Alabama one of the East South Central states of the U.S., bounded on the N by Tennessee, on the E by Georgia, on the S by Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, and on the W by Mississippi. The Chattahoochee R. forms much of the E boundary.
Called the Heart of Dixie, Alabama entered the Union on Dec. 14, 1819, as the 22d state. In 1861 it became a founding member of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Alabama’s economy was long dominated by farming, but by the 1990s manufacturing, government, and services were the chief economic sectors. The name of the state is taken from the Alabama R., which was named for the Alabama, or Alibamon, Indians, who belonged to the Creek Confederacy.
Alabama, with an area of 135,765 sq km (52,419 sq mi), is the 30th largest state in the U.S.; 3.4% of the land area is owned by the federal government. The state is roughly rectangular in shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 540 km (about 335 mi) from N to S and about 330 km (about 205 mi) from E to W. Elevations begin at sea level and extend up to 733 m (2405 ft), atop Cheaha Mt., in the E part of the state. The approximate mean elevation is 152 m (500 ft). Alabama's shoreline along the Gulf of Mexico is 85 km (53 mi) long. |