Liturgical day: Wednesday 5th of Easter.

Liturgical day: Wednesday 5th of Easter # 70509.


Today's Gospel (Jn 15:1-8): Jesus said to his disciples, «I am the true vine and my Father is the winegrower. If any of my branches doesn't bear fruit, he breaks it off; and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, that it may bear even more fruit. You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you; live in me as I live in you. The branch cannot bear fruit by itself but has to remain part of the vine; so neither can you if you don't remain in me. I am the vine and you are the branches. As long as you remain in me and I in you, you bear much fruit; but apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not remain in me is thrown away as they do with branches and they wither. Then they are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words in you, you may ask whatever you want and it will be given to you. My Father is glorified when you bear much fruit: it is then that you become my disciples».
Commentary: Fr. Antoni Carol i Hostench (Sant Cugat del Vallès-Barcelona, Catalonia)
«Live in me as I live in you»
Today, once more, we may see Jesus surrounded by the Apostles in an atmosphere of especial intimacy. He is giving them what we could consider as his final recommendations: what is normally said in the last moment, in the last farewell; that which has an especial force, as if it would be the last will.
We imagine them in the cenacle. Jesus has washed their feet there, has announced them again He must go, has transmitted them his command of fraternal love and has consoled them with the gift of the Eucharistic and the promise of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 14). And, well ahead this 15th chapter of John's Gospel we now find the exhortation to unity within charity.
Our Lord does not hide to his disciples all the dangers and difficulties they will have to face in the near future: «If they persecuted Me they will persecute you...» (Jn 15:20). But they should not be intimidated nor overwhelmed by all the hate they will find in this world: Jesus renews his promise of the arrival of the Protector, while assuring them they may ask and they will be given. Finally, the Lord prays for them —for all of us— to the Holy Father during his priestly prayer (cf. Jn 17).
But our danger does not come from outside, though: the worst menace may arise within ourselves when we fail to respect the fraternal love among the members of Christ's Mystic Body or the unity with the Head of that Body. The recommendation is clear: «I am the vine and you are the branches. As long as you remain in me and I in you, you bear much fruit; but apart from me you can do nothing» (Jn 15:5).
The first generations of Christians managed to keep a very clear conscience of the importance of remaining united through charity. Here is the testimony of one the Fathers of the Church, saint Ignatius of Antioch: «Do you therefore all run together as into one temple of God, as to one altar, as to one Jesus Christ, who came forth from one Father». And here is also an indication from the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Christians: «Whatsoever he said unto you, do [it]» (Jn 2:5).

ZERO

Zero, in arithmetic, is the name of the digit 0, sometimes called naught or a cypher. It is used to indicate the absence of quantity. A zero is needed in a positional numeral system, such as the familiar decimal system commonly used by most people today. In a positional system, the position, or place, of a digit determines the digit's value. Thus, in the numeral 246, the digit 2 stands for two hundred, the digit 4 stands for four tens (or forty), and the digit 6 stands for six units, or ones. The numeral represents the number 246. In order to write the number 206, a symbol is needed to show that there are no tens. The digit 0 serves this purpose. Zero added to or subtracted from a number gives the original number. A number multiplied by zero gives zero. Division by zero is undefined. Zero is an even number.
On most scales, zero marks the starting point or the neutral position. Positive numbers are placed to the right or above zero, and negative numbers are placed to the left or below zero. But on some scales, zero is set arbitrarily. For example, on a Celsius thermometer, zero is set at the temperature at which water freezes.
The Maya Indians of Central America are believed to have invented the concept of the zero before the A.D. 300's. The Hindus developed the concept independently several hundred years later. The idea spread from India and was adopted in Europe during the late 1400's. The word zero probably came from ziphirum, a Latinized form of the Arabic word sifr. Sifr is a translation of the Hindu word sunya (void or empty).

Arizona.

Arizona, once thought to be an almost worthlessdesert, has become a prosperous state of the United States. It is rich in farm and mineral products, and is growing rapidly in manufacturing and population. Vast irrigation systems transform the desert soil into rich farmland. Although the desert summers are very hot, Arizonans stay comfortable. They live in air-cooled homes, work in air-conditioned factories, and travel in air-conditioned automobiles. The desert winters are warm and pleasant. Arizonans, along with thousands of vacationers, enjoy the desert sun while winter chills other parts of the United States. Arizona's climate attracts so many people that the state has become one of the nation's fastest-growing areas. Between 1950 and 1990, Arizona's population grew by almost five times.

Most of Arizona's people live in desert areas, but more than half the state is mountain and plateau country. These higher, cooler areas have the largest ponderosa pine forest in the United States. Large herds of cattle and sheep graze in these regions. The northwestern part of the state has one of the greatest scenic attractions in the United States--the mighty Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. The spectacular Grand Canyon and other scenic wonders, including the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, attract millions of tourists to the state each year.
The federal government has an important part in Arizona's economy. The United States owns or controls about 70 per cent of the state's land. Dams built by the government or with federal funds provide water to irrigate large areas of land in Arizona. These dams also generate electric power for the state's cities and industries.
Arizona has the third-largest Indian population in the United States. Only Oklahoma and California have more Indians. Indian reservations cover more than a fourth of Arizona's land. About 155,000 Indians live in Arizona. About three-fourths of them live on 20 reservations in the state. Indians have contributed much to Arizona's exciting history. Some Indians still live in communities built more than 800 years ago. Indians developed the first irrigation systems hundreds of years before white people came. After the whites arrived, the Indians fought fiercely to keep their rugged, beautiful land. Cochise and Geronimo led war parties in Arizona long after most other Indians had surrendered.
Arizona's history also includes many years of rule by Spanish conquerors, and by Mexicans who freed the region from Spanish control. Today, a large number of Americans of Mexican ancestry live in Arizona. Their influence is apparent in the customs, foods, and place names found in the state.
The name Arizona comes from an Indian word, probably arizonac, but no one is sure what it means. Some people believe it means small spring. Arizona is nicknamed the Grand Canyon State. Phoenix is the capital and largest city of Arizona.


ARIZONA/People
Population. The 1990 United States census reported that Arizona had 3,677,985 people. The population had increased 35 percent over the 1980 figure, 2,718,425. According to the 1990 census, Arizona ranks 24th in population among the 50 states.
More than four-fifths of Arizona's people live in cities and towns. About three-fifths of the people live in the Phoenix-Mesa metropolitan area. Another fifth of the population lives in the Tucson metropolitan area (see METROPOLITAN AREA).
Phoenix, the largest city in Arizona, is a trading and shipping center for a rich agricultural district. Tucson, the second-largest city in the state, was originally a Spanish fort. It became famous as a resort town. Both of these cities are important manufacturing centers and vacation areas.
About 6 out of 100 Arizonans are American Indians. Arizona has the third-largest Indian population in the nation. Only Oklahoma and California have more Indians. The Navajo are the largest tribe in Arizona. The Indian settlement of Oraibi, in northern Arizona, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the United States. Hopi Indians built the settlement in the 1100's. Arizona has 16 tribal councils. These councils help govern the various tribes and supervise their property.
Arizona also has many people of Mexican ancestry, particularly in the southern part of the state. Many families in these groups speak Spanish at home, but the children in the families learn English at school. Mexican foods and customs are extremely popular among residents of Arizona. The state also has many people of German, English, and Irish descent.
Schools. The first schools in Arizona were established in the late 1600's by Spanish missionary priests. These schools taught little except religion. In the 1820's, the Mexican government expelled the priests. It feared they might not be loyal to Mexico. The first public school in Arizona opened in Tucson in 1871.
Today, the state's school system is headed by an elected superintendent of public instruction. This official is a member of and carries out policy made by the State Board of Education. Other members of the board are appointed by the governor. They include a classroom teacher, a president of a state university, a representative of the state community colleges, a county school superintendent, a high school district superintendent, and three private citizens. Schools are financed chiefly by taxes.
Children are required to attend school from the ages of 6 to 16. For the number of students and teachers in Arizona, see EDUCATION (table).
Navajo Community College in Tsaile, Arizona, near Lukachukai, was the first U.S. college located on an Indian reservation. It opened in 1969.

Libraries and museums. Arizona's first library was probably the library established in Arivaca by Samuel Colt, the famous pistol maker. Colt had a mine located in Arivaca in the 1860's, and he provided books for his workers. Tucson had a rental library in the 1870's. By 1878, both Phoenix and Prescott had small libraries. The Arizona Territorial Library, which was founded in 1864, became the Department of Library, Archives, and Public Records.
Arizona museums feature art, science, history, and American Indian cultures. The Arizona State Museum and the Arizona Historical Society's Tucson museum are among the oldest in the state. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, the International Wildlife Museum, and the Pima Air Museum are near Tucson. The Museum of Northern Arizona, near Flagstaff, has exhibits of American Indian arts and crafts. Museums in the Phoenix area include the Phoenix Art Museum; the Heard Museum, which features American Indian art; Pueblo Grande Museum, with a prehistoric Indian village; the Arizona State Capitol Museum; and the Champlin Fighter Museum, which has World War I and World War II fighter aircraft.
ARIZONA/Visitor's guide
Arizona attracts visitors throughout the year. But its winter season has become nationally famous. Thousands of vacationers flock to the sunny desert playgrounds when other parts of the country are cold. At the same time, ski resorts in the mountains of northern Arizona lure winter sports lovers. Dude ranches, historic sites, and magnificent scenery draw other travelers to the state. The outstanding scenic feature is the world-famous Grand Canyon, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. This giant gorge, 277 miles (446 kilometers) long and 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) deep, cuts through the rock of northwestern Arizona. Every year, over 4 million visitors gaze at its splendor. The Petrified Forest in northeastern Arizona is made up of ancient logs that were buried in mud, sand, or volcanic ash years ago and have turned to stone. The state has 15 national monuments, more than any other state. They are in areas of historic, archaeological, or scenic interest.
Arizona's popular annual events include rodeos, county fairs, and Indian ceremonials. These events are held throughout the year. On May 5, Arizona communities celebrate Cinco de Mayo. This Mexican holiday honors the victory of a Mexican army over an invading French force at Puebla, Mexico, in 1862.


ARIZONA/Land and climate
Land regions. Arizona has three main land regions: (1) the Colorado Plateau, (2) the Transition Zone, and (3) the Basin and Range Region.
The Colorado Plateau, in northern Arizona, covers about two-fifths of the state. The region consists of a series of plateaus with fairly level surfaces. This pattern is broken here and there by a few mountains and canyons. Humphreys Peak, the highest mountain in the state, rises 12,633 feet (3,851 meters) near Flagstaff. The deepest canyon is the famous Grand Canyon on the Colorado River. Tributaries of the Colorado have cut other beautiful canyons into the flat land. These include Canyon de Chelly and Oak Creek Canyon.
Many of the mountains are forested, but the region also has dry deserts with little vegetation. Along the Arizona-Utah border in the northeast, strange and beaut-iful rock formations rise from the floor of a broad val- ley. They gave the valley the name Monument Valley. The colorful Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest are well-known parts of the region (see PAINTED DESERT; PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK).
The series of a level plateaus that makes up the Colorado Plateau Region end in the Mogollon Rim on the south. This rim is a steep rock wall almost 2,000 feet (610 meters) high. It extends from central Arizona to the Mogollon Mountains in southwestern New Mexico. The principal industries of the plateau region of Arizona are livestock raising, lumbering, and tourism.
The Transition Zone is a narrow strip of land that lies just south of the Colorado Plateau. This region has several mountain ranges. The ranges are close together in an area of rugged peaks and narrow valleys. This rough country in Arizona includes the Mazatzal, Santa Maria, Sierra Ancha, and White mountain ranges.
The Basin and Range Region includes most of the southern part of the state and a narrow strip in the west. Mountain ranges run through the Basin and Range Region from northwest to southeast. The most important mountain ranges are the Chiricahua, Gila, Huachuca, Hualapai, Pinaleno, Santa Catalina, Santa Rita, and Superstition ranges. These mountains are more heavily forested than the mountains in the Transition Zone, and the valleys are broad and fertile. This part of the Basin and Range Region produces excellent crops when the soil is irrigated. The state's largest cities developed in this area.
In the extreme west and south of the Basin and Range Region, the mountains are low and barren. Broad desert basins lie between the ranges. This area of the state gets little rain, and it has almost no vegetation. Along the western border of Arizona, water from the Colorado River is used to irrigate the dry land. The irrigated land produces excellent crops.
Rivers, waterfalls, and lakes. Arizona's most important river is the Colorado. In Arizona, the river is 688 miles (1,107 kilometers) long. It enters the state from Utah almost in the middle of the northern border. Then it winds west through the Grand Canyon and turns south. The river forms almost the entire western boundary of Arizona.
The Colorado and its tributaries drain most of the state. Before 1935, the muddy Colorado carried about a million tons of rich soil to the Gulf of California every day. Irrigation and power dams on the great river and its branches have helped control the flow, and the river is much clearer today.
Few small streams in Arizona flow all year. Some mountain creeks have a steady flow, but most streams often seem dry. Rushing water fills the riverbeds of the Bill Williams, Little Colorado, San Pedro, and Santa Cruz rivers after a rain. At other times, these rivers appear to be dry. However, water always flows beneath their sandy beds. Many mountain streams tumble down cliffs and canyon walls in waterfalls and cascades. The best-known falls include Beaver, Bridal Veil, Havasu, Mooney, and Navajo. All of these falls are on Havasu Creek in the Supai Canyon area of the Grand Canyon.
Several small natural lakes lie in the mountain areas of the state, but all the largest lakes are artificially created. Many artificial lakes have been made by damming streams for irrigation and for water conservation. The largest of these lakes include Theodore Roosevelt Lake and San Carlos Lake. Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam, lies partly in Nevada. Part of Lake Havasu, formed by Parker Dam, is in California. Lake Powell, which was created by Glen Canyon Dam, lies partly in Arizona and partly in Utah.
Plant and animal life. Forests cover more than a fourth of Arizona. The mountain regions of Arizona have the largest area of ponderosa pine in the United States. Other trees in the state include aspen, blue spruce, cottonwood, Douglas-fir, juniper, pinon, walnut, and white fir.
Arizona is famous for its cactus plants. The sharp-spined cholla cactus is common in the hot desert areas. Creosote bushes and prickly pear cactuses also grow in the desert. The organ-pipe cactus is found in desert areas near sea level. The saguaro, which is common in southern Arizona, grows larger than any other cactus in the United States. The saguaro blossom is the state flower. Other unusual plants that grow in Arizona include the night-blooming cereus and several varieties of the yucca plant. Arizona wild flowers include the geranium, golden columbine, paintbrush, phlox, pink, poppy, and sand verbena.
Animal life in Arizona includes large numbers of mule deer and white-tailed deer. Other big-game animals include black bears, elk, mountain sheep, and pronghorns. Several members of the cat family, including bobcats, mountain lions, and ocelots, prowl in the forested areas. Other Arizona animals include badgers, beavers, foxes, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, weasels, and wild pigs called javelinas.
Arizona has over 40 kinds of lizards, including the poisonous Gila monster. Rattlesnakes live in most parts of the state, and the rare, poisonous coral snake is found in the desert. The state's hotter areas have scorpions and tarantulas.
Arizona's game birds include doves, grouse, quail, wild turkeys, and various waterfowl. Trout swim in the Colorado River and in the mountain streams. Other fishes include bass, bluegills, and crappies.
Climate. Temperatures vary greatly in Arizona. Mountain areas often have winter temperatures below 0° F (-18° C). The southern deserts may not have freezing weather for years. The dry air in the deserts makes cold or heat seem more comfortable there than in humid regions.
The state's highest temperature, 127° F (53° C), was recorded at Parker on July 7, 1905. Hawley Lake, near McNary, had the record low, -40° F (-40° C), on Jan. 7, 1971. In Phoenix, temperatures average about 91° F (33° C) in July, and about 51° F (11° C) in January.
Precipitation (rain, melted snow, and other forms of moisture) varies greatly throughout the state. The deserts of the southwest get only 2 to 5 inches (5 to 13 centimeters) of moisture a year. The high mountain areas may receive as much as 30 inches (76 centimeters) a year.

