after Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi. The largest educational gains were among people with some college education but without degrees. Generally prohibited in the West at large, school corporal punishment is not unusual in Alabama, with 27,260 public school students paddled at least one time, according to government data for the 20112012 school year. The rate of school corporal punishment in Alabama is surpassed by only Mississippi and Arkansas. Colleges and universities Alabama's programs of hig

her education include 14 fouryear public universities, twoyear community colleges, and 17 private, undergraduate and graduate universities. In the state are four medical schools as of fall 2015 University of Alabama School of Medicine, University of South Alabama and Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine and The Edward Via College of Osteopathic MedicineAuburn Campus, two veterinary colleges Auburn University and Tuskegee University, a dental school University of Alabama School of Dentistry, an optometry college University of Alabama at Birmingham, two pharmacy schools Auburn University and Samford University, and five law schools University of Alabama School of Law, Birmingham School of Law, Cumberland School of Law, Miles Law School, and the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law. Public, postsecondary education in Alabama is overseen by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education and the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education. Colleges and universities in Alabama offer degree programs from twoyear associ

ate degrees to a multitude of doctoral level programs. The largest single campus is the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, with 37,665 enrolled for fall 2016. Troy University was the largest institution in the state in 2010, with an enrollment of 29,689 students across four Alabama campuses Troy, Dothan, Montgomery, and Phenix City, as well as sixty learning sites in seventeen other states and eleven other countries. The oldest institutions are the public University of North Alabama in Florence and the Catholic Churchaffiliated Spring Hill College in Mobile, both founded in 1830. Accreditation of academic programs is through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools SACS as well as other subjectfocused national and international accreditation agencies such as the Association for Biblical Higher Education ABHE, the Council on Occupational Education COE, and the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools ACICS. According to the 2011 U.S. News World Report, Alabama had three u

niversities ranked in the top 100 Public Schools in America University of Alabama at 31, Auburn University at 36, and University of Alabama at Birmingham at 73. According to the 2012 U.S. News World Report, Alabama had four tier one universities University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Alabama in Huntsville. Media Major newspapers include Birmingham News, Mobile PressRegister, and Montgomery Advertiser. Major television network affiliates in Alabama include ABC WGWW 40.2 ABC, Anniston WBMA 58WABM 68.2 ABC, Birmingham WDHN 18 ABC, Dothan WAAY 31 ABC, Huntsville WEAR 3 ABC Pensacola, FloridaMobile WNCF 32 ABC, Montgomery WDBB 17.2 ABC, Tuscaloosa CBS WIAT 42 CBS, Birmingham WTVY 4 CBS, Dothan WHNT 19 CBS, Huntsville WKRG 5 CBS, Mobile WAKA 8 CBS, SelmaMontgomery Fox WBRC 6 FOX, Birmingham WZDX 54 FOX, Huntsville WALA 10 FOX, Mobile WCOV 20 FOX, Montgomery WDFX 34 FOX, OzarkDothan NBC WVTM 13 NBC, Birmingham WRGX 23 NBC, Dothan

WAFF 48 NBC, Huntsville WPMI 15 NBC, Mobile WSFA 12 NBC, Montgomery PBSAlabama Public Television WBIQ 10 PBS, Birmingham WIIQ 41 PBS, Demopolis WDIQ 2 PBS, Dozier WFIQ 36 PBS, Florence WHIQ 25 PBS, Huntsville WGIQ 43 PBS, Louisville WEIQ 42 PBS, Mobile WAIQ 26 PBS, Montgomery WCIQ 7 PBS, Mount Cheaha The CW WTTO 21, HomewoodBirmingham WTVY 4.3, Dothan WHDF 15, FlorenceHuntsville WFNA 55, Gulf ShoresMobilePensacola, FL WDBB 17, Tuscaloosa WBMM 22, TuskegeeMontgomery Culture Literature Sports Professional sports Alabama has several professional and semiprofessional sports teams, including three minor league baseball teams. Notes The Talladega Superspeedway motorsports complex hosts a series of NASCAR events. It has a seating capacity of 143,000 and is the thirteenth largest stadium in the world and sixth largest stadium in America. Also, the Barber Motorsports Park has hosted IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series races. The ATP Birmingham was a World Championship Tennis tournamen

t held from 1973 to 1980. Alabama has hosted several professional golf tournaments, such as the 1984 and 1990 PGA Championship at Shoal Creek, the Barbasol Championship PGA Tour, the Mobile LPGA Tournament of Champions, Airbus LPGA Classic, and Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic LPGA Tour, and The Tradition Champions Tour. College sports College football is extremely popular in Alabama, particularly the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn University Tigers, rivals in the Southeastern Conference. Alabama averages over 100,000 fans per game and Auburn averages over 80,000both numbers among the top twenty in the nation. BryantDenny Stadium is the home of the Alabama football team, and has a seating capacity of 101,821, and is the fifth largest stadium in America. JordanHare Stadium is the home field of the Auburn football team and seats up to 87,451. Legion Field is home of the UAB Blazers football program and the Birmingham Bowl. It seats 71,594. LaddPeebles Stadium in Mobile is the home of the University

of South Alabama football team, and serves as the home of the NCAA Senior Bowl, LendingTree Bowl, and AlabamaMississippi All Star Classic; the stadium seats 40,646. In 2009, BryantDenny Stadium and JordanHare Stadium became the homes of the Alabama High School Athletic Association state football championship games, after previously being held at Legion Field in Birmingham. Transportation Aviation Major airports with sustained operations in Alabama include BirminghamShuttlesworth International Airport BHM, Huntsville International Airport HSV, Dothan Regional Airport DHN, Mobile Regional Airport MOB, Montgomery Regional Airport MGM, Northwest Alabama Regional Airport MSL and Northeast Alabama Regional Airport GAD. Rail For rail transport, Amtrak schedules the Crescent, a daily passenger train, running from New York to New Orleans with station stops at Anniston, Birmingham, and Tuscaloosa. Roads Alabama has six major interstate routes Interstate 65 I65 travels northsouth roughly through the middle of the

