Alabama
The Yellowhammer State
Climate
Warm and humid, with hot summers and mild winters. Average highs are about 91F (33C) in summer and 58F (14C) in winter, with plenty of rain and a risk of storms.
Main industries
Known for making cars and iron and steel, plus farming peanuts and cotton, forestry, and shipping through the port of Mobile.
Top places for tourists
The white sand beaches of Gulf Shores, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, and the civil rights history sites in Montgomery and Selma.
Places of interest
Huntsville, where rockets for the moon were designed; the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma; and the church in Montgomery where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached.
A little history
Alabama became the 22nd state in 1819 and grew with cotton farms. It became a key place in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Fun fact
The rockets that carried astronauts to the moon were designed in Huntsville, Alabama, which is nicknamed Rocket City.