Alabama state

snowfall. In the northern part of the state, winters are not so mild. Northwest winds bring cold snaps, but they are usually short and are followed by mild weather.

Summer temperatures tend to be about the same over the state. The summer is long, but extended heat waves are almost unknown. Along the coast the hot days are relieved by frequent breezes blowing in from the Gulf of Mexico. Nights are cool and comfortable even in midsummer. In the north, summer temperatures are relieved by the higher altitudes and by cool forest shade. Spring and autumn are long and delightful. Autumn extends from early September to well after Thanksgiving.

THE LAND

LOCATION: Latitude—30° 13' N to 35" N

.Longitude—84" to 53' W to 88° 28' W.

Tennessee to the north, Mississippi on the west, the Florida panhandle and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Georgia on the east.

ELEVATION: Highest—Cheaha Mountain, 734 m (2,407 ft). Lowest—Sea level, along the Gulf of Mexico.

LANDFORMS: Highlands (the Interior Low Plateau and the Appalachian Highlands) in the northern part of the state; lowlands (the Gulf Coastal Plain) in the south and west.

SURFACE WATERS: Major rivers—Tennessee; Tombigbee, with its main tributary, the Black Warrior; Coosa and Tallapoosa, which join to form the Alabama; Mobile, formed by the joining of the Alabama and the Tombigbee;

Chattahoochee. Major artificial lakes—Pickwick, Wilson, Wheeler, and Guntersville, on the Tennessee River; Lay, Mitchell, Weiss, and Jordan, on .the Coosa; Martin and Thurlow, on the Tallapoosa; Holt Reservoir on the Black Warrior.

CLIMATE: Temperature—July average, about 27°C (80°F) statewide. January average, about 7°C (44°F) in north, 12°C (53°F) in south. Precipitation—Rainfall average, 1,350 mm (53 in); varies from 1,320 mm (52 in) in north to 1,730 mm (68 in) along the coast. Growing season—Varies from about 200 days in north to 300 days in south.

Natural Resources

Leaders of the state like to say that Alabama has more natural resources than any other area of its size in the world. These resources include soils, minerals, forests, and water.

Soils. Alabama may be divided into several major soil areas. Along the Coosa and the Tennessee rivers, there are valleys called limestone valleys. The soils in these valleys are mainly red clay loams. They were formed by the weathering of limestone rock. The soils of the Appalachian Plateau are mainly sandy loams. Red sandy loams and clay loams cover much pf the Piedmont Plateau. The soils of the Gulf Coastal Plain were formed from sediment laid down in the oceans that once covered the plain. Most of these soils are sandy loams or clay soils.

Long years of growing cotton and corn lowered the fertility of Alabama's soils. The abundant rainfall also caused the topsoil to be washed away. In many places, especially in the Piedmont Plateau and the Black Belt, farms are now planted in grasses to improve the soil and provide pasture for cattle.

Forests. About 60 per cent of all the land of Alabama is forested. Many kinds of trees are found, but the soft pine is the most common. It is also the most valuable for wood pulp, which is used for making paper. The pine forests grow mainly in the central and southern parts of the state.

To improve worn-out soils, farmers have developed many tree farms for future harvest. Paper companies, farmers, and the government all help in a continuing program of reforestation.

Minerals. Most of Alabama's minerals are in the northern half of the state. Coal and iron ore are found in the Appalachian Plateau and in the Ridge and Valley Region. One of the largest deposits, or fields, of coal is the Warrior field. It extends through all of Walker County and parts of Fayette, Tuscaloosa, and Jefferson counties. Some of the best beds of iron ore are in the Birmingham area.

Limestone occurs in the Tennessee Valley and in the Ridge and Valley Region, as well as in areas of the Gulf Coastal Plain. Marble is found in Coosa and Talladega counties.

Petroleum is the most important mineral of the Gulf Coastal Plain. It has been found in the extreme southwestern counties. There are important salt deposits north of Mobile. Henry and Barbour counties, as well as other parts of the state, have deposits of bauxite, a claylike mineral from which aluminum is obtained.

