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Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
. It is the
seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...
of Davidson County in
Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...
, located on the Cumberland River. Nashville had a population of 689,447 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-most populous city in the United States and the fourth-most populous city in the Southeast. The city is the center of the Nashville metropolitan area, home to 2.1 million people, and is among the fastest growing cities in the nation. Named for Francis Nash, a general of the
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...
during the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, the city was founded in 1779 when this territory was still considered part of North Carolina. The city grew quickly due to its strategic location as a port on the Cumberland River and, in the 19th century, a railroad center. Nashville as part of Tennessee seceded during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
; in 1862 it was the first state capital in the Confederacy to be taken by Union forces. It was occupied through the war. After the war, the city gradually reclaimed its stature. It became a center of trade and developed a manufacturing base. Since 1963, Nashville has had a
consolidated city-county In local government in the United States, United States local government, a consolidated city-county (#Terminology, see below for alternative terms) is formed when one or more city, cities and their surrounding County (United States), county (Lis ...
government, which is composed of six smaller municipalities in a two-tier system. The city is governed by a mayor, a vice-mayor, and a 40-member metropolitan council. Some 35 of the members are elected from single-member districts, while five are elected
at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
. Reflecting the city's position in state government, Nashville is home to the Tennessee Supreme Court's courthouse for
Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...
, one of the state's three divisions. As of 2020, Nashville is considered a global city, type "Gamma" by the GaWC. The city is a major center for the
music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...
, especially
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
. It is home to three major professional sports teams: the Predators,
Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...
, and Nashville SC. The city is also the home of many colleges and universities including Tennessee State University,
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
, Belmont University, Fisk University, Trevecca Nazarene University, and Lipscomb University. Nashville is sometimes referred to as the "
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
of the South" due to the large number of educational institutions. The city is also a major center for the healthcare, publishing, banking, automotive, and technology industries. Entities with headquarters in the city include
AllianceBernstein AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (AB) is a global asset management firm providing investment management and research services worldwide to institutional, high-net-worth and Investor, retail investors. AllianceBernstein's headquarters are located ...
,
Asurion Asurion, LLC is a privately held company based in Nashville, Tennessee, that provides insurance for smartphones, tablets, consumer electronics, appliances, satellite receivers and jewelry. In 2014, the company operated in 14 countries and had 4 ...
, Bridgestone Americas, Captain D's, Concord, Gideons International,
Hospital Corporation of America HCA Healthcare, Inc. (historically known as Hospital Corporation of America) is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owned and operated 186 ...
, LifeWay Christian Resources, Logan's Roadhouse, and
Ryman Hospitality Properties Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. is a hotel, resort, entertainment, and Mass media, media company named for one of its assets: the Ryman Auditorium, a National Historic Landmark in Nashville, Tennessee. The company's legal lineage can be trace ...
.


History


18th and 19th centuries

In 1689, French-Canadian trader Martin Chartier established a trading post on the Cumberland River, near the present-day site of the city. In 1714, a group of French traders under the command of Charles Charleville established a settlement and trading post at the present location of downtown Nashville, which became known as French Lick. These settlers quickly established an extensive fur trading network with the local Native Americans, but by the 1740s the settlement had largely been abandoned. In 1779, explorers James Robertson and John Donelson led a party of Overmountain Men to the site of French Lick, and constructed Fort Nashborough. It was named for Francis Nash, the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
hero. Nashville quickly grew because of its strategic location as a port on the Cumberland River, a tributary of the
Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
; and its later status as a major railroad center. By 1800, the city had 345 residents, including 136 enslaved African Americans and 14 free African Americans. In 1806, Nashville was incorporated as a city and became the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of Davidson County, Tennessee. In 1843, the city was named as the permanent capital of the state of
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
. Knoxville, Kingston & Murfreesboro were prior locations of the state capital. The city government of Nashville owned 24 slaves by 1831, and 60 prior to the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
. They were "put to work to build the first successful water system and maintain the streets." Auction blocks and brokers' offices were part of the slave market at the heart of the city. It was the center of plantations cultivating tobacco and hemp as commodity crops, in addition to the breeding and training of thoroughbred horses, and other livestock. For years Nashville was considered one of the wealthiest southern capitals and a large portion of its prominence was from the iron business. Nashville led the south for iron production. The cholera epidemic that struck Nashville in 1849–1850 took the life of former U.S. President James K. Polk and resulted in high fatalities. There were 311 deaths from cholera in 1849 and an estimated 316 to about 500 in 1850. Before the Civil War, about 700 free Blacks lived in small enclaves in northern Nashville. More than 3,200 enslaved African Americans lived in the city. By 1860, when the first rumblings of secession began to be heard across the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
, antebellum Nashville was a prosperous city. The city's significance as a shipping port and rail center made it a desirable prize for competing military forces that wanted to control the region's important river and railroad transportation routes. In February 1862, Nashville became the first Confederate state capital to fall to U.S. troops, and the state was occupied by the U.S. Army for the duration of the war. Many enslaved African Americans from Middle Tennessee fled as refugees to Union lines; they were housed in contraband camps around military installations in Nashville's eastern, western, and southern borders. The Battle of Nashville (December 15–16, 1864) was a significant Union victory and perhaps the most decisive tactical victory gained by either side in the war; it was also the war's final major military action in which Tennessee regiments played a large part on both sides of the battle. Afterward, the Confederates conducted a war of attrition, making
guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...
raids and engaging in small skirmishes. Confederate forces in the
Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...
were almost constantly in retreat. In 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, the Nashville chapter of the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
was founded by Confederate veteran John W. Morton. He was reported to have initiated General Nathan Bedford Forrest into the white-supremacist organization. The latter became Grand Wizard of the organization, which had chapters of this secret, insurgent group forming throughout the state and across the South. They opposed voting and political organizing by freedmen, tried to control their behavior by threats, violence and murder, and sometimes also attacked their White allies, including schoolteachers from the North and Freedman's Bureau officials. Whites directed violence against freedmen and their descendants both during and after the
Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...
. Two freedmen, David Jones and Jo Reed, were lynched in Nashville by White mobs in 1872 and 1875, respectively. Reed was hanged from a bridge over the river, but survived after the rope broke and he fell into the water. He successfully escaped the city soon thereafter. In the aftermath of the Civil War, the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville emerged as a beacon of hope and cultural pride. By 1871, this ensemble began touring the U.S. and Europe, earning international acclaim for their performances of Negro spirituals. Their success not only provided vital funding for their university but also marked Nashville as a significant center for African American music and culture, laying the groundwork for the city's enduring musical legacy. In 1873, Nashville suffered another cholera epidemic, along with towns throughout Sumner County along railroad routes and the Cumberland River. This was part of a larger epidemic that struck the Mississippi Valley system and other areas of the United States, such as New York and towns along its major lakes and rivers. The epidemic is estimated to have killed around 1,000 people in Nashville, and 50,000 total. Meanwhile, the city had reclaimed its important shipping and trading position and developed a solid manufacturing base. The post–Civil War years of the late 19th century brought new prosperity to Nashville and Davidson County. Wealthy planters and businessmen built grand, classical-style buildings. A replica of the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; ; ) is a former Ancient Greek temple, temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the Greek gods, goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of c ...
was constructed in Centennial Park, near downtown. On April 30, 1892, Ephraim Grizzard, an African-American man, was lynched in a spectacle murder in front of a white mob of 10,000 in Nashville. He was a suspect in the assault of two white sisters. His lynching was described by journalist Ida B. Wells as: "A naked, bloody example of the blood-thirstiness of the nineteenth century civilization of the Athens of the South." His brother, Henry Grizzard, had been lynched and hanged on April 24, 1892, in nearby Goodlettsville as a suspect in the same assault incident. From 1877 to 1950, a total of six lynchings of Blacks were conducted in Davidson County, four before the turn of the century.