state; I20I59 travel from the central west Mississippi state line to Birmingham, where I59 continues to the northeast corner of the state and I20 continues east towards Atlanta; I85 originates in Montgomery and travels eastnortheast to the Georgia state line, providing a main thoroughfare to Atlanta; and I10 traverses the southernmost portion of the state, traveling from west to east through Mobile. I22 enters the state from Mississippi and connects Birmingham with Memphis, Tennessee. In addition, there are currently five auxiliary interstate routes in the state I165 in Mobile, I359 in Tuscaloosa, I459 around Birmingham, I565 in Decatur and Huntsville, and I759 in Gadsden. A sixth route, I685, will be formed when I85 is rerouted along a new southern bypass of Montgomery. A proposed northern bypass of Birmingham will be designated as I422. Since a direct connection from I22 to I422 will not be possible, I222 has been proposed, as well. Several U.S. Highways also pass through the state, such as U.S. Route 11 U

S11, US29, US31, US43, US45, US72, US78, US80, US82, US84, US90, US98, US231, US278, US280, US331, US411, and US431. There are four toll roads in the state Montgomery Expressway in Montgomery; NorthportTuscaloosa Western Bypass in Tuscaloosa and Northport; Emerald Mountain Expressway in Wetumpka; and Beach Express in Orange Beach. Ports The Port of Mobile, Alabama's only saltwater port, is a large seaport on the Gulf of Mexico with inland waterway access to the Midwest by way of the TennesseeTombigbee Waterway. The Port of Mobile was ranked 12th by tons of traffic in the United States during 2009. The newly expanded container terminal at the Port of Mobile was ranked as the 25th busiest for container traffic in the nation during 2011. The state's other ports are on rivers with access to the Gulf of Mexico. Water ports of Alabama, listed from north to south See also Index of Alabamarelated articles Outline of Alabamaorganized list of topics about Alabama Notes References Further reading Atkins, Lea

h Rawls, Wayne Flynt, William Warren Rogers, and David Ward. Alabama The History of a Deep South State 1994. Flynt, Wayne. Alabama in the Twentieth Century 2004. Owen Thomas M. History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography 4 vols, 1921. Jackson, Harvey H. Inside Alabama A Personal History of My State 2004. Mohl, Raymond A. "Latinization in the Heart of Dixie Hispanics in Latetwentiethcentury Alabama" Alabama Review 2002, 554 243274. Peirce, Neal R. The Deep South States of America People, Politics, and Power in the Seven Deep South States 1974. Williams, Benjamin Buford. A Literary History of Alabama The Nineteenth Century 1979. WPA Guide to Alabama 1939. External links Alabama State Guide, from the Library of Congress Your Not So Ordinary Alabama Tourist Guide All About Alabama, at the Alabama Department of Archives and History Code of Alabama 1975 USGS realtime, geographic, and other scientific resources of Alabama Alabama QuickFacts from the U.S. Census Bureau Alabama State F

act Sheet 1819 establishments in the United States Southern United States States and territories established in 1819 States of the Confederate States States of the Gulf Coast of the United States States of the United States U.S. states with multiple time zones Contiguous United States

In Greek mythology, Achilles or Achilleus was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and is the central character of Homer's Iliad. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, king of Phthia. Achilles' most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan prince Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the Iliad, other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him with an arrow. Later legends beginning with Statius' unfinished epic Achilleid, written in the 1st century AD state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for one heel, because when his mother Thetis dipped him in the river Styx as an infant, she held him by one of his heels. Alluding to these legends, the term "Achilles' heel" has come to mean a point of weakness, especially in someone or something with an otherwise strong constitution. The Achilles tendon is also named after him due to these leg

ends. Etymology Linear B tablets attest to the personal name Achilleus in the forms akireu and akirewe, the latter being the dative of the former. The name grew more popular, even becoming common soon after the seventh century BC and was also turned into the female form Achillea, attested in Attica in the fourth century BC IG II 1617 and, in the form Achillia, on a stele in Halicarnassus as the name of a female gladiator fighting an "Amazon". Achilles' name can be analyzed as a combination of "distress, pain, sorrow, grief" and "people, soldiers, nation", resulting in a protoform Akhluos "he who has the people distressed" or "he whose people have distress". The grief or distress of the people is a theme raised numerous times in the Iliad and frequently by Achilles himself. Achilles' role as the hero of grief or distress forms an ironic juxtaposition with the conventional view of him as the hero of "glory", usually in war. Furthermore, las has been construed by Gregory Nagy, following Leonard Palmer

, to mean "a corps of soldiers", a muster. With this derivation, the name obtains a double meaning in the poem when the hero is functioning rightly, his men bring distress to the enemy, but when wrongly, his men get the grief of war. The poem is in part about the misdirection of anger on the part of leadership. Another etymology relates the name to a ProtoIndoEuropean compound hepds "sharp foot" which first gave an Illyrian kpedis, evolving through time into khpdes and then akhiddes. The shift from dd to ll is then ascribed to the passing of the name into Greek via a PreGreek source. The first root part he "sharp, pointed" also gave Greek ak "point, silence, healing", akm "point, edge, zenith" and oxs "sharp, pointed, keen, quick, clever", whereas stems from the root heg "to be upset, afraid". The whole expression would be comparable to the Latin acupedius "swift of foot". Compare also the Latin word family of acis "sharp edge or point, battle line, battle, engagement", acus "needle, pin, bodkin", and ac