Alabama is the 22nd State in the United States. 3.19% of the state's total area is water. About 60% of its land area is made up of plains inclined towards the famous Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Alabama was the heart of the "cotton kingdom" before the Civil War. The State is home to five Native American tribes (Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole). Their rich culture and traditions are well preserved to this day. It was in Alabama that The Civil Rights Movement began 50 years ago by Rosa Parks, who passed away recently. The Movement, led by the legendary Reverend Martin Luther King, Junior, challenged and overthrew all segregation laws that denied Afro-Americans the same rights as other fellow countrymen. Today, the United States is looked upon as a nation that treats all human beings as equal. The State has many places of tourist interest. These include the Rosa Parks Museum, The Civil Rights Memorial, and the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church (where Reverend Martin Luther King Junior, delivered his mesmerizing "I have a dream" speech). Alabama has produced many internationally famous people. Some of them are actor Dean Jones, comedian Paula Poundstone, author Nellee Harper Lee, legendary musician Nat "King" Cole, country singer Hank Williams, pop singer Lionel Ritchie, pop group The Commodores, astronaut N Jan Davis, Surgeon General David Satcher, boxer Joe Louis and athlete Jesse Owens. Alabama is a modern state with a dynamic economy based mainly on retail and wholesale trade, services, insurance, real estate, transportation, construction, and electrical equipment. Its agricultural output consists of poultry, forest products, cattle, nursery stock, cotton, eggs, peanuts and soybeans. Alabama is a paradise on earth with its diverse wildlife that includes white-tailed deer, Eastern wild turkey and many other species that are unique to the region. Its landscape is beautiful, with the picturesque Appalachian Mountains in the North and sugar sand white beaches that gently lie near emerald waters of the ocean along the Gulf Coast. With several shopping malls, Alabama offers fantastic opportunities for shopping. There are great outdoor sporting facilities that include biking trails, hunting expeditions and some of the internationally well known golf courses. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center houses an Apollo spacecraft and a 363-foot Saturn V rocket that reminds one of the pioneering work, in the 1950s, that eventually put man on the moon in 1969. The Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery is a literary delight. It hosts a colorful spectrum of classical and contemporary theatrical performances all year round. It is the 6th largest Shakespeare Theater in the world and attracts more than 200,000 visitors annually. Alabama has all the amenities and recreational facilities that make it a Magic State. |
