Etymology
Tennessee derives its name most directly from the Cherokee town of Tanasi (or "Tanase", inHistory
Pre-European era
The first inhabitants of Tennessee were Paleo-Indians who arrived about 12,000 years ago at the end of the Last Glacial Period. Archaeological excavations indicate that the lower Tennessee Valley was heavily populated by Ice AgeExploration and colonization
The first recorded European expeditions into what is now Tennessee were led by Spanish explorersStatehood and antebellum era
As support for statehood grew among the settlers, Governor Blount called for elections, which were held in December 1793. The 13-member territorial House of Representatives first convened in Knoxville on February 24, 1794, to select ten members for the legislature's upper house, the council. The full legislature convened on August 25, 1794. In June 1795, the legislature conducted a census of the territory, which recorded a population of 77,263, including 10,613 slaves, and a poll that showed 6,504 in favor of statehood and 2,562 opposed. Elections for a constitutional convention were held in December 1795, and the delegates convened in Knoxville on January 17, 1796, to begin drafting a state constitution. During this convention, the name Tennessee was chosen for the new state. The constitution was completed on February 6, which authorized elections for the state's new legislature, theCivil War
At the onset of the American Civil War, most Middle and West Tennesseans favored efforts to preserve their slavery-based economies, but many Middle Tennesseans were initially skeptical of secession. In East Tennessee, most people favored remaining in the Union. In 1860, slaves composed about 25% of Tennessee's population, the lowest share among the states that joined theReconstruction and late 19th century
The years after the Civil War were characterized by tension and unrest between blacks and former Confederates, the worst of which occurred in Memphis in 1866. Because Tennessee had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment before its readmission to the Union, it was the only former secessionist state that did not have a military governor during Reconstruction. The Radical Republicans seized control of the state government toward the end of the war, and appointed William G. "Parson" Brownlow governor. Under Brownlow's administration from 1865 to 1869, the legislature allowed African American men to vote, disenfranchised former Confederates, and took action against theEarlier 20th century
Due to increasing racial segregation and poor standards of living, many black Tennesseans fled to industrial cities in the Northeast and Midwest as part of the first wave of the Great Migration (African American), Great Migration between 1915 and 1930. Many residents of rural parts of Tennessee relocated to larger cities during this time for more lucrative employment opportunities. As part of the Temperance movement, Tennessee became the first state in the nation to effectively ban the sale, transportation, and production of alcohol in a series of laws passed between 1907 and 1917. During Prohibition in the United States, Prohibition, illicit production of moonshine became extremely common in East Tennessee, particularly in the mountains, and continued for many decades afterward. Sgt. Alvin York, Alvin C. York of Fentress County, Tennessee, Fentress County became one of the most famous and honored American soldiers of World War I. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor for single-handedly capturing an entire German machine gun regiment during the Meuse–Argonne offensive. On July 9, 1918, Tennessee suffered the Great Train Wreck of 1918, worst rail accident in U.S. history when two passenger trains head-on collision, collided head on in Nashville, killing 101 and injuring 171. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th and final state necessary to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave women the Women's suffrage, right to vote. In 1925, John T. Scopes, a high school teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, Dayton, was Scopes Trial, tried and convicted for teaching evolution in violation of the state's recently passed Butler Act. Scopes was prosecuted by former United States Secretary of State, Secretary of State and presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan and defended by attorney Clarence Darrow. The case was intentionally publicized, and highlighted the Rejection of evolution by religious groups, creationism-evolution controversy among religious groups. In 1926, Congress authorized the establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a national park in the Great Smoky Mountains, which was officially established in 1934 and dedicated in 1940. When the Great Depression struck in 1929, much of Tennessee was severely impoverished even by national standards. As part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was created in 1933 to provide electricity, jobs, flood control, improved waterway navigation, agricultural development, and economic modernization to the Tennessee Valley, Tennessee River Valley. The TVA built several hydroelectric dams in the state in the 1930s and 1940s, which inundated communities and thousands of farmland acreage, and forcibly displaced families via Eminent domain in the United States, eminent domain. The agency quickly grew into the country's largest electric utility and initiated a period of dramatic economic growth and transformation that brought many new industries and employment opportunities to the state. During World War II, East Tennessee was chosen for the production of weapons-grade fissile enriched uranium as part of the Manhattan Project, a research and development undertaking led by the U.S. to produce the world's first atomic bombs. The planned community of Oak Ridge was built to provide accommodations for the facilities and workers; the site was chosen due to the abundance of TVA electric power, its low population density, and its inland geography and topography, which allowed for the natural separation of the facilities and a low vulnerability to attack. The Clinton Engineer Works was established as the production arm of the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, which enriched uranium at three major facilities for use in atomic bombs. The first of the bombs was detonated in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in a test code-named Trinity (nuclear test), Trinity, and the second, nicknamed "Little Boy", was Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, dropped on Imperial Japan at the end of World War II. After the war, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory became an institution for scientific and technological research.Mid-20th century to present
