State bird
Yellowhammer (northern flicker)
Sources: Designation & background
Local timeMontgomery ·
U.S. States / South · Card 001
Alabama
The Yellowhammer State
Little River flows for much of its course along the top of Lookout Mountain before cutting through a sandstone canyon.
Alabama and its surroundings
● State capital · Gold highlights Alabama.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
At a glance
- Capital
- Montgomery
- Postal abbreviation
- AL
- Population
- 5,193,088July 1, 2025 · Census estimate
- Total area
- 135,767 km²52,420 square miles · land and water
- Statehood
- December 14, 1819State number 22
- Region
- South
Sources: Census · population · Census · area
State symbols & traditions
State song
Alabama
Sources: Designation & background
State cake
Lane cake
Sources: Designation & background
Geography & flag
01
Location
Neighboring states: Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee.
02
Landscape & places
Little River flows for much of its course along the top of Lookout Mountain before cutting through a sandstone canyon. Waterfalls, forested slopes and exposed rock illustrate Alabama’s Appalachian uplands, a different landscape from its Gulf Coast.
03
Land and water
The total area includes 131,171 km² of land and 4,597 km² of water, according to Census area measurements.
State flag
A crimson diagonal cross on a white field.
Sources: Census · geographic reference · Census · area measurements · National Park Service · Little River Canyon
How the landscape works
A canyon is evidence of a river doing work over time: flowing water wears away and carries off rock and sediment. At Little River Canyon, the exposed cliffs and changes in elevation help explain waterfalls and the route of the stream. This upland landscape is a useful correction to thinking of Alabama only as a coastal state. A state boundary can contain several very different physical regions.
History
Why the Selma marches mattered
The right to vote existed in law, but discriminatory registration practices and intimidation kept many Black Alabamians from exercising it. Local organizers and national civil rights groups made Selma a center of the campaign to secure federal protection for voting rights.
On March 7, 1965, state troopers and local officers attacked marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on their way toward Montgomery. Images of the violence, known as Bloody Sunday, brought national attention to the campaign. A later march reached Montgomery under federal protection. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in August, giving the federal government stronger tools to challenge racial discrimination in voting.
Read more: Historical source ↗
Why this mattered
The central problem at Selma was the gap between a right written into law and the ability to exercise it. Registration barriers could exclude voters even without a law simply announcing that Black citizens could not vote. Marching brought that local problem to national attention. Federal voting-rights protections mattered because leaving enforcement entirely to the same local institutions could allow the barriers to continue.
Key dates
-
Alabama Territory formed
-
Statehood · State number 22
-
Selma-to-Montgomery voting-rights marches
Sources: Congressional Research Service · statehood · U.S. Census Bureau · historical geography · National Park Service
People and place
Indigenous history and communities today
The Poarch Band of Creek Indians is a living tribal community in Alabama. Its own account of its history and government adds a present-day perspective alongside the state’s civil rights and settlement histories.
Continue with Poarch Band of Creek Indians. This is one starting point, not a complete account of the peoples connected to this land.
Compare
Alabama and Florida
| Measure | Alabama | Florida |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2025) | 5,193,088 | 23,462,518 |
| Land area (km²) | 131,171 | 138,887 |
| People per km² of land | 39.6 | 168.9 |
Florida has more people per square kilometer of land. Population density divides population by land area. It is an average across the whole jurisdiction, not a claim that residents are evenly spread out.
Calculated from the Census population series and land-area measurements used on these pages. Rounded figures; water area is excluded. Explore Florida.
Economy
Main activities
In 2025, manufacturing was the largest of the broad industry groups compared here by current-dollar output. Other major groups included government and government enterprises, real estate and rental and leasing, and professional and business services.
Total economic output was $341.2 billion in current dollars in 2025.
Largest industry groups · 2025
- Manufacturing: 15.0%
- Government and government enterprises: 15.0%
- Real estate and rental and leasing: 12.3%
- Professional and business services: 10.2%
Share of total current-dollar GDP. These figures measure output, not employment.
Sources: BEA · annual GDP by state, SAGDP2
Production, jobs and wages answer different questions
The industry chart measures the value of production. It does not count workers. An industry with a large share of GDP need not employ the most people or pay the highest wages. Employment and wage data would be needed to answer those questions.
Population & economic trends
Population, 2020–2025
Millions of people5.192025 · millions of people
July 1 resident population estimates, using the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 series.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau
View data table
| Year | People |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 5,032,962 |
| 2021 | 5,050,058 |
| 2022 | 5,076,868 |
| 2023 | 5,117,850 |
| 2024 | 5,163,055 |
| 2025 | 5,193,088 |
Real GDP, 2010–2025
Billions of chained 2017 dollars260.652025 · billions of chained 2017 dollars
Real GDP measures economic output adjusted for inflation. The chart uses BEA’s chained 2017 dollars.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
View data table
| Year | Millions of chained 2017 dollars |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 199,455.0 |
| 2011 | 201,372.8 |
| 2012 | 203,675.5 |
| 2013 | 206,962.9 |
| 2014 | 206,070.0 |
| 2015 | 208,950.3 |
| 2016 | 212,862.8 |
| 2017 | 216,615.5 |
| 2018 | 220,808.8 |
| 2019 | 225,272.8 |
| 2020 | 223,025.5 |
| 2021 | 233,951.1 |
| 2022 | 239,846.6 |
| 2023 | 248,313.7 |
| 2024 | 255,629.4 |
| 2025 | 260,648.0 |
Read the trend, then ask what explains it
Alabama’s population increased by about 3.2% between 2020 and 2025 in this series. That shows the size of the change. The chart alone cannot tell us how much came from births, deaths or migration.
Real GDP adjusts for changes in prices, so it helps compare production over time. Current-dollar GDP includes price changes. Neither measure tells us how income is distributed among residents.
Representation
- Electoral votes
- 92024 & 2028 elections
- Voting U.S. House seats
- 72020 Census allocation
- U.S. Senate seats
- 2
Electoral votes equal the state’s U.S. House seats plus its two U.S. Senate seats. These allocations apply to the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.
Practice
Test your knowledge
Use the explanations and data on this page to answer ten questions. Hints and links to the relevant sections are available throughout.
10 questions about Alabama
Show a hint
Your place in the quiz and best full-quiz score are saved on this device when browser storage is available.
Want to practice recognizing states? Try the mixed-state map quiz.
Sources & notes
Narrative and quiz updated 5 October 2026. Statistical data prepared 27 September 2026. Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2025, July 1 estimates for 2020–2025. Real GDP: BEA annual state accounts, SAGDP9, millions of chained 2017 dollars; industry shares: SAGDP2, current dollars. Data downloaded 27 September 2026. Area measurements include land and water.
Sources: Census · population estimates · BEA · state GDP · Census · area measurements · Natural Earth · map data
The capital clock shows current local time. Statistical figures are dated estimates and may be revised.
Updated 29 October 2026. Statistics retain the dated series shown in the charts; these are not live figures. Sources are linked beside each topic.