Tennessee
Tennessee (/ˌtɛnɪˈsiː/ (
listen), locally /ˈtɛnɪsi/),[9][10][11] officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Nashville, which is the country music center of America. Tennessee borders eight states including Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri.
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| Anthem: Eleven songs | |
 Map of the United States with Tennessee highlighted | |
| Country | United States |
| Before statehood | Southwest Territory |
| Admitted to the Union | June 1, 1796 (16th) |
| Capital (and largest city) | Nashville[2] |
| Largest metro | Nashville |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Bill Lee (R) |
| • Lieutenant Governor | Randy McNally (R) |
| Legislature | General Assembly |
| • Upper house | Senate |
| • Lower house | House of Representatives |
| U.S. senators | Marsha Blackburn (R) Bill Hagerty (R) |
| U.S. House delegation | 7 Republicans 1 Democrat 1 vacant (list) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 42,181 sq mi (109,247 km2) |
| • Land | 41,235 sq mi (106,898 km2) |
| • Water | 909 sq mi (2,355 km2) 2.2% |
| • Rank | 36th |
| Elevation | 900 ft (270 m) |
| Highest elevation | 6,643 ft (2,025 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 178 ft (54 m) |
| Population (2024) | |
| • Total |  7,227,750[6] |
| • Rank | 15th |
| • Density | 171.0/sq mi (65.9/km2) |
| • Rank | 20th |
| • Median household income | $67,600 (2023)[7] |
| • Income rank | 42nd |
| Language | |
| • Official language | English |
| • Spoken language | Language spoken at home[8] |
| Time zones | |
| East Tennessee except for Bledsoe, Cumberland, and Marion counties | UTC−05:00 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) |
| Middle and West Tennessee, and Bledsoe, Cumberland, and Marion counties | UTC−06:00 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−05:00 (CDT) |
| USPS abbreviation | TN |
| ISO 3166 code | US-TN |
| Trad. abbreviation | Tenn. |
| Latitude | 34°59′ N to 36°41′ N |
| Longitude | 81°39′ W to 90°19′ W |
| Website | tn |
Several professional sports teams play there, including the Tennessee Titans of the NFL, the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA, the Nashville Predators of the NHL and the Tennessee Volunteers.
Cherokee and other Native American tribes lived in Tennessee before the arrival of Europeans. African American slaves worked on plantations in the state. Tennessee is known for its country music and Southern cuisine.
Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populated state and as of 2025, the state's population is around 7.22 million.[6]
| Dance | Square dance |
|---|---|
| Mammal | Tennessee Walking Horse Raccoon |
| Bird | Northern mockingbird Bobwhite quail |
| Fish | Channel catfish Smallmouth bass |
| Insect | Cannot use |insect= with |butterfly= |
| Butterfly | Zebra swallowtail |
| Flower | Iris Passion flower Tennessee echinacea |
| Tree | Tulip poplar Eastern red cedar |
History
The 2016 Tennessee Heritage Protection Act puts "the brakes on cities' and counties' ability to remove monuments or change names of streets and parks".[13]
In Crossfield, Tennessee, the South Cumberland Elementary School: Murals painted in 2003, one of a large Confederate battle flag and another showing the team's mascot, the Rebel, triumphantly holding a Confederate battle flag while a boy in a blue outfit is being lynched on a tree, were altered/removed in 2018 after it was discovered by the anti-hate organization located in Shelbyville.[14]
In Franklin, the Forrest Crossing Golf Course, owned by the American Golf Corporation, changed its name to the Crossing Golf Course on September 22, 2017.[15] It had been named after Confederate General and Klansman Nathan Bedford Forrest.[15]
In Memphis, Tennessee, Three Confederate-themed city parks were "hurriedly renamed" before the passage of the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act[16] of 2013. Confederate Park (1908) was renamed Memphis Park; Jefferson Davis Park (1907) was renamed Mississippi River Park; and Forrest Park (1899) was renamed Health Sciences Park.[17][18] The vote of the City Council was unanimous.[19] At the time the monuments were dedicated, African Americans could not use those parks.[20] Many other monuments have been removed or renamed in Memphis.