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional in ''Brown v. Board of Education'' in 1954, Oak Ridge High School (Tennessee), Oak Ridge High School in 1955 became the first school in Tennessee to be School integration in the United States, integrated. The next year, nearby Clinton High School (Clinton, Tennessee), Clinton High School was integrated, and Tennessee National Guard troops were sent in after pro-segregationists threatened violence. Between February and May 1960, a Nashville sit-ins, series of sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Nashville organized by the Nashville Student Movement resulted in the desegregation of facilities in the city. On April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis. King had traveled there to support Memphis sanitation strike, striking African American sanitation workers. The 1962 Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court case ''Baker v. Carr'' arose out of a challenge to the longstanding rural bias of apportionment of seats in the Tennessee legislature and established the principle of "one man, one vote". The construction of Interstate 40 in Tennessee, Interstate 40 through Memphis became a national talking point on the issue of Eminent domain in the United States, eminent domain and grassroots lobbying when the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) attempted to construct the highway through the city's Overton Park. A Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, local activist group spent many years contesting the project, and in 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the group and established the framework for Judicial review in the United States, judicial review of government agencies in the List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark case of ''Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe''. TVA's construction of the Tellico Dam in Loudon County became the subject of national controversy in the 1970s when the endangered snail darter fish was reported to be affected by the project. After lawsuits by environmental groups, the debate was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court case ''Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill'' in 1978, leading to amendments of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, Endangered Species Act. The 1982 World's Fair was held in Knoxville. Also known as the Knoxville International Energy Exposition, the fair's theme was "Energy Turns the World". The exposition was one of the most successful, and the most recent world's fair to be held in the U.S. In 1986, Tennessee held a yearlong celebration of the state's heritage and culture called "Homecoming '86". Tennessee celebrated its bicentennial in 1996 with a yearlong celebration called "Tennessee 200". A new state park that traces the state's history, Bicentennial Mall State Park, Bicentennial Mall, was opened at the foot of Capitol Hill in Nashville. The same year, the canoe slalom, whitewater slalom events at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, Summer Olympic Games were held on the Ocoee River in Polk County, Tennessee, Polk County. In 2002, Tennessee amended its constitution to establish a Lotteries in the United States, lottery. In 2006, the state constitution Tennessee Marriage Protection Amendment, was amended to outlaw same-sex marriage. This amendment was invalidated by the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case ''Obergefell v. Hodges''. On December 23, 2008, the Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill, largest industrial waste spill in United States history occurred at TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant when more than 1.1 billion gallons of fly ash, coal ash slurry was accidentally released into the Emory River, Emory and Clinch Rivers. The cleanup cost more than $1 billion and lasted until 2015.Geography
Tennessee is in the Southeastern United States. Culturally, most of the state is considered part of the Upland South, and the eastern third is part ofTopography
The southwestern Blue Ridge Mountains lie within Tennessee's eastern edge, and are divided into several subranges, namely the Great Smoky Mountains, Bald Mountains, Unicoi Mountains, Unaka Range, Unaka Mountains, and Iron Mountains. These mountains, which average above sea level in Tennessee, contain some of the highest elevations in eastern North America. The state's border with North Carolina roughly follows the highest peaks of this range, including Clingmans Dome. Most of the Blue Ridge area is protected by the Cherokee National Forest, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and several federal wilderness areas and state parks. The Appalachian Trail roughly follows the North Carolina state line before shifting westward into Tennessee. Stretching west from the Blue Ridge Mountains for about are the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also known as the Tennessee Valley or Great Valley of East Tennessee. This area consists of linear parallel ridges separated by valleys that trend northeast to southwest, the general direction of the entire Appalachian range. Most of these ridges are low, but some of the higher ones are commonly called mountains. Numerous tributaries join to form the Tennessee River in the Ridge and Valley region. TheHydrology
Tennessee is drained by List of rivers in Tennessee, three major rivers, the Tennessee River, Tennessee, Cumberland River, Cumberland, and Mississippi River, Mississippi. The Tennessee River begins at the juncture of the Holston River, Holston and French Broad River, French Broad rivers in Knoxville, flows southwest to Chattanooga, and exits into Alabama before reemerging in the western part of the state and flowing north into Kentucky. Its major tributaries include the Clinch River, Clinch, Little Tennessee River, Little Tennessee, Hiwassee River, Hiwassee, Sequatchie River, Sequatchie, Elk River (Tennessee River tributary), Elk, Beech River, Beech, Buffalo River (Tennessee), Buffalo, Duck River (Tennessee), Duck, and Big Sandy River (Tennessee), Big Sandy rivers. The Cumberland River flows through the north-central part of the state, emerging in the northeastern Highland Rim, passing through Nashville, turning northwest to Clarksville, and entering Kentucky east of the Tennessee River. Its principal branches in Tennessee are the Obey River, Obey, Caney Fork River, Caney Fork, Stones River, Stones, Harpeth River, Harpeth, and Red River (Cumberland River tributary), Red rivers. The Mississippi River drains nearly all of West Tennessee. Its tributaries are the Obion River, Obion, Forked Deer River, Forked Deer, Hatchie River, Hatchie, Loosahatchie River, Loosahatchie, and Wolf River (Tennessee), Wolf rivers. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operate many hydroelectric dams on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers and their tributaries, which form large reservoirs throughout the state. About half the state's land area is in the Tennessee Valley drainage basin of the Tennessee River. The Cumberland River basin covers the northern half of Middle Tennessee and a small portion of East Tennessee. A small part of north-central Tennessee is in the Green River (Kentucky), Green River watershed. All three of these basins are tributaries of the Ohio River watershed. Most of West Tennessee is in the Lower Mississippi River watershed. The entirety of the state is in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississippi River watershed, except for a small sliver near the southeastern corner traversed by the Conasauga River, which is part of the Mobile Bay watershed.Ecology
