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Geography of Alabama. The geography of Alabama describes a state in the Southeastern United States in North America. It extends from high mountains to low valleys and sandy beaches. Alabama is 30th in size and borders four U.S. states: Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. It also borders the Gulf of Mexico.
- Overview
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Alabama, constituent state of the United States of America, admitted to the union in 1819 as the 22nd state. Alabama forms a roughly rectangular shape on the map, elongated in a north-south direction. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, and Mississippi to the west. The Florida panhandle blocks Alabama’s access to the Gulf of Mexico except in Alabama’s southwestern corner, where Mobile Bay is located. Montgomery is the state capital.
The state offers much topographical diversity. The rich agricultural valley of the Tennessee River occupies the extreme northern part of the state. In northeastern Alabama the broken terrain of the southwestern fringe of the Appalachian Mountains begins and continues in a southwesterly progression across the northern half of the state. Below that the band of prairie lowland known as the Black Belt has rich soils that once cradled a rural cotton-producing way of life central to the state’s development. Farther south stretch piney woods and then coastal plains until one reaches the moss-draped live oaks of Mobile and the white beaches of the gulf.
Although the average elevation of Alabama is about 500 feet (150 metres) above sea level, this represents a gradation from the high point of 2,407 feet (734 metres), atop Cheaha Mountain in the northeast, down across the Black Belt to the flat, low southern Gulf Coast counties. Within this gradation, several relief regions may be distinguished.
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The southern extremities of the Appalachians cover nearly half the state. In the far north the Cumberland Plateau region, segmented by upper branches of the Cumberland, Kentucky, and Tennessee river systems, thrusts southward from Tennessee. Elevations rise to 1,800 feet (550 metres) in the more rugged eastern portions. The Great Appalachian Valley forms another marked division to the east. A small triangular portion of the Piedmont Plateau juts across from Georgia at an elevation averaging 1,000 feet (300 metres).
The character of the state changes markedly as the rugged, forest-clad hills and ridges of the Appalachian extremities give way to the lower country of the coastal plain. The plain has a number of subdivisions: in the north lie the rolling Fall Line Hills, while farther south the pine and hardwood belts add irregularity to the flat landscapes. Arcing into the heart of the lowlands of Alabama, the Black Belt has been distinctive because of its association with the cotton production that long dominated its rich soils—though little cotton is grown there now. The 53 miles (85 km) of coastline have occasional swamps and bayous, backed by timber growth on sandy soils and fronted by stretches of white sand beaches.
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The Cumberland Plateau region drains to the northwest through the Tennessee River and the often deep valleys of its tributaries, with much water retained in large scenic lakes formed in the 1930s by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The rest of the state is drained southward through broad valleys. The Coosa and the Tallapoosa rivers join north ...
There are four main soil zones found in Alabama. In the far north the Tennessee valley contains dark loams and red clays that add vivid dashes of colour to the landscape when exposed. Farther south lie the varied soils of a mineral belt, and these are succeeded by the rich limestone and marl soils of the Black Belt. The soils along the coast of Ala...
Jan 18, 2024 · Key Facts. Alabama, located in the southeastern United States, shares borders with Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. The state encompasses a total area of about 52,419 mi 2 (135,767 km 2). Alabama, from north to south, is divisible into five primary geographic ...
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Alabama is also known as the "Heart of Dixie" and the "Cotton State". The state has diverse geography, with the north dominated by the mountainous Tennessee Valley and the south by Mobile Bay, a historically significant port. Alabama's capital is Montgomery, and its largest city by population and area is Huntsville. [12]
The state’s name comes from the Alabama tribe, one of the Native American groups from that area. “Dixie” is a nickname for the southern states, especially the Confederate states, which left the Union during the Civil War. Alabama is called the Heart of Dixie because Montgomery, Alabama, was the first Confederate capital.
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Access Alabama almanac, furnishing more details on the state geography, geographical and land regions, climate and weather, elevation, land areas, bordering states, and other statistical data. Alabama is a geographically diverse state, a fact seen while traveling from the mountains of the north to the coastal areas of the south.
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Alabama is bounded on the east by Georgia and the Chattahoochee River, on the west by MISSISSIPPI, on the north by TENNESSEE, and on the south by FLORIDA and the ATLANTIC OCEAN. Alabama encompasses 52,423 square mi (135,774 square km), ranking 30th in size among American states. The largest cities are: Birmingham, Montgomery (the capital ...