ARIZONA/Economy
Service industries provide the largest portion of Arizona's gross state product--the total value of goods and services produced in a state in a year. Service industries include such activities as education, health care, real estate, and retail trade. Many service industries benefit from spending by tourists and by retired people who live in the state all or part of the year.
Manufacturing in Arizona is based on such high-technology products as computers, electronic equipment, and aerospace vehicles. Agriculture and mining are also important in Arizona. The state has many cattle ranches and is the nation's leading copper producer.

Natural resources. Arizona's leading natural resources are its climate, water, and mineral deposits.
Water has special importance in Arizona because of the state's arid climate. Farmers must bring water to their land to make crops grow. A system of canals created by American Indians hundreds of years ago still supplies much of this water today. This water comes from mountain reservoirs fed by winter snow and spring rain. However, Arizona uses far more water than it can get from its streams and storage reservoirs. The state's underground water supply is being used up faster than nature can replace it.
In 1968, the United States Congress approved funding for the Central Arizona Project. This long-range project provides for pumping large quantities of water from the Colorado River to the Phoenix and Tucson areas for agricultural and other purposes. Arizona has also begun a statewide water management and water reclamation program to meet current water needs while replenishing the state's supply of underground water.
Minerals. Arizona's mountains and plains contain large deposits of minerals, the most valuable of which is copper. Sand and gravel come from all 15 counties in the state. Other minerals in Arizona include gold, petroleum, pumice, silver, stone, uranium, and coal. Molybdenum and vanadium, which are used in hardening steel, are also present. Arizona's less important mineral resources include clay, bentonite, feldspar, gypsum, iron, lead, natural gas, quartz, and salt.
Soil. Only about an eighth of Arizona's soil is suitable for farming because of the limited amount of water available for irrigation. Soils of the plateau region in northern and eastern Arizona are thin and gray. The mountain soils of Arizona also are thin and are either brown or gray. The lowlands of southwestern Arizona have red soils. In some parts of Arizona's lowland region, the soil lies over a layer of lime rock called caliche. The rock may be so hard that power tools may be needed to dig holes.
Service industries in Arizona account for the largest portion of the gross state product. Most of the service industries in the state are concentrated in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.
Community, business, and personal services lead Arizona's service industries in terms of the gross state product. This industry also employs more people than any of the state's other economic activities. It consists of a variety of businesses, including doctors offices and private hospitals, hotels and resorts, law firms, and repair shops. Arizona's hotels and resorts receive much business from tourists during the winter.
Ranking next among the service industries of Arizona are (1) wholesale and retail trade and (2) finance, insurance, and real estate. The wholesale trade of farm products, mineral products, and motor vehicles is important in the state. Major types of retail businesses include automobile dealerships, department stores, and food stores. Circle K, a large chain of convenience stores that also provides gasoline service, has its corporate headquarters in Phoenix.
Real estate is the most important part of the finance, insurance, and real estate industry in Arizona. The state's rapidly growing population has created a strong demand for new housing. A large number of office buildings and resorts are being developed. Phoenix is Arizona's major financial center. Several large banks are based in the city.
Government ranks next among Arizona's service industries. Government services include the operation of public schools and hospitals, military establishments, and Indian reservations. Arizona State University in Tempe and Phoenix and the University of Arizona in Tucson, two of the nation's largest universities, are among the state's leading employers. Military bases in Arizona include Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Fort Huachuca Military Reservation, Luke Air Force Base, and the Yuma Proving Ground. The state has several large Indian reservations. They include the Navajo reservation, which covers most of northeastern Arizona. The federal government owns or controls over 80 percent of the state's land.
Transportation, communication, and utilities rank fifth among Arizona's service industries. America West Airlines, a major U.S. transportation company, is based in Phoenix. Phoenix is also the home of Pinnacle West, a major electric power company. Telephone companies are the most important part of the communications sector. More information about transportation and communication appears later in this section.
Manufacturing. Products made in Arizona have a value added by manufacture of about $20 billion a year. This figure represents the increase in value of raw materials after they become finished products.
Arizona's leading manufactured products, in terms of value added by manufacture, are electrical equipment, transportation equipment, and scientific instruments. Factories in Phoenix or nearby cities produce most of the state's electrical equipment. Plants in Chandler, Mesa, Phoenix, and Tempe make semiconductors and other electronic components. Electronic communication systems are manufactured in Scottsdale. Radios are made in Phoenix. Both the Phoenix and Tucson areas turn out large amounts of transportation equipment. Plants in Phoenix and Tempe make aircraft parts. A factory just outside Phoenix makes space vehicles. Guided missiles are produced in Tucson. Factories in Phoenix and Tucson produce scientific measuring instruments. Several factories in the Phoenix area make navigational equipment.
Other types of manufactured products made in Arizona, in order of value added, include printed materials, primary metals, and food products. Newspapers are the most important type of printed material made in the state. Copper is, by far, the leading type of primary metal produced in the state. Food products include soft drinks, baked goods, animal feed, and dairy products.
Agriculture. Arizona has about 7,400 farms. Farmland covers about half the state. Crops are grown on less than 5 percent of the farmland. However, they account for about half of Arizona's farm income. Livestock and livestock products account for the other half of the farm income. Most ranches in Arizona are much larger than farms that produce crops. All of Arizona's 15 counties have some irrigated land. La Paz, Maricopa, Pinal, and Yuma counties have the most productive irrigated areas in the state.
Crops account for about 55 percent of Arizona's total farming income. Cotton is the most valuable crop, and Arizona ranks among the leading cotton-producing states. Cotton production is concentrated in south-central Arizona, between Phoenix and Tucson. Arizona is also among the leading producers of lettuce and citrus fruits. Other important crops in the state include hay, barley, potatoes, and wheat.
Livestock accounts for about 45 percent of Arizona's farm income. Beef cattle are the single leading source of farm income in the state. The leading region for raising beef cattle lies just south of the central mountains. The northeastern part of the state and the valleys in the mountain region also have many cattle ranches. Northeast Arizona also has many sheep pastures. Most of the state's dairy farms lie southwest of Phoenix.
Mining. Copper provides most of Arizona's mining income. Greenlee, Pima, and Pinal counties in the southern part of the state supply most of the copper. Gila and Yavapai counties also have major copper mines. Large amounts of gold, molybdenum, and silver are recovered as by-products of copper ore.
Coal, sand and gravel, and crushed stone are also important mineral products in Arizona. Coal is obtained from surface mines in Navajo County. Maricopa and Pima counties provide the most sand and gravel. Pima and Yavapai counties have large stone quarries.
Electric power. Power plants that burn coal supply about 45 percent of the electric power generated in Arizona. Nuclear plants generate about 40 percent of the state's power. Hydroelectric plants contribute most of the rest of the remaining power.
Transportation. Arizona has about 54,000 miles (88,000 kilometers) of roads and highways. Interstate 10 connects Tucson, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. The part of Arizona north of the Colorado River is isolated from the rest of the state by the Grand Canyon. No roads cross the canyon.
Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix is the state's busiest commercial airport. Tucson has the state's second busiest airport. In 1919, Tucson became the first U.S. city to have its own municipal airport.
Several railroads provide freight service, and passenger trains serve several cities in the state. The Southern Pacific became the first railroad to enter the region when it built its line into Yuma in 1877.
Communication. Arizona's first newspaper, the Weekly Arizonian, began publication in Tubac in 1859. Today, about 90 newspapers are published in the state, including about 20 dailies. The Arizona Republic of Phoenix has the largest circulation. The Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Citizen, both of Tucson, also have large circulations. Arizona publishers also print about 80 magazines.
The state has about 160 radio stations and 25 television stations. KTAR, then called KFAD, was Arizona's first commercial radio station. It began broadcasting in Phoenix in 1922. The state's first television station, KPHO-TV, began broadcasting from Phoenix in 1949. Today, cable television systems serve many of Arizona's communities.
ARIZONA/Government
Constitution. Arizona is governed under its original Constitution, which was adopted in 1911. The Constitution has been amended (changed) about 120 times.
All amendments must be approved by a majority of the voters in an election. Amendments may be proposed by a majority of both houses of the state Legislature, by petition from the voters, or by a constitutional convention. A convention may be called if approved by a majority vote of both houses, and then by a majority of the people voting on the question in an election.
Executive. The governor of Arizona is elected to a four-year term. The governor may serve any number of terms, but no more than two terms in a row.
Arizona has no lieutenant governor. A governor who dies or resigns is succeeded by one of the other four state officials elected by the voters. These are, in order of succession, the secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, and superintendent of public instruction. All serve four-year terms. They may serve any number of terms, but no more than two in a row.

Legislature consists of a 30-member Senate and a 60-member House of Representatives. Each of Arizona's 30 legislative districts elects one senator and two representatives to two-year terms. These officials may serve any number of terms, but no more than four in a row. The Legislature meets each year on the second Monday in January. Rules have been adopted to end the sessions no later than the Saturday after the 100th day. But the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives may extend a session for a period not to exceed seven additional days. After that, the session can be extended only by a majority vote of the Legislature. The governor may call a special session, which has no time limit.
Courts. The highest court in Arizona is the state Supreme Court. Its five justices are appointed to six-year terms by the governor from a list of candidates submitted by a Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. At the end of each justice's term, voters decide whether the judge should be retained. The justices elect one of their members as chief justice for a five-year term.
A state Court of Appeals was created in 1965. This court has two divisions, one centered in Phoenix and the other in Tucson. The Phoenix division has 15 judges, and the Tucson division has six judges. All Court of Appeals judges serve six-year terms and are selected in the same way as the Arizona Supreme Court justices. Superior Courts in each county handle most major criminal and civil cases. Superior Court judges in Maricopa and Pima counties are appointed by the governor to four-year terms. In the other counties, Superior Court judges are elected by the people to four-year terms. Justice-of-the-peace courts and municipal courts deal with less important cases.
Local government in Arizona is carried on through 15 counties and about 80 cities and towns. Counties are governed by a three- or five-member board of supervisors. Supervisors are elected to four-year terms. Most counties have either a county-manager or an administrator. This official conducts the daily business of the county and is guided by the board of supervisors.
Communities with over 1,500 people may vote to incorporate their community as a city or town. Towns in Arizona are governed by councils of five or seven members, depending on the size of the community. The council elects one of its members as mayor. Some Arizona cities also use this same system. However, a city may adopt a home rule charter, which allows it to change the form of its government. More than 40 cities, including most of the largest ones, have city managers.
Revenue. Taxes provide about 60 percent of the state government's general revenue (income). Four taxes produce almost all the tax money. These are (1) a sales tax, (2) income taxes on corporations and individuals, (3) a tax on motor fuels, and (4) property taxes. Federal grants and U.S. and local government programs provide about a fourth of the general revenue. Most of the rest of the government's revenue comes from taxes on licenses.
Politics. For many years, Democrats controlled Arizona politics, particularly on the local level. Since 1950, however, Republicans have won the support of many voters in Arizona's rapidly growing cities. In 1975, Raul H. Castro, a Democrat, became the first Mexican-American governor of Arizona.
Today, the large cities of Phoenix and Tucson usually produce Republican majorities. Democratic strength is greater in rural areas and small towns. Maricopa County, in which Phoenix is located, has a majority of the state's voters. As a result, that county is extremely important in elections. Among the Republican leaders who helped make Arizona a two-party state was U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater, the Republican candidate for President in 1964.
Arizona has voted for Republicans in presidential elections about two-thirds of the time. In 1964, Arizona was the only state outside the South to vote for Goldwater.
ARIZONA/History

