Alabama

Capital	Montgomery
Population	4,447,100 Source: U.S. Census Bureau GCT-PH1-R. Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density (geographies ranked by total population): 2000 Data Set: Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data
Governor	Bob Riley (R, to January 2011)
Entered the Union	December 14, 1819 as the 22nd state
Motto	Audemus Jura Nostra Defendere (We Dare Defend Our Rights)
Nickname	The Heart of Dixie, The Cotton State, The Yellowhammer state
Flower	Camellia
Bird	Yellowhammer
Song	"Alabama"
Professional Sports Teams (sports listing policy)	No NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS, or NHL teams.
Origin of Name	May come from Choctaw word meaning "thicket-clearers" or "vegetation-gatherers"
Major Industries	Paper, Chemicals, Rubber and Plastics
Historical Sites	Montgomery, founding site of the Confederate States of America in 1861, and later the site of the Montgomery bus boycotts in the 1950s and 1960s; Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in downtown Montgomery, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., served as minister; the Tuskegee Institute, founded by Booker T. Washington in 1881
Points of Interest	Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller in Tuscambia; the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville; and the White House of the Confederacy in Montgomery
Bordering States	Alabama borders Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
Flag

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

• Encarta Concise Encyclopedia
• Columbia Encyclopedia
• Information Please Almanac

• Alabama.gov: The Official Web Site of the State of Alabama
  http://www.alabama.gov/
  This is the official website for the State of Alabama.
• Alabama Public Library Service
  http://www.apls.state.al.us/
  Here is the homepage for the Alabama State Library Agency.
• The Alabama Historical Association
  http://www.archives.state.al.us/aha/aha.html
  Here is the homepage for Alabama's oldest statewide Historical Society.
• Alabama Department of Archives & History Museum
  http://www.archives.state.al.us/mv.html
  Here is the homepage for the Alabama State Museum.
• Alabama Department of Archives & History
  http://www.archives.state.al.us
  Here is the homepage for the Alabama State Archives.
• Alabama State Parks
  http://www.dcnr.state.al.us/Parks/state_parks_index_1a.html
  Here is the homepage for Alabama State Parks.
• Alabama Wonder Full
  http://www.touralabama.org/
  Here is the official state tourism & travel website for Alabama.
• Discover Alabama!
  http://www.alabamatravel.org/
  Here is the official Alabama Travel Council website.
• Kid's Place: Alabama Secretary of State
  http://www.sos.state.al.us/kidsplace/
  Here is the official Alabama site just for kids, developed by the Alabama Secretary of State office.

• 50states.com: Alabama
  http://www.50states.com/alabama.htm
  The site provides a wealth of information about Alabama. It includes everything from the highest point to county profile to climate.
• Things To Do in Alabama
  http://www.thingstodo.com/states/AL/index.htm
  ThingsToDo.com is an online guide to information about Alabama's entertainment, recreation, and travel, and includes the state's interesting facts, famous people, and special events.
• Roadside America: Alabama Attractions
  http://www.roadsideamerica.com/map/al.html
  Roadside America describes itself as an online guide to offbeat attractions. This site offers reviews of "weird sites along the highway" in Alabama.
• The Alabama Information Directory
  http://www.alabamainfo.com/
  This site provides information on Alabama business, education, government, history, tourism, weather, cities, and media.
• FedStats: MapStat: United States: Alabama
  http://www.fedstats.gov/qf/states/01000.html
  Fast access to statistics from more than 100 federal agencies on "economic and population trends, crime, education, health care, aviation safety, energy use, farm production and more" in Alabama.

• The reason Alabama is called the "Heart of Dixie" originally had nothing to do with Alabama! Before the Civil War (1861-1865), the Citizens Bank of Louisiana issued $10 notes that bore the French word "dix" meaning 10. This led to the South becoming known as Dixieland, and since Alabama served as the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War, it became known as the "Heart of Dixie."
• The first statue ever erected in honor of an insect pest, Boll Weevil Monument, is in Enterprise.
• The Women's Army Corp Museum at Fort McClellan, in Anniston, is the only museum in the world dedicated to women in the military.
• Dothan is the Peanut capital of the World, and fifty percent of all the peanuts produced in the U.S. are grown within 100 miles of Dothan.

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