Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham | |
City in the United States | |
Location | |
State | Alabama |
County | Jefferson County |
Coordinates | 33°31’3″N, 86°48’34″WL |
General | |
Surface | 384.91 km² |
– country | 378.32 km² |
– water | 6.59 km² |
Residents (2020) |
200,733 (531 inhabitant/km²) |
Politics | |
Mayor | Randall Woodfin (D) |
Website | birminghamal.gov |
According to ehuacom, Birmingham is the second largest city in the US state of Alabama with a population of 200,733 (2020). This makes it the 109th city in the United States (2019). Its surface area is 388.1 km², making it the 37th largest city. However, it is not the capital of Alabama, which is Montgomery.
Demographics
13.5% of the population is older than 65 and 34.4% consists of single -person households. Unemployment is 5% (census figures 2000).
About 1.6% of Birmingham’s population is Hispanic and Latino, 73.5% of African origin and 0.8% of Asian origin.
The number of inhabitants decreased from 265,945 in 1990 to 242,820 in 2000. In 2008 this number had fallen further to 228,798 inhabitants. In 2019, the number of inhabitants was estimated at 209,403. However, the city is still slightly larger than Alabama’s capital; Montgomery.
Race Conflict
A long-slumbering racial conflict erupted in the spring of 1963 when black clergyman Martin Luther King staged peaceful protest marches against the discriminatory treatment of black residents in the city. In May of that year, there were repeated clashes with authorities in the streets, with police using clubs and dogs violently. About 2,000 blacks were arrested, including Rev. King. The treatment of the protesters sparked outrage worldwide. More than four months later, on September 15, 1963, racists bombed a church in Birmingham, killing four black girls.
Climate
In January the average temperature is 5.3 °C, in July it is 26.6 °C. Annual average rainfall is 1386.3 mm (data based on the measurement period 1961-1990).
Sights
- 16th Street Baptist Church, a 1911 Baptist church
City Link
Birmingham has an active town twinning program.
- Hitachi (Japan)
- Gweru (Zimbabwe)
- Székesfehérvár (Hungary)
- Pomigliano d’Arco (Italy)
- Vinnytsia (Ukraine)
- Anshan (China)
- Pilsen (Czech Republic) since 2005
- Liverpool (United Kingdom) since October 2015
- Kerak (Jordan)
- Winneba (Ghana) since November 15, 2009
- Guédiawaye (Senegal) since 2005
- Rosh Haajin (Israel) since 2005
- Maebashi (Japan)
- Chaoyang (China)
- Coban (Guatemala)
Nearby places
Birmingham
Adamsville (15 km)
Brookside (15 km)
Cahaba Heights (10 km)
Edgewater (13 km)
Fairfield (11 km)
Forestdale (10 km)
Fultondale (10 km)
Homewood (6 km)
Irondale (12 km)
Lake Purdy (15 km)
Lipscomb (15 km)
McDonald Chapel (12 km)
Midfield (13 km)
Minor (12 km)
Mountain Brook (5 miles)
Tarrant (8 km)
Vestavia Hills (11 km)
Notable residents of Birmingham
Born
- Timuel Black (1918-2021), historian, war veteran, human rights activist, writer and professor
- Al Killian (1916-1950), jazz trumpet player
- Walker Percy (1916-1990), writer
- Timuel Black (1918-2021), historian and human rights activist
- Curley Hamner (1919-1982), rhythm and blues and jazz musician and songwriter
- Wilbur Harden (1925–1969), jazz trumpet player
- James A. Duke (1929-2017), botanist
- Edward Osborne Wilson (1929-2021), biologist
- Odetta (Holmes) (1930-2008), actress, musician and civil rights activist
- Henry Hartsfield (1933-2014), astronaut
- Wayne Rogers (1933-2015), actor
- Louise Fletcher (1934-2022), actress
- Richard Shelby (1934), Alabama Senator
- Sam Lay (1935-2022), blues singer and drummer
- Eddie Kendricks (1939-1992), lead singer of The Temptations
- Paul Williams (1939-1973), lead singer of The Temptations
- Dennis Edwards (1943-2018), lead singer of The Temptations
- Angela Davis (1944), militant, activist and philosophy professor
- Tobias Wolff (1945), writer
- Hubert Green (1946–2018), golfer
- Emmylou Harris (1947), country and folk singer and musician
- Gail Strickland (1947), actress
- Kate Jackson (1948), actress
- Chuck Leavell (1952), pianist and session musician (including The Allman Brothers Band, Sea Level, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton)
- Condoleezza Rice (1954), politician
- Frank Deal (1958), actor
- Ashley Crow (1960), actress
- Carl Lewis (1961), athlete
- Sunder Nix (1961), athlete
- Charles Barkley (1963), basketball player
- Courteney Cox (1964), actress
- Walton Goggins (1971), actor and film producer
- John Zimmerman (1973), figure skater
- Amber Benson (1977), actress, film director, author
- Jasika Nicole (1980), actress
- Rachel Held Evans (1981-2019), writer
- Trey Hardee (1984), athlete
- Sarah Lipstate (1989), guitarist
- Mac Styslinger (1993), tennis player
- Chris Richards (2000), football player