Indian days. Indians probably lived in Arizona several thousand years ago. The earliest settlements were built by three Indian tribes--the Anasazi, Hohokam, and Mogollon. The Anasazi, who lived in the north, were the ancestors of the present-day Pueblo Indians. The Hohokam, who settled in the Gila and Salt river valleys, became known for the irrigation ditches that they dug for their fields. Their descendants are the Papago and Pima Indians. The Mogollon lived in what are now eastern Arizona and New Mexico. Not long before white people came, Apache and Navajo Indians moved into the Arizona area. See INDIAN, AMERICAN (Indians of the Southwest).
Exploration. During the 1530's, stories reached the Spaniards in Mexico telling about the great wealth of the Seven Cities of Cibola. The Spaniards grew eager to find this treasure, and several expeditions set forth. None of these attempts succeeded. Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan priest, became the first white person known to enter the Arizona region. He traveled through the San Pedro Valley in 1539, on his way to hunt for the seven cities. The next year, the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado searched for the treasure. He visited the Hopi and Zuni villages in what are now Arizona and New Mexico. See CIBOLA, SEVEN CITIES OF.
During the late 1600's, the Roman Catholic Church sent priests into the region to establish missions. In 1692, Father Eusebio Kino traveled as far north as the present site of Fairbank. He founded 24 missions and made long exploring trips.
The Indians tried to drive out the Spaniards several times. But the Spanish soldiers always regained any territory they had lost. In 1752, Spanish troops established the state's first white settlement, a fort at Tubac. In 1776, Tucson also became a Spanish fort. It was surrounded by thick adobe walls to protect the soldiers and their families from the Apache Indians.
Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, and the land that is now Arizona became part of the new country. In 1846, the United States went to war with Mexico. U.S. forces took control of the region. Under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the war in 1848, the United States took possession of New Mexico. At that time, New Mexico included Arizona as far south as the Gila River. Many Easterners opposed the treaty because they feared that slavery would be established in the newly acquired land. But the U.S. Senate approved the treaty. The Gadsden Purchase in 1853 added the region south of the Gila River to form the present boundary between the United States and Mexico. See MEXICAN WAR; GUADALUPE HIDALGO, TREATY OF; GADSDEN PURCHASE.
Territorial days. The Civil War (1861-1865) brought great political changes to Arizona. In the 1850's, the settlers had asked Congress to create an Arizona Territory, but their requests were ignored. After the Confederacy was formed, many Arizona settlers wanted to join it because they had come from the South. They chose a delegate to the Confederate Congress.
In 1862, the Confederacy sent troops to occupy the New Mexico and Arizona areas. Union forces defeated the Southerners. In 1863, the Confederate government created the Confederate Territory of Arizona. However, the action had little meaning because of the earlier military defeat.
The Confederate activity led to action by the United States. Congress created the Arizona Territory with boundaries about the same as those of the present state. On Dec. 27, 1863, John N. Goodwin officially took control of the area as territorial governor. Goodwin established his headquarters at Fort Whipple. A log house was built for him not far from the fort. The town of Prescott grew up around this house.
Indian fighting. Arizona's few settlers lived in fear of hostile Indians. The Navajo were defeated in 1864 in a campaign led by the famous scout Kit Carson. But the fierce Apaches continued to fight. Small bands of warriors made hundreds of raids on lonely ranches and outposts throughout the Southwest. Under such famous leaders as Cochise, Geronimo, and Mangas Coloradas, the Apaches even attacked forts and towns. The last raiding party under Geronimo finally surrendered on Sept. 4, 1886. See INDIAN WARS (Desert battleground); COCHISE; GERONIMO.
Territorial progress. In spite of almost constant Indian fighting, Arizona made great progress. Gold and silver discoveries brought many miners to the territory. As early as 1867, farmers in the Salt River Valley near present-day Phoenix began irrigating their fields. Ranching became a large-scale business during the 1870's. The rich copper mines of Arizona became highly developed in the 1870's and 1880's. The Southern Pacific Railroad entered Arizona from California on Sept. 30, 1877.
Statehood. Strong movements began about 1890 to make the territory a state. But Congress refused to act. In 1910, Congress permitted Arizona to draw up a constitution and apply for statehood. But again there was a delay. President William Howard Taft vetoed the bill because the proposed state constitution would have permitted the voters to remove judges from office by a process known as recall (see RECALL). This clause was taken out of the constitution, and statehood was approved. Arizona became the 48th state on Feb. 14, 1912. The people soon changed their constitution to allow the recall of judges.
Progress as a state. George W. P. Hunt, a Democrat, greatly influenced Arizona's early history. He became the state's first governor, and served seven terms. Hunt supported the development of dams and irrigation systems, and worked for laws favorable to the ranching and mining industries.
Federal projects helped the new state in water development and tourism. The first big dam providing irrigation water was the Theodore Roosevelt Dam, completed in 1911 on the Salt River above Phoenix. More dams were built during the next 25 years. Coolidge Dam on the Gila River, Bartlett Dam on the Verde River, and three more dams on the Salt River added greatly to the state's irrigated area. The biggest dam, Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, was completed in 1936. The U.S. government helped increase tourism by developing scenic and historic spots. The warm, dry climate attracted health seekers and winter visitors.
Arizona's copper production increased through the 1920's and 1930's. Agricultural production also increased as more land was irrigated. The Great Depression of the 1930's forced workers in many parts of the nation to seek new jobs. Some of them settled in Arizona. Between 1920 and 1940, the state's population grew from 334,162 to 499,261.
The mid-1900's. During World War II (1939-1945), the government built many air bases in Arizona because the large number of sunny days provided ideal flying weather. The demand for Arizona's chief products--cattle, copper, and cotton--increased rapidly during the wartime boom. Phoenix doubled in size.
The boom continued into the 1950's. Thousands of veterans who had been stationed in Arizona returned with their families to live there. Air conditioning became widespread and made life pleasant in the desert region. As a result, many people, including large numbers of retired persons, moved to Arizona from the East. The state's population rose by about 50 per cent during the 1940's and by about 74 per cent in the 1950's.
In 1948, Arizona's Indians won the right to vote. The Arizona Supreme Court struck down parts of the state Constitution that had kept Indians from voting.
Arizona shifted from an agricultural to a manufacturing economy during the 1950's and 1960's. By 1967, the value of industrial production had reached $1 billion, compared with about $600 million for agricultural products. New factories produced a wide variety of electrical and electronic goods, including appliances, computers, and refrigeration equipment. Arizona's warm winters attracted an increasing number of vacationers, and tourism began to be a major industry.
Growth in agriculture, manufacturing, and population during the 1940's and 1950's strained Arizona's water resources. By the 1960's, the state was pumping more water from its underground water supply than it was getting from rainfall. In 1963, the Supreme Court of the United States gave Arizona rights to 2,800,000 acre-feet (3.5 billion cubic meters) of water a year from the Colorado River. One acre-foot (1,233 cubic meters) is equal to 1 acre (0.4 hectare) of water 1 foot (30 centimeters) deep and will supply approximately five city dwellers for one year.
In 1965, Judge Lorna Lockwood was elected chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Her election by her fellow judges made her the first woman in the United States to head a state supreme court.
Arizona's Indians made economic gains during the 1960's. Several tribes started to operate business companies, factories, and industrial and recreational areas on their reservations. Navajo Community College, the first college ever built on an Indian reservation, opened at Many Farms in 1969. The college moved to Tsaile, near Lukachukai, in 1973.
Recent developments. In 1974, construction began on the Central Arizona Project, a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines designed to ensure the state a sufficient supply of water. The project was completed in 1991. The system covers 336 miles (541 kilometers) and extends from Lake Havasu on the Colorado River to the Saint Xavier Indian Reservation southwest of Tucson.
The solution to another long-standing problem also began to take shape in 1974, when the United States government took action in a dispute over land ownership between the Hopi and Navajo Indians. Congress gave each tribe half of a 1,800,000-acre (720,000-hectare) reservation area in northeastern Arizona. Both tribes had used the area since 1962. Indians living on the other tribe's land--mostly Navajo--had to move. In 1986, with the relocation of these Indians still not completed, the Hopi officially took possession of their half of the land.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Arizona Judge Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court of the United States. She became its first woman member.
In 1988, Governor Evan Mecham was removed from office by the state legislature. He had been charged with illegally lending state money to his automobile dealership and trying to block an investigation into charges that one of his aides had made a death threat against a grand jury witness. The state House of Representatives impeached him. The Senate convicted Mecham on the charges, resulting in his removal from office. Secretary of State Rose Mofford succeeded him, becoming Arizona's first woman governor. In 1997, Governor Fife Symington was convicted of fraud for filing false financial statements to banks. The actions occurred while he was a real estate developer, and before he was governor. Under state law, the conviction forced him to resign.
Arizona's economy remains strong. But declining prices for copper and long labor disputes have led to severe economic problems in several mining areas.
Today, Arizona is one of the nation's fastest-growing states. Its population increased by 53 percent between 1970 and 1980 and by 35 percent between 1980 and 1990. The population growth has shifted to cities and away from rural areas.

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state of the United States in area. It is almost a fifth as large as all the rest of the United States, and more than twice the size of Texas, the second largest state. But Alaska has a relatively small population. According to the 1990 census, Alaska ranks 49th among all the states in population. Only Wyoming has fewer people than Alaska.

Juneau is Alaska's capital. Anchorage is the state's largest city in terms of population. Sitka, Juneau, and Anchorage--in that order--rank as the largest cities in the United States in terms of area.
When Alaska entered the Union in 1959, it was the first new state in 47 years. About 500 miles (800 kilometers) of Canadian territory separate Alaska from Washington. Alaskans often refer to the rest of the continental United States as the "lower 48."
The Alaskan mainland's most western point is only 51 miles (82 kilometers) from Russia. Alaska's Little Diomede Island, in the Bering Strait, is about 21/2 miles (4 kilometers) from Russia's Big Diomede Island. No other part of North America is closer to Asia.
Almost a third of Alaska lies north of the Arctic Circle. However, Point Barrow, the northernmost point, is almost 1,300 miles (2,090 kilometers) south of the North Pole. The state has a wide range of temperatures--as low as -80° F (-62° C), and as high as 100° F (38° C). The climate and soil as far north as the Arctic Circle permit farmers to raise livestock and grow barley, potatoes, and other crops. The summer sun shines about 20 hours a day in Alaska, and crops grow rapidly there. At Point Barrow, from May 10 to August 2, the sun never sets.
Secretary of State William H. Seward bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7,200,000--only about 2 cents per acre (5 cents per hectare). Some Americans thought the region was a wasteland of ice and snow. They called it Seward's Folly, Seward's Icebox, and Icebergia. However, Alaska proved to be rich in fish, minerals, timber, and potential water power. The value of resources taken from the region has paid back the purchase price hundreds of times. Huge oil reserves at Prudhoe Bay along the Arctic coast rank as Alaska's chief source of wealth.
The name Alaska comes from a word used by the people of the Aleutian Islands. The word meant great land or mainland. It sounded like A-la-a-ska to early Russian settlers. Today, Alaska is often called the Last Frontier because much of the state is not fully settled.
Along the Arctic coast in the north and west, Inuit (also called Eskimos) still hunt and fish in much the same way that their ancestors did. However, even the most isolated villages have airstrips where "bush pilots" can land small planes and deliver messages, passengers, and supplies. Alaska's Arctic landscape also includes a number of radar and communications stations that help protect the United States and Canada against air attacks from across the North Pole region.
Alaska is famous for its towering mountains and beautiful scenery. Mount McKinley, which rises 20,320 feet (6,194 meters) above sea level, is the highest peak in the United States. In addition, Alaska has the 15 next highest peaks and almost all of the active volcanoes in the United States.


ALASKA/People
Population. The 1990 United States census reported that Alaska had 551,947 people. The population had increased 37 per cent over the 1980 figure of 401,851. According to the 1990 census, Alaska ranks 49th in population among the 50 states. Only Wyoming has fewer people than Alaska.
About a third of Alaska's people were born in Alaska. Many of those who were born in other states are members of the United States armed forces that are assigned to Alaska. Alaska has about 76,000 natives. They include about 44,000 Inuit and about 31,000 Indians. Most Inuit live in the north and west. About 10,000 of the Inuit are Aleuts. Aleuts live on the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. Tlingit and Haida Indians live in the southeast. Athabaskan Indians are mainly in the south-central part of the state.
Most of the white population lives in or near Anchorage, Alaska's largest city; in Fairbanks; and in the southeastern coastal cities. Anchorage is Alaska's only metropolitan area (see METROPOLITAN AREA).
Schools. The commissioner of education heads Alaska's education department. The commissioner is appointed by the State Board of Education subject to the governor's approval. Seven voting members of the board are appointed by the state's governor. Two non-voting members, representing students and the military, also sit on the board. The board of education establishes policies for Alaska's public school system.
Children in Alaska must attend school from the ages of 7 through 15. Each organized borough is a school district and has a school board. Cities that lie outside the organized boroughs have city school boards. Regional school boards operate schools in rural areas outside the organized boroughs.
Alaska has three schools that grant bachelor's or advanced degrees and are accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges. The University of Alaska has several campuses throughout the state (see ALASKA, UNIVERSITY OF). The state's two other colleges are Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka and Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage.
Libraries and museums. Alaska's State Library, located in Juneau, includes a historical section and state archives and records management services section. Academic libraries are located at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Alaska Anchorage, and the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau.
The Alaska State Museum in Juneau features exhibits of Inuit and Indian objects. It also has displays dealing with animals and minerals in the state. A branch of the state museum, the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka, has Inuit and Indian collections. The University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks has history and wildlife displays, and a good collection of Alaskan art. Other cities that have museums include Anchorage, Bethel, Haines, Homer, Kenai, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Kotzebue, Nome, Palmer, Petersburg, Skagway, and Wasilla.
ALASKA/Visitor's guide
Alaska's vast areas of untamed wilderness attract many people who love the outdoors. Expert mountain climbers tackle Alaskan peaks that rank as the highest in North America. People fish for record-sized salmon, trout, and halibut.
Thousands of tourists come to see Alaska's magnificent mountain scenery and historic coastal towns. Many vacationers from the "lower 48" drive to the state on the Alaska Highway or take a scenic cruise along the Inside Passage of Alaska's southeastern coast.
Alaska offers interesting activities for everyone. These activities include white water kayaking, bird watching expeditions, and photographic tours of the famous "northern lights."
Perhaps the most popular winter event in Alaska is the 10-day-long Fur Rendezvous, held in Anchorage each February. This festival features athletic contests, sled dog races, and other entertainment.