Earlier 20th century

By the turn of the century Nashville was home to numerous organizations and individuals associated with revisionist
Lost Cause of the Confederacy The Lost Cause of the Confederacy, known simply as the Lost Cause, is an American pseudohistory, pseudohistorical and historical negationist myth that argues the cause of the Confederate States of America, Confederate States during the America ...
pseudohistory, and it has been referred to as the "cradle of the Lost Cause". In 1893, the magazine '' Confederate Veteran'' began publication in the city. In 1894, the first chapter of United Daughters of the Confederacy was founded in the city, and it hosted the first two conventions of the organization. Prominent proponents of the mythology, the so-called "guardians of the Lost Cause", were concentrated Downtown and in the West End, near Centennial Park. At the same time, Jefferson Street became the historic center of the African American community, with similar districts developing in the Black neighborhoods in East and North Nashville. In 1912, the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial and Normal School was moved to Jefferson Street. The first Prince's Hot Chicken Shack originated at the corner of Jefferson Street and 28th Avenue in 1945. Jefferson Street became a destination for jazz and blues musicians, and remained so until the federal government split the area by construction of
Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...
in the late 1960s. In 1925, the establishment of the
Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...
marked the beginning of Nashville's journey as the 'Country Music Capital of the World', drawing musicians and fans alike to the city and setting the stage for its future as a country music powerhouse. In 1950, the state legislature approved a new city charter that provided for the election of city council members from single-member districts, rather than
at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
voting. This change was supported because at-large voting required candidates to gain a majority of votes from across the city. The previous system prevented the minority population, which then tended to support Republican candidates, from being represented by candidates of their choice; apportionment under single-member districts meant that some districts in Nashville had Black majorities. In 1951, after passage of the new charter, African American attorneys Z. Alexander Looby and Robert E. Lillard were elected to the city council. During the mid-1950s, Nashville underwent a musical transformation with the emergence of the ' Nashville Sound,' which was characterized by "smooth strings and choruses", "sophisticated background vocals" and "smooth tempos" associated with
traditional pop Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western culture, Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known ...
. The new sound broadened country music's appeal and solidified Nashville's status as a music recording and production center. With the United States Supreme Court ruling in 1954 that public schools had to desegregate with "all deliberate speed", the family of student Robert Kelley filed a lawsuit in 1956, arguing that Nashville administrators should open all-White East High School to him. A similar case was filed by
Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...
Henry Maxwell due to his children having to take a 45-minute bus ride from South Nashville to the north end of the city. These suits caused the courts to announce what became known as the "Nashville Plan", where the city's public schools would desegregate one grade per year beginning in the fall of 1957. Urban redevelopment accelerated over the next several decades, and the city grew increasingly segregated. An interstate was placed on the edge of East Nashville while another highway was built through Edgehill, a lower-income, predominantly minority community.