Tennessee is within a temperate deciduous forest biome commonly known as the Eastern Deciduous Forest. It has eight List of ecoregions in the United States (EPA), ecoregions: the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge, Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, Ridge and Valley, Central Appalachian, Southwestern Appalachian, Interior Low Plateaus, Southeastern Plains, Mississippi Valley Loess Plains, and Mississippi Alluvial Plain (ecoregion), Mississippi Alluvial Plain regions. Tennessee is the most biodiverse inland state, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most biodiverse national park, and the Duck River (Tennessee), Duck River is the most biologically diverse waterway in North America. The Nashville Basin is renowned for its diversity of flora and fauna. Tennessee is home to 340 species of birds, 325 freshwater fish species, 89 mammals, 77 amphibians, and 61 reptiles. Forests cover about 52% of Tennessee's land area, with Oak–hickory forest, oak–hickory the dominant type. Appalachian–Blue Ridge forests#Dry oak–pine forests, Appalachian oak–pine and Cove (Appalachian Mountains)#Cove forest, cove hardwood forests are found in the Blue Ridge Mountains and Cumberland Plateau, and bottomland hardwood forest, bottomland hardwood forests are common throughout the Gulf Coastal Plain. Pine forests are also found throughout the state. The Southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest in the highest elevations of the Blue Ridge Mountains is considered the second-most endangered ecosystem in the country. Some of the last remaining large American chestnut trees grow in the Nashville Basin and are being used to help breed blight-resistant trees. Middle Tennessee is home to many unusual and rare ecosystems known as Calcareous glade, cedar glades, which occur in areas with shallow limestone bedrock that is largely barren of overlying soil and contain many endemic plant species. Common mammals found throughout Tennessee include white-tailed deer, red fox, red and gray foxes, coyotes, raccoons, opossums, wild turkeys, rabbits, and squirrels. American black bear, Black bears are found in the Blue Ridge Mountains and on the Cumberland Plateau. Tennessee has the third-highest number of amphibian species, with the Great Smoky Mountains home to the most salamander species in the world. The state ranks second in the nation for the diversity of its freshwater fish species.Climate
Most of Tennessee has a humid subtropical climate, with the exception of some of the higher elevations in the Appalachians, which are classified as a cooler oceanic climate, mountain temperate or humid continental climate. The Gulf of Mexico is the dominant factor in Tennessee's climate, with winds from the south responsible for most of the state's annual precipitation. Generally, the state has hot summers and mild to cool winters with generous precipitation throughout the year. The highest average monthly precipitation usually occurs between December and April. The driest months, on average, are August to October. The state receives an average of of precipitation annually. Snowfall ranges from in West Tennessee to over in East Tennessee's highest mountains. Summers are generally hot and humid, with most of the state averaging a high of around . Winters tend to be mild to cool, decreasing in temperature at higher elevations. For areas outside the highest mountains, the average overnight lows are generally near freezing. The highest recorded temperature was at Perryville, Tennessee, Perryville on August 9, 1930, while the lowest recorded temperature was at Mountain City, Tennessee, Mountain City on December 30, 1917. While Tennessee is far enough from the coast to avoid any direct impact from a hurricane, its location makes it susceptible to the remnants of tropical cyclones, which weaken over land and can cause significant rainfall. The state annually averages about 50 days of thunderstorms, which can be severe with large hail and damaging winds. Tornadoes are possible throughout the state, with West and Middle Tennessee the most vulnerable. The state averages 15 tornadoes annually. They can be severe, and the state leads the nation in the percentage of total tornadoes that have fatalities. Winter storms such as in 1993 Storm of the Century, 1993 and February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm, 2021 occur occasionally, and ice storms are fairly common. Fog is a persistent problem in some areas, especially in East Tennessee.Cities, towns, and counties
Tennessee is divided into List of counties in Tennessee, 95 counties, each of which has a county seat. The state has List of municipalities in Tennessee, 340 municipalities in total. The Office of Management and Budget designates List of metropolitan areas of Tennessee, ten metropolitan areas in Tennessee, four of which extend into neighboring states. Nashville is Tennessee's capital and largest city, with nearly 700,000 residents. Its Nashville metropolitan area, 13-county metropolitan area has been the state's largest since the early 1990s and is one of the nation's fastest-growing metropolitan areas, with about 2 million residents. Memphis, with more than 630,000 inhabitants, was the state's largest city until 2016, when Nashville surpassed it. It is in Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County, Tennessee's largest county in both population and land area. Knoxville, with about 190,000 inhabitants, andDemographics
TheEthnicity
In 2020, 6.9% of the total population was of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race), up from 4.6% in 2010. Between 2000 and 2010, Tennessee's Hispanic population grew by 134.2%, the third-highest rate of any state. In 2020, Non-Hispanic or Latino Whites were 70.9% of the population, compared to 57.7% of the population nationwide. In 2010, the five most common self-reported ethnic groups in the state were American ancestry, American (26.5%), English ancestry, English (8.2%), Irish ancestry, Irish (6.6%), German ancestry, German (5.5%), and Scotch-Irish (2.7%). Most Tennesseans who self-identify as having American ancestry are of English American, English and Scotch-Irish American, Scotch-Irish ancestry. An estimated 21–24% of Tennesseans are of predominantly English American, English ancestry.Religion
Since colonization, Tennessee has always been predominantly Christianity, Christian. About 81% of the population identifies as Christian, with Protestants making up 73% of the population. Of the Protestants in the state, Evangelicalism, Evangelical Protestants compose 52% of the population, Mainline Protestants 13%, and Black church, Historically Black Protestants 8%. Catholic Church in the United States, Roman Catholics make up 6%, Mormons 1%, and Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christians less than 1%. The largest denominations by number of adherents are the Southern Baptist Convention, the United Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Churches of Christ. Islam, Muslims and Judaism, Jews each make up about 1% of the population, and adherents of other religions make up about 3% of the population. About 14% of Tennesseans are Irreligion, non-religious, with 11% identifying as "Nothing in particular", 3% as agnosticism, agnostics, and 1% as atheism, atheists. Tennessee is included in most definitions of the Bible Belt, and is ranked as List of U.S. states and territories by religiosity, one of the nation's most religious states. Several Protestant denominations have their headquarters in Tennessee, including the Southern Baptist Convention and National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., National Baptist Convention (in Nashville); the Church of God in Christ and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (in Memphis); and the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), Church of God and the Church of God of Prophecy (in Cleveland, Tennessee, Cleveland); and the National Association of Free Will Baptists (in Antioch, Tennessee, Antioch). Nashville has publishing houses of several denominations.Economy