ALASKA/Land and climate
Land regions. Alaska has four main land regions: (1) the Pacific Mountain System, (2) the Central Uplands and Lowlands, (3) the Rocky Mountain System, and (4) the Arctic Coastal Plain.
The Pacific Mountain System of Alaska is part of a group of ranges that extends down the Pacific Coast to southern California. In Alaska, the ranges curve from the Aleutian Islands in the west through south-central Alaska and along the coast in the southeast.
The region has many subdivisions. The strip of coastal land 400 miles (640 kilometers) long in the southeast is called the Alaska Panhandle. It is 10 to 150 miles (16 to 241 kilometers) wide, and includes tall mountains and ice fields. The Saint Elias Range extends northwestward from the Panhandle. Mount Saint Elias rises 18,008 feet (5,489 meters) in this range. The Wrangell Mountains, northwest of the Saint Elias Range, include Mount Bona (16,421 feet, or 5,005 meters) and three tall peaks--Mount Blackburn (16,523 feet, or 5,036 meters), Mount Sanford (16,208 feet, or 4,940 meters), and Mount Wrangell (14,005 feet, or 4,269 meters). Mount Wrangell is an active volcano. The Chugach and Kenai mountains border the coast from the Saint Elias Range west to the Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak Island. Mount Fairweather, in the Chugach Mountains, is 15,300 feet (4,663 meters) high. The Talkeetna Mountains, north of Anchorage, are a low range of rugged, glacier-cut peaks. The Alaska Range is the most inland section of the Pacific Mountain System. From the Canadian border, it curves west and southwest to the Alaska Peninsula. The Alaska Range includes Mount McKinley (20,320 feet, or 6,194 meters), the highest peak in North America, and Mount Foraker (17,400 feet, or 5,304 meters).
The Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands extend southwest in a long chain from the Alaska Range. The Aleutians include 14 large islands, about 55 small islands, and many islets. The largest islands are Unimak, Unalaska, and Umnak. The Aleutian Range forms the "backbone" of the peninsula and islands. It extends 1,600 miles (2,570 kilometers), from Mount Spurr, across Cook Inlet from Anchorage, to Attu Island near the Asian continent. The range has many active volcanoes. The greatest eruptions occurred in 1912, at what is now Katmai National Park. A new volcano, Novarupta, hurled tons of rocks and ashes into the air. The top of Mount Katmai collapsed and formed a caldera (basin) 3 miles (5 kilometers) wide and 3,700 feet (1,130 meters) deep. The lava and ash from the volcano formed the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, an area of fumaroles (holes from which hot gas steams up).
Two important lowlands lie within the Pacific Mountain System. These are the Copper River Basin and the Susitna-Cook Inlet lowland. The Copper River Basin, a forested lowland with river canyons, extends between the Chugach and Wrangell mountains. During the Ice Age, it was the site of a large lake. The Susitna-Cook Inlet lowland extends north and east from Anchorage. Most of the area is forested. But it has a few towns and includes the fertile farmland of the Matanuska Valley.
The Central Uplands and Lowlands make up the largest Alaskan land region. This region lies between the Alaska Range on the south and the Brooks Range on the north. It extends westward from the Canadian border and includes the Seward Peninsula and the Kuskokwim River area of southwestern Alaska. The region has low, rolling hills. It also has broad, swampy river valleys, including the valleys of the Koyukuk, Kuskokwim, Tanana, and Yukon rivers.
The Rocky Mountain System of Alaska consists of the Brooks Range and its foothills. The Brooks Range has steep, glacier-cut peaks that rise to 9,000 feet (2,700 meters) in the east, but are lower in the west. It includes the Baird, De Long, and Endicott mountains.
The Arctic Coastal Plain is the most northern region. It rises gradually from the Arctic Ocean to a height of about 600 feet (180 meters) in the south. Permafrost (permanently frozen ground) 1,000 feet (300 meters) thick lies under the plain. No trees can grow there. But the surface of the ground thaws during summer and becomes thickly carpeted with low grasses and wild flowers. This grassy, treeless area is called the tundra.
Coastline. Alaska's general coastline is 6,640 miles (10,686 kilometers) long. About 5,580 miles (8,980 kilometers) are along the Pacific Ocean, and about 1,060 miles (1,706 kilometers) are along the Arctic Ocean. All the coastline of the mainland and major islands washed by tidewater measures 33,904 miles (54,563 kilometers). The main features of the coast in the south are the Gulf of Alaska, Prince William Sound, and Cook Inlet. Bristol Bay and Norton Sound open into the Bering Sea in the southwest. Kotzebue Sound faces the Chukchi Sea in the northwest. The Arctic Ocean and the Beaufort Sea border the northern coast.
The southern coast is cut by hundreds of small bays, channels, and narrow, steep-sided inlets called fiords. The islands of the Alexander Archipelago rise from the Pacific off the shore of the Alaska Panhandle. Prince of Wales Island, the largest of the group, is the home of most of Alaska's Haida Indians. Ketchikan is on Revillagigedo Island, and Sitka is on Baranof Island. Other large islands in the group include Admiralty, Chichagof, and Kupreanof. Kodiak, Afognak, and several smaller islands lie southwest of the Kenai Peninsula in the Gulf of Alaska. The Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea are the summer home of the world's largest fur seal herd. Nunivak Island, northeast of the Pribilofs, is the home of many musk oxen. Saint Lawrence Island is located at the southern end of the Bering Strait. Little Diomede Island and Big Diomede Island are located in the Bering Strait. Little Diomede is part of Alaska. Big Diomede belongs to Russia.
Rivers and lakes. The Yukon River, Alaska's chief waterway, is the fifth-longest river in North America. It flows 1,979 miles (3,185 kilometers) through Alaska and parts of Canada. From June to October, the river is free of ice. Small boats and barges can travel from its mouth on the Bering Sea across Alaska and into Canada. The Yukon's main tributaries are the Koyukuk and the Tanana rivers. See YUKON RIVER.
Alaska's second-longest river, the Kuskokwim, empties into the Bering Sea at Kuskokwim Bay. The Colville River flows into the Arctic Ocean, and the Noatak and Kobuk rivers flow into the Chukchi Sea at Kotzebue Sound. The Susitna and Matanuska rivers flow into Cook Inlet, and the Copper River empties into the Gulf of Alaska. Several rivers, including the Alsek, Stikine, and Taku, begin in Canada and flow south or west across the Alaska Panhandle to the Pacific.
Alaska has thousands of lakes. The largest, Iliamna Lake on the Alaska Peninsula, is 80 miles (130 kilometers) long and 20 miles (32 kilometers) wide. Other lakes include Aleknagik, Becharof, Clark, Minchumina, Naknek, Selawik, Skilak, Teshekpuk, and Tustumena.
Glaciers. Thousands of glaciers from 1 to 30 miles (1.6 to 48 kilometers) long fill Alaska's mountain valleys and canyons. The greatest number of glaciers are along the coast in the south and southeast. Malaspina, in the Saint Elias Range, is North America's largest glacier. It is an ice sheet almost 50 miles (80 kilometers) wide. Many Alaska glaciers are easy to reach, and scientists from all parts of North America come to study them. Columbia Glacier can be reached by boat from Cordova. This huge ice sheet ends in an ice cliff in the sea. Glaciers that can be reached by highway include Black Rapids, Canwell, Castner, Gulkana, Matanuska, Mendenhall, Portage, and Worthington.
Plant and animal life. Forests cover about a third of Alaska. The most important trees are birches, Sitka spruces, western hemlocks, and white spruces. Other trees include aspens, black spruces, cottonwoods, tamaracks, and willows.
Grasses, mosses, lichens, and sedges are found in many parts of Alaska. In the far north, these plants provide feed for caribou and other animals. Wild flowers also grow throughout the state. Wild flowers on the tundra include asters, cinquefoils, fireweeds, forget-me-nots, larkspurs, and mountain laurels. Arctic daisies, bog laurels, cowslips, violets, wild hyacinths, and wood nymphs bloom in the mountains.
The waters off Alaska's shores are rich in salmon and halibut. They also contain great quantities of clams, cod, crabs, herring, and shrimp. The world's largest herd of fur seals is found on the Pribilof Islands in summer. A herd of musk oxen lives on Nunivak Island. Brown bears live on Kodiak Island and in other parts of south-central and southeast Alaska. Polar bears live along the Arctic Coast. Other animals include caribou, deer, elk, grizzly bears, moose, mountain goats, and mountain sheep. Game birds include ducks, geese, and grouse.
Climate. Alaska has a great variety of climates. Winds that blow eastward over the warm Kuroshio (Japan Current) give southern Alaska a fairly mild climate. Near the southern coast, temperatures average 28 °F (-2 °C) in January and 55 °F (13 °C) in July. Precipitation (rain, melted snow, and other moisture) averages 20 inches (51 centimeters) at Cook Inlet and 92 inches (234 centimeters) in the Panhandle. Parts of the southeast coast get heavy precipitation. Port Walter, on Baranof Island, has the highest average yearly precipitation in the continental United States--221 inches (561 centimeters).
In the inland parts of Alaska, temperatures average about -9 °F (-23 °C) in January, and about 59 °F (15 °C) in July. The annual precipitation averages about 13 inches (33 centimeters). Fort Yukon recorded Alaska's highest temperature, 100 °F (38 °C), on June 27, 1915. The record low, -80 °F (-62 °C), was set at Prospect Creek, near Stevens Village, on Jan. 23, 1971.
The Alaskan Arctic has an average January temperature of -11 °F (-24 °C), and an average July temperature of 47 °F (8 °C). Annual precipitation is low--only 4 inches (10 centimeters) in some places.

ALASKA/Economy
Alaska's economy relies heavily on government activities and petroleum production. Mining is Alaska's single most important economic activity. The huge amounts of petroleum produced by Alaska's mining industry are shipped to other states in oil tankers and through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Fishing is the dominant economic activity in many parts of the state. Service industries, which include such activities as government operations, transportation, and real estate, are also important to the state. Tourism benefits many businesses in Alaska, including hotels, shops, restaurants, and tour organizers. More than 1 million tourists visit the state annually and spend over $1 billion.
Land use has been one of the most difficult economic problems facing Alaskans. The federal government owns and controls most of the state's land, and it has set aside large areas for wildlife conservation and national parklands.

