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Northern Alabama is heavily forested with many wilderness areas including national forests and state parks. In northeastern Alabama are the Appalachian foothills. This area is mostly rolling hills with many lakes and rivers. Mount Cheaha, located in the Talladega National Forest is the highest point in Alabama at 2,407 feet.
Alabama has many rivers which are popular for fishing, and some with whitewater rapids making them popular for rafting and kayaking. Alabama has many underground caves including DeSoto Caverns in Childersburg, Sequoyah Caverns in Valley Head, and Russell Cave National Monument in Bridgeport. The Rickwood Caverns State Park has 260 million year old limestone formations and is home to cave dwelling wildlife. Alabama also has many swamps and wetlands. They are home to alligators, and many varieties of water birds and fish.
Southern Alabama touches on the Gulf of Mexico, providing beaches and recreation areas.
Land of Alabama
Land regions. Most of southern Alabama lies less than 500 feet (150 meters) above sea level. The surface of the state rises gradually toward the northeast. Alabama has six main land regions: (1) the East Gulf Coastal Plain, (2) the Black Belt, (3) the Piedmont, (4) the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region, (5) the Cumberland Plateau, and (6) the Interior Low Plateau.
The East Gulf Coastal Plain is Alabama's largest land region. It covers the entire southern two-thirds of the state, except for a narrow strip of land called the Black Belt. In western Alabama, the plain extends north almost to Tennessee.
The plain has several sections. The low, swampy land of the Mobile River Delta makes up the southwestern section. The southeastern part is called the Wiregrass area. It is named for a tough grass that once grew there in pine forests. Today, the Wiregrass area is an important farming region. The northern part of the plain is often called the Central Pine Belt because many pine forests cover its low, rolling hills. In the western part of this section, the soils are gravelly and sandy, and are not good for growing crops.
The Black Belt is a narrow strip of rolling prairie wedged between the northern and southern parts of the East Gulf Coastal Plain. The Black Belt was named for the sticky black clay soils of its rolling uplands. Early in Alabama's history, farmers developed large plantations in this region. Boll weevils came to the Black Belt in 1915, and damaged the cotton crop. Some farmers then changed from growing cotton to raising livestock.
The Piedmont, in east-central Alabama, is an area of low hills and ridges separated by sandy valleys. The clay soils of these hills and ridges have been badly eroded. Most of the land is forested. Cheaha Mountain, the highest point in Alabama, rises 2,407 feet (734 meters) on the northwestern edge of the Piedmont.
Deposits of coal, iron ore, limestone, and marble, together with electric power from projects on the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, make the Piedmont an important manufacturing area. Textile production is the main industry in many small cities of the region.
The Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region is an area of sandstone ridges and fertile limestone valleys. It lies northwest of the Piedmont. The region has coal, iron ore, and limestone—the three basic minerals used in making iron and steel. For this reason, Birmingham and other large cities in the region developed as centers of iron and steel production.
The Cumberland Plateau, also known as the Appalachian Plateau, lies northwest of the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region. The surface varies from flat to gently rolling land. It reaches a height of about 1,800 feet (549 meters) above sea level in the northeast. The land slopes to about 500 feet (150 meters) where it meets the East Gulf Coastal Plain in the southwest. Farmers could not grow large crops in the plateau's sandy soils until the 1880's, when commercial fertilizers came into common use. Today, farmers raise hogs and poultry there, and grow cotton, hay, potatoes, and vegetables.
The Interior Low Plateau lies in the northwestern part of the state. Much of the land is in the valley of the Tennessee River. Farmers in the region grow corn, cotton, and hay. The plateau has water transportation and hydroelectric power, which encourage manufacturing there. Decatur and "The Shoals," the area of Muscle Shoals, Florence, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia, are industrial centers.
Coastline. Alabama's general coastline extends for 53 miles (85 kilometers) along the Gulf of Mexico. The tidal shoreline, which includes small bays and inlets, is 607 miles (977 kilometers) long. Mobile Bay, at the mouth of the Mobile River, is the chief feature of the Alabama coastline. It is an important harbor area. Mississippi Sound borders the coast west of Mobile Bay. Perdido Bay is at the border between Alabama and Florida. The long, sandy peninsula between Mobile and Perdido bays is known as the Gulf Coast. Dauphin Island, Alabama's largest coastal island, lies at the entrance to Mobile Bay. An overseas highway connects the island with the mainland.
Rivers and lakes. Navigable rivers flow through almost every part of Alabama. The Mobile River and its tributaries flow south to the Gulf of Mexico. They form the most important river system in the state. The Alabama and the Tombigbee, Alabama's longest rivers, meet about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Mobile and form the Mobile River. The Alabama River begins where the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers meet, just north of Montgomery. The Tombigbee starts in Mississippi and flows southeast into Alabama. Its main tributary in Alabama is the Black Warrior.
The Chattahoochee River forms much of the border between Alabama and Georgia. The Tennessee River is the most important river in northern Alabama. It flows west across almost the entire width of the state.
Alabama has no large natural lakes, but dams on rivers have created many artificial lakes. The largest of these, Guntersville Lake, covers 110 square miles (285 square kilometers). It is formed by Guntersville Dam on the Tennessee River. Other large artificially created lakes, in order of size, include Wheeler on the Tennessee River, Martin on the Tallapoosa River, and Weiss on the Coosa River.
Plant and animal life. Forests cover about two-thirds of Alabama. Pine forests are the most common type of forest. Besides pines, other trees in the state include cedars, cypresses, hemlocks, and oaks.
In the spring, blooming shrubs and trees cover the Alabama countryside. The state is famous for its azaleas. It also has flowering dogwood, mountain laurel, and rhododendrons. Alabama's wildflowers include asters, Dutchman's-breeches, goldenrods, orchids, pinks, and southern camasses.
Bobcats, deer, red and gray foxes, minks, opossums, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, and wild turkeys live in many parts of Alabama. Beaver colonies thrive in the swamps and lowlands. Some alligators can be found in the state's southern swamps and bayous (see Bayou). These areas also provide winter shelter for ducks, geese, and other water birds that fly north in the spring. Freshwater fish in Alabama streams include bass, bream, buffalo fish, catfish, crappies, garfish, and shad. Drumfish, flounder, mackerel, mullet, red snapper, and tarpon are common in the Gulf of Mexico along Alabama's coast. Shellfish found in the Gulf include crabs, oysters, and shrimps.
Alabama General Information
State Bird: Yellowhammer
State Flower: Camellia
State Tree: Southern Pine
State Capitol: Montgomery
Area: 133,667 sq. km
Population: 4,041,000
Elevation: 734m-0m
Major Cities: Mobile / Birmingham
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