As of 2021, Tennessee had a gross regional domestic product, gross state product of $418.3 billion. In 2020, the state's per capita income, per capita personal income was $30,869. The Household income in the United States, median household income was $54,833. About 13.6% percent of the population was below the poverty line. In 2019, the state reported a total employment of 2,724,545 and a total number of 139,760 employer establishments. Tennessee is a Right-to-work law, right-to-work state, like most of its Southern neighbors. Trade union, Unionization has historically been low and continues to decline, as in most of the U.S.Taxation
Tennessee has a reputation as a low-tax state and is usually ranked as one of the five states with the lowest tax burden on residents. It is one of nine states that do not have a state income tax, general income tax; the sales tax is the primary means of funding the government. The Hall income tax was imposed on most dividends and interest at a rate of 6% but was completely phased out by 2021. The first $1,250 of individual income and $2,500 of joint income was exempt from this tax. Property taxes are the primary source of revenue for local governments. The state's sales and use tax rate for most items is 7%, the second-highest in the nation, along with Mississippi, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Indiana. Food is taxed at 4%, but candy, dietary supplements, and prepared foods are taxed at 7%. Local sales taxes are collected in most jurisdictions at rates varying from 1.5% to 2.75%, bringing the total sales tax between 8.5% and 9.75%. The average combined rate is about 9.5%, the nation's highest average sales tax. Intangible property tax is assessed on the shares of stockholders of any loan, investment, insurance, or for-profit cemetery companies. The assessment ratio is 40% of the value times the jurisdiction's tax rate. Since 2016, Tennessee has had no inheritance tax.Agriculture
Tennessee has the Agriculture in Tennessee, eighth-most farms in the nation, which cover more than 40% of its land area and have an average size of about . Cash receipts for crops and livestock have an estimated annual value of $3.5 billion, and the agriculture sector has an estimated annual impact of $81 billion on the state's economy. Beef cattle is the state's largest agricultural commodity, followed by broilers and poultry. Tennessee ranks 12th in the nation for the number of cattle, with more than half of its farmland dedicated to cattle grazing. Soybeans andIndustry
Until World War II, Tennessee, like most Southern states, remained predominantly agrarian. Chattanooga became one of the first industrial cities in the south in the decades after the American Civil War, Civil War, when many factories, including iron foundries, steel mills, and textile mills were constructed there. But most of Tennessee's industrial growth began with the federal investments in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Manhattan Project in the 1930s and 1940s. The state's industrial and manufacturing sector continued to expand in the succeeding decades, and Tennessee is now home to more than 2,400 advanced manufacturing establishments, which produce a total of more than $29 billion worth of goods annually. The automotive industry in the United States, automotive industry is Tennessee's largest manufacturing sector and one of the nation's largest. Nissan Motors, Nissan's Nissan Smyrna Assembly Plant, assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, Smyrna is the largest automotive assembly plant in North America. Two other automakers have assembly plants in Tennessee: General Motors in Spring Hill Manufacturing, Spring Hill and Volkswagen in Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant, Chattanooga. Ford Motor Company, Ford is constructing Blue Oval City, an assembly plant in Stanton, Tennessee, Stanton that is expected to be operational in 2025. In addition, the state contains more than 900 automotive suppliers. Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors have their North American corporate headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee, Franklin. The state is also one of the top producers of food industry, food and drink products, its second-largest manufacturing sector. A number of well-known brands originated in Tennessee, and even more are produced there. Tennessee also ranks as one of the largest producers of chemical industry, chemicals. Chemical products manufactured in Tennessee include industrial chemicals, paints, pharmaceuticals, synthetic resin, plastic resins, and soaps and personal care, hygiene products. Additional important products manufactured in Tennessee include metal fabrication, fabricated metal products, electrical equipment, consumer electronics and home appliance, electrical appliances, and nonelectrical machinery.Business
Economy of Tennessee#Business, Tennessee's commercial sector is dominated by a wide variety of companies, but its largest service industries include health care, transportation, music and entertainment, banking, and finance. Large corporations with headquarters in Tennessee include FedEx, AutoZone, International Paper, and First Horizon Corporation, all based in Memphis; Pilot Corporation and Regal Entertainment Group in Knoxville; Hospital Corporation of America based in Nashville; Unum in Chattanooga; Acadia Senior Living and Community Health Systems in Franklin; Dollar General in Goodlettsville, and LifePoint Health, Tractor Supply Company, and Delek US in Brentwood. Since the 1990s, the geographical area between Oak Ridge and Knoxville has been known as the Tennessee Technology Corridor, with more than 500 high-tech firms in the region. The research and development industry in Tennessee is also one of the largest employment sectors, mainly due to the prominence of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Y-12 National Security Complex in the city of Oak Ridge. ORNL conducts scientific research in materials science, nuclear physics, energy, supercomputer, high-performance computing, systems biology, and National security of the United States, national security, and is the largest United States Department of Energy national laboratories, national laboratory in the United States Department of Energy, Department of Energy (DOE) system by size. The technology sector is also a rapidly growing industry in Middle Tennessee, particularly in the Nashville metropolitan area.Energy and mineral production