Postwar development to end of 20th century

Rapid suburbanization occurred during the years immediately after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, as new housing was being built outside city limits. This resulted in a demand for many new schools and other support facilities, which the county found difficult to provide. At the same time, suburbanization led to a declining tax base in the city, although many suburban residents used unique city amenities and services that were supported financially only by city taxpayers. After years of discussion, a referendum was held in 1958 on the issue of consolidating city and county government. It failed to gain approval although it was supported by the then-elected leaders of both jurisdictions, County Judge Beverly Briley and Mayor Ben West. Following the referendum's failure, Nashville annexed some 42 square miles of suburban jurisdictions to expand its tax base. This increased uncertainty among residents, and created resentment among many suburban communities. Under the second charter for metropolitan government, which was approved in 1962, two levels of service provision were proposed: the General Services District and the Urban Services District, to provide for a differential in tax levels. Residents of the Urban Services District had a full range of city services. The areas that made up the General Services District, however, had a lower tax rate until full services were provided. This helped reconcile aspects of services and taxation among the differing jurisdictions within the large metro region. In the early 1960s, Tennessee still had racial segregation of public facilities, including lunch counters and department store fitting rooms. Hotels and restaurants were also segregated. Between February 13 and May 10, 1960, a series of sit-ins were organized at lunch counters in downtown Nashville by the Nashville Student Movement and Nashville Christian Leadership Council, and were part of a broader
sit-in movement The sit-in movement, sit-in campaign, or student sit-in movement, was a wave of Sit-in, sit-ins that followed the Greensboro sit-ins on February 1, 1960, led by students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical Institute (A&T). Even though ...
in the southeastern United States as part of an effort to end racial segregation of public facilities. On April 19, 1960, the house of Z. Alexander Looby, an African American attorney and council member, was bombed by segregationists. Protesters marched to the city hall the next day. Mayor Ben West said he supported the desegregation of lunch counters, which civil rights activists had called for. In 1963, Nashville consolidated its government with Davidson County, forming a metropolitan government. The membership on the Metro Council, the legislative body, was increased from 21 to 40 seats. Of these, five members are elected
at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
and 35 are elected from single-member districts, each to serve a term of four years. As Nashville evolved in the 1960s, its music scene diversified, welcoming rock, pop, and other genres and the 'Nashville Sound' transformed into ' Countrypolitan'. Artists like
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
and
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
came to Nashville to record, reflecting the city's expanding influence in the music industry. In 1960, ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' reported that Nashville had "nosed out Hollywood as the nation's second biggest (after New York) record-producing center." In 1957 Nashville desegregated its school system using an innovative grade a year plan, in response to a class action suit ''Kelly vs. Board of Education of Nashville''. By 1966 the Metro Council abandoned the grade a year plan and completely desegregated the entire school system at one time. Congress passed civil rights legislation in 1964 and 1965, but tensions continued as society was slow to change. On April 8, 1967, a riot broke out on the college campuses of Fisk University and Tennessee State University, historically Black colleges, after Stokely Carmichael spoke about
Black Power Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...
at
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
. Although it was viewed as a "race riot", it had classist characteristics. In 1979, the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
burnt crosses outside two African American sites in Nashville, including the city headquarters of the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
. Historically, Nashville
zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...
permitted the construction of duplex housing. In the 1980s and 1990s, Nashville lawmakers downzoned sections of Nashville to exclusively permit
single-family housing A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR) or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling. Definitions ...
. Proponents of these downzonings said they would raise home values. Since the 1970s, the city and county have undergone tremendous growth, particularly during the
economic boom An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with ...
of the 1990s under the leadership of then-Mayor and later- Tennessee Governor, Phil Bredesen. Making urban renewal a priority, Bredesen fostered the construction or renovation of several city landmarks, including the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the downtown
Nashville Public Library Nashville Public Library (NPL) is the public library system serving Nashville, Tennessee and the metropolitan area of Davidson County. In 2010, the Nashville Public Library was the recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. ...
, the Bridgestone Arena, and Nissan Stadium. Nissan Stadium (formerly Adelphia Coliseum and LP Field) was built after the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
's (NFL) Houston Oilers agreed to move to the city in 1995. The NFL team debuted in Nashville in 1998 at Vanderbilt Stadium, and Nissan Stadium opened in the summer of 1999. The Oilers changed their name to the
Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...
and finished the season with the Music City Miracle and a close
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
game. The St. Louis Rams won on the last play of the game. In 1997, Nashville was awarded a
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
expansion team; this was named the
Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...
. Since the 2003–04 season, the Predators have made the playoffs in all but four seasons. In 2017, they made the
Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...
for the first time in franchise history, but ultimately fell to the
Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...
, 4games to 2, in the best-of-seven series.


21st century

On January 22, 2009, residents rejected
Nashville Charter Amendment 1 Nashville Charter Amendment 1 of 2009 (also known as the Nashville English Only Amendment or Nashville English First Amendment) was a proposed amendment to the charter of Nashville, Tennessee which, if passed, would have restricted the use of for ...
, which sought to make English the official language of the city. Between May 1 and 7, 2010, much of Nashville was extensively flooded as part of a series of 1,000 year floods throughout Middle and West Tennessee. Much of the flooding took place in areas along the Cumberland and Harpeth Rivers and Mill Creek, and caused extensive damage to the many buildings and structures in the city, including the
Grand Ole Opry House The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...
, Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, Opry Mills Mall, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Bridgestone Arena, and Nissan Stadium. Sections of Interstate 24 and Briley Parkway were also flooded. Eleven people died in the Nashville area as a result of the flooding, and damages were estimated to be over $2 billion. The city recovered after the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
. In March 2012, a Gallup poll ranked Nashville in the top five regions for job growth. In 2013, Nashville was described as "Nowville" and "It City" by '' GQ'', ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'', and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Nashville elected its first female mayor, Megan Barry, on September 25, 2015. As a council member, Barry had officiated at the city's first same-sex wedding on June 26, 2015. In 2017, Nashville's economy was deemed the third fastest-growing in the nation, and the city was named the "hottest housing market in the US" by Freddie Mac realtors. In May 2017, census estimates showed Nashville had passed Memphis to become most populated city in Tennessee. Nashville has also made national headlines for its "homelessness crisis". Rising housing prices and the opioid crisis have resulted in more people being out on the streets: , between 2,300 and 20,000 Nashvillians are homeless. On March 6, 2018, due to felony charges filed against Mayor Barry relating to the misuse of public funds, she resigned before the end of her term. A special election was called. Following a ruling by the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Davidson County Election Commission set the special election for May 24, 2018, to meet the requirement of 75 to 80 days from the date of resignation. David Briley, who was Vice Mayor during the Barry administration and Acting Mayor after her resignation, won the special election with just over 54% of the vote, becoming the 70th mayor of Nashville. On May 1, 2018, voters rejected Let's Move Nashville, a referendum which would have funded construction of an $8.9 billion mass transit system under the Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority (now WeGo Public Transit) by a 2 to 1 margin. On September 28, 2019, John Cooper became the ninth mayor of Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Between 2010 and 2020, the city experienced significant changes and growth in population. For example, the median home price in North Nashville increased from $100,710 in 2010 to $532,121 in 2020. During this period, four census tracts in the city transitioned from majority Black to majority non-Black. By 2020, 99% of Nashville's neighborhoods were considered unaffordable for Black and Hispanic families earning median incomes. On March 3, 2020, a tornado tracked west to east, just north of the downtown Nashville area, killing at least 25 people and leaving tens of thousands without electricity. Neighborhoods impacted included North Nashville, Germantown, East Nashville, Donelson, and Hermitage. On December 25, 2020, a vehicle exploded on Second Avenue, killing the perpetrator and injuring eight others. On March 27, 2023, a gunman killed three children and three staff at the Covenant School, before being fatally gunned down by police. On December 9, 2023, tornadoes caused considerable destruction and left three people dead.