POPULATION

TOTAL: 3,893,888 (1980 census). Density—29.6 persons to each square kilometer (76.7 persons to each square mile).

GROWTH SINCE 1820

Year Population Year Population

1820 127,901 1920 2,348,174

1860 964,201 1960 3,266,740

1880 1,262,505 1970 3,444,354

1900 1,828,697 1980 3,893,888

Gain Between 1970 and 1980—13.1 percent

CITIES: Fifteen of Alabama's cities have a population of more than 25,000 (1980 census).

Birmingham 284,413 Prichard 39,541

Mobile 200,452 Florence 37,029

Montgomery 177,857 Bessemer 31,729

Huntsville 142,513 Anniston 29,523

Tuscaloosa 75,211 Auburn 28,471

Dothan 48,750 Phenix City 26,928

Gadsden 47,565 Selma 26,684

Decatur 42,002

Waters. Alabama's water is one of its most valuable resources. The supply is abundant. Mainly it is soft, pure water that does not require treatment before being used in homes and industries.

Hydroelectric plants line the Coosa, Talla-poosa, Tennessee, Chattahoochee, and Black Warrior rivers. Along the rivers there arc also steam power plants, fed by Alabama's coal. Additional plants are now being built or planned. They will provide ample power for years to come.

Wildlife. Alabama has more than 300 species of birds. Among the largest are bald eagles, hawks, ospreys, and wild turkeys, ducks, and geese. Rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, foxes, and white-tailed deer are found in most of the state, and black bears in some areas. Fresh-water fish include bass, perch, bluegill, and trout. Some fisheries have been closed by mercury pollution.

In 1955 the tarpon was named the state salt-water fish. It is a big fighting fish found in the warm, blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It has no commercial value. The main products of the sea fisheries are shrimp, oysters, and crabs.

THE PEOPLE AND THEIR WORK

There are very few foreign-born people living in Alabama. The majority are descend¬

ants of European settlers who came to the area in colonial times. About one third of the people are blacks whose ancestors were brought to the South as slaves. Among the people of Indian heritage, the most active organized group is the Creek Nation East of the Mississippi, at Atmore.

In 1960, for the first time, more Alabam-ians lived in cities than in rural areas. The number of persons who work on farms has dropped steadily since the 1940's. And the number who work in manufacturing and other kinds of jobs has continued to grow.

Industries and Products

For some time the value of products manu¬factured in Alabama has been far greater than the value of livestock and crops and of the different kinds of minerals that are pro¬duced in the state.

Manufacturing. The mast important indus¬tries are the ones that manufacture metals, textiles, chemicals, and forest products. Many of the industries make use of Alabama's own raw materials.

The areas around Birmingham and Gads¬den are the only places in the nation where iron ore, coal, and limestone are found close together. These are basic raw materials needed in the making of steel. About 90 per¬cent of all the steel making in the South is carried on in Alabama, mostly in and around Birmingham, Anniston, and Gadsden. New factories that make products from iron and steel continue to spring up throughout the state, mainly along the water routes.

Around Mobile, as well as in other areas, there are plants that extract aluminum from bauxite. These plants provide metal for factories in the Tennessee Valley that make aluminum products. A large copper-tubing plant at Decatur, on the Tennessee River, is a new development for Alabama.

The textile industry produces yarn and thread, woven fabrics, clothing, and other goods. Textile mills are spread throughout the state.

WHAT ALABAMA PRODUCES

MANUFACTURED GOODS: Primary metals, paper and related products, chemicals and related products, fabricated metal products, textiles, rubber and plastic products, clothing, processed foods.

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS: Broilers, cattle and calves, soybeans, eggs, peanuts, cotton, milk.

MINERALS: Coal, petroleum, natural gas. Iron ore, cement, stone, sand and gravel, lime.

Many of the chemical industries make use of coal tar, a tar that is left from the process of making coke. Some of the by-products of coal tar are medicines, explosives, dyes, and plastics. The salt deposits near Mobile pro¬vide raw material for the making of chlorine products, such as bleaches, disinfectants, and water purifiers. At Muscle Shoals in north¬western Alabama there is a federal plant where fertilizers