Tennessee's electric utilities are regulated monopolies, as in many other states. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) owns over 90% of the state's generating capacity. Nuclear power in the United States, Nuclear power is Tennessee's largest source of electricity generation, producing about 43.4% of its power in 2021. The same year, 20.2% of the power was produced from 22.4% from Coal power in the United States, coal, 17.8% from Gas-fired power plant, natural gas, 15.8% from Hydroelectric power in the United States, hydroelectricity, and 1.3% from other Renewable energy in the United States, renewables. About 59.7% of the electricity generated in Tennessee produces Low-carbon power, no greenhouse gas emissions. Tennessee is home to the two newest civilian Nuclear reactor, nuclear power reactors in the U.S., at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Rhea County, Tennessee, Rhea County. Tennessee was also an early leader in hydroelectric power, and today is the third-largest hydroelectric power-producing state east of the Rocky Mountains. Tennessee is a net consumer of electricity, receiving power from other TVA facilities in neighboring states. Tennessee has very little petroleum and natural gas reserves, but is home to one oil refinery, in Memphis. Bituminous coal is mined in small quantities in the Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountains. There are sizable reserves of lignite coal in West Tennessee that remain untapped. Coal production in Tennessee peaked in 1972, and today less than 0.1% of coal in the U.S. comes from Tennessee. Tennessee is the nation's leading producer of ball clay. Other major mineral products produced in Tennessee include sand, gravel, crushed stone, Portland cement, marble, sandstone, clay, common clay, lime (material), lime, and zinc. The Copper Basin (Tennessee), Copper Basin, in Tennessee's southeastern corner in Polk County, was one of the nation's most productive copper mining in the United States, copper mining districts between the 1840s and 1980s, and supplied about 90% of the copper the Confederacy used during the Civil War. Mining activities in the basin resulted in a major environmental disaster, which left the surrounding landscape barren for more than a century. Iron ore was another major mineral mined in Tennessee until the early 20th century. Tennessee was also a top producer of phosphate until the early 1990s.Tourism
Tennessee is the 11th-most visited state in the nation, receiving a record of 126 million tourists in 2019. Its top tourist attraction is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in the U.S., with more than 14 million visitors annually. The park anchors a large tourism industry based primarily in nearby Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Pigeon Forge, which includes Dollywood, the most visited ticketed attraction in Tennessee. Attractions related to Tennessee's musical heritage are spread throughout the state. Other top attractions include the Tennessee State Museum and Parthenon (Nashville), Parthenon in Nashville; the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis; Lookout Mountain, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel, Ruby Falls, and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga; the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, the Bristol Motor Speedway, Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, and the Hiwassee River, Hiwassee and Toccoa/Ocoee River, Ocoee rivers in Polk County. The National Park Service preserves four Civil War battlefields in Tennessee: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Stones River National Battlefield, Shiloh National Military Park, and Fort Donelson National Battlefield. The NPS also operates Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, Trail of Tears#Landmarks and commemorations, Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, and the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. Tennessee is home to eight National Scenic Byways, including the Natchez Trace Parkway, the East Tennessee Crossing Byway, the Great River Road, the U.S. Route 441 in Tennessee, Norris Freeway, Tennessee State Route 63, Cumberland National Scenic Byway, Tennessee State Route 111, Sequatchie Valley Scenic Byway, The Trace (Land Between the Lakes), The Trace, and the Cherohala Skyway. Tennessee maintains 56 state parks, covering . Many reservoirs created by TVA dams have also generated water-based tourist attractions.Culture
A culturally diverse state, Tennessee blends Appalachia#Culture, Appalachian and Culture of the Southern United States, Southern flavors, which originate from its English, Scotch-Irish, and African roots, and has evolved as it has grown. Its Grand Divisions also manifest into distinct cultural regions, with East Tennessee commonly associated with Southern Appalachia, and Middle and West Tennessee commonly associated with Upland South#History and culture, Upland Southern culture. Parts of West Tennessee, especially Memphis, are sometimes considered part of theMusic
Tennessee has played a critical role in the development of many forms of American popular music, including blues, country music, country, rock and roll, rockabilly, soul music, soul, bluegrass music, bluegrass, Contemporary Christian music, Contemporary Christian, and gospel music, gospel. Many consider Memphis's Beale Street the epicenter of the blues, with musicians such as W. C. Handy performing in its clubs as early as 1909. Memphis was historically home to Sun Records, where musicians such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Charlie Rich began their recording careers, and where rock and roll took shape in the 1950s. Stax Records in Memphis became one of the most important labels for soul artists in the late 1950s and 1960s, and a subgenre known as Memphis soul emerged. The Bristol sessions, 1927 Victor recording sessions in Bristol, Tennessee, Bristol generally mark the beginning of the country music genre and the rise of the ''Grand Ole Opry'' in the 1930s helped make Nashville the center of the country music recording industry. Nashville became known as "Music City", and the ''Grand Ole Opry'' remains the nation's longest-running radio show. Many museums and historic sites recognize Tennessee's role in nurturing various forms of popular music, including Sun Studio, Memphis Rock N' Soul Museum, Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis, the Ryman Auditorium, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, National Museum of African American Music, and Music Row in Nashville, the International Rock-A-Billy Museum in Jackson, the Mountain Music Museum in Kingsport, and the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol. The Rockabilly Hall of Fame, an online site recognizing the development of rockabilly, is also based in Nashville. Several annual music festivals take place throughout the state, the largest of which are the Memphis in May#Beale Street Music Festival (BSMF), Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee, Manchester, and Riverbend Festival, Riverbend in Chattanooga.Education
Education in Tennessee is administered by the Tennessee Department of Education. The state Board of Education has 11 members: one from each Congressional district, a student member, and the executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), who serves as ex-officio nonvoting member. Public primary and secondary education systems are operated by county, city, or special school districts to provide education at the local level, and operate under the direction of the Tennessee Department of Education. The state also has many private schools. The state enrolls approximately 1 million K–12 students in 137 districts. In 2021, the four-year high school graduation rate was 88.7%, a decrease of 1.2% from the previous year. According to the most recent data, Tennessee spends $9,544 per student, the 8th lowest in the nation.Colleges and universities