Geography


Topography

Nashville lies on the Cumberland River in the northwestern portion of the Nashville Basin. Nashville's elevation ranges from its lowest point,
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
at the Cumberland River, to its highest point, above sea level in the
Radnor Lake State Natural Area Radnor Lake State Natural Area, also known as Radnor Lake State Park, is a popular state natural area and state park in Oak Hill, Tennessee, Oak Hill, Tennessee within Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The nature preserve lies just outside Nash ...
. Nashville also sits at the start of the Highland Rim, a geophysical region of very hilly land. Because of this, Nashville is very hilly. Nashville also has some stand alone hills around the city such as the hill on which the Tennessee State Capitol building sits. The higher elevations of the Highland Rim encircle the Nashville Basin with the Eastern and Western Highland Rim portions being the largest expanses. Part of the Western Highland Rim slopes down and wraps the hills along the western flanks of the city in a contiguous forest thought to be one of the largest of such forest habitats in Middle Tennessee. Nashville's Highland Rim Forest connects Beaman Park, Bells Bend Park, Warner Parks, and Radnor Lake State Park. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which of it is land and of it (4.53%) is water.


Cityscape

Nashville's downtown area features a diverse assortment of entertainment, dining, cultural and architectural attractions. The Broadway and 2nd Avenue areas feature entertainment venues, bars, night clubs, retail, and an assortment of restaurants. North of Broadway lie Nashville's central business district, Legislative Plaza, Capitol Hill and the Tennessee Bicentennial Mall. Cultural and architectural attractions can be found throughout the city. Three major interstate highways (I-40, I-65 and I-24) converge near the core area of downtown, and many regional cities are within a day's driving distance. Nashville's first skyscraper, the Life & Casualty Tower, was completed in 1957 and launched the construction of other high rises in downtown Nashville. After the construction of the AT&T Building (commonly referred to by locals as the "Batman Building") in 1994, the downtown area saw little construction until the mid-2000s. The Pinnacle, a high rise office building which opened in 2010, was the first skyscraper in Nashville to be built in the preceding 15 years. Since 2000, Nashville has seen two urban construction booms (one prior to the Great Recession and the other after) that have yielded multiple high-rises (defined by Emporis as buildings of a minimum of 115 feet tall). Of the city's 33 towers of 300 feet tall or taller (as of April 2023), 24 have been completed since 2000. Of note, Nashville has a disproportionate number of buildings 300 feet and taller in relation to its overall metropolitan statistical area (MSA) population of about 2 million (2021 U.S. Census Bureau estimate). This is due, in large part, to the tourism-centric city's multiple hotel towers and to its many condominium high-rises having multiple unit owners who also own other residences in both Nashville and in other markets. Many civic and infrastructure projects are being planned, in progress, or recently completed. A new MTA bus hub was recently completed in downtown Nashville, as was the Music City Star (now known as the WeGo Star) pilot project. Several public parks have been constructed, such as the Public Square. Riverfront Park is scheduled to be extensively updated. The Music City Center opened in May 2013. It is a convention center with of exhibit space.


Neighborhoods

* 12South *
Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
* Belmont-Hillsboro * Belle Meade * Bellevue * Berry Hill * Bordeaux * Buena Vista * Cane Ridge * Cleveland Park * Crieve Hall * Donelson * East Nashville * Edgehill Village * Five Points/East End * Germantown * Green Hills * The Gulch * Hermitage * Hillsboro Village * Hope Gardens * Inglewood * Joelton * Lakewood * Lockeland Springs * Madison * Midtown * McFerrin Park * North Nashville * Oak Hill * Old Hickory * Richland/Cherokee Park * SoBro * Sylvan Heights * Sylvan Park * The Nations *
Tusculum Tusculum is a ruined Classical Rome, Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable dist ...
* Whitland * Woodbine * Woodland-in-Waverly * Whites Creek * West Meade * West Nashville


Flora

Nashville, with 56% of the ground surface within its city limits covered in urban tree canopy, has the largest percentage of forested area of any city in the U.S. With Nashville's 320,000 total acres, this translates into over 170,000 wooded acres that may earn it the largest urban tree canopy by area, as well. The nearby city of
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
is notable and even named for its so-called "cedar glades", which occur on soils too poor to support most trees and are instead dominated by Virginian juniper.
Blackberry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...
bushes,
Virginia pine ''Pinus virginiana'', the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, possum pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York (state), New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennesse ...
, loblolly pine, sassafras, red maple, river birch, American beech, river cane, mountain laurel and sycamore are all common native trees, along with many others. In addition to the native forests, the combination of hot summers, abundant rainfall and mild winters permit a wide variety of both temperate and subtropical plants to be cultivated easily. Southern magnolia and cherry blossom trees are commonly cultivated here, with the city having an annual cherry blossom festival. Crepe myrtles and yew bushes are also commonly grown throughout Metro Nashville, and the winters are mild enough that sweetbay magnolia is evergreen whenever it is cultivated. The pansy flower is popular to plant during the autumn, and some varieties will flower overwinter in Nashville's subtropical climate. However, many hot-weather plants like
petunia ''Petunia'' is a genus of 20 species of flowering plants of South American origin. The popular flower of the same name derived its epithet from the French, which took the word , 'tobacco', from a Tupi–Guarani language. A tender perennial plan ...
and even
papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...
thrive as annuals, and Japanese banana will die aboveground during winter but re-sprout after the danger of frost is over. Unbeknownst to most Tennesseans, even cold-hardy palms, particularly needle palm and dwarf palmetto, are grown uncommonly but often successfully, while the taller windmill palm is more marginal, perishing below about without protection. High desert plants like Colorado spruce and prickly pear cactus are also grown somewhat commonly, as are '' Yucca filamentosa'' and the trunking '' Yucca rostrata''.