Natural resources of Alaska include rich soils, valuable mineral products, and plentiful water, fish, and forests.
Soil. Most interior valley soils in Alaska are composed of loess (coarse particles of dust deposited by the wind). These soils resemble the soils found in the western United States, China, and other highly productive farm areas. Although Alaska's soils are naturally productive, they need much fertilizer.
Minerals. Oil and natural gas have been found on the Kenai Peninsula and in Cook Inlet in south-central Alaska. Large reserves of oil and natural gas lie near Prudhoe Bay on the state's Arctic coast. Natural gas also has been found near Point Barrow in the Arctic Coastal Plain. Coal is found in the Kenai Peninsula, the Matanuska Valley, the Arctic Coastal Plain, and along the Healy River and Yukon River.
Gold in Alaska comes primarily from the Yukon River Basin near Fairbanks and the Seward Peninsula near Nome. Gold in these areas is found in streambeds. It is found in combination with other precious metals in underground deposits on many islands in southeastern Alaska.
A major zinc deposit lies northwest of Kotzebue. One of the largest molybdenum deposits in the world is located near Ketchikan. Tin is mined on the Seward Peninsula. Widespread deposits of sand and gravel are a valuable resource for the construction industry. In addition, Alaska has deposits of antimony, chromite, copper, gemstones, granite, limestone, nickel, platinum, silver, and tungsten.
Service industries, taken together, account for the largest portion of Alaska's gross state product--the total value of goods and services produced in a state in a year. Most of the service industries are concentrated in the urban areas of the state.
Transportation, communication, and utilities form Alaska's leading service industry in terms of the gross state product. Transportation is essential to Alaska's economy because the state lies far from major markets. Pipeline and shipping companies transport petroleum to processors. Ships also bring such essential goods as automobiles and groceries to Alaska from other states. The Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation is creating the first privately operated rocket launch complex in the United States at Kodiak Island. Telephone companies are the biggest part of the communications sector. Utilities provide gas, electric, and water service. More information about transportation and communication appears later in this section.
Ranking next among the service industries of Alaska are (1) government and (2) finance, insurance, and real estate. Each of these two industries contributes an equal portion of the gross state product. Government services employ more people than any other economic activity. These services include the operation of public schools, public hospitals, and military bases. An extensive network of government services is necessary because the state's people are spread over a large area. The federal government controls much of the state's land. Military bases are located near Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Anchorage is Alaska's chief financial center. The selling of buildings and other property is the major real estate activity.
Next among service industries in Alaska are community, business, and personal services. This industry consists of a wide variety of establishments. These include doctors offices and private hospitals, hotels, law firms, engineering companies, and repair shops. Engineering companies involved in mining, construction, and aerospace technology are especially important.
Wholesale and retail trade rank fifth among Alaska's service industries in terms of the gross state product. The wholesale trade of petroleum products, groceries, and motor vehicles is important in Alaska. Major types of retail businesses include automobile dealerships, food stores, and hardware stores.
Mining. Petroleum provides about 95 percent of Alaska's mining income. The Prudhoe Bay area is one of the world's major petroleum-producing regions. This area lies above the North Slope. Prudhoe Bay also contains vast natural gas reserves. Petroleum is transported south from Prudhoe Bay by the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Petroleum is also pumped from oil fields in the Kenai Peninsula-Cook Inlet area.
For many years, gold was Alaska's major mineral product. Alaska is still an important gold-mining state. Most of the gold is obtained from placer deposits near Fairbanks and Nome. Placer deposits are particles of gold in streambeds.
Another major mineral product in Alaska is zinc. The Red Dog Mine, the largest zinc mine in the United States, is near Kotzebue. Alaska's other mineral products include coal, crushed stone, lead, molybdenum, sand and gravel, silver, and tin.
Manufacturing. Goods manufactured in Alaska have a value added by manufacture of about $11/4 million a year. This figure represents the increase in value of raw materials after they become finished products.
Food processing is Alaska's leading manufacturing ac-tivity in terms of value added by manufacture. Fish products are the main source of food-processing income. Many coastal cities process salmon. The processing of crab, herring, and sablefish is also important to the economy of Alaska.
Petroleum products rank second in terms of value added. The Fairbanks and Kenai areas have large oil refineries. Refineries also operate at Prudhoe Bay.
Other products manufactured in Alaska include wood products, paper products, and printed materials. The southern Panhandle has many log-processing camps and sawmills. Pulp is the state's main paper product. Newspapers are the leading kind of printed material in Alaska. The Anchorage area is the state's main center of newspaper production.
Fishing industry. Alaska leads the states in the annual value of fish caught by the commercial fishing industry. The state has a yearly fish catch valued at about $11/2 billion. Workers in the industry catch cod, Dungeness crabs, flounder, groundfish, halibut, herring eggs, pollock, rockfish, sablefish, salmon, scallops, and smelt. Kodiak and Dutch Harbor are the chief fishing ports.
Agriculture. Farms cover only about 21/2 percent of Alaska's land area. The fertile Matanuska Valley northeast of Anchorage produces about three-fourths of Alaska's farm products. Alaska has about 520 farms.
Milk is Alaska's most valuable livestock product, followed by eggs and beef cattle. Alaskan farmers also raise chickens, hogs, sheep, and lambs. Inuit keep herds of reindeer as a source of meat and hides.
The growing season in Alaska is very short. However, the summer sun shines about 20 hours a day in the central part of the state, and crops ripen quickly there. All fruits and vegetables that grow in a cool climate can be raised in Alaska as far north as the Arctic Circle. Greenhouse and nursery products are the leading source of agricultural income in Alaska. In addition, Alaskan farmers grow such crops as barley, hay, oats, and potatoes. Timber is also important in the state.
Fur industry. Alaska trappers catch many kinds of fur-bearing animals, including beavers, lynxes, martens, minks, wolves, and wolverines. The animals' pelts have a yearly value of from $5 million to $10 million.
Many Alaskans, most of them natives, hunt and fish for food. They also use animal skins in making clothing and other items for daily living.
Electric power. Power plants that burn natural gas provide about 55 percent of the electric power generated in Alaska. Hydroelectric plants generate about 30 percent of the state's power. Only a small fraction of the state's potential hydroelectric power has been developed. The rest of the state's power comes from coal-burning and petroleum-burning plants.
Transportation. It is difficult and expensive to build roads and railroads in Alaska. The land is rugged, and the construction season is short.
During World War II (1939-1945), the federal government built the Alaska Highway--the only major land route from Alaska to Canada and to the "lower 48." The highway extends between Dawson Creek, B.C., and Delta Junction, where it joins the Richardson Highway to Fairbanks. The Alaska Highway, together with the Richardson Highway, extends 1,495 miles (2,406 kilometers). Alaska has about 14,000 miles (23,000 kilometers) of roads and highways. Most of the state's roads link the Alaska Highway with the Kenai Peninsula, Anchorage, Valdez, and Fairbanks.
The state-owned Alaska Railroad provides freight service from Seward and Whittier to Anchorage and Fairbanks. This railroad also operates passenger trains.
Small planes flown by "bush pilots" provide the only link between about 200 remote villages and the outside world. These pilots carry passengers, supplies, and messages across thousands of miles of rugged, empty country. Anchorage is a major air terminal. It serves as a refueling base for aircraft traveling the "polar route," which connects Europe with North America and Asia. Other major airports are located at Juneau and Fairbanks.
Alaska depends on container ship service for most of its trade with the "lower 48." The state's chief ports are Anchorage, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Seward, Sitka, Skagway,Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Whittier, Wrangell, and Valdez. Nome, the main port on the Bering Sea, is blocked by ice in winter.
Alaska has an outstanding ferryliner system owned by the state. Three main routes serve coastal areas. In the southeast, huge ferryliners, each carrying as many as 108 cars, travel between Haines and Skagway in the north and Bellingham, Wash., and Prince Rupert, B.C., in the south. These ferryliners stop at Juneau, Ketchikan, and several other cities. The Kodiak Island Ferry connects Seward, Kodiak, Homer, Valdez, and Cordova. The Prince William Sound ferryliner service links Valdez, Cordova, and Whittier.
Communication. The first public newspaper in Alaska, the Sitka Times, began publication in Sitka in 1868. Today, Alaska has about 35 newspapers, of which 6 are dailies. The leading daily newspapers published in Alaska include the Anchorage Daily News, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and Juneau Empire.
The first radio station in Alaska, KFQD, started broadcasting from Anchorage in 1924. The state's first television stations, KTVA-TV and KFIA-TV (now KENI-TV), began operating in 1953, also in Anchorage. Today, the state has about 85 radio stations and 15 television stations. Cable television systems service several of Alaska's communities.
ALASKA/Government
Constitution. Alaska's present Constitution was adopted in 1956, three years before the territory became a state. A constitutional amendment must be approved by two-thirds of the members of each house of the state legislature. Then it must be approved by a majority of voters in a statewide election.
Amendments may also be proposed by a constitutional convention. The convention must be approved by a majority of each house of the legislature. It must then be approved by a majority of the people who vote on the issue in an election. All amendments proposed by the convention must be approved by the voters. If no convention has been held in a 10-year period, the question of calling a convention must be put to the voters.
Executive. The governor of Alaska is elected to a four-year term and cannot serve more than two terms in a row. Alaska's lieutenant governor is the only other elected state official. He or she is elected to a four-year term and can be reelected any number of times.

The state's other top executive officials include 13 commissioners, each of whom heads one of Alaska's 15 executive departments. Alaska also has an attorney general, who heads the Department of Law, and an adjutant general, who heads the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The governor appoints these two officials and the 13 commissioners with the approval of a majority of the legislators voting in a joint session.
Legislature consists of a 20-member Senate and a 40-member House of Representatives. Six of Alaska's 14 senatorial districts elect 2 senators, and 8 elect 1. Thirteen of the state's 27 representative districts elect 2 representatives, and 14 elect 1. Senators serve four-year terms. Representatives serve two-year terms.
The legislature holds a regular session every year. The sessions begin on the second Monday in January, except in years following gubernatorial elections--when they begin on the third Monday in January. The length of the sessions is limited to 120 days. The legislature or governor may call a 30-day special session.
Courts. The highest court in Alaska is the state Supreme Court. It has five justices, one of whom is chosen by the other justices to serve a three-year term as chief justice. The Supreme Court concentrates on civil matters but has ultimate authority in all cases.
The Court of Appeals, which has three judges, is the second-highest court for criminal matters. The Superior Court, Alaska's second-highest court for civil cases, has 30 judges. It is divided into four districts. District courts handle some civil and criminal cases. Seventeen district court judges serve in Alaska's four judicial districts. The Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to review district court decisions.
The governor appoints the Supreme Court justices and the Superior Court and Court of Appeals judges from people nominated by the Alaska Judicial Council. This council consists of the chief justice and six private citizens. After serving three years, a Supreme Court justice or Superior Court or Court of Appeals judge must be approved by the voters in the next general election. Each Supreme Court justice must be reapproved every 10 years. Superior Court judges must be reapproved every 6 years, and Court of Appeals judges every 8 years.
The governor appoints district court judges from candidates recommended by a district judicial council. Voters must approve such judges in the first general election held more than a year after their appointment, and every four years thereafter.
Local government. Alaska is divided into 16 local government units called organized boroughs. Organized boroughs are incorporated areas that may include cities, suburbs, and rural areas. They are equivalent to counties in other states. Each borough is governed by an assembly of from 5 to 11 members. In most boroughs, the top administrative officer is a chairman elected by the people. A borough may instead have a manager appointed by the assembly. Other borough officials are appointed by the chairman or the manager. Organized boroughs cover only about 44 percent of Alaska. However, they have about 85 percent of the population. The rest of the state is called the unorganized borough. It is governed by the Legislature.
Alaska's cities use a mayor-council or city-manager form of government. All of the cities have elected city councils.
Revenue. Much of the income of Alaska's government comes directly from oil and gas production. Petroleum companies pay the state production taxes and royalties, a share of their profits. In addition, the state receives revenue from taxes on corporate income, motor fuels, and property. Alaska also gets money from federal grants and other U.S. government programs. The state has no personal income tax or sales tax.
Politics. Fewer contests take place between political parties in Alaska than in most other states. Almost all of Alaska's state and local government officials are appointed or are elected on a nonpartisan (no-party) basis. The state's elections for governor have resulted in several victories for both Democrats and Republicans. In elections for president, Alaska's voters have favored the Republican candidate almost every time.
ALASKA/History

Early days. No one knows exactly how long human beings have lived in America. But most scientists believe that the first Americans walked across a land bridge from Asia into what is now Alaska about 15,000 years ago. In the 1700's, when whites first arrived in the Alaskan region, three groups of people--Inuit, Aleuts, and Indians--were living there.
The Inuit lived in the Far North and West. From Alaska's north coast to Greenland, Inuit hunted such large sea mammals as whales, seals, and polar bears. Some small groups of Inuit inhabited inland areas and hunted caribou.
The Aleuts, closely related to the Inuit, lived on the Aleutian Islands and the Alaska Peninsula. The Aleuts were skillful sea hunters.
The largest Indian groups, the Tlingit and Haida, lived along the coast, where fish and game were plentiful. Some Tsimshian Indians also lived there. The Athabaskan Indians lived in the interior, a rugged region without the rich natural resources of the coast. The Athabaskans fished and hunted caribou.
European exploration. The Russians were the first Europeans to become interested in the Alaskan region. In 1648, a group of Russians, led by Semen I. Dezhnev, sailed through the strait separating northeastern Asia and northwestern North America. In 1725, Czar Peter the Great of Russia commissioned Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator, to explore the North Pacific region. Bering and his crew traveled more than 6,000 miles (9,700 kilometers) across Russia and Asia. Then they built a ship and in 1728 sailed through the strait navigated earlier by Dezhnev. This body of water later became known as the Bering Strait. But Bering did not sight the North American mainland because of fog.
In 1741, Bering and Aleksei Chirikov, a Russian explorer, led a second expedition to the region. Bering's party sighted Mount St. Elias in southeastern Alaska and landed on what is now Kayak Island.
Expeditions from England, France, and Spain soon reached Alaskan waters. Most of these explorers sought a sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The Russian era. Members of the second Bering expedition returned to Russia with sea otter furs. Russian traders and hunters then developed a brisk fur trade on the Aleutian Islands and later on the mainland. Fur traders enslaved the Aleuts and, by overhunting, nearly destroyed populations of fur-bearing animals in the Aleutians. In 1784, Gregory Shelikof, a trader, established the first white settlement in Alaska, then called Russian America, on Kodiak Island.
In 1799, Russia chartered the Russian-American Company, a trading firm. Alexander Baranof became the firm's chief manager. Baranof moved the company's headquarters to Novo Arkhangelsk (New Archangel, now Sitka), which he captured from the Tlingit Indians. Novo Arkhangelsk became the largest town in Russian America. Baranof managed company affairs profitably for the stockholders, and he established good relations with many native groups. The Russian-American Company sent Russian Orthodox priests to convert the native Alaskans to Christianity.
In 1818, Baranof retired, and the company began to lose money. Russian naval commanders then ruled the colony.
In 1824 and 1825, Russia signed separate treaties with the United States and Great Britain. These pacts recognized latitude 54 degrees 40 minutes as the southern boundary of Russian territory in America. As part of the agreements, Russia gave the United States and Britain trading rights along Alaska's Pacific Coast.
American purchase. The Russians tried to develop several industries, including coal mining, shipbuilding, and whale hunting. But by the 1850's, the fur trade had declined and the company's other enterprises had begun to fail. After the Crimean War (1853-1856) weakened Russia, the country became eager to sell Alaska. United States Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to buy the region for $7,200,000, about 2 cents per acre (5 cents per hectare). On March 30, 1867, he signed the Treaty of Cession of Russian America to the United States. Some Americans opposed the purchase. They called Alaska such names as Seward's Folly, Seward's Icebox, and Icebergia. But many Americans favored the acquisition. Congress approved the purchase, and American troops raised the U.S. flag at Sitka on Oct. 18, 1867.
Congress did not provide for an Alaskan government during the next 17 years. Alaska was administered first by the War Department, next by the Treasury Department, and then by the Navy Department. These three agencies had little interest in the local problems of the region.
A few American companies became interested in Alaska's rich salmon fisheries. In 1878, they built the first canneries in Alaska.
In 1884, Congress passed the first Organic Act. This act established Alaska as a "civil and judicial district." It provided for a governor, a code of laws, and a federal court. But the laws were the laws of Oregon, and they were not adapted to Alaskan conditions. Congress kept the power to make laws for Alaska.
The gold rush. In 1880, Joseph Juneau and Richard T. Harris discovered gold deposits along Gastineau Channel in southeastern Alaska. This discovery led to the founding of the city of Juneau. In 1896, prospectors found rich gold deposits in the Klondike district of Canada's Yukon region, just across the border from Alaska. The discovery led to the Klondike and Alaska gold rush of 1897-1898. Miners discovered gold at what is now Nome in 1898 and in the Fairbanks area in 1902. The three gold discoveries attracted thousands of people hoping to strike it rich and aroused nationwide interest in Alaska. Alaska's population nearly doubled in 10 years, reaching 63,592 by 1900.
The early 1900's. The gold discoveries focused congressional attention on Alaska. In 1903, a group of U.S. senators toured the territory to learn of Alaska's needs. They recommended that the government construct a system of transportation routes there. Congress then created a Board of Road Commissioners for Alaska, which built and maintained wagon roads, trails, bridges, and ferries throughout the territory.
In 1906, Congress allowed Alaskans to elect their own delegate to Congress. They chose Frank H. Waskey, a Democrat. He could speak in the House of Representatives but was not allowed to vote. During this period, James W. Wickersham, a federal judge, rallied Alaskans to the cause of more self-government for Alaska. In 1908, Wickersham was elected Alaska's delegate to Congress. In 1912, Congress passed the second Organic Act, which gave Alaska a territorial legislature with limited powers.
The Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) was formed in 1913. It was joined by the Alaska Native Sisterhood two years later. These organizations sought to unite the native communities of the region and fought for the political interests of its members. The groups helped achieve voting rights, integrated classrooms, and other civil rights for Alaska's native peoples.
In 1929, the ANB enlisted Wickersham to pursue a settlement for native lands seized by the federal government. Wickersham failed to persuade Congress to recognize native land claims. But the work of his successors and native groups eventually led to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.
World War II (1939-1945) caused great changes in Alaska. The United States recognized the military importance of the territory, which lay close to Asia, and sent thousands of workers there to build and maintain military installations. In 1942, the Japanese bombed Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands and occupied Kiska and Attu, two islands in the chain. These islands were the only part of North America invaded during World War II. The government built the Alaska Highway in 1942, mainly as a military supply road. In 1943, about 152,000 military personnel were stationed in Alaska. United States troops recovered Kiska and Attu later that year, and the war in Alaska ended. But the military impact altered the territory forever.
Statehood. The war led to demands that Congress admit the territory to statehood. The first Alaskan statehood bill was introduced in Congress in 1916, but it did not receive a hearing. Other statehood bills were introduced from the mid-1940's until 1958. In 1958, Congress voted to admit Alaska to the Union. On Jan. 3, 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the proclamation declaring Alaska the 49th state. Alaska became the first new state since 1912. William A. Egan, a Democrat, became the first elected governor of Alaska.
Alaska found its first years of statehood difficult and costly. It had to take over the expenses of public services that the federal government had provided. Congress helped by giving Alaska some buildings, transition grants, and other funding. Alaska also received funds from the lease of public lands and the right to claim 103.5 million acres (41.9 million hectares) of federal land over a 25-year period. State selection of lands began soon afterward. Alaska's Inuit and Indians, however, protested the selection process. They charged that the process did not recognize their claims of ownership or their traditional way of life, in which small bands moved over large areas hunting, fishing, and gathering food. These and other issues spurred the formation of the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) in 1966. The organization included representatives from nearly every group of native people and helped lead the fight for a full settlement of Alaska native land claims.
During the 1960's, the state improved its transportation facilities. It developed a state ferry system, the "Marine Highway," to serve coastal cities.
In 1964, one of the biggest earthquakes ever known to hit North America shook the area around Anchorage and Valdez. It measured 8.3 on the Richter scale. The quake and tsunamis (huge, destructive waves) that it caused killed 131 people and resulted in more than $400 million in property damage.
The discovery of oil. In 1968, the Atlantic Richfield Company announced the discovery of a giant oil field at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Coastal Plain. It was one of the greatest oil discoveries in history. This oil field has the largest reserves of oil in North America. In 1969, Alaska auctioned oil and gas leases on the field's 450,000 acres (182,000 hectares) and earned over $900 million. Construction of a pipeline to carry oil about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) across the state, from Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez, began in 1974. The pipeline was completed in 1977 at a total cost of about $8 billion, and oil production began.
The development of the Prudhoe Bay oil field provided new jobs and greatly increased state revenues during the late 1970's and early 1980's. In 1976, Alaska's voters had approved an amendment to the state Constitution that created the Alaska Permanent Fund, a savings account that belongs to all the people of Alaska. The amendment calls for at least 25 percent of all money earned by mineral development to be deposited into this fund. In 1980, the high revenues created by the oil boom enabled the state government to abolish individual state income taxes. In 1982, every Alaskan resident of six months or more began receiving dividend payments from the Alaska Permanent Fund. Each year, 50 percent of the earnings of the fund are distributed equally to eligible Alaskans.
Land-use issues. From 1971 to 1980, the federal government set aside large amounts of land for native Alaskans and for conservation purposes. In 1971, President Richard M. Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. This revolutionary measure gave $962.5 million and about 44 million acres (18 million hectares) of land to the state's Inuit and Indians. The act created 12 regional corporations to administer the money and the land. A 13th corporation was added later. Every Alaskan Inuit and Indian received shares in the corporations.
In 1978, 56 million acres (23 million hectares) of Alaskan land were set aside as national monuments. In 1980, Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. This act added more than 104 million acres (42 million hectares) to the conservation system in Alaska. The measure established the boundaries for a widespread network of federal, state, native, and private lands.
The 1980 conservation act gave rural Alaskans priority in hunting and fishing for food on federal lands. But many urban Alaskans who hunt and fish for sport complained that these provisions discriminated against them. Disputes over hunting and fishing rights led to increasing racial tensions between urban whites and rural native people.
Recent developments. In 1989, an oil tanker, the Exxon Valdez, struck a reef in Prince William Sound in southeastern Alaska, causing the largest oil spill in United States history. Nearly 11 million gallons (42 million liters) of crude oil spilled into the sound. The oil polluted beaches and fishing waters and destroyed wildlife. Most of the cleanup work at the sound was completed in 1992 at a cost of more than $2 billion. But scientists continue to work toward restoring the ecological balance of the area.

