Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 198,915 during the 2000 census.

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 198,915 during the 2000 census. Mobile is the principal municipality of the Mobile Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 399,843 residents which is composed solely of Mobile County and is the second largest MSA in the state. Mobile is included in the Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope Combined Statistical Area with a total population of 540,258, the second largest CSA in the state.

Mobile began as the first capital of colonial French Louisiana in 1702, and during its first 100 years, Mobile was a colony for France, then Britain, and lastly Spain. The city gained its name from the Native American Mobilian tribe that the French colonists found in the area of Mobile Bay. Mobile first became a part of the United States of America in 1813, left the United States with Alabama in 1861 to become a part of the Confederate States of America, and then returned to the United States in 1865.

Located at the junction of the Mobile River and Mobile Bay on the northern Gulf of Mexico, the city is the only seaport in Alabama. The Port of Mobile has always played a key role in the economic health of the city beginning with the city as a key trading center between the French and Native Americans down to its current role as the 10th largest port in the United States.