Climate

Nashville International Airport Nashville International Airport is a public/military airport in the southeastern section of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1937, its original name was Berry Field, from which its ICAO and IATA identi ...
in Donelson has a
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Cfa'', Trewartha ''Cf''), with hot, humid summers and generally cool winters typical of the
Upper South The Upland South and Upper South are two overlapping cultural and geographic subregions in the inland part of the Southern United States. They differ from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, economics, demographics, ...
. Snowfall occurs during the winter months, but it is usually not heavy. Average annual snowfall is about , falling mostly in January and February and occasionally in March, November and December. The largest snow event since 2003 was on January 22, 2016, when Nashville received of snow in a single storm; the largest overall was , received on March 17, 1892, during the St. Patrick's Day Snowstorm. Rainfall is typically greater in solar spring (Feb-Apr) and summer (May-Jul), while the solar autumn months (Aug-Oct) are the driest on average. Spring and fall are prone to
severe thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...
s, which may bring
tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
es, large
hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...
, flash floods and damaging wind, with recent major events on April 16, 1998; April 7, 2006; February 5, 2008; April 10, 2009; May 1–2, 2010; and March 3, 2020. Relative humidity in Nashville averages 83% in the mornings and 60% in the afternoons, which is considered moderate for the Southeastern United States. In recent decades, due to urban development, Nashville has developed an
urban heat island Urban areas usually experience the urban heat island (UHI) effect; that is, they are significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparent when winds ar ...
; especially on cool, clear nights, temperatures are up to warmer in the heart of the city than in rural outlying areas. The Nashville region lies within USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7b. From 1970 to 2020 the average summer temperature has risen 2.8 degrees F (1.5 C). Nashville's long springs and autumns combined with a diverse array of trees and grasses can often make it uncomfortable for
allergy Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Food allergy, food al ...
sufferers. In 2008, Nashville was ranked as the 26th-worst spring allergy city in the U.S. by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. The coldest temperature ever officially recorded in Nashville was on January 21, 1985, and the hottest was on June 29, 2012. Nashville allegedly had a low of on January 26, 1832, but this was decades before record-keeping began and isn't counted as the official record low.


Donelson

The mean annual temperature at Nashville International Airport is . Monthly averages range from in January to in July, with a
diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag, also known as thermal inertia, is an important factor in diur ...
of . Diurnal temperature variation is highest in April and lowest in December, but it is also relatively high in October and relatively low in January. Donelson's climate classifications are
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Cfa'' and Trewartha ''Cfak'' thanks to its hot summers (average over ), cool winters (average over ) and long (8+ months) growing seasons (average over ). Precipitation is abundant year-round without any major difference, but there is still slight variation. The wet season runs from February through July, reaching its zenith in May with 128 mm of rain. The dry season runs from August through January with an October nadir of 85 mm and secondary December peak of 113 mm.


Old Hickory

The mean annual temperature at Old Hickory Dam is . Monthly averages range from in January to in August, with a
diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag, also known as thermal inertia, is an important factor in diur ...
of . Diurnal temperature variation is highest in April and lowest in January. Old Hickory's climate classifications are
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Cfa'' and Trewartha ''Doak'' thanks to its hot summers (average over ), cool winters (average over ) and mediocre (4–7 months) growing seasons (average over ). Precipitation is abundant year-round without any major difference, but there is still slight variation. The wet season runs from February through July, reaching its zenith in April with 120 mm of rain. The dry season runs from August through January with an October/November nadir of 85 mm and secondary December peak of 113 mm. Data for record temperatures is spotty before June 2007 with another brief gap in data in January 2024, but temperatures in Old Hickory have been known to range from in January 1966 to in June and July 2012.


Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 689,447 people, 279,545 households, and 146,241 families residing in the city. The population increase of 88,225, or 14.67% over the
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
figure of 601,222 residents, represented the largest net population increase in the city's history. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . In 2010, there were 254,651 households and 141,469 families (55.6% of households). Of households with families, 37.2% had married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 4.2% had a male householder with no wife present. 27.9% of all households had children under the age of 18, and 18.8% had at least one member 65 years of age or older. Of the 44.4% of households that are non-families, 36.2% were individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.16. The age distribution was 22.2% under 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $46,141, and the median income for a family was $56,377. Males with a year-round, full-time job had a median income of $41,017 versus $36,292 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,372. About 13.9% of families and 18.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.5% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over. Of residents 25 or older, 33.4% have a bachelor's degree or higher. Because of its relatively low cost of living and large job market, Nashville has become a popular city for
immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
. Nashville's foreign-born population more than tripled in size between 1990 and 2000, increasing from 12,662 to 39,596. The city's largest immigrant groups include
Mexicans Mexicans () are the citizens and nationals of the Mexico, United Mexican States. The Mexican people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish language, Spanish, but many also speak languages from 68 different Languages o ...
,
Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
, Vietnamese, Laotians,
Arabs Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...
, and
Somalis The Somali people (, Wadaad's writing, Wadaad: , Arabic: ) are a Cushitic peoples, Cushitic ethnic group and nation native to the Somali Peninsula. who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic languages, East ...
. There are also smaller communities of
Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...
from
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
and Pakistan concentrated primarily in
Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
. Nashville has the largest Kurdish community in the United States, numbering approximately 15,000. In 2009, about 60,000 Bhutanese refugees were being admitted to the U.S., and some were expected to resettle in Nashville. During the Iraqi election of 2005, Nashville was one of the few international locations where Iraqi expatriates could vote.Alt URL
The American Jewish community in Nashville dates back over 150 years, and numbered about 8,000 in 2015, plus 2,000 Jewish college students. In 1779, approximately 20 percent of the settlers in Fort Nashborough were enslaved and free individuals of African descent. From this period until the Civil War, a burgeoning African American community in Nashville, under the guidance of a select few black leaders, diligently laid the groundwork for a prosperous society. They established educational institutions, places of worship, and enterprises, all contributing to the development and progress of the city.


Metropolitan area

, Nashville has the largest
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
in the state of Tennessee, with a population of 2,014,444. The Nashville metropolitan area encompasses 13 of 41
Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...
counties:
Cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...
, Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Macon, Maury, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson, and Wilson. The 2020 population of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Columbia combined statistical area was 2,118,233.


Religion

59.6% of people in Nashville claim religious affiliation according to information compiled by Sperling's BestPlaces. The dominant religion in Nashville is
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
, accounting for 57.7% of the population. The Christian population is broken down into 20.6%
Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
, 6.2% Catholics, 5.6% Methodists, 3.4% Pentecostals, 3.4% Presbyterians, 0.8%
Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...
, and 0.5% Lutherans. 15.7% identify with other forms of Christianity, including the Orthodox Church and
Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...
.
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
is the second largest religion, with 0.8% of the population. 0.6% of the population adhere to eastern religions such as
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
,
Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
,
Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
and
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
, and 0.3% follow
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
.


