The state name comes from a Native American tribe, one of the Alabama groups from that area. “Dixie” is a nickname for the southern states, especially the Confederate states, which left the Union during the Civil War. Alabama is called the Heart of Dixie because Montgomery, Alabama, was the first Confederate capital.
This southern state is bordered by Tennessee in the north, Georgia in the east, Florida and Mobile Bay in the south, and Mississippiin the west. Two of North America’s rarest species—the Perdido Key beach mouse and the Alabama beach mouse—hide out in Alabama. Coyotes, armadillos, deer, feral pigs, and American alligators also roam the land. Birds such as kites, bald eagles, and hawks dot the skies, and the Gulf Coast water-dog and the 20-inch eastern hell-bender—the biggest salamander species by weight in North America—are underfoot. Bamboo and mistletoe grow in the state as well as other parts of the country, but the carnivorous Alabama canebrake pitcher plant, the Alabama gladecress, and the Cahaba prairie-clover can only be found here. The state’s hundred-plus types of trees include pines, red cedars, magnolias, and live oaks, which are often draped with long, gray Spanish moss. About 70 percent of Alabama is covered in forests, so it’s no wonder the state is known for its timber. Alabama’s vast forests would cover Rhode Island, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut! Alabama is also rich in limestone, coal, and iron ore, which are the three raw materials needed to make steel. In fact Alabama is home to three of the nation’s top pipe-making companies. Alabama, which joined the union as the 22nd state in 1819. Ashleigh
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