GOSPEL !! # 70507.

Liturgical day : Monday 5th of Easter
# 70507.

Today's Gospel (Jn 14:21-26): Jesus said to his disciples, «Whoever keeps my commandments is the one who loves me. If he loves me, he will also be loved by my Father; I too shall love him and show myself clearly to him». Judas —not the Iscariot— asked Jesus, «Lord, how can it be that you will show yourself clearly to us and not to the world?». Jesus answered him, «If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him; and we will come to him and make a room in his home. But if anyone does not love me, he will not keep my words, and these words that you hear are not mine but the Father's who sent me. I told you all this while I was still with you. From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have told you».
Commentary: Fr. Norbert Estarriol i Seseras (Lleida, Catalonia)
«The Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have told you»
Today, Jesus shows us his immense desire for us to share his plenitude. United with him, we live into the stream of divine life that is the Holy Trinity. «God is with you. In your soul filled with grace, lives the Blessed Trinity. —This is why, you, despite all your misery, may and must be in steady conversation with the Lord» (Saint Josemaria).
Jesus assures us He will be present with us in the divine intimacy of the soul through grace. Thus, we Christians are no longer orphans. He loves us so much that, though He does not need us, He does not want to prescind from us.
«Whoever keeps my commandments is the one who loves me. If he loves me, he will also be loved by my Father; I too shall love him and show myself clearly to him» (Jn 14:21). This thought helps us to have presence of God. And those desires or thoughts which, eventually, are wasting our time and preventing us from abiding by the divine will, will have no room any more on our minds. This is an advice from saint Gregory the Great: «Let us not be seduced by the flattery of prosperity, because it is a stupid traveler he who sees, during his journey, delightful prairies but forgets where he was heading for».
God's presence in our heart will help us discover and carry out in this world those designs the Divine Providence may have planned for us. The Spirit of t7he Lord will arouse initiatives in our heart to be placed on top of all human activities and, thus, make Christ stand out over and above all of us. If we manage to have this intimacy with Jesus we shall end up by being good sons of God and will always and everywhere feel as his friends: whether in the street, amidst our daily chores or within our family life.
All light and fire of divine life will fall upon each one of the faithful who are willing to receive the gift of divinity living in our soul. God's Mother will intercede for us —as our own mother that she also is— to deeply enter into this covenant with the Holy Trinity.

Alabama

Alabama, one of the Southern States of the United States, is known as the Heart of Dixie. Alabama occupies a central place in the history of the South. The Constitution of the Confederacy was drawn up in Montgomery, the state capital, in 1861. The Alabama Capitol served as the first Confederate Capitol. There, Jefferson Davis took office as president of the Confederacy.

Today, Alabama has a vital part in the nation's future. Huntsville, called Rocket City, U.S.A., is the site of the Redstone Arsenal and the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. Scientists at Huntsville developed many important rockets and space vehicles, including the Saturn 5 rocket system that carried the first astronauts to land on the moon.
Most parts of the South did not become widely industrialized until the 1900's. But heavy industry got a relatively early start in Alabama, mainly because of the state's rich mineral resources. Northern Alabama had all three main raw materials used in making steel--coal, iron ore, and limestone. Blast furnaces for making iron and steel began operating in Birmingham in the 1880's. After that, Birmingham grew rapidly. Today, it is Alabama's largest city, and one of the state's important centers of service industries.
For many years, "King Cotton" ruled Alabama's farm economy. When the cotton crop was poor, or when it sold at low prices, Alabama farmers suffered. But serious crop failures during the early 1900's taught the farmers that they should plant a variety of crops. Then they would not lose all their money if the cotton crop failed. Alabama is still a leading cotton producer. But much livestock and poultry and large crops of corn, peanuts, and soybeans are also raised in the state.
Forest-covered hills and ridges spread over much of northern Alabama. In places where the land has been cleared, bright red clay soils add splashes of color to the landscape. Many dams along rivers and creeks help prevent floods. Hydroelectric power stations at some of the larger dams produce electricity for use in homes and factories.
In the southern part of Alabama, the hills give way to thick pine forests, rolling grasslands, and low croplands.
The Mobile Delta area in the southern part of the state has many swamps and bayous (shallow channels filled with slow-moving water). At the southern tip of Alabama, sandy beaches border Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Mobile, at the mouth of the Mobile River, is a busy seaport. Oceangoing ships unload a wide variety of goods at the Alabama State Docks in Mobile Bay. The goods include minerals and other raw materials to be made into manufactured goods in Alabama factories. The ships carry away Alabama coal and a wide variety of the state's products, including iron and steel, petroleum products, pulp and other wood products, soybeans, and wheat.
The name Alabama comes from the name of an Indian tribe that once lived in the region. These Indians called themselves the Alibamu, meaning I open (or I clear) the thicket. One of Alabama's nicknames, the Yellowhammer State, originated during the Civil War (1861-1865). A company of Alabama troops paraded in uniforms trimmed with bits of bright yellow cloth. The soldiers reminded people of the birds called yellowhammers, which have yellow patches under their wings. After that, Alabama soldiers were known as Yellowhammers.


ALABAMA/People
Population. The 1990 United States census reported that Alabama had 4,062,608 people. The state's population had increased 4 1/2 per cent over the 1980 census figure, 3,893,978. According to the 1990 census, Alabama ranks 22nd in population among the 50 states.
About two-thirds of the people of Alabama live in metropolitan areas. These areas are Anniston, Birmingham, Decatur, Dothan, Florence, Gadsden, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, and Tuscaloosa. The Columbus (Ga.) metropolitan area extends into Alabama.
Alabama has 19 cities with populations of more than 20,000. Birmingham, the largest city, developed as a steelmaking center. Today, Birmingham is an important center of service industries, particularly medical services.
Huntsville is the home of the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. During the 1950's, Huntsville's population grew by 340 per cent. Thousands of people moved to the Huntsville area to work on missile and space projects of the United States government.
Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, and other cities have kept the attractiveness of small communities, in spite of their rapid growth. Huge oak trees arch over wide boulevards, even in many downtown areas. Stately old homes add to the charm and dignity of these cities.
About a fourth of the people in Alabama are blacks. Other large population groups in the state include people of Irish, English, German, and American Indian descent.
Schools. Alabama established its public school system in 1854. Like most Southern States, Alabama had separate schools for whites and blacks. In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that school segregation is unconstitutional. In 1963, Alabama began to desegregate its public schools. By 1973, most of these schools had been integrated.
Today, Alabama operates about 130 local public school systems. It also operates a system of secondary-level vocational technical training centers. The superintendent of education heads the state's public school system. The superintendent is appointed by the state board of education. The nine-member board of education establishes policies for the public school system. The governor serves as president of the board. The other eight members are elected by the voters to four-year terms.
Alabama law requires children from age 7 through 15 to attend school. For the number of students and teachers in Alabama, see EDUCATION (table).

Libraries. Alabama's first large library, the Supreme Court Library in Montgomery, was created in 1828. In 1901, the state legislature created the Department of Archives and History--the first state-supported archives in the United States. Today, the largest of Alabama's public libraries are in Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, and Montgomery. The public library in Birmingham owns the Rucker Agee collection of rare maps, the Tutwiler collection on Southern history and literature, and a collection of civil rights documents. The University of Alabama's Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library in Tuscaloosa has materials on the history of the region.
Museums. The Anniston Museum of Natural History includes items used by early Indians and displays of birds in their natural surroundings. The George Washington Carver Museum at the Tuskegee University National Historic Site features exhibits that illustrate contributions of blacks to U.S. history. It also displays artwork by African and African American artists. The University of Alabama State Museum of Natural History exhibits a large collection of Indian items. The collection includes prehistoric items found at Mound State Monument. The Historic Mobile Preservation Society has displays on the American Civil War period.
The Birmingham Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museum of the South in Mobile, the Huntsville Museum of Art, and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts exhibit chiefly works of art. The helicopter collection of the U.S. Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker ranks as one of the largest in the world.
ALABAMA/Visitor's guide
The beaches and hotels along Alabama's Gulf Coast are among the state's major attractions. Many vacationers visit the area each year. Many enjoy saltwater fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and freshwater fishing on inland lakes. Tourists also come to see Alabama's historic homes and beautiful gardens.
One of Alabama's outstanding annual events is the Mardi Gras celebration in Mobile. The festivities begin two weeks before Shrove Tuesday. They include colorful parades through the streets both during the day and in the evening.
During late March and early April, blossoms begin to appear on shrubs along Mobile's famous Azalea Trail. This trail is an automobile route, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) long, through the city. The trail passes many of Mobile's most beautiful homes and gardens. The azaleas and other flowering shrubs are usually loveliest during late March.