Economy

In the 21st century's second decade, Nashville was described as a "southern boomtown" by numerous publications. In 2017, it had the third-fastest-growing metropolitan economy in the United States and "adds an average of 100 people a day to its net population increase". The Nashville region was also said to be the "Number One" Metro Area for Professional and Business Service Jobs in America; Zillow said it had the "hottest Housing market in America". In 2013, the city ranked No. 5 on ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' list of the Best Places for Business and Careers. In 2015, ''Forbes'' put Nashville as the fourth Best City for White Collar Jobs. In 2015, Business Facilities' 11th Annual Rankings report named Nashville the number one city for Economic Growth Potential.
Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...
companies with offices within Nashville include
BNY Mellon The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY, is an American international financial services company headquartered in New York City. It was established in its current form in July 2007 by the merger of the Bank of New York an ...
, Bridgestone Americas,
Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
, Community Health Systems,
Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...
, Deloitte, Dollar General,
Hospital Corporation of America HCA Healthcare, Inc. (historically known as Hospital Corporation of America) is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owned and operated 186 ...
,
Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...
North America,
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...
, Tractor Supply Company, and UBS. Of these, Community Health Systems, Dollar General, SmileDirectClub, Hospital Corporation of America, and Tractor Supply Company are headquartered in the city. Many popular food companies are based in Nashville including Captain D's, Hunt Brothers Pizza, O'Charley's, Logan's Roadhouse, J. Alexander's, and Stoney River Legendary Steaks. As the "home of country music", Nashville has become a major music recording and production center. The Big Three record labels, as well as numerous independent labels, have offices in Nashville, mostly in the Music Row area. Nashville has been the headquarters of guitar company Gibson since 1984. Since the 1960s, Nashville has been the second-largest music production center (after New York City) in the United States. Nashville's music industry is estimated to have a total economic impact of about $10billion per year and to contribute about 56,000 jobs to the Nashville area. The area's largest industry is health care. Nashville is home to more than 300 health care companies, including
Hospital Corporation of America HCA Healthcare, Inc. (historically known as Hospital Corporation of America) is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owned and operated 186 ...
(HCA), the world's largest private operator of hospitals. , it was estimated the health care industry contributes per year and 200,000 jobs to the Nashville-area economy. CoreCivic, formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America and one of the largest private corrections company in the United States, was founded in Nashville in 1983, but moved out of the city in 2019.
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
was one of its investors before the company's
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
. The City of Nashville's pension fund included "a $921,000 stake" in the company in 2017. The ''Nashville Scene'' notes that, "A drop in CoreCivic stock value, however minor, would have a direct impact on the pension fund that represents nearly 25,000 current and former Metro employees." The automotive industry is also becoming important for the Middle Tennessee region. Nissan North America moved its corporate headquarters in 2006 from Gardena, California ( Los Angeles County) to Franklin, a suburb south of Nashville. Nissan's largest North American manufacturing plant is in
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
, another suburb of Nashville. Largely as a result of the increased development of Nissan and other Japanese economic interests in the region, Japan moved its former
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
consulate-general to Nashville's Palmer Plaza.
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
operates an assembly plant in Spring Hill, about south of Nashville. Automotive parts manufacturer Bridgestone has its their North American headquarters in Nashville and manufacturing plants and a distribution center in nearby counties. Other major industries in Nashville include insurance, finance, and publishing (especially religious publishing). The city hosts headquarters operations for several Protestant denominations, including the
United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...
,
Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...
, National Baptist Convention USA, and the National Association of Free Will Baptists. Nashville is known for Southern confections, including Goo Goo Clusters, which have been made in Nashville since 1912. In May 2018,
AllianceBernstein AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (AB) is a global asset management firm providing investment management and research services worldwide to institutional, high-net-worth and Investor, retail investors. AllianceBernstein's headquarters are located ...
pledged to build a private client office in the city by mid-2019 and to move its headquarters from
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to Nashville by 2024. The technology sector is an important and growing aspect of Nashville's economy. In November 2018,
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
announced its plans to build an operations center in the Nashville Yards development to serve as the hub for their Retail Operations division. In April 2021,
Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...
announced that it would construct a $1.2 billion campus in Nashville, which is expected to employ 8,500 by 2031. In December 2019,
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
selected Nashville as the site of its second digital headquarters. Real estate is becoming a driver for the city's economy. Based on a survey of nearly 1,500 real estate industry professionals conducted by
PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...
and the Urban Land Institute, Nashville ranked seventh nationally in terms of attractiveness to real estate investors for 2016. , according to city figures, there is more than $2 billion in real estate projects underway or projected to start in 2016. Due to high yields available to investors, Nashville has been attracting a lot of capital from out-of-state. A key factor that has been attributed to the increase in investment is the adjustment to the city's zoning code. Developers can easily include a combination of residential, office, retail and entertainment space into their projects. Additionally, the city has invested heavily into public parks. Centennial Park is undergoing extensive renovations. The change in the zoning code and the investment in public space is consistent with the millennial generation's preference for walkable urban neighborhoods.


Top employers

According to the Nashville Business Journal, the top employers in the city are:


Culture

Much of the city's cultural life has revolved around its large university community. Particularly significant in this respect were two groups of critics and writers who were associated with
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
in the early 20th century: the Fugitives and the Agrarians. Popular destinations include Fort Nashborough and Fort Negley, the former being a reconstruction of the original settlement, the latter being a semi-restored Civil War battle fort; the Tennessee State Museum; and The Parthenon, a full-scale replica of the original
Parthenon The Parthenon (; ; ) is a former Ancient Greek temple, temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the Greek gods, goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of c ...
in Athens. The Tennessee State Capitol is one of the oldest working state capitol buildings in the nation. The Hermitage, the former home of President
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
, is one of the largest presidential homes open to the public, and is also one of the most visited. Many of the significant sites that reflect the places that shaped Nashville's culture were identified in 2019 and placed in the national database of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. This list includes the Bicentennial Capital Mall, Public Square, Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art, Clover Bottom Mansion, Belmont Mansion, Travellers Rest Historic House Museum, Mount Olivet and Calvery Cemeteries, Music Row, Printer's Alley Historic District, The Gulch, Glen Leven Farm, and the WSM-AM Broadcasting Tower. These and many others are listed o
The Cultural Landscape Foundation
website.


Dining

Some of the more popular types of local cuisine include hot chicken, hot fish,
barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...
, and meat and three.


