The American state belongs to the US-American southern states and is best known for the large cultivation areas for cotton and the typical accent of the southern states (which is sometimes difficult to understand for foreigners). Aside from cotton as an important industry, Alabama has other attractions to offer that are definitely not to be missed when visiting this state. Three different art museums with numerous interesting exhibits ensure that you can enjoy culture in Alabama. In addition, the south of Alabama is very close to the sea, so that you can also go swimming from there.
The largest city in the state is Birmingham, which is very well known as a university city, but otherwise also offers numerous opportunities to pass the time. Green areas and leisure facilities provide entertainment as well as numerous shopping opportunities.
The special and beautiful thing about Alabama is that on the one hand you can enjoy nature and the sea, on the other hand you can also explore interesting cities.
Alabama key figures
Land area: 135,765 square kilometers (rank 30 of all states in the USA)
Share of water surface: 3.2%
Population: 4.661 million (2008 estimate, ranked 23rd of all states in the United States)
Population density: 34 people per square kilometer (27th place of all states in the USA)
Member of the United States since: December 14, 1819
Languages: English (96.17%), Spanish (2.12%)
Capital: Montgomery (202,000 residents, 2006)
Largest city: Birmingham (229,800 residents, 2007 estimate)
Highest point: 734 m, Mount Cheaha
Lowest point: 0 m, Gulf of Mexico
Governor: Robert R. Rily (Republican)
Lieut. Governor: Jim Folsom, Jr. (Democrat)
Local time: CET -7 h. From the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November: CET -6 h.
The time difference to Central Europe is -7 h in both winter and summer.
Postal abbreviation: AL
Alabama Geography and Map
According to ehotelat, the state of Alabama is one of the southern states of the USA. The capital is Montgomery. Alabama is also known as the Cotton State because of its large-scale cotton cultivation. Another nickname is Goldammerstaat – Yellowhammer State -, based on the symbolic bird of Alabama. Since Montgomery was the first capital of the south, Alabama was often referred to as the Heart of the South – Heart of Dixie, especially in earlier times. Dixie is a short form of Dixieland, a synonym for the southern states.
With an area of 135,765 square kilometers, Alabama ranks 30th in size compared to the other states. A large part of the state, around 67 percent, is forested. The national territory is on average 152 meters above sea level. The Mount Cheaha, with 734 meters the highest point in the state. Alabama’s lowest point is on the Gulf of Mexico. It is at sea level.
Alabama is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, and Florida to the southeast. To the south lies the Gulf of Mexico, into which the state’s largest river, the Alabama River, flows. Its western neighbor is the state of Mississippi.
The northeast Alabamas is shaped by the Appalachian Mountains, a wooded low mountain range in eastern North America. It extends over a length of about 2,400 kilometers and extends from the Canadian province of Quebec all the way to Alabama.
There is also the Russel Cave National Monument. With a length of more than seven miles, the cave is the third largest in Alabama. Archaeological finds suggest that the cave was inhabited by humans around 9,000 years ago. Also in northern Alabama, in Winston County, is what is believed to be the longest natural bridge east of the Rocky Mountains.
In the east of the state is the Piedmont plateau. In its entirety, it extends between the Atlantic coastal plain and the central section of the Appalachians, the Blue Ridge Mountains. The total area of the Piedmont covers approx. 207,000 square kilometers. From north to south, the plateau extends from New Jersey to Alabama. While it is very narrow above the Delaware River, in North Carolina it reaches a width of more than 470 kilometers.
The Piedmont is physiographically closely linked to the Appalachian Mountains and can be divided into a highland region, the Piedmont Highlands, and a lowland region, the Piedmont Lowlands. The soils of the plateau are loamy and only partially fertile. While cotton was predominantly cultivated in the south, dominated in the central part, in North Carolina and Virginia, the growing of tobacco. In the north of the plateau, the soil experiences a wide range of agricultural uses, from fruit growing to dairy farming and growing of grain.
The area around the capital Montgomery is characterized by its particularly fertile alluvial soil. The Alabama River is formed there by the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers.
The south and west of Alabama is dominated by the sandy coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Gulf of Mexico is part of the American Mediterranean and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean. It covers an area of around 1,600,000 square kilometers and is almost completely enclosed by North America. The eastern and northern coastal area is part of the USA, the southern part of Mexico. In the southeast the Gulf borders on Cuba. The US states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and coastal states include Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
