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Alabama State...

Alabama Landscape

Alabama

State Economy

State Economies

The United States is one of the largest and most technologically developed countries in the world. The Gross Domestic Product of the country in terms of purchasing power parity of the country has reached at $12.36 trillion (2005 est.).

Alabama Economy

Agriculture and Industry in Alabama

Alabama economy is a set of human and social activities and institutions related to the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of agriculture and industry goods and services. The balance between Alabama various economic sectors differs largely between various regions and other states in the US.

Alabama Agriculture and Industry

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the 2003 total gross state product was $132 billion. The per capita income for the state was $26,505 in 2003.

Alabama Agriculture:

Alabama's agricultural outputs include poultry and eggs, cattle, plant nursery items, peanuts, cotton, grains such as corn and sorgum, vegetables, milk, soybeans, and peaches.

About half of Alabama's area is devoted to agriculture, and the state ranks third in US broiler chicken production. Cotton is the chief agricultural crop, along with peanuts and vegetables.

Alabama Industry:

Alabama's industrial outputs include iron and steel products, including cast-iron and steel pipe, paper, lumber, and wood products, mining (mostly coal), and plastic products, cars and trucks, and apparel. Also, Alabama produces aerospace and electronic products, mostly in the Huntsville area, home of the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and the US Army Missile Command, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal.

Manufacturing accounts for a larger share of the state's income, however. Where the Tennessee River loops across the north, hydroelectric power from the Tennessee Valley Authority has converted much agricultural land to industrial uses. Alabama has the second most extensive (after Georgia) forests in the contiguous United States, and pulp and paper products are leading products. Today, paper, chemicals, rubber and plastics, apparel and textiles, primary metals, and automobile manufacturing are Alabama's leading industries. Continuing as a major manufacturer of coal, iron, and steel, Birmingham is also noted for its world-renowned medical center. The Marshall NASA Space Flight Center, Redstone Arsenal, Maxwell Air Force Base, and Forts Rucker and McClellan contribute significantly to the economy.

State Economies

A central feature of the US economy is a reliance on private decision-making ("economic freedom") in economic decision-making. This is enhanced by relatively low levels of regulation, taxation, and government involvement, as well as a court system that generally protects property rights and enforces contracts.

The US is rich in mineral resources and fertile farm soil. It also has extensive coastlines on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as on the Gulf of Mexico. Rivers flow from far within the continent, and the Great Lakes along the US border with Canada - provide shipping access. These waterways have helped shape the country's economic growth over the years and helped bind America's 50 individual states together in a single economic unit.

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