Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula is a large peninsula (about 3,200 square miles) on the North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 coast, lying between the Albemarle Sound

Albemarle Sound

Albemarle Sound is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks, a long barrier peninsula upon which the town of Kitty Hawk is located,...

 to the north and the Pamlico Sound

Pamlico Sound

Pamlico Sound in North Carolina, is the largest lagoon along the U.S. East Coast, being long and 24 to 48 km wide. It is a body of water separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks, a row of low, sandy barrier islands, including Cape Hatteras. The Neuse and Pamlico rivers flow in...

 to the south. The 5 counties of Dare

Dare County, North Carolina

-National protected areas:* Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge * Cape Hatteras National Seashore * Fort Raleigh National Historic Site* Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge* Wright Brothers National Memorial-Demographics:...

, Hyde

Hyde County, North Carolina

-National protected areas:* Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge * Cape Hatteras National Seashore * Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge* Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge * Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...

, Beaufort

Beaufort County, North Carolina

- Law and government :Beaufort County is a member of the Mid-East Commission regional council of governments.Beaufort County is one of the proposed sites for a Navy outlying landing field. This practice airfield would allow pilots to simulate landings on an aircraft carrier...

, Tyrrell

Tyrrell County, North Carolina

-Demographics:Tyrrell County was as of 2000 the least populous county in North Carolina.As of the census of 2000, there were 4,149 people, 1,537 households, and 1,055 families residing in the county. The population density was 11 people per square mile . There were 2,032 housing units at an...

, and Washington

Washington County, North Carolina

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 13,723 people, 5,367 households, and 3,907 families residing in the county. The population density was 39 people per square mile . There were 6,174 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile...

 all lie wholly or partly on the peninsula.

Much of the peninsula is covered with marshland. The pocosin

Pocosin

Pocosin is a term for a type of palustrine wetland with deep, acidic, sandy, peat soils. Groundwater saturates the soil except during brief seasonal dry spells and during prolonged droughts...

 marshlands of the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula drain into the Alligator River

Alligator River (North Carolina)

The Alligator River is a small river in eastern North Carolina, USA, separating Dare County with Tyrrell County. It is a tributary of the Albemarle Sound and is part of the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The Lindsey C. Warren Bridge of U.S. Route 64 crosses the river.A 21-mile canal...

, an important link in the intracoastal waterway

Intracoastal Waterway

The Intracoastal Waterway is a 3,000-mile waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are artificial canals...

.

Forty four percent of the peninsula is owned by timber companies, and another twenty one percent of the peninsula is owned by agricultural corporations. This has led to a great deal of deforestation on the peninsula in the 1980s, to the extent that only one third of the peninsula's pocosin marshlands continue to exist in their unaltered form. Soybeans, corn, pines, cattle, and hogs were all raised on the peninsula. Many of the larger farms have gone bankrupt, but some pine farms continue to exist on the peninsula.

Towns and Cities

• Bath
• Belhaven
• Columbia
• Creswell
• Engelhard
• Fairfield
  Fairfield, Hyde County, North Carolina
  Fairfield is an unincorporated community in Hyde County, North Carolina, United States. It is a place on the Pamlico Sound. The Lost Colony of Roanoke was near here....
  
  
• Manns Harbor
• Pantego
• Plymouth
• Roper
• Stumpy Point
• Swan Quarter

External links

• Where is the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula
  Dare County, North Carolina
  -National protected areas:* Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge * Cape Hatteras National Seashore * Fort Raleigh National Historic Site* Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge* Wright Brothers National Memorial-Demographics:...
  
   - Dare County (map)
  Dare County, North Carolina
  -National protected areas:* Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge * Cape Hatteras National Seashore * Fort Raleigh National Historic Site* Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge* Wright Brothers National Memorial-Demographics:...
  
  lies out on the far tip of the peninsula.
• http://members.inteliport.net/~aea/allirivtxt.htm