Alabama has a total area of 52,419 square miles (135,760 km²).

3.2% of Alabama’s area is water.

North Alabama is mostly mountainous, with the Tennessee River creating numerous creeks, streams, rivers, mountains, and lakes.

Alabama is 23rd in the amount of surface water in the United States.

Alabama has a coastline along the Gulf of Mexico on the extreme southern edge of the state.

About three-fifths of Alabama’s land area is part of the Gulf Coastal Plain, a gentle plain that descends towards the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico.

Suburban Baldwin County, along the Gulf Coast, is the largest county in Alabama in both land area and water area.

Alabama’s land consists of 22 million acres (89,000 km²) of forest, which is 67% of the state’s total land area.

The elevation in Alabama ranges from sea level at Mobile Bay to 2,413 feet (735 m) at Mount Cheaha in the northeast.

Alabama is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida to the south, and Mississippi to the west.