Public higher education is overseen by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), which provides guidance to the state's two public university systems. The University of Tennessee system operates four primary campuses in University of Tennessee, Knoxville, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, University of Tennessee at Martin, Martin, and University of Tennessee Southern, Pulaski; a University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Health Sciences Center in Memphis; and an University of Tennessee Space Institute, aerospace research facility in Tullahoma. The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), also known as The College System of Tennessee, operates 13 community colleges and 27 campuses of the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCAT). Until 2017, the TBR also operated six public universities in the state; it now only gives them administrative support. In 2014, the Tennessee General Assembly created the Tennessee Promise, which allows in-state high school graduates to enroll in two-year post-secondary education programs such as associate degrees and certificates at community colleges and trade schools in Tennessee tuition-free, funded by the state lottery, if they meet certain requirements. The Tennessee Promise was created as part of then-governor Bill Haslam's "Drive to 55" program, which set a goal of increasing the number of college-educated residents to at least 55% of the state's population. The program has also received national attention, with multiple states having since created similar programs modeled on the Tennessee Promise. Tennessee has 107 private institutions. Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the nation's leading research institutions. Nashville is often called the "Athens of the South" due to its many colleges and universities. Tennessee is also home to six historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).Media
Tennessee is home to more than 120 newspapers. The most-circulated paid newspapers in the state include ''The Tennessean'' in Nashville, ''The Commercial Appeal'' in Memphis, the ''Knoxville News Sentinel'', the ''Chattanooga Times Free Press'', and ''The Leaf-Chronicle'' in Clarksville, ''The Jackson Sun'', and ''The Daily News Journal'' in Murfreesboro. All of these except the ''Times Free Press'' are owned by Gannett. Six List of United States television markets, television media markets—Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Tri-Cities, and Jackson—are based in Tennessee. The Nashville market is the third-largest in the Upland South and the ninth-largest in the southeastern United States, according to Nielsen Media Research. Small sections of the Huntsville, Alabama and Paducah, Kentucky-Cape Girardeau, Missouri-Harrisburg, Illinois markets also extend into the state. Tennessee has 43 full-power and 41 low-power broadcasting, low-power television stations and more than 450 Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-licensed radio stations. The ''Grand Ole Opry'', based in Nashville, is the longest-running radio show in the country, having broadcast continuously since 1925.Transportation
The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is the primary agency that is tasked with regulating and maintaining Tennessee's transportation infrastructure. Tennessee is currently one of five states with no transportation-related debts.Roads
Tennessee has of roads, of which are maintained by the state. Of the state's highways, are part of the Interstate Highway System. Tennessee has no toll roads in the United States, tolled roads or bridges but has the sixth-highest mileage of high-occupancy vehicle lane, high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, which are utilized on freeways in the congestion-prone Nashville and Memphis metropolitan areas. Interstate 40 in Tennessee, Interstate 40 (I-40) is the longest Interstate Highway in Tennessee, traversing the state for . Known as "Tennessee's Main Street", I-40 serves the major cities of Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville, and throughout its entire length in Tennessee, one can observe the diversity of the state's geography and landforms. I-40's branch interstates include Interstate 240 (Tennessee), I-240 in Memphis; Interstate 440 (Tennessee), I-440 in Nashville; Interstate 840 (Tennessee), I-840 around Nashville; Pellissippi Parkway, I-140 from Knoxville to Maryville, Tennessee, Maryville; and I-640 in Knoxville. In a north–south orientation, from west to east, are interstates Interstate 55 in Tennessee, 55, which serves Memphis; Interstate 65 in Tennessee, 65, which passes through Nashville; Interstate 75 in Tennessee, 75, which serves Chattanooga and Knoxville; and Interstate 81 in Tennessee, 81, which begins east of Knoxville, and serves Bristol to the northeast. Interstate 24 in Tennessee, I-24 is an east–west interstate that enters the state in Clarksville, passes through Nashville, and terminates in Chattanooga. U.S. Route 23 in Tennessee, I-26, although technically an east–west interstate, begins in Kingsport and runs southwardly through Johnson City, Tennessee, Johnson City before exiting into North Carolina. Interstate 155 (Missouri-Tennessee), I-155 is a branch route of I-55 that serves the northwestern part of the state. Interstate 275 (Tennessee), I-275 is a short spur route in Knoxville. Interstate 269, I-269 runs from Millington, Tennessee, Millington to Collierville, Tennessee, Collierville, serving as an outer bypass of Memphis.Airports
Major airports in Tennessee include Nashville International Airport (BNA), Memphis International Airport (MEM), McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) outside of Knoxville, Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA), Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI) in Blountville, Tennessee, Blountville, and McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport (MKL) in Jackson. Because Memphis International Airport is the hub of FedEx Corporation, it is the World's busiest airport, world's busiest cargo airport. The state also has 74 general aviation airports and 148 heliports.Railroads
For passenger rail service, Memphis and Newbern, Tennessee, Newbern are served by the Amtrak City of New Orleans (train), City of New Orleans line on its run between Chicago and New Orleans. Nashville is served by the Music City Star commuter rail service. Tennessee currently has of freight trackage in operation, most of which are owned by CSX Transportation. Norfolk Southern Railway also operates lines in East and southwestern Tennessee. BNSF operates a major transport hub, intermodal facility in Memphis.Waterways
Tennessee has a total of of Inland waterways of the United States, navigable waterways, the 11th highest in the nation. These include the Mississippi River, Mississippi, Tennessee River, Tennessee, and Cumberland River, Cumberland rivers. Five inland ports are located in the state, including the Port of Memphis, which is the fifth-largest in the United States and the second largest on the Mississippi River.Law and government
The Constitution of Tennessee was adopted in 1870. The state had two previous constitutions. The first was adopted in 1796, the year Tennessee was admitted to the union, and the second in 1834. Since 1826,Executive and legislative branches