Entertainment and performing arts

Nashville has a vibrant music and entertainment scene spanning a variety of genres. With a long history in the music scene, it is no surprise that city was nicknamed "Music City". The Tennessee Performing Arts Center is the major performing arts center of the city. It is the home of the Nashville Repertory Theatre and the Nashville Ballet. In September 2006, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center opened as the home of the Nashville Symphony. As the city's name itself is a
metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...
for the country music industry, many popular attractions involve
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
, including the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Belcourt Theatre, and
Ryman Auditorium Ryman Auditorium (originally Union Gospel Tabernacle and renamed Grand Ole Opry House for a period) is a historic 2,362-seat live-performance venue and museum located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in the downtown core of Nashville, Tennesse ...
. Hence, the city became known as America's "Country Music Capital". The Ryman was home to the ''
Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...
'' until 1974 when the show moved to the Grand Ole Opry House, east of downtown. The Opry plays there several times a week, except for an annual winter run at the Ryman. Many music clubs and honky-tonk bars are in downtown Nashville, particularly the area encompassing Lower Broadway, Second Avenue, and Printer's Alley, which is often referred to as "the District". Each June, the CMA Music Festival (formerly known as Fan Fair) brings thousands of country fans to the city. The Tennessee State Fair is also held annually in September. Nashville was once home of television shows such as '' Hee Haw'' and '' Pop! Goes the Country'', as well as The Nashville Network and later, RFD-TV. Country Music Television and Great American Country currently operate from Nashville. The city was also home to the Opryland USA theme park, which operated from 1972 to 1997 before being closed by its owners ( Gaylord Entertainment Company) and soon after demolished to make room for the Opry Mills mega-shopping mall. The
Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christianity, Chri ...
industry is based along Nashville's Music Row, with a great influence in neighboring Williamson County. The Christian record companies include EMI Christian Music Group, Provident Label Group, and Word Records. Music Row houses many gospel music and Contemporary Christian music companies centered around 16th and 17th Avenues South. On River Road, off Charlotte Pike in West Nashville, the ''CabaRay'' opened its doors on January 18, 2018. The performing venue of Ray Stevens, it offers a Vegas-style dinner and a show atmosphere. There is also a piano bar and a gift shop. Although Nashville was never known as a major
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
town, it did have many great jazz bands, including The Nashville Jazz Machine led by Dave Converse and its current version, the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, led by Jim Williamson, as well as The Establishment, led by Billy Adair. The Francis Craig Orchestra entertained Nashvillians from 1929 to 1945 from the Oak Bar and Grille Room in the Hermitage Hotel. Craig's orchestra was also the first to broadcast over local radio station WSM-AM and enjoyed phenomenal success with a 12-year show on the NBC Radio Network. In the late 1930s, he introduced a newcomer, Dinah Shore, a local graduate of Hume Fogg High School and Vanderbilt University. Radio station WMOT-FM in nearby Murfreesboro, which formerly programmed jazz, aided significantly in the recent revival of the city's jazz scene, as has the non-profit Nashville Jazz Workshop, which holds concerts and classes in a renovated building in the north Nashville neighborhood of Germantown. Fisk University also maintains a jazz station, WFSK. Nashville has an active theatre scene and is home to several professional and community theatre companies. Nashville Children's Theatre, Nashville Repertory Theatre, the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, the Dance Theatre of Tennessee and the Tennessee Women's Theater Project are among the most prominent professional companies. One community theatre, Circle Players, has been in operation for over 60 years. The Barbershop Harmony Society has its headquarters in Nashville.


Tourism

Perhaps the biggest factor in drawing visitors to Nashville is its association with country music, in which the Nashville sound played a role. Many visitors to Nashville attend live performances of the Grand Ole Opry, the world's longest-running live radio show. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is another major attraction relating to the popularity of country music. The Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, the Opry Mills regional shopping mall and the '' General Jackson'' showboat, are all located in what is known as Music Valley. Civil War history is important to the city's tourism industry. Sites pertaining to the Battle of Nashville and the nearby Battle of Franklin and Battle of Stones River can be seen, along with several well-preserved antebellum plantation houses such as Belle Meade Plantation, Carnton plantation in Franklin, and Belmont Mansion. Nashville has many arts centers and museums, including the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, the Tennessee State Museum, the Johnny Cash Museum, Fisk University's Van Vechten and Aaron Douglas Galleries, Vanderbilt University's Fine Art Gallery and Sarratt Gallery, the
National Museum of African American Music The National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) is a museum in Nashville, Tennessee. The museum showcases the musical genres inspired, created, or influenced by African-Americans. Its location at Fifth + Broadway in Downtown Nashville, as op ...
, and the full-scale replica of the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; ; ) is a former Ancient Greek temple, temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the Greek gods, goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of c ...
. A sculpture of Athena Parthenos inside the Parthenon is the tallest indoor sculpture in the Western World – standing 42 feet high. Nashville has become an increasingly popular destination for bachelor and bachelorette parties. In 2017, '' Nashville Scene'' counted 33 bachelorette parties on Lower Broadway ("from Fifth Avenue down to the Cumberland River, it's their town") in less than two hours on a Friday night, and stated that the actual number was likely higher. Downtown, the newspaper wrote, "offers five blocks of bars with live music and no cover". In 2018, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called Nashville "the hottest destination for bachelorette parties in the country" because of the honky-tonk bars' live music. City boosters welcome the bachelorette parties because temporary visitors may become permanent; '' BuzzFeed'' wrote, "These women are at precisely the point in their lives when a move to Nashville is possible". The city in 2022 began regulating party buses that provide transportainment in downtown, issuing dozens of permits and rejecting applications for dozens more. The CMT reality television series ''Bachelorette Weekend'' follows the employees at Bach Weekend, a Nashville company that designs and throws bachelor and bachelorette parties.


