The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-15

minor civil divisons." In Alabama the
 countes are divided into 12ss primary d. visions, comprising 12S2 election precincts
 and one independent city. There are also 1 257 secondary divisions, comprising 200
 towns, 27 villages and 20 cities. These
 secondary divisions usually form parts
 Of the precincts in which they are located | There are, however, three cities which are
 co-extensive with the precinct or pre-
 eincts in which they are located, and one city which comprises several precincts
 and parts of other precincts.
 The urban territory of the state in 1910
 that is, the cities and incorporated
 towns of 2500 inhabitants or more-con-
 tained S7O4s1 inhabitants. or 17.3 per cent
 of the total population, while 1767, ,662 in- habitants, or S2.7 per cent, lived in rural territory. The urban territory as it ex.
 isted in 1900-that is, the cities and in-
 corporated towns then having 2500 in-
 habitants or more-contained 2t6,u4 in-
 habtants, or 11.9 per cent of the total
 population, while 1,611,9S3 inhabitants, or
 8.1 per cent, lived in rural territory. The
 proportion of urban population in 1910
 was slightly less than one and one-half times as large as 1t was in 1900. For con- tinental United States as a whole the urban population constituted 46.3 per cenr of the total population in 1910 and 405 per cent of the total population in 1900.
 A comparison of the figures for 1910, 1900 and 1890 shows that in 1910 the three cities of over 25,00O nhabitants-namely Birmingham, Mobile and Montgomery contained 10.4 per cent of the population of the state; in 1900 the corresponding per- centage was 5.9.. In 1890 Birmingham and Mobile, the only cities at that time over 25,000 inhabitants, contained 3.S per cent of the total population of the state. The population of urban places having less than 250O0 inhabitants comprised 6.9 per cent of the total population of the state in 1910. while in 1900 and 1890 the propor- tion shown was and 63 per cent. re- spectively.
 The urban population of the state is contained in 21 cities and towns. Of the total population, S2.7 per cent is class ed as rural, TT per cent being contained in 290 incorporated places of less than 250o inhabitants each and 75 per cent In unincorporated territory.
 The 230 places of less than 2500 inhab- itants each have an aggregate population of 163,573. These places comprise D hav- ing from 1000 to 25O0 inhabitants each, with a combined population of S4,944; b5 having from 300 to 1000 inha bitants each, with a combined population of 45,279; and 110 having less than 300 inhabitants each, with combined population of 33,SoO
 In all incorporated places, including those of less than 2500 inhabitants, there was in 1910 a population of 5340o4. or 25 per cent of the population of the state. The population of all incorporated places as they existed in 1900 was 322. 124, or 17.6 per cent of the population of the state.
 In order to compare the rate of growth in urban and rural communities it IS necessary in each case. as previously ex- plained, to consider the changes in pop ulation which have occurred in the same territory from one decennial census to an- other. With this end in view places class ed as urban or rural according to their population in 1910 are taken as basis and the aggregate population in 1910 and in 1900 of the same places Is then com pared. Thus, the total population in 1910 of the cities and towns which at that time had 250O inhabitants or more was 370, ,431; in 1900 the total population of the same places was 2S7,670. It may be noted that the latter figure exceeds the total population In 1900 of those cities and towns which at that time had over 2500 inhabitants each, 2167l4, by 20,956. The difference is the net result of the pas sage, since 1900 of certain communities from the rural to the urban class and vice versa and of annexations of terri | tory during the same period.
 A comparison of the total population In | 1910 of cities and towns having popu- | lation of not less than 25O0 each with the total population of the same places In 1900 shows an increase of 55.9 per cent. | This represents the rate of growth or urban communities as thus defined. Dur | ing the same period the rural population, comprising that of the remainder of the state, increased Ill per cent. The popu- lation of urban areas thus increased over five times as rapidly as rural population. t.t tod tofn a urban population increased 34.9 per cent in the last decade and rural population 112 her cent There are 13 counties III which the population living in rural ter ritory decreased and two counties In which there was a decrease in urban population during the last decade, Bar bour being the only county that decreas- ed in population in both urban ana rural districts.
 It appears that the urban territory ln- creased in population much more rapidly than the state as a whole. The rate or increase for the city of Birmingham was over eight times the rate for the state as a whole, while the rate of increase TOT the group of other cities having 2o,Ooo inhabitants or more was less than one and one-half times, and that TOT the group of places having from 25O0 to Zo'ooV Inhabitants was more than twice the rate for the state. The rate of increase Tor rural territory was Ill per cent as com pared with 1e9 per cent for the state as whole.
 If also appears that of the Increase Tn the total population of the state durlns the decade, namely, So9,se6 more than one-half, or 176635 was in rural territory The city of Birmingham contrpu'ea O. s26. or considerably over one-ha1 the entire increase QS276D shown for urban