North Alabama

This article is about the geographic region. For the university, see University of North Alabama. For that school's athletic program, see North Alabama Lions.

34°53′13.41″N 86°19′25.32″W / 34.8870583°N 86.3237000°W / 34.8870583; -86.3237000

Map of North Alabama counties shaded in, with metropolitan areas labeled. (counties not included in a metropolitan area are shaded in red)

North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Association also lists Cherokee, Cullman, Franklin, and Winston counties in the region.[1] The Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association expands the definition further to include Blount, Etowah, and Marion counties.[2]

Huntsville is the region's largest metropolitan area.[3] Decatur and Florence-Muscle Shoals are classified as metropolitan areas as well. Albertville, Cullman, Fort Payne, and Scottsboro are each the hubs of their own micropolitan regions.[4] Other cities of notable size include Madison and Athens.

Locals tend to refer to this area as the "Tennessee Valley" in reference to the Tennessee River, which flows through the northernmost part of the state. Large parts of North Alabama are low upland, the eastern regions part of the Cumberland Plateau, marked by tablelands incised with gorges, some of them, such as Little River Canyon in DeKalb County, of considerable depth.[5]

  1. ^ "North Alabama Industrial Development Association".
  2. ^ "About North Alabama | Visit North Alabama". www.northalabama.org. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  3. ^ "Data" (PDF). www.census.gov. 2010. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  4. ^ "Alabama Metropolitan & Micropolitan Statistical Areas". alabama.hometownlocator.com. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  5. ^ "Alabama Topographic Maps by Topo Zone". Topozone.com. Retrieved 2019-07-09.