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In 2002, Christian Koeberl with the Institute of Geochemistry University of Vienna published evidence and established the site as the 157th recognized impact crater on Earth.

Climate The state is classified as humid subtropical (Cfa) under the Koppen Climate Classification.

The average annual temperature is 64°F (18°C).

Temperatures tend to be warmer in the southern part of the state with its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, while the northern parts of the state, especially in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeast, tend to be slightly cooler.

Generally, Alabama has very hot summers and mild winters with copious precipitation throughout the year.

Alabama receives an average of of rainfall annually and enjoys a lengthy growing season of up to 300 days in the southern part of the state.

Summers in Alabama are among the hottest in the U.S., with high temperatures averaging over throughout the summer in some parts of the state.

Alabama is also prone to tropical storms and hurricanes.

Areas of the state far away from the Gulf are not immune to the effects of the storms, which often dump tremendous amounts of rain as they move inland and weaken.

South Alabama reports many thunderstorms.

The Gulf Coast, around Mobile Bay, averages between 70 and 80 days per year with thunder reported.

This activity decreases somewhat further north in the state, but even the far north of the state reports thunder on about 60 days per year.

Occasionally, thunderstorms are severe with frequent lightning and large hail; the central and northern parts of the state are most vulnerable to this type of storm.

Alabama ranks ninth in the number of deaths from lightning and tenth in the number of deaths from lightning strikes per capita.

Alabama, along with Oklahoma and Iowa, has the most confirmed F5 and EF5 tornadoes of any state, according to statistics from the National Climatic Data Center for the period January 1, 1950, to June 2013.

Several long-tracked F5/EF5 tornadoes have contributed to Alabama reporting more tornado fatalities since 1950 than any other state.

The state was affected by the 1974 Super Outbreak and was devastated tremendously by the 2011 Super Outbreak.

The 2011 Super Outbreak produced a record amount of tornadoes in the state.

The tally reached 62.

The peak season for tornadoes varies from the northern to southern parts of the state.

Alabama is one of the few places in the world that has a secondary tornado season in November and December besides the typically severe spring.

The northern part—along the Tennessee River Valley—is most vulnerable.

The area of Alabama and Mississippi most affected by tornadoes is sometimes referred to as Dixie Alley, as distinct from the Tornado Alley of the Southern Plains.

Winters are generally mild in Alabama, as they are throughout most of the Southeastern United States, with average January low temperatures around in Mobile and around in Birmingham.

Although snow is a rare event in much of Alabama, areas of the state north of Montgomery may receive a dusting of snow a few times every winter, with an occasional moderately heavy snowfall every few years.

Historic snowfall events include New Year's Eve 1963 snowstorm and the 1993 Storm of the Century.

The annual average snowfall for the Birmingham area is per year.

In the southern Gulf coast, snowfall is less frequent, sometimes going several years without any snowfall.

Alabama's highest temperature of was recorded on September 5, 1925, in the unincorporated community of Centerville.

The record low of occurred on January 30, 1966, in New Market.

Flora and fauna Alabama is home to a diverse array of flora and fauna in habitats that range from the Tennessee Valley, Appalachian Plateau, and Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of the north to the Piedmont, Canebrake, and Black Belt of the central region to the Gulf Coastal Plain and beaches along the Gulf of Mexico in the south.

The state is usually ranked among the top in nation for its range of overall biodiversity.

Alabama is in the subtropical coniferous forest biome and once boasted huge expanses of pine forest, which still form the largest proportion of forests in the state.

It currently ranks fifth in the nation for the diversity of its flora.

It is home to nearly 4,000 pteridophyte and spermatophyte plant species.

Indigenous animal species in the state include 62 mammal species, 93 reptile species, 73 amphibian species, roughly 307 native freshwater fish species, and 420 bird species that spend at least part of their year within the state.

Invertebrates include 97 crayfish species and 383 mollusk species.

113 of these mollusk species have never been collected outside the state.

Census-designated and metropolitan areas Cities Demographics According to the 2020 United States census the population of Alabama was 5,024,279 on April 1, 2020, which represents an increase of 244,543 or 5.12%, since the 2010 census.

