Alabama is widely known as the "Heart of Dixie," and this region is the heart of Alabama, in a number of ways. Geographically, of course, it takes up the middle portion of the state; but it also remains the heart of Alabama in matters of population, politics, finance, industry, and culture. Birmingham, the state's largest city and the center of its industry, is located in this region; as is Montgomery, the state capital, and the two university towns of Tuscaloosa (University of Alabama) and Auburn (Auburn University). Birmingham lies close to the southernmost outliers of the Appalachians, close to important sources of iron ore and coal. It became one of the country's largest steel producers, and by far the largest in the South. Today, it is a modern metropolis of more than a million people. Montgomery, a hundred miles to the south, has long played an important role in history. This was the first capital of the Confederacy, after seven Deep South states seceded in 1861. It was also the center of Civil Rights battles a hundred years later...most notably the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which resulted in the first desegregation of facilities in the Jim Crow South. Montgomery today is an important center of industry, including automobile manufacturing, as well as serving as the state capital. [Less...]