American alligators primarily live in the southeastern United States. Their range includes all of Florida and Louisiana; southern parts of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi; coastal South and North Carolina; East Texas; the southeast corner of Oklahoma; and the southern tip of Arkansas. Louisiana has the largest population of American alligators

. They inhabit freshwater environments such as ponds, marshes, wetlands, rivers, lakes, and swamps, and can also be found in brackish water but tolerate salt water only briefly

. In Georgia, alligators are found in marshes, swamps, rivers, farm ponds, lakes, and even man-made water bodies like drainage canals and golf course ponds, mostly south of the fall line

. Southern Florida is unique as the only place where American alligators coexist with crocodiles in the wild

. The Chinese alligator, a different species, is found only in the Yangtze River valley in China and is critically endangered

. In summary, American alligators live mainly in the freshwater wetlands and slow-moving rivers across the southeastern U.S., with the largest populations in Louisiana and Florida.