This includes a natural increase since the last census of 121,054 (502,457 births minus 381,403 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 104,991 into the state.

Immigration from outside the U.S. resulted in a net increase of 31,180 people, and migration within the country produced a net gain of 73,811 people.

The state had 108,000 foreign-born (2.4% of the state population), of which an estimated 22.2% were undocumented (24,000).

Alabama has the 5th highest African American population among US states at 25.8% as of 2020.

The center of population of Alabama is located in Chilton County, outside the town of Jemison.

According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 3,752 homeless people in Alabama.

Ancestry Those citing "American" ancestry in Alabama are of overwhelmingly English extraction, however most English Americans identify simply as having American ancestry because their roots have been in North America for so long, in many cases since the early 1600s.

Demographers estimate that a minimum of 20–23% of people in Alabama are of predominantly English ancestry and state that the figure is probably much higher.

In the 1980 census 1,139,976 people in Alabama cited that they were of English ancestry out of a total state population of 2,824,719 making them 41% of the state at the time and the largest ethnic group.

In 2011, 46.6% of Alabama's population younger than age1 were minorities.

The largest reported ancestry groups in Alabama are American (13.4%), Irish (10.5%), English (10.2%), German (7.9%), and Scots-Irish (2.5%) based on 2006-2008 Census data.

The Scots-Irish were the largest non-English immigrant group from the British Isles before the American Revolution, and many settled in the South, later moving into the Deep South as it was developed.

In 1984, under the Davis–Strong Act, the state legislature established the Alabama Indian Affairs Commission.

Native American groups within the state had increasingly been demanding recognition as ethnic groups and seeking an end to discrimination.

Given the long history of slavery and associated racial segregation, the Native American peoples, who have sometimes been of mixed race, have insisted on having their cultural identification respected.

In the past, their self-identification was often overlooked as the state tried to impose a binary breakdown of society into white and black.

The state has officially recognized nine American Indian tribes in the state, descended mostly from the Five Civilized Tribes of the American Southeast.

These are the following.

Poarch Band of Creek Indians (who also have federal recognition) MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians Star Clan of Muscogee Creeks Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama Cher-O-Creek Intra Tribal Indians Ma-Chis Lower Creek Indian Tribe Piqua Shawnee Tribe Ani-Yun-Wiya Nation The state government has promoted recognition of Native American contributions to the state, including the designation in 2000 for Columbus Day to be jointly celebrated as American Indian Heritage Day.

Language Most Alabama residents (95.1% of those five and older) spoke only English at home in 2010, a minor decrease from 96.1% in 2000.

Alabama English is predominantly Southern, and is related to South Midland speech which was taken across the border from Tennessee.

In the major Southern speech region, there is the decreasing loss of the final r, for example the "boyd" pronunciation of "bird".

In the northern third of the state, there is a South Midland "arm" and "barb" rhyming with "form" and "orb", respectively.

Unique words in Alabama English include: redworm (earthworm), peckerwood (woodpecker), snake doctor and snake feeder (dragonfly), tow sack (burlap bag), plum peach (clingstone), French harp (harmonica), and dog irons (andirons).

Religion In the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, 86% of Alabama respondents reported their religion as Christian, including 6% Catholic, with 11% as having no religion.

The composition of other traditions is 0.5% Mormon, 0.5% Jewish, 0.5% Muslim, 0.5% Buddhist, and 0.5% Hindu.

Alabama is located in the middle of the Bible Belt, a region of numerous Protestant Christians.

Alabama has been identified as one of the most religious states in the United States, with about 58% of the population attending church regularly.

A majority of people in the state identify as Evangelical Protestant. ,

the three largest denominational groups in Alabama are the Southern Baptist Convention, The United Methodist Church, and non-denominational Evangelical Protestant.

In Alabama, the Southern Baptist Convention has the highest number of adherents with 1,380,121; this is followed by the United Methodist Church with 327,734 adherents, non-denominational Evangelical Protestant with 220,938 adherents, and the Catholic Church with 150,647 adherents.

Many Baptist and Methodist congregations became established in the Great Awakening of the early 19th century, when preachers proselytized across the South.

