Birmingham (ˈbɝmɪŋˌhæm) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alabama and is the county seat of Jefferson County. Portions of the city are also in Shelby County. It was founded in 1871, after the U. S. Civil War, as an industrial enterprise. It was named after Birmingham, the major industrial city of England. Today, Birmingham ranks among Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, and New Orleans as one of the most important business centers in the Southeastern United States, and is also one of the largest banking centers in the U.S. In addition, the Birmingham area serves as headquarters to numerous Fortune 500 companies. Birmingham has been recognized as the South's top city for income growth and among the Top 10 nationally over the last 20 years. [1]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 the South". Birmingham's major industries centered around iron and steel production. Over the course of the 20th century, while industry declined nationwide, the city's economy diversified. Though manufacturing is still a strong sector, Birmingham has also become a major medical research center and a regional banking and publishing power. In recent years, biotechnology and information technology have begun to grow rapidly to compliment other sectors of Birmingham's economy.Home to a significant but rigorously segregated African American middle class, Birmingham was one of the battlegrounds of the American Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1960s. Race relations remain a central issue in Birmingham, though racial issues have gradually smoothed out in the city and the state as time has progressed.The population of the city proper is 242,820 (2000 U.S. census), and declined to 236,620 according to the 2003 estimate. However, it also serves as the primary nucleus for a sprawling urbanization known as Greater Birmingham with 1,170,012 inhabitants constituting roughly 1/4th of the state of Alabama's entire population. Nearby counties Tuscaloosa, Etowah, Talladega, and Calhoun, though not officially a part of Greater Birmingham, contribute significantly to the Birmingham economy. In recent years Birmingham has been named by various groups as one of the best U.S. cities in which to live.[2]