Geographical physical

Abbreviated as AL by ABBREVIATIONFINDER, Alabama has one of the most varied territories of the southern states. In the northeast corner is the heel of the mountains, marking the beginning of this great mountain range that narrows to the full capacity of the East Coast. Traveling south from this point, the territory lies on a flat surface through a series of hills and valleys that eventually flattens out and then slopes into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

North of Alabama is the southernmost part of the Appalachian Mountains, the great mountain range that narrows north to Maine. From this northeast corner, heading south, the Alabama Territory changes to a sandstone and limestone ridge region that has destroyed some of the sides of the hills in this area, leaving behind large reddish walls rising into the air where entire hills once they stopped. The Towns of Gadsden, Scottsboro, Anniston, and Fort Payne are in this region.

Further west is a slight flat area, with hills.

Southern Alabama is primarily covered by flat, expansive grasslands, and farmland. Much of the area sits on what is called the East Coast Gulf Plains. This region of beaches, swamps, and sandy clay soil extends north from the Gulf of Mexico into the center of the state. A broad dark, sticky clay band known as the Black Belt stretches east and west across the coastal plains.

Hydrography

The most distinctive northern part of the state of Alabama is its amount of water. The entire northern portion of the state is filled with rivers, streams, lakes, and waterfalls. At the center of it all is the Tennessee River. The mighty waters of the Tennessee flow westward across most of northern Alabama before snaking north to cut across the state of Tennessee. The Tennessee River with numerous tributaries have twisted and carved their paths through the stone hills and limestone cliffs of northeast Alabama to form a connection of caverns, springs, and waterfalls.

Other rivers are:

• Rio Black Warrior
• Tombigbee River
• Rio Mobile
• Alabama River
• Coosa River
• Tallapoosa River
• Rio Conecuh
• Chattahoochee River
• Lost River

Alabama has no natural lakes, but engineers have dammed the Tennessee River at several of its bends to create large reservoirs and recreational lakes. Among them Lake Gunterville, Wheeler, Lewis Smith and Weiss.

Like the Tennessee River in the north, rivers in the southern part of Alabama have also been dammed to create lakes.

Climate

The climate is subtropical. Long and very hot summers, abundant rains and mild winters predominate. Average annual temperatures range from 16 ° C in the north to nearly 21 ° C near the Gulf of Mexico. The latter area receives twice the average annual rainfall and is exposed to occasional hurricanes during the summer months. In July the highest temperatures are registered in the entire state (from 24 to 31 ° C); however, summer nights are generally cool and pleasant.

• CountryAAH: Offers a full list of cities and towns in Alabama, together with postal codes for each of them, and including capital city of Alabama.

Flora

Forests cover approximately 65% ​​of the total area. In addition to the pines, other tree species are well represented, such as the hickory, the cypress or the southern magnolia.

Fauna

The mammals that can be found are the white-tailed or Virginia deer, the red fox, the squirrel, the muskrat, the otter, the beaver and the rabbit. The most common birds are the golden woodpecker (state emblem) and the mockingbird.

Economic development

Services, commerce, industry and public administrations are the sectors that, in this order, occupy a greater percentage of the state’s workforce.

Its economy has long been based on cattle ranching and cotton cultivation.

The deposits of coal, oil, and natural gas, as well as iron ore, allowed during the 20th century the development of an important iron and steel industry around the city of Birmingham, although from the eighties the production of iron stalled due to competition from foreign blast furnaces.

Forest resources are basic in the state’s economy since it is one of the ten states with the highest timber production (especially softwoods) in the United States. Although it only has 84 km of coastline, its fishing resources are relevant. On the other hand, the state government is boosting tourism thanks to its impressive natural resources.

Farming

The Black Belt region is home to the most productive farmland. Its economy is based on agriculture and breeding (poultry, livestock, peanuts, cotton, vegetables, milk and soy)

One third of Alabama’s land is dedicated to agricultural and ranching activities, although nearly 70% of the income from these farms comes from ranching and livestock products. The most important products of these farms (with an average size of 85 hectares) are cattle, poultry, eggs, and peanuts.

Industry

Mining and industrial activities have a great weight in the state. Among the most important minerals in the state are coal, which is found mainly in the northern half of the state, oil and natural gas, which are mainly found in the eastern coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico.

With regard to industry, textiles and clothing, transport equipment, primary metals, paper and their derivatives constitute the most important manufactures, as well as industrial machinery, rubber processing and plastic products.

Sightseeing

Among the great tourist attractions of this state, we must highlight the Marshall Space Flight Center, a site of excellence for space propulsion and a leading institute in the development of reusable space transportation systems in the country. There, new scientific knowledge is generated for both the nation and NASA. Additionally, the Space Museum and the largest helicopter collection in the world stand out. There are gardens, historical places and shelters of natural fauna.

Cheaha State Park and Horseshoe National Military Park, where Andrew Jackson won victory over the creeks in 1814, are two of the state’s top tourist attractions.

Social development

Education

Alabama’s first school was founded in 1799, but at that time the legislation did not establish a statewide public education system. Some of the top institutions of higher learning are the University of Alabama, Auburn University, and Tuskegee University.

Culture

The most important museums in Alabama are the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Southern Museum of Fine Arts in Mobile, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, and the Kennedy-Douglass House in Florence. In addition, numerous historic home museums are open to the public, in Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery and on the Black Belt. Anthropologists, folklorists and linguists have been interested in the cultural manifestations of the residents of the mountainous area of ​​the north of the state, where unique patterns of language and a unique vocabulary have developed and survived, as well as numerous legends, myths, superstitions, songs, and local stories.

Sport

The most popular sports in Alabama are baseball, basketball, American football. Alabama’s natural sportsmen are boxer Joe Louis, and athletes Jesse Owens and Percy Beard.