The Assemblies of God had almost 60,000 members, the Churches of Christ had nearly 120,000 members.

The Presbyterian churches, strongly associated with Scots-Irish immigrants of the 18th century and their descendants, had a combined membership around 75,000 (PCA—28,009 members in 108 congregations, PC(USA)—26,247 members in 147 congregations, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church—6,000 members in 59 congregations, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America—5,000 members and fifty congregations plus the EPC and Associate Reformed Presbyterians with 230 members and nine congregations).

In a 2007 survey, nearly 70% of respondents could name all four of the Christian Gospels.

Of those who indicated a religious preference, 59% said they possessed a "full understanding" of their faith and needed no further learning.

In a 2007 poll, 92% of Alabamians reported having at least some confidence in churches in the state.

Although in much smaller numbers, many other religious faiths are represented in the state as well, including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, the Baháʼí Faith, and Unitarian Universalism.

Jews have been present in what is now Alabama since 1763, during the colonial era of Mobile, when Sephardic Jews immigrated from London.

The oldest Jewish congregation in the state is Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim in Mobile.

It was formally recognized by the state legislature on January 25, 1844.

Later immigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries tended to be Ashkenazi Jews from eastern Europe.

Jewish denominations in the state include two Orthodox, four Conservative, ten Reform, and one Humanistic synagogue.

Muslims have been increasing in Alabama, with 31 mosques built by 2011, many by African-American converts.

Several Hindu temples and cultural centers in the state have been founded by Indian immigrants and their descendants, the best-known being the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Birmingham, the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Birmingham in Pelham, the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama in Capshaw, and the Hindu Mandir and Cultural Center in Tuscaloosa.

There are six Dharma centers and organizations for Theravada Buddhists.

Most monastic Buddhist temples are concentrated in southern Mobile County, near Bayou La Batre.

This area has attracted an influx of refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam during the 1970s and thereafter.

The four temples within a ten-mile radius of Bayou La Batre, include Chua Chanh Giac, Wat Buddharaksa, and Wat Lao Phoutthavihan.

The first community of adherents of the Baháʼí Faith in Alabama was founded in 1896 by Paul K. Dealy, who moved from Chicago to Fairhope.

Baháʼí centers in Alabama exist in Birmingham, Huntsville, and Florence.

Health In 2018, life expectancy in Alabama was 75.1 years, below the national average of 78.7 years and is the third lowest life expectancy in the country.

Factors that can cause lower life expectancy are maternal mortality, suicide, and gun crimes.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study in 2008 showed that obesity in Alabama is a problem, with most counties having more than 29% of adults obese, except for ten which had a rate between 26% and 29%.

Residents of the state, along with those in five other states, were least likely in the nation to be physically active during leisure time.

Alabama, and the southeastern U.S. in general, has one of the highest incidences of adult onset diabetes in the country, exceeding 10% of adults.

Economy The state has invested in aerospace, education, health care, banking, and various heavy industries, including automobile manufacturing, mineral extraction, steel production and fabrication.

By 2006, crop and animal production in Alabama was valued at $1.5billion.

In contrast to the primarily agricultural economy of the previous century, this was only about one percent of the state's gross domestic product.

The number of private farms has declined at a steady rate since the 1960s, as land has been sold to developers, timber companies, and large farming conglomerates.

Non-agricultural employment in 2008 was 121,800 in management occupations; 71,750 in business and financial operations; 36,790 in computer-related and mathematical occupation; 44,200 in architecture and engineering; 12,410 in life, physical, and social sciences; 32,260 in community and social services; 12,770 in legal occupations; 116,250 in education, training, and library services; 27,840 in art, design and media occupations; 121,110 in healthcare; 44,750 in fire fighting, law enforcement, and security; 154,040 in food preparation and serving; 76,650 in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; 53,230 in personal care and services; 244,510 in sales; 338,760 in office and administration support; 20,510 in farming, fishing, and forestry; 120,155 in construction and mining, gas, and oil extraction; 106,280 in installation, maintenance, and repair; 224,110 in production; and 167,160 in transportation and material moving.