ALABAMA/Land and climate
Land regions. Most of southern Alabama lies less than 500 feet (150 meters) above sea level. The surface of the state rises gradually toward the northeast. Alabama has six main land regions: (1) the East Gulf Coastal Plain, (2) the Black Belt, (3) the Piedmont, (4) the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region, (5) the Cumberland Plateau, and (6) the Interior Low Plateau.
The East Gulf Coastal Plain is Alabama's largest land region. It covers the entire southern two-thirds of the state, except for a narrow strip of land called the Black Belt. In western Alabama, the plain extends north almost to Tennessee.
The plain has several sections. The low, swampy land of the Mobile River Delta makes up the southwestern section. The southeastern part is called the Wiregrass area. It is named for a tough grass that once grew there in pine forests. Today, the Wiregrass area is an important farming region. The northern part of the plain is often called the Central Pine Belt because many pine forests cover its low, rolling hills. In the western part of this section, the soils are gravelly and sandy, and are not good for growing crops.
The Black Belt is a narrow strip of rolling prairie wedged between the northern and southern parts of the East Gulf Coastal Plain. The Black Belt was named for the sticky black clay soils of its rolling uplands. Early in Alabama's history, farmers developed large plantations in this region. Boll weevils came to the Black Belt in 1915, and damaged the cotton crop. Some farmers then changed from growing cotton to raising livestock.
The Piedmont, in east-central Alabama, is an area of low hills and ridges separated by sandy valleys. The clay soils of these hills and ridges have been badly eroded. Most of the land is forested. Cheaha Mountain, the highest point in Alabama, rises 2,407 feet (734 meters) on the northwestern edge of the Piedmont.
Deposits of coal, iron ore, limestone, and marble, together with electric power from projects on the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, make the Piedmont an important manufacturing area. Textile production is the main industry in many small cities of the region.
The Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region is an area of sandstone ridges and fertile limestone valleys. It lies northwest of the Piedmont. The region has coal, iron ore, and limestone--the three basic minerals used in making iron and steel. For this reason, Birmingham and other large cities in the region developed as centers of iron and steel production.
The Cumberland Plateau, also known as the Appalachian Plateau, lies northwest of the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region. The surface varies from flat to gently rolling land. It reaches a height of about 1,800 feet (549 meters) above sea level in the northeast. The land slopes to about 500 feet (150 meters) where it meets the East Gulf Coastal Plain in the southwest. Farmers could not grow large crops in the plateau's sandy soils until the 1880's, when commercial fertilizers came into common use. Today, farmers raise hogs and poultry there, and grow cotton, hay, potatoes, and vegetables.
The Interior Low Plateau lies in the northwestern part of the state. Much of the land is in the valley of the Tennessee River. Farmers in the region grow corn, cotton, and hay. The plateau has water transportation and hydroelectric power, which encourage manufacturing there. Decatur and "The Shoals," the area of Muscle Shoals, Florence, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia, are industrial centers.
Coastline. Alabama's general coastline extends for 53 miles (85 kilometers) along the Gulf of Mexico. The tidal shoreline, which includes small bays and inlets, is 607 miles (977 kilometers) long. Mobile Bay, at the mouth of the Mobile River, is the chief feature of the Alabama coastline. It is an important harbor area. Mississippi Sound borders the coast west of Mobile Bay. Perdido Bay is at the border between Alabama and Florida. The long, sandy peninsula between Mobile and Perdido bays is known as the Gulf Coast. Dauphin Island, Alabama's largest coastal island, lies at the entrance to Mobile Bay. An overseas highway connects the island with the mainland.
Rivers and lakes. Navigable rivers flow through almost every part of Alabama. The Mobile River and its tributaries flow south to the Gulf of Mexico. They form the most important river system in the state. The Alabama and the Tombigbee, Alabama's longest rivers, meet about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Mobile and form the Mobile River. The Alabama River begins where the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers meet, just north of Montgomery. The Tombigbee starts in Mississippi and flows southeast into Alabama. Its main tributary in Alabama is the Black Warrior.
The Chattahoochee River forms much of the border between Alabama and Georgia. The Tennessee River is the most important river in northern Alabama. It flows west across almost the entire width of the state.
Alabama has no large natural lakes, but dams on rivers have created many artificial lakes. The largest of these, Guntersville Lake, covers 110 square miles (285 square kilometers). It is formed by Guntersville Dam on the Tennessee River. Other large artificially created lakes, in order of size, include Wheeler on the Tennessee River, Martin on the Tallapoosa River, and Weiss on the Coosa River.
Plant and animal life. Forests cover about two-thirds of Alabama. Pine forests are the most common type of forest. Besides pines, other trees in the state include cedars, cypresses, hemlocks, and oaks.
In the spring, blooming shrubs and trees cover the Alabama countryside. The state is famous for its azaleas. It also has flowering dogwood, mountain laurel, and rhododendrons. Alabama's wildflowers include asters, Dutchman's-breeches, goldenrods, orchids, pinks, and southern camasses.
Bobcats, deer, red and gray foxes, minks, opossums, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, and wild turkeys live in many parts of Alabama. Beaver colonies thrive in the swamps and lowlands. Some alligators can be found in the state's southern swamps and bayous (see BAYOU). These areas also provide winter shelter for ducks, geese, and other water birds that fly north in the spring. Freshwater fish in Alabama streams include bass, bream, buffalo fish, catfish, crappies, garfish, and shad. Drumfish, flounder, mackerel, mullet, red snapper, and tarpon are common in the Gulf of Mexico along Alabama's coast. Shellfish found in the Gulf include crabs, oysters, and shrimps.
Climate. Alabama has a mild climate. January temperatures average about 52 °F (11 °C) in the southern part of the state, and about 46 °F (8 °C) in the north. July temperatures average about 80 °F (27 °C) throughout the state. Alabama's lowest temperature, -27 °F (-33 °C), occurred at New Market on Jan. 30, 1966. The highest temperature, 112 °F (44 °C), was at Centreville on Sept. 5, 1925. Alabama's annual precipitation (rain, melted snow, and other moisture) averages from about 65 inches (165 centimeters) on the coast to 53 inches (135 centimeters) in the north. Snow falls in the north, but is rare on the coast.

ALABAMA/Economy
Service industries, taken together, make up the largest portion of Alabama's gross state product--the total value of all goods and services produced in a state in a year. However, manufacturing is the single leading economic activity in terms of the gross state product. Alabama factories turn out a wide variety of manufactured products. Among the state's leading kinds of manufactured goods are paper products, chemicals, primary metals, and textiles.
Mining and farming also contribute to Alabama's economic output. The state is an important producer of coal and natural gas. Much of its agricultural income is provided by farms that raise livestock.

Natural resources of Alabama include thick pine forests, areas of fertile soil, valuable mineral deposits, and deep rivers.
Soil. Alabama's Black Belt is known for its black clay soils. Parts of the East Gulf Coastal Plain have sandy soils. Red soils cover most other parts of the state. In many areas, these red soils were once covered by gray or yellow topsoil. Much of the fertile topsoil was carried away by erosion after farmers cut down trees and plowed the land. Today, many Alabama farmers help save fertile soils by contour plowing, terracing, and other conservation methods.
Minerals. Valuable deposits of coal and limestone lie fairly close together in the Birmingham area of Alabama. These minerals are used in the production of iron and steel. Alabama's most important coal beds are located in the north-central part of the state. Major deposits of limestone are also found in northern Alabama.
Alabama has important oil and natural gas fields in Choctaw, Escambia, Mobile, and other southwestern counties. Other minerals found in the state include asphalt, bauxite, clay, dolomite, marble, mica, salt, sand and gravel, sandstone, and talc.
Service industries, taken together, contribute the greatest part of the gross state product in Alabama. Most of the service industries are concentrated in the state's metropolitan areas.
Wholesale and retail trade ranks as Alabama's leading service industry in terms of the gross state product. The wholesale trade of groceries, machinery, and mineral products is important in Alabama. Mobile serves as the state's major center of wholesale trade. Major types of retail businesses include automobile dealerships, discount stores, and food stores. Bruno's, one of the South's largest grocery store chains, is headquartered in Birmingham. Retail trade employs many people throughout Alabama.
Community, business, and personal services form the second-ranking service industry in Alabama. This industry consists of a variety of establishments, including doctors offices and private hospitals, law firms, and engineering companies. Blount, one of the nation's largest construction engineering companies, is based in Montgomery.
Government ranks next among the service industries of Alabama. Government services include the operation of public schools, public hospitals, and military establishments. The public school system is a leading employer in Alabama. Major military bases located in the state include Fort McClellan near Anniston and Fort Rucker near Dothan. Gunter and Maxwell Air Force bases lie near Montgomery. The Huntsville area is home to the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and the Redstone Arsenal. State government offices are based in Montgomery.
Finance, insurance, and real estate form Alabama's fourth-ranking service industry. Birmingham is Alabama's leading financial center. Two of the South's largest banking companies, Amsouth and SouthTrust, have their headquarters in Birmingham. Large financial companies are also based in Montgomery. Real estate is a major part of the economy of Alabama because of the large sums of money involved in the buying and selling of homes. The leasing of buildings is also part of the real estate sector.
Transportation, communication, and utilities rank fifth among service industries in Alabama. Many shipping companies are based in Mobile, which has one of the busiest ports in the United States. Ships transport the state's mineral products and many other types of freight. Trucking and shipping companies also transport much of Alabama's freight. Pipeline companies transport petroleum and natural gas. Telephone companies are the most important part of the communications sector. The headquarters of South Central Bell are in Birmingham. Utility companies provide electric, gas, and water service. More information about transportation and communication appears later in this section.
Manufacturing. Goods manufactured in Alabama have a value added by manufacture of more than $25 billion yearly. Value added by manufacture represents the increase in value of raw materials after they become finished products.
Paper products are the leading category of manufactured goods made in Alabama in terms of value added by manufacture. Pulp and paper are produced at mills in many parts of the state, including the Mobile, Montgomery, and Childersburg areas. Other paper products manufactured in Alabama include cardboard, paper bags, and paper tissue.
Chemicals rank second in value added among Alabama's manufactured products. The state's most important chemical products are used by industry. Alabama factories also produce chemical fibers, fertilizers, and insecticides. Chief chemical production centers in the state include Decatur and Mobile.
Alabama's third-ranking manufactured product, primary metals, is based primarily on the steel industry. Steelmaking is centered in Birmingham, Decatur, and Gadsden.
Textiles are Alabama's fourth-ranking manufactured product. Alabama ranks among the leading textile-producing states. Fabric, thread, yarn, and other textile products are made in many parts of Alabama.
Other products made in Alabama, in order of value added by manufacture, are food products, wood products, machinery, clothing, and rubber and plastic products. The state's major food processing activities include bread baking, meat packing, and soft-drink bottling. Lumber, plywood, and veneers are among the chief wood products. Factories in Birmingham and Montgomery manufacture heating and air conditioning units. Florence is a center for the manufacture of metalworking machinery. Much of the clothing made in Alabama is manufactured in small towns, including Andalusia, Bay Minette, Elba, Eufala, Haleyville, Jasper, and Scottsboro. Important types of clothing made in the state include dresses, men's shirts, and lingerie. Gadsden, Huntsville, Opelika, and Tuscaloosa have large tire factories. Plants near Birmingham and Huntsville make a variety of plastic products.
Agriculture. Farms cover about 30 percent of Alabama's land area. The state has approximately 47,000 farms.
Livestock products account for about three-fourths of Alabama's farm income. Alabama ranks among the leading states in the production of broilers (chickens 5 to 12 weeks old). Broilers are the most valuable farm product in the state. They provide more than 40 percent of the farm income. Counties in the northern part of the state produce the most broilers.
Beef cattle are Alabama's second most valuable farm product. Cattle graze on grasslands throughout the state, but especially in the Black Belt in central Alabama. Eggs and milk are also leading livestock products in the state. Hogs are raised in all parts of the state, but especially in the Wiregrass area. Beekeeping is also an important type of livestock farming in Alabama.
Until the early 1900's, cotton production employed many farmworkers and provided almost all of Alabama's agricultural wealth. Today, cotton is still Alabama's leading crop, and the state is a leading cotton producer. Mechanical pickers harvest much of the cotton crop.
Peanuts are another important crop of Alabama. Other valuable field crops include corn, hay, oats, sorghum, soybeans, tobacco, and wheat. Crimson clover and fescue are the major seed crops of the state.
Cullman and Limestone counties are Alabama's chief strawberry-producing area. Peaches and apples are important crops in Blount and Chilton counties. Alabama farmers also grow pears. The state's leading vegetable crops include beans, cucumbers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. Alabama farmers also grow many watermelons. Greenhouse and nursery products are also an important source of farm income in the state. Pecans are another valuable farm product.
Mining. Alabama's most valuable mineral products are coal, natural gas, petroleum, crushed stone, and limestone.
Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, and Walker counties in north-central Alabama produce most of the state's coal. The coal is a bituminous (soft) variety that is taken from both underground and surface mines. Natural gas and petroleum are obtained mainly from wells in the southwestern part of the state. The production of methane gas from coal is a major activity in west-central Alabama. Large limestone quarries lie near Birmingham and Huntsville. Limestone is used primarily to make cement and roadbeds.
Alabama is among the leading states in mining bauxite and marble. The state's other mineral products include clays, salt, and sand and gravel.
Fishing industry. Alabama has an annual fish catch valued at about $50 million. The Gulf of Mexico provides most of the catch. Shrimps are Alabama's most valuable saltwater seafood. Oysters rank next in value. Other saltwater products include blue crabs, croakers, and red snappers. Buffalo fish, catfish, and mussels are caught commercially in freshwater streams in Alabama. Grain-fed catfish, raised in artificial ponds on farms, are an important new food crop.
Electric power. Plants that burn coal provide about 70 percent of Alabama's electric power. Nuclear plants provide about 20 percent of the state's electric power. Hydroelectric plants supply almost all of the remaining power. The Tennessee Valley Authority, a government corporation, operates hydroelectric and nuclear plants in northern Alabama.
Transportation. Alabama has about 93,000 miles (150,000 kilometers) of roads and highways. Four major rail lines provide freight service in Alabama. Passenger trains serve Birmingham and two other cities in the state. Most of Alabama's air traffic goes in and out of airports at Birmingham, Huntsville, and Mobile.
About 1,350 miles (2,170 kilometers) of navigable waterways cross the state. They include a section of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between Brownsville, Texas, and Carrabelle, Florida. This section is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) long. The Black Warrior-Tombigbee-Mobile river system, 453 miles (729 kilometers) long, is the longest navigable waterway in Alabama. The Tennessee River connects northern Alabama with the Mississippi River system. The 234-mile- (377-kilometer-) long Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway was completed in 1985. This waterway helps link the port at Mobile with inland ports on the Tennessee and Ohio rivers. Alabama has built dock facilities at Decatur, Demopolis, Eufaula, Guntersville, Huntsville, Phenix City, and other towns along waterways.
Mobile, on Mobile Bay, is Alabama's only seaport. The Alabama State Docks at Mobile are among the finest port facilities in the United States. They can handle about 35 oceangoing vessels at a time.
Communication. The Mobile Register, founded in 1813, is Alabama's oldest newspaper. Today, about 130 newspapers, including about 25 dailies, are published in Alabama. The Birmingham News has the largest circulation. Other leading papers include the Birmingham Post-Herald, The Huntsville Times, and The Montgomery Advertiser. About 70 periodicals are also published in Alabama
WAPI of Birmingham is Alabama's oldest commercial radio station. It began in 1922 in Auburn as WMAV. WVTM-TV, the state's first television station, was established in Birmingham in May 1949 as WABT-TV. In 1955, Alabama began operating the first state-owned educational television system in the United States. This system, called Alabama Public Television Network, has stations in several cities, and reaches every county in the state. Alabama has about 300 radio stations and 35 television stations. Cable TV systems serve many areas.
ALABAMA/Government
Constitution of Alabama was adopted in 1901. The state had five earlier constitutions, adopted in 1819, 1861, 1865, 1868, and 1875.
An amendment to the Constitution may be proposed either by the Alabama Legislature or by a constitutional convention. An amendment proposed by the Legislature must be approved by three-fifths of the members in each house. Then it must receive the approval of a majority of the electors voting on the issue.
A majority of the members of each house of the Alabama Legislature and a majority of the voters must approve calling a constitutional convention. An amendment proposed by the convention must be approved by a majority of the people voting on the issue in an election.
Executive. The governor of Alabama is elected to a four-year term. This official can serve more than one term. However, the governor is not allowed to serve three terms in a row.
Alabama's other top executive officials include the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, treasurer, and commissioner of agriculture and industries. Each of these officials is elected to a four-year term.

