Birmingham (pronounced /ˈbɜrmɪŋhæm/, BUR-ming-ham) is the largest city in the state of Alabama in the United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County and includes part of Shelby County. According to a 2007 estimate, the city had a population of 229,800. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, as of the 2008 census estimates, has a population of 1,198,932. It is also the largest city in the Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman Combined Statistical ...
more
Birmingham (pronounced /ˈbɜrmɪŋhæm/, BUR-ming-ham) is the largest city in the state of Alabama in the United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County and includes part of Shelby County. According to a 2007 estimate, the city had a population of 229,800. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, as of the 2008 census estimates, has a population of 1,198,932. It is also the largest city in the Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman Combined Statistical Area, colloquially known as Greater Birmingham, which contains roughly one quarter of the population of Alabama.
Birmingham was founded in 1871, just after the American Civil War, as an industrial enterprise. It was named after Birmingham, England, one of the UK's major industrial cities. Through the middle of the 20th century, Birmingham was the primary industrial center of the Southern United States. The astonishing pace of Birmingham's growth through the turn of the century earned it the nicknames "The Magic City" and "The Pittsburgh of...
less
