The area of Alabama north of the 31^st parallel was part of the original territory of the United States. The northern two-thirds were a part of Georgia until 1802. The southern one-third of the territory north of the 31^st parallel was unorganized until 1798 with the creation of Mississippi Territory. The United States claimed the territory south of the 31^st parallel as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, but did not formally acquire this territory from Spain until 1812. Alabama Territory was organized from the eastern part of Mississippi Territory on March 3, 1817, with generally the same boundary as the present state.

Although the territory had not yet been legally established, census data for Alabama are available beginning with the 1800 census. The 1800 population shown for Alabama is for that portion of the present state north of the 31^st parallel that was part of Mississippi Territory; it does not include population in the area claimed by Georgia. The 1810 population shown is for all of the present state north of the 31^st parallel. The population of the entire legally established Mississippi Territory (of which the area of Alabama was a part) was 40,352 in 1810 and 8,550 in 1800.

Data for the legally established state of Alabama are available beginning with the 1820 census.

American Indian Areas

Alabama has one federally recognized American Indian area reservation and off reservation trust land, one state recognized reservation, and six state designated tribal statistical areas.

Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas and Related Statistical Areas

Alabama has 12 metropolitan statistical areas, 13 micropolitan statistical areas, and 7 combined statistical areas.

Counties

There are 67 counties in Alabama.  Each county is governed by a county commission.

County Subdivisions

There are 390 county subdivisions in Alabama.  They are all census county divisions (CCDs), which are delineated for statistical purposes, have no legal function, and are not governmental units.  CCDs were first established for the 1960 census.  Prior to 1960, the minor civil divisions (MCDs) used in the census included election precincts, beats, and land survey townships.

Places

Alabama has 578 places; 460 incorporated places and 118 census designated places (CDPs).  The incorporated places consist of 167 cities and 293 towns.  Cities have a minimum population threshold of 2,000 people and towns have between 300 and 1,999 people.  A minimum population of 300 is required to incorporate in Alabama.

Census Tracts/Block Groups/Blocks

Alabama has 1,181 census tracts, 3,438 block groups, and 252,266 census blocks.

Congressional Districts

For the 111^th Congress (January 2009-January 2011), Alabama had seven congressional districts.  For the 113^th Congress (January 2013-January 2015), Alabama continues to have seven congressional districts as a result of reapportionment based on the 2010 Census.

School Districts

Alabama has 134 unified school districts.  The Department of Defense runs two of the unified school districts in Alabama.

State Legislative Districts

There are 35 state senate districts and 105 state house districts in Alabama.

Urban Areas

Alabama has 73 urban areas; 14 urbanized areas and 59 urban clusters.

Zip Code Tabulation Areas

There are 645 ZIP Code tabulation areas (ZCTAs) in Alabama.