Tennessee

Tennessee is a state in the southeastern United States. It is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north; North Carolina to the east; Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south; and Missouri across the Mississippi River to the west. The eastern portion includes part of the Appalachian Mountains, notably the Great Smoky Mountains. The Tennessee and Cumberland rivers flow through the state, and the Mississippi forms the western boundary. The capital and largest city is Nashville; other major cities include Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.

Tennessee has a diversified economy with manufacturing and automotive production in Smyrna and Chattanooga, healthcare, and agriculture. The state is also a center for music and culture: Nashville is known as Music City and hosts the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame; Memphis is famous for blues and rock ’n’ roll and Beale Street. Tourism, higher education, and logistics also play significant roles.

Historically, the area was inhabited by Native American peoples before European settlement. Tennessee joined the Union in 1796 as the 16th state and played a strategic role in the Civil War. President Andrew Johnson, from Tennessee, became president after the assassination of Lincoln. The state’s symbols include the northern mockingbird as the state bird and the tulip poplar as the state flower; Agriculture and Commerce is the state motto.

The state experiences a humid subtropical climate with hot summers and mild winters and generally plentiful rainfall. It spans the Central and Eastern Time Zones and contains 95 counties.