While part of the same large language family, the Muskogean-speaking tribes in Alabama developed distinct cultures and languages.

Alabama is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida to the south, and Mississippi to the west.

Alabama’s land consists of 22 million acres (89,000 km²) of forest, which is 67% of the state’s total land area.

Alabama’s oldest city is Mobile, which was founded by French colonists (Alabama Creoles) in 1702 as the capital of French Louisiana.

High-profile events such as the Selma to Montgomery marches made Alabama a major focal point of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

The first European settlement in Alabama was founded by the French at Old Mobile in 1702. The city was moved to the current site of Mobile in 1711.

Pine forests form the largest proportion of forests in Alabama, which once boasted huge expanses of these forests.

During Reconstruction, Alabama was represented in Congress by three African-American congressmen: Jeremiah Haralson, Benjamin S. Turner, and James T. Rapier.

Among the historical tribes living in present-day Alabama at the time of European contact were the Cherokee, an Iroquoian language people; and the Muskogean-speaking Alabama (Alibamu), Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Koasati.