With over 3% of the state’s surface area covered in water, Alabama boasts America’s second-largest inland waterway system. Mountainous north Alabama is cleft by the Tennessee River, which flows through a valley rich in creeks, rivers and lakes. Natural Bridge, Alabama (population 28) is home to “Natural Bridge” rock, a rock arch that forms the 127-foot natural bridge that gives the town its name. The bridge is the longest such formation east of the Rocky Mountains.
Alabama’s $160 billion economy is driven by agricultural outputs including poultry and eggs, cattle, peanuts, and cotton, the latter lending the state the moniker “The Cotton State”. Alabama ranks eighth in cotton production in the U.S. Industrial output in Alabama includes iron and steel products, paper, lumber, plastic, as well as aerospace and electronic products. With its neighboring states of Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida, Alabama is part of the fastest growing industrial region in America and the state ranks 4th in the country in automobile output.
Roads
Interstate 10: Spanning from California to Florida, I-10 is one of America’s major Interstates. Passing through 67 miles of Alabama, it intersects with I-65 in Mobile.
Interstate 20: I-20 runs from Texas to South Carolina. Its 214 miles in Alabama pass through Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.
Interstate 59: A north-south route running from Louisiana to Georgia, I-59 spends 241 miles in Alabama, where it intersects with Interstate 65 in Birmingham.
Interstate 65: The southern terminus of I-65 begins is in Mobile, Alabama and its northern terminus is in Gary, Indiana. It spends 367 of its miles in Alabama where it passes through the major cities of Mobile, Montgomery, Birmingham, and Huntsville.
Interstate 85: Though it spends only 80 miles in Alabama, I-85 is lengthy overall spanning the distance from Montgomery, Alabama to Virginia. Its Alabama miles include passage through the cities of Auburn and Montgomery.