Gallery
Tennessee Media
Detail of Henry Timberlake's 1762 (published 1765) "Draught of the Cherokee Country" showing Tanasi. Timberlake's spelling of Tanasi as "Tennessee" is one of the first widely published uses of this spelling of the state's namesake. Tanasi declined after 1730 and by Timberlake's time had been overshadowed by neighboring Chota. The bend in the river is Bacon's Bend.
Reconstruction of Fort Loudoun, the first British settlement in Tennessee
The Southwest Territory in 1790
Surveyor Daniel Smith's "Map of the Tennassee State" (1796)
The Hermitage, plantation home of President Andrew Jackson in Nashville
in 1946 the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tennessee statehood.
The Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864
Memphis became known as the "Cotton Capital of the World" in the years following the Civil War
Workers at the Norris Dam construction camp site in 1933
Calutron operators at the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project
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Related pages
References
- ↑ Tennessee adopts 'The Volunteer State' as official nickname. Nashville: WTVF-TV. February 10, 2020. https://www.newschannel5.com/news/tennessee-adopts-the-volunteer-state-as-official-nickname. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcommercialappeal0517. - ↑ State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates. Census Reference Files. US Census Bureau (2010). Retrieved January 23, 2024.
- ↑ QuickFacts Tennessee; United States. census.gov (April 1, 2020)United States Census Bureau, Population Division. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Elevations and Distances in the United States (2001)United States Geological Survey. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 United States Census Quick Facts Tennessee. Census.gov. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
- ↑ Household Income in States and Metropolitan Areas: 2023. 2.census.gov. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
- ↑ Languages in Tennessee (State). Statistical Atlas. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ↑ Definition of 'Tennessee'. Webster's New World College Dictionary (2010)Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ↑ Tennessee. Oxford Advanced American Dictionary (2018)Oxford University Press. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ↑ Template:Cite EPD
- ↑ Ebert, Joel. Barrett M82 sniper rifle becomes official state rifle (February 24, 2016)The Tennessean. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- ↑ Hughes, Rosana (July 13, 2017). "NAACP begins effort to remove Confederate statue from Hamilton County Courthouse". Times Free Press. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2017/jul/13/naacp-8230/438030/. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
- ↑ Rosenberg, Eli (March 7, 2018). A school's Confederate flag gym mural appeared to depict a lynching, until it got painted over. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/03/07/elementary-school-alters-confederate-flag-mural-that-appeared-to-depict-a-lynching/. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Sauber, Elaina (October 4, 2017). "Franklin golf course drops Confederate general from name". The Tennessean: W2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/343686262/?terms=%22franklin%2Bgolf%2Bcourse%2Bdrops%2Bconfederate%2Bgeneral%2Bfrom%2Bname%22. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
- ↑ SB2138 – Tennessee 2015–2016 – Historical Sites and Preservation – As enacted, enacts the "Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2016". – Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 1, Part 4. – TrackBill. trackbill.com.
- ↑ Johnson, Eugene J. and Robert D. Russell, Jr., Memphis: An Architectural Guide, The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 1990 pp. 50–51
- ↑ Stanglin, Doug (February 6, 2013). "Memphis Changes Names of 3 Confederate-Themed Parks". USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/06/memphis-parks-confederate-ku-klux-klan/1895549/.
- ↑ Sainz, Adrian (February 5, 2013). Memphis renames 3 parks that honored Confederacy. Yahoo! News. https://www.yahoo.com/news/memphis-renames-3-parks-honored-confederacy-010653790.html. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ↑ Memphis City Council votes on ordinance to remove Confederate statues. WREG. September 5, 2017. https://wreg.com/2017/09/05/report-memphis-spent-thousands-guarding-confederate-monuments-last-month/. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
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