Legislature consists of a Senate of 35 members and a 105-member House of Representatives. Each of Alabama's 35 senatorial districts elects one senator. Each of the state's 105 representative districts elects one member to the House of Representatives. Senators and representatives serve four-year terms.
The Alabama Legislature holds regular sessions each year. These sessions may not last longer than 105 days, and the Legislature may not meet as a whole on more than 30 of these days. Sessions begin in January during the first year of the legislative term, in February during the second and third years, and in April during the fourth year.
Courts. The highest court in Alabama is the state Supreme Court. It has a chief justice and eight associate justices, and they are all elected to six-year terms. The Court of Criminal Appeals has five judges, and the Court of Civil Appeals has five judges. These judges also are all elected to six-year terms. Lower courts in Alabama include a circuit court, district court, probate court, and municipal courts.
Local government. Alabama has 67 counties. Each is governed by a board of commissioners. The boards are known officially as county commissions. In most counties, the chief official is the probate judge. The probate judge is elected to a six-year term. Other county officials include the sheriff, district attorney, superintendent of education, engineer, tax assessor, and tax collector.
Most Alabama municipalities have a mayor-council form of government. A few cities operate under a city-manager plan. Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, and Tuscaloosa have mayor-council governments. Most small cities and towns also operate under the mayor-council plan.
Revenue. Taxation provides about half of Alabama's general revenue (income). Most of the rest comes from federal grants and interest earned on public accounts. The main sources of tax revenue are personal and corporate income taxes, and general sales and use taxes. Other major sources of tax revenue, in order of importance, include taxes on motor fuels, public utilities, insurance premiums, motor vehicle licenses, and alcoholic beverages.
Politics. As in other Southern states, most candidates elected to national, state, and local offices in Alabama have been Democrats. Most of Alabama's major state and local political battles have traditionally been waged in primary elections for the Democratic nomination. But since the mid-1900's, Alabamians have elected a number of Republican candidates to local offices and to the Congress of the United States. In 1986, Guy Hunt became the first Republican to be elected governor of Alabama since the early 1870's.
Until the 1960's, Alabama voters usually supported Democratic presidential candidates. But in 1964, the state voted for Senator Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona, the Republican candidate. It was the first time since 1872 that the state of Alabama supported a Republican presidential candidate. Since 1980, the Republican candidate has won Alabama's electoral votes in each presidential election.
ALABAMA/History

Indian days. Cliff-dwelling Indians lived in the Alabama region 8,000 years ago. Excavations in Russell Cave, in northeastern Jackson County, have revealed details of their lives. Later the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Indians lived in the region. Whites called these groups the Civilized Tribes because they adopted many European customs. See FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES.
Exploration and settlement. Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, a Spanish explorer, sailed into Mobile Bay in 1519. In 1528, an expedition led by Panfilo de Narvaez passed through Alabama coastal waters. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, the first European to cross North America, was a member of this expedition. Hernando de Soto, another Spaniard, led an expedition into the Alabama region from the northeast in 1540. He became the first white person to explore the interior. De Soto (also called Soto) and the Indians fought a bloody battle at Mabila, north of present-day Mobile. De Soto's forces defeated Chief Tuscaloosa and his warriors.
In 1559, Tristan de Luna, a Spanish adventurer from Mexico, searched for gold in the Alabama region. He organized small settlements on Mobile Bay and at the present site of Claiborne. In 1561, he was removed from his command and was forced to return to Mexico.
The first permanent group of white settlers in the Alabama region were French. In 1699, two French-Canadian brothers, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, and Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, sailed to Dauphin Island in Mobile Bay. In 1702, they founded Fort Louis nearby along the Mobile River. Fort Louis became the capital of the French colony known as Louisiana. In 1711, river floods forced the French to move 27 miles (43 kilometers) south to the present site of Mobile. This settlement, also called Fort Louis, became the first permanent white settlement in Alabama. It was renamed Fort Conde in 1720. The settlement was the capital of French Louisiana until 1722, when New Orleans became the capital.
In 1763, the French gave most of their colony of Louisiana to Britain in the Treaty of Paris. This treaty ended the French and Indian War. The Mobile area became part of West Florida, under British control. Northern Alabama was included in the Illinois country, a region in what is now the central United States.
In 1779, Spain declared war on Britain. In 1780, Bernardo de Galvez captured Mobile from the British. In the Treaty of Paris signed in 1783, Britain gave the Mobile region to Spain.
Territorial days. In 1795, Thomas Pinckney, a U.S. statesman, negotiated the Treaty of San Lorenzo. This treaty, also called the Pinckney Treaty, fixed the southern boundary of the United States along the 31st parallel of north latitude. All of present-day Alabama except the Mobile area lay north of the line and became part of the United States. In 1798, the Alabama region, except the Mobile area, became part of the Mississippi Territory organized by the U.S. Congress.
During the War of 1812 against Britain, the United States seized the Mobile area from Spain. On April 15, 1813, the Stars and Stripes flew over the entire Alabama region for the first time. Also in 1813, the Creek Indians massacred several hundred pioneers at Fort Mims near Tensaw. In 1814, U.S. forces under General Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The Creek then surrendered their land to the United States. William Weatherford, a Creek chief also known as Red Eagle, led the tribe in its bitter fight against Jackson's troops.
In 1817, the Alabama Territory was organized. St. Stephens, on the Tombigbee River, was the capital.
Early statehood. A constitutional convention met in Huntsville in 1819 and drew up the territory's first Constitution. On Dec. 14, 1819, Alabama entered the Union as the 22nd state. Huntsville served as the capital of Alabama for a little more than a year. William Wyatt Bibb, who had been governor of the Alabama Territory, became the new state's first governor. Cahaba became the capital in 1820. In 1825, floods from the Alabama River caused great damage to Cahaba. Because of the floods, the capital was moved to Tuscaloosa in 1826.
In 1838, federal troops marched into the remaining Indian territory of Alabama, in the northeast section of the state. They demanded that all the Indians move to the west. By 1840, all but a few scattered tribes had moved west beyond the Mississippi River.
Alabama suffered severe financial troubles during the 1840's and 1850's. The state bank, created during the 1820's, was poorly managed. The bank issued too much money and, as a result, the money decreased in value. The bank also loaned large amounts of money for political reasons. In 1837, a financial panic and depression swept across the United States. The Alabama state bank could not afford to pay back the money it owed to its depositors. For this reason, Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick began to liquidate (close) the bank during the early 1840's. Many Alabamians lost all their savings. The state also suffered from a drought that ruined crops, and from several epidemics of yellow fever.
During the 1840's, many people in the North wanted the federal government to outlaw slavery in the nation's western territories. In 1848, a Democratic state convention in Alabama adopted the "Alabama Platform" supported by William L. Yancey, a prominent statesman. This platform declared that the federal government did not have the right to bar slaves from the territories.
The Civil War and Reconstruction. Disagreements over slavery continued during the 1850's. Economic rivalries between the agricultural South and the industrial North and disagreements about the rights of states also created conflicts (see STATES' RIGHTS). These conflicts deepened after Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. Alabama seceded (withdrew) from the Union on Jan. 11, 1861, and declared itself the Republic of Alabama. The Alabama secession convention invited other Southern States to send delegates to Montgomery. On February 8, the convention established the Confederate States of America, with Montgomery as its capital. For this reason, Montgomery is known as the Cradle of the Confederacy. The capital of the Confederate States was moved to Richmond, Va., in May 1861.
The most important Civil War action in the state was the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, won by Union forces under Rear Admiral David G. Farragut (see FARRAGUT, DAVID G.). Union forces also made several raids into Alabama during the war. In 1863, Confederate forces led by General Nathan Bedford Forrest captured a much larger group of Union raiders at Cedar Bluffs. In 1865, Union General James H. Wilson led the largest raid into Alabama and won victories at Selma and Montgomery.
Most of Alabama escaped the ruin that spread across the South during the Civil War. However, Florence, Huntsville, Montgomery, Selma, and other cities in the northern and central parts of the state suffered destruction and looting.
Alabama faced mounting financial problems during the Reconstruction period that followed the war. The state debt increased from $8 million to more than $32 million from 1866 to 1873. The state government came under the control of former Northerners called carpetbaggers and Southerners called scalawags. On June 25, 1868, Alabama was readmitted to the Union. In 1874, conservative Democrats succeeded in electing most state officials. The state government was reformed, and a new constitution was adopted in 1875.
State prosperity followed the Reconstruction period. During the 1870's, several railroads were completed. Also during the 1870's, Alabamians proved they could make iron by burning iron ore with coke, rather than with charcoal. This was important because north-central Alabama had large deposits of coal, from which coke is made. The same region also had vast supplies of iron ore and limestone, the two other minerals needed to make iron and steel. In 1880, Alabama's first blast furnace, Alice No. 1, began operating in Birmingham. Within a few years, Birmingham became a great iron and steel center. Important iron and steel works were also built in Anniston, Bessemer, Decatur, Russellville, and Talladega. By 1890, iron and steel making had become Alabama's most important manufacturing industry. The lumber industry and the textile industry also grew rapidly in the late 1800's.
World War I and the Great Depression. Alabama's industry and commerce grew after the United States entered World War I in 1917. Shipbuilding became an important industry in Mobile. Alabama farmers increased production of cotton and food to meet the demands of the war effort. In the mid-1920's, the Alabama State Docks agency built new port facilities at Mobile. Alabama's trade with other countries increased greatly as a result. In 1929, the Alabama-Tombigbee river system flooded large areas in southern Alabama, causing about $6 million damage.
Many Alabamians suffered financial setbacks during the Great Depression of the 1930's. Between 1929 and 1931, more than 60 Alabama banks failed, with a loss of more than $16 million. During the early 1930's, Alabama passed a state income tax law and the Budget Control Act to help save the state from bankruptcy.
In 1933, the federal government created the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The TVA was given the responsibility of building flood-control and electric-power projects on the Tennessee River. The TVA took over Wilson Dam and two nitrate plants at Muscle Shoals. The dam and plants had been built by the government during World War I and the 1920's. The TVA later built Wheeler and Guntersville dams on the Tennessee River. The Alabama Power Company, a private firm, also built dams and hydroelectric plants during the 1930's. These plants provided inexpensive power for Alabama factories, and so boosted the state's industrial growth.
The mid-1900's. During World War II (1939-1945), Alabama's agricultural and industrial production expanded greatly. The government established the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville in 1941. The arsenal developed the rockets, satellites, and spacecraft that launched the United States into the space age.
After the war, Alabama became an important producer of chemicals, minerals, rubber products, and textiles. Alabama's industrial growth slowed down during the 1950's, and many Alabamians left the state to find jobs in the North and West. Iron ore production in Alabama dropped sharply during the 1950's. By the early 1960's, most of Alabama's iron ore mines had closed.
During the 1950's and 1960's, Alabama farmers became less dependent on cotton. Farm income came increasingly from broiler chickens, cattle, hogs, peanuts, and soybeans. As agricultural methods and products changed, fewer farmworkers were needed. Many moved to the cities, and Alabama became mainly an urban state.
Like many other states, Alabama faced serious racial problems in the 1950's and 1960's. In 1955 and 1956, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., directed the Montgomery bus boycott. Many blacks refused to ride in public buses in Montgomery because the law required them to sit in the rear. In 1956, a federal court ordered Montgomery to desegregate its buses.
In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States had ruled that compulsory segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. But in 1963, Governor George C. Wallace personally tried to halt the integration of Alabama's public schools. In June, he stood in the doorway of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and refused to admit two blacks. President John F. Kennedy called the National Guard to active duty, and the troops enforced the law. In September, Wallace tried to prevent the integration of public elementary and secondary schools in several cities. President Kennedy again called in the National Guard, and the black students were admitted. Since 1963, Alabama has gradually integrated most of its public schools. In March 1965, King led a five-day march from Selma to Montgomery to protest discrimination in voter registration. In August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which made thousands of Alabama blacks eligible to vote.
Republicans gained increasing success in Alabama, a traditionally Democratic state. In 1964, Barry M. Goldwater became the first Republican presidential candidate to carry Alabama since 1872.
In 1960, the government established the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville. The Saturn 5 rocket system, which powered the first missions that landed astronauts on the moon, was developed at Huntsville during the 1960's.
Recent developments. Alabama, like other states, faced financial problems in the 1980's and early 1990's. The state government sought ways to provide sufficient funds for such services as state-supported nursing homes and public education. In 1980, the state legislature increased taxes on cigarettes and alcohol to increase funds for government services.
The rising costs of petroleum and natural gas have led to increased use of coal. This action has spurred further development of Alabama's coal deposits.
Industry continues to grow in the state, and the population has been rising steadily. Blacks are playing an increasingly important role in local and state politics. Republicans have also been gaining strength in local and state governments. In 1986, Guy Hunt became the first Republican to be elected governor of Alabama since Reconstruction. But he was removed from office in 1993, following his conviction for felony ethics violations. He was sentenced to pay fines and to perform 1,000 hours of community service.