Alabama

State in southeastern USA, bordered to the east by Georgia, to the north by Tennessee, to the west by Mississippi, and to the south by Florida and the Gulf of Mexico; area 131,426 sq km/50,744 sq mi; population (2006) 4,559,000; capital Montgomery. The state derives its name from a Chocktaw American Indian tribe which lived in the area. The nickname ‘Heart of Dixie’ refers to Alabama's leading role in the Confederacy and ‘Yellowhammer State’ to the colourful uniforms of Confederate soldiers. The yellowhammer, a member of the woodpecker family, is also the state bird. Alabama is two-thirds low-lying coastal plain, with an 85 km-/53 mi-long stretch of coast on the Gulf of Mexico, intersected by Mobile Bay. Service industries form a major part of its economy, but oil, natural gas, marble, wood, iron, steel, aluminium, chemical, paper, and textile manufactures are also important. Livestock, poultry, peanuts, pecans, soft fruit, soybeans, and cotton are produced, and fishing is a key industry. The city of Birmingham has the largest population; other major cities include the port of Mobile, the missile and aerospace centre Huntsville, and former state capital Tuscaloosa, home to the University of Alabama. There are also large urban conurbations in Anniston, Auburn, Decatur, Dothan, Florence, and Gadsden. Historically Alabama was a cotton plantation state associated with slavery and, in the 20th century, the civil-rights movement. Alabama was admitted to the Union on 14 December 1819 as the 22nd US state.