Like the federal government, Tennessee's government has three branches. The executive branch is led by the Governor of Tennessee, governor, who holds office for a four-year term and may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. The governor is the only official elected statewide. The current governor is Bill Lee (Tennessee politician), Bill Lee, a Republican Party (United States), Republican. The governor is supported by 22 cabinet-level departments, most headed by a commissioner the governor appoints. The executive branch also includes several agencies, boards, and commissions, some of which are under the auspices of one of the cabinet-level departments. The bicameralism, bicameral legislative branch, theJudicial system
Tennessee's highest court is the Tennessee Supreme Court, state Supreme Court. It has a List of justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court, chief justice and four associate justices. No more than two justices can be from the same Grand Divisions of Tennessee, Grand Division. The Supreme Court of Tennessee appoints the state's Tennessee Attorney General, Attorney General, a practice only found in Tennessee. Both the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Court of Appeals and the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals have 12 judges, who are evenly from each Grand Division. Under the Tennessee Plan, the governor appoints justices on all three courts to eight-year terms; they must be retention election, retained by the voters during the first general election after appointment and at the end of their term. Tennessee is divided into 31 judicial districts, each with a circuit and chancery court, and a district attorney and judges elected to eight-year terms. Separate criminal courts serve 13 of the 31 judicial districts; circuit courts handle criminal cases in the remaining districts. Local courts include general sessions, juvenile and domestic, and municipal courts. Tennessee maintains four dedicated law enforcement agencies: the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). The Highway Patrol is the primary entity that enforces highway safety regulations and general non-wildlife state laws. It is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Safety. The TWRA is an independent agency tasked with enforcing all wildlife, boating, and fishery regulations outside of state parks. TDEC enforces state environmental laws and regulations. The TBI is the primary state-level criminal investigative department. State park rangers are responsible for all activities and law enforcement inside the Tennessee State Parks system. Capital punishment in Tennessee, Capital punishment is legal in Tennessee and has existed at various times since statehood. Lethal injection is the primary means of execution, but electrocution is also allowed.Local
Tennessee is divided into List of counties in Tennessee, 95 counties, with 92 county governments that use a county commission legislative body and a separately elected county executive. The governments of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson (Nashville), Moore County, Tennessee, Moore (Lynchburg, Tennessee, Lynchburg), and Trousdale County, Tennessee, Trousdale (Hartsville, Tennessee, Hartsville) are consolidated city-county, consolidated with their county seats. Each county elects a sheriff, property assessor, trustee, register of deeds, and county clerk. Tennessee has more than 340 municipalities. Most cities and towns use the Mayor–council government#Weak-mayor government form, weak mayor-council (mayor-aldermen), Mayor–council government#Strong-mayor government form, strong-mayor council, City commission government, city commission, or Council–manager government, council–manager forms of government. Local law enforcement is divided between county sheriff's offices and municipal police departments. In every county except Davidson, the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer.Federal
Tennessee sends Tennessee's congressional districts#Current districts and representatives, nine representatives to the United States House of Representatives. The current delegation consists of seven Republican Party (United States), Republicans and two Democratic Party (United States), Democrats. Its United States Senate, U.S. senators are Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, both Republicans. Tennessee is under the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over three United States district court, district courts in the state: the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Eastern, United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Middle, and United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Western districts.Tribal
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is Tennessee's only federally recognized Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe. It owns in Henning, Tennessee, Henning, which the tribe placed into federal trust in 2012. This is governed directly by the tribe.Politics
Tennessee's politics are currently dominated by the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Republicans currently hold the state's U.S. Senate seats, 7 out of 9 Congressional seats, 73 out of 99 state House seats, and 27 out of 33 state Senate seats. Democratic Party (United States), Democratic strength is largely concentrated in Nashville, Memphis, and parts of Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Clarksville. Several suburban areas of Nashville and Memphis also contain significant Democratic minorities. Tennessee is one of thirteen states which holds its presidential primaries on Super Tuesday. Tennessee does not require voters to declare a party affiliation when registering. The state is one of eight states which require voters to present a form of voter identification laws in the United States, photo identification. In a 2020 study, Tennessee ranked 21st on the "Cost of Voting Index", a measure of "the ease of voting across the United States". Between the end of the Civil War and the mid-20th century, Tennessee was part of the Democratic Solid South, but had the largest Republican minority of any former Confederate state. During this time, East Tennessee was heavily Republican and the western two thirds mostly voted Democratic, with the latter dominating the state. This division was related to the state's pattern of Unionist and Confederate loyalism during the Civil War. Tennessee's Tennessee's 1st congressional district, 1st and Tennessee's 2nd congressional district, 2nd congressional districts, based in the Tri-Cities and Knoxville, respectively, are among the few historically Republican districts in the South. The first has been in Republican hands continuously since 1881, and Republicans or their antecedents have held it for all but four years since 1859. The second has been held continuously by Republicans or their antecedents since 1855. During Reconstruction, freedmen and former free blacks were granted the right to vote; most joined the Republican Party. Numerous African Americans were elected to local offices, and some to state office. Following Reconstruction, Tennessee continued to have competitive party politics, but in the 1880s, the White-dominated state government passed Jim Crow laws, one of which imposed a poll tax requirement for voter registration. These served to Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era, disenfranchise most African Americans, and their power in state and local politics was markedly reduced. After the disenfranchisement of blacks, the Republican Party became a primarily white Sectionalism, sectional party supported mostly in East Tennessee. In the early 1900s, the state legislature approved legislation allowing cities to adopt a city commission government, commission form of government based on at-large voting as a means to limit African American political participation. Not until after passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were African Americans able to regain their full voting rights. Between the end of Reconstruction and the mid-20th century, Tennessee voted consistently Democratic in Presidential elections, except in two nationwide Republican Landslide victory, landslides in the 1920s. Tennesseans narrowly supported Warren G. Harding over Ohio Governor James M. Cox, James Cox in 1920, and more decisively voted for Herbert Hoover over New York Governor Al Smith in 1928. During the first half of the 20th century, state politics were dominated by the Democratic E. H. Crump#Political machine, Crump machine in Memphis. For most of the second half of the 20th century, Tennessee was a swing state in presidential elections. During this time, Democratic presidential nominees from Southern states, including Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton, tended to fare better in Tennessee than their Northern counterparts, especially among split-ticket voters outside the metropolitan areas. In the 1950s, Tennessee twice voted for Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, former Allied Commander of the Armed Forces during World War II. Howard Baker, first elected in 1966, became the first Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee since Reconstruction. The Republican Southern strategy did not have as much of an effect in Tennessee as in most Southern states, but the elections of Winfield Dunn as governor and Bill Brock to the U.S. Senate in 1970 further helped make the GOP competitive among Whites in statewide elections. In the 2000 United States presidential election in Tennessee, 2000 presidential election, Vice President Al Gore, who had previously served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from Tennessee, failed to carry his home state, an unusual occurrence but indicative of strengthening Republican support. Beginning in the early 21st century, Tennessee transitioned into a solid Republican state, primarily due to rural white voters who have rejected the increasing Modern liberalism in the United States, liberalism of the Democratic Party. In 2004 United States presidential election in Tennessee, 2004, Republican President George W. Bush increased his margin of victory in the state to 14% from 4% in 2000. In 2007, Ron Ramsey became the first Republican Speaker of the State Senate since Reconstruction, and the following year the Republicans gained control of both houses of the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. Voters, however, continued to elect Moderate (politics), moderate Republicans, such as centrists Bill Haslam and Lamar Alexander, until the late 2010s with the rise of Trumpism in the GOP at a nationwide scale. Since 2016, Tennessee has been the most populous state to vote Republican by more than 60% in presidential elections, and in 2020 United States presidential election in Tennessee, 2020 voted Republican by the largest margin of any state in terms of number of votes.Sports
Tennessee is home to four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, major professional sports franchises: the Tennessee Titans have played in the National Football League (NFL) since 1997, the Nashville Predators have played in the National Hockey League (NHL) since 1998, the Memphis Grizzlies have played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) since 2001, and Nashville SC has played in Major League Soccer (MLS) since 2020. The state is also home to eight minor league teams. Four of these are Minor League Baseball clubs. The Nashville Sounds, which began play in 1978, and Memphis Redbirds, which began in 1998, each compete in the International League at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, the highest before Major League Baseball. The Tennessee Smokies, which have played continuously since 1972, and Chattanooga Lookouts, which have played continuously since 1976, are members of the Double-A (baseball), Double-A classification Southern League (1964–present), Southern League. Tennessee has three minor league Association football, soccer teams. Memphis 901 FC has played in the second-tier USL Championship since 2019. Chattanooga Red Wolves SC has been a member of the third-tier USL League One since 2019. Founded in 2009, Chattanooga FC began playing in the third-tier National Independent Soccer Association in 2020. The state has one minor league ice hockey team: the Knoxville Ice Bears, which began play in 2002 and are members of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The state is home to 12 NCAA Division I programs. Four of these participate in the top level of college football, the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision. In Knoxville, the Tennessee Volunteers college teams play in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In Nashville, the Vanderbilt Commodores are also members of the SEC. The Memphis Tigers are members of the American Athletic Conference, and Murfreesboro's Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders play in Conference USA. Nashville is also home to the Belmont Bruins, members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) but moving to the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) in July 2022; Tennessee State Tigers and Lady Tigers, Tennessee State Tigers, OVC members with no plans to change conferences; and the Lipscomb Bisons, members of the ASUN Conference. Tennessee State plays football in Division I's second level, the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, while Belmont and Lipscomb List of NCAA Division I non-football programs, do not have football teams. Through the 2021–22 school year, the OVC also includes the Austin Peay Governors from Clarksville, the UT Martin Skyhawks from Martin, and the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles from Cookeville, Tennessee, Cookeville. UT Martin and Tennessee Tech will remain in the OVC, while Peay will move to the ASUN. The Chattanooga Mocs and Johnson City's East Tennessee State Buccaneers are full members, including football, of the Southern Conference. Tennessee is also home to the Bristol Motor Speedway, which features NASCAR Cup Series racing two weekends a year, routinely selling out more than 160,000 seats on each date. The Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, which previously held Xfinity Series, Nationwide and IndyCar Series, IndyCar races until it was shut down in 2011, reopened to host the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021. Tennessee's only graded stakes horserace, the Iroquois Steeplechase, is held in Nashville each May. The WGC Invitational is a PGA Tour golf tournament that has been held in Memphis since 1958.See also
* Index of Tennessee-related articles * Outline of TennesseeNotes
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