The State of Alabama (133,915 km 2 with 4,599,030 inhabitants in 2006) comprises the greater part of the river basin. The capital is Montgomery. The climate is warm temperate, with subtropical characteristics in the S, and very abundant rainfall. Over half of the state is covered by farms : notable agriculture (cotton and sugar cane); huge mining production (oil, coal, iron, bauxite); industrialization (in the steel, chemical, textile, food sectors) finds its main pole in Birmingham.
Alabama River of the USA (507 km approx.) Formed by the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers which flow down from the Appalachian. Near the Gulf of Mexico, joins the Tombigbee River, giving rise to the Mobile River. It has maximum flow rates at the end of winter and minimums at the end of summer.
Morphology. – The highest peaks in the state are found along the inner rim of the crystalline rocks, and the highest point reaches 730m. on the sea. The sandstones generally form plateaus with a maximum altitude of 550 meters. To the north of these is the broad Tennessee valley, and between this and the crystalline rock area is a series of parallel valleys, with longitudinal ridges of harder rocks. The Cretaceous and Tertiary periods form the coastal plain. The topography of this is rather uneven, where the most resistant layers meet, and some points near the inner edge are about 300 m. on the sea. In general, the altitude and the relief of the coastal plain decrease to south towards the coast, although there are steep hills of about 25 m., On the Bay of Mobile and on that of Perdido, and a few kilometers in the
According to abbreviationfinder, Alabama is washed by numerous rivers and streams. Some of these rivers, especially on the coastal plain, are navigable, while those that cross the ancient lands have been barred by dams, especially in the last fifteen years, due to diversions of hydroelectricity. The most important dam is the Wilson Dam on Tennessee in Mussel Shoals, near Florence; it is about km long. 1.6; it is 30 meters high and, when fully exploited, will give a strength of about 250,000 HP.
The natural regions of Alabama are closely related to geology and morphology. Starting from the north, we can distinguish: 1 ° the valley of Tennessee, a relatively flat area of about 12,800 sq km, with fertile soils deriving from the limestone rocks of the Mississippi; 2 ° the coal-mining region of Pennsylvania sandstones, and of rather poor soils, with about 16,000 sq km. of extension, in the northern half of the bushel; 3 ° the region of the Coosa valley, that is a series of valleys inclined from the northeast to the southwest , crossed by the Coosa and characterized by folded rocks of the Paleozoic, which form many longitudinal wrinkles, and with a mediocre fertile soil; 4 ° the foothills region of crystalline rocks, with soils mostly of reddish marl, derived from gneiss and schists; 5 ° the central wooded region (pine forests), with rather poor soils of cretaceous non-calcareous layers; 6 ° the belt of dark soils, with cretaceous marine layers, very fertile, which cross the state to the south of the central part; 7 ° the southern red hills, with reddish, sandy marls, derived from the Eocene layers; 8 ° the region of the long-leaved pine in the southern extremity, with sandy soils of recent origin.
Climate, flora and fauna. – Alabama’s climate is warm temperate, with an average annual temperature of 16 ° to 19 ° in the Tennessee Valley. Little snow falls in winter in the northern and higher parts. The annual precipitation ranges from 1220 mm. in the interior to 1550 mm. at the coast. Inland, in the most fertile regions, only about 42% of the annual rainfall falls in the hottest months, from May to October, while on the coasts at the same time 52% falls.
More than half of the area of the state is still covered in forest, but the best wood has been cut everywhere, and what remains is only a small part of what was there a hundred years ago. There are 7 species of pines, about 30 of oaks and about 100 of other plants, of which only half has commercial value. Pines account for half of the forests, and oaks are a little less. The proportion of coppice woods is greater in the North and in the more fertile soils, evergreen plants, mostly pines, predominate in the south. Forests produce around 6,200,000 cubic meters per year. of wood, mostly coming from various pine species, including Pinus australis is the most important. This same species and another similar one then abundantly supply the naval supplies of turpentine and resins.
The flora includes about 2500 indigenous species and about 400 introduced from other parts of the world, especially from Europe. Many species are endemic to Alabama, including two special shrubs: Neviusia alabamensis (rosacea) and Croton alabamensis (euphorbiacea). 2,000 species of cryptogams have been observed, but further studies would certainly increase this number considerably.
Mammals, birds, reptiles and fish are generally those of the southeastern states, and many of them are part of the fauna of almost the entire eastern part of the United States. Among the animals of lower order, especially among molluscs, various special qualities are noted. In fact, many endemic molluscs were previously found in the rivers of Alabama, but a considerable number of them have been exterminated by the construction of large dams for hydro-electric plants.
According to countryaah, Alabama has the following main cities:
Montgomery
City of the USA (202,696 residents In 2008), capital of the State of Alabama. It is located in the central part of the state, on the left bank of the Alabama River which is navigable from here. At Montgomery the vast Appalachian mining basin ends from the N, and the cotton region begins at the S. Manufacturing industries of agricultural, textile and chemical products.
Montgomery arose between 1817 and 1819 from the merger of three nuclei founded in those years, and became the capital of the state in 1847. Its fortune is linked to that of the cultivation of cotton. The geographical-economic position explains how the Congress of Southern secessionist States met with Montgomery (South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana), who established the first Confederate government under the presidency of Jefferson Davis on 4 February 1861 with a formal act of secession. M. was also the first capital of the Confederation from 1861 to 1862. It was conquered by the northerners in 1865.
Birmingham
City of the USA (229,800 residents In 2007), in Alabama at the extreme southwestern slopes of the Appalachian. Important industrial center, with iron and steel complexes that exploit the local iron ore deposits. Industries also in the fields of aerial construction, chemistry, wood and paper processing, textiles and food. Important railway junction on the Cincinnati-New Orleans line.