Major annual events


Nicknames

Nashville is a colorful, well-known city in several different arenas. As such, it has earned various sobriquets, including: * Music City, U.S.A.: WSM-AM announcer David Cobb first used this name during a 1950 broadcast and it stuck. It is now the official nickname used by the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau. Nashville is the home of the
Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...
, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and many major
record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
s. This name also dates back to 1873, where after receiving and hearing a performance by the Fisk Jubilee Singers,
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
of the United Kingdom is reported as saying that "These young people must surely come from a musical city." *Smashville: This moniker is most closely associated with the
Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...
hockey team. According to Yahoo! News, the name was conjured by local fan Frank Glinski, "Glinski actually came up with the term "Smashville" during a conversation with the Predators' then-vice president of marketing, who like Glinski had a child playing youth hockey locally." A "Smashville" sign is located outside the home of the Predators, Bridgestone Arena. *
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
of the South: Home to 24 post-secondary educational institutions, Nashville has long been compared to Athens, the ancient city of learning and site of
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
's Academy. Since 1897, a full-scale replica of the Athenian Parthenon has stood in Nashville, and many examples of classical and neoclassical architecture can be found in the city. The term was popularized by Philip Lindsley (1786–1855), President of the University of Nashville, though it is unclear whether he was the first person to use the phrase. * The Protestant
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
or The Buckle of the Bible Belt: Nashville has over 700 churches, several seminaries, a number of Christian music companies, and is the headquarters for the publishing arms of the
Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...
( LifeWay Christian Resources), the
United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...
( United Methodist Publishing House) and the National Baptist Convention (Sunday School Publishing Board). It is also the seat of the National Baptist Convention, the
National Association of Free Will Baptists } The National Association of Free Will Baptists (NAFWB) is a national body of Free Will Baptist churches in the United States and Canada, organized on November 5, 1935 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee. The Association traces its hist ...
, the Gideons International, the Gospel Music Association, and Thomas Nelson, the world's largest producer of Bibles. * Cashville: Nashville native Young Buck released a successful rap album called '' Straight Outta Cashville'' that has popularized the nickname among a new generation. *
Little Kurdistan Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Little (album), ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt *Little (film), ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's nov ...
: Nashville has the United States' largest population of
Kurdish people Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
, estimated to be around 11,000. * Nash Vegas or Nashvegas Nashville has additionally earned the moniker "The Hot Chicken Capital", becoming known for the local specialty cuisine hot chicken. The Music City Hot Chicken Festival is hosted annually in Nashville and several restaurants make this spicy version of southern fried chicken. Due to a short-lived smokeless gunpowder plant in 1918, Nashville also had the nickname "Powder City of the World".


Sports


Professional

Nashville is home to four professional sports franchises. Three play at the highest professional level of their respective sports: the
Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...
of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL), the
Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...
of the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL), and Nashville SC of
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
(MLS). The city is also home to one minor league team: the Nashville Sounds of
Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
's
International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...
. An investment group, Music City Baseball, seeks to secure a
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
expansion franchise or lure an existing team to the city. The Women's National Basketball Association is considering a franchise expansion to Nashville. The
Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...
moved to Nashville in 1998. Previously known as the Houston Oilers, which began play in 1960 in
Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, the team relocated to Tennessee in 1997. They played at the
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, is a stadium, football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown, Memphis, Midtown area of Memphis, Tenne ...
in Memphis for one season, then moved to Nashville in 1998 and played in Vanderbilt Stadium for one season. During those two years, the team was known as the Tennessee Oilers, but changed its name to Titans in 1999. The team now plays at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, which opened in 1999. Since moving to Nashville, the Titans have won five division championships (2000, 2002, 2008, 2020, and 2021) and one conference championship (1999). They competed in 1999's Super Bowl XXXIV, losing to the St. Louis Rams, 23–16. The city previously hosted the 1939 Nashville Rebels of the
American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...
and two
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...
teams named the Nashville Kats (1997–2001 and 2005–2007). From April 25–27, 2019, Nashville hosted the
2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...
, which saw an estimated 200,000 fans attend each day. The
Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...
joined the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
as an expansion team in the 1998–99 season. The team plays its home games at Bridgestone Arena. The Predators have won two division championships (2017–18 and 2018–19) and one conference championship (2016–17). Nashville SC, a
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
franchise, began play in 2020 at Nissan Stadium. It moved into the newly completed soccer-specific stadium Geodis Park at the Nashville Fairgrounds in 2022. The Nashville Sounds baseball team was established in 1978 as an expansion franchise of the Double-A Southern League. The Sounds won the league championship in 1979 and 1982. In 1985, the Double-A Sounds were replaced by a Triple-A team of the American Association. After the circuit dissolved in 1997, they joined the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1998 and won the league championship in 2005. The Sounds left their original ballpark, Herschel Greer Stadium, in 2015 for First Horizon Park, a new ballpark built on the site of the former Sulphur Dell ballpark. In 2021, they were placed in the Triple-A East, which became the
International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...
in 2022. In total, the Sounds have won eleven division titles and three league championships. The Music City Fire, an arena football team of the American Arena League began play at the Williamson County AgExpo Park in 2020. Nashville is the home of the second-oldest continually operating racetrack in the United States, the Fairgrounds Speedway. It hosted NASCAR Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1984,
NASCAR Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...
and
NASCAR Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...
in the 1980s and 1990s, and later the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and ARCA Racing Series. Nashville Superspeedway is located southeast of Nashville in Gladeville, part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The track held
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
sanctioned events from 2001 to 2011 as well as IndyCar races from 2001 to 2008. Nashville Superspeedway reopened in 2021 and hosts the premier
NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
race Ally 400 annually. The Nashville Invitational was a golf tournament on the
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
from 1944 to 1946. The Sara Lee Classic was part of the
LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...
from 1988 to 2002. The BellSouth Senior Classic of the Champions Tour was held from 1994 to 2003. The Nashville Golf Open is part of the Web.com Tour since 2016. The 1961 Women's Western Open and 1980 U.S. Women's Open were also held in Nashville.


College and amateur

Nashville is also home to four Division I athletic programs. Nashville is also home to the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998 in sports, 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by ...
. Nashville Roller Derby is Nashville's only women's flat track
roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...
team. Established in 2006, Nashville Roller Derby competes on a regional and national level. They play their home games at the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena. In 2014, they hosted the WFTDA Championships at Municipal Auditorium. The Nashville Kangaroos are an Australian Rules Football team that compete in the United States Australian Football League. The Kangaroos play their home games at Elmington Park. The team is the reigning USAFL Central Region Champions. Three Little League Baseball teams from Nashville (one in
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
; one in
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
; and, one in
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
) have qualified for the
Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children (primarily boys) aged 10 to 12 years old, held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for th ...
. Teams from neighboring Goodlettsville qualified for the
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
and
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
series, giving the metropolitan area teams in three consecutive years to so qualify; and four teams in five years.


Parks and gardens

Metro Board of Parks and Recreation owns and manages of land and 99 parks and greenways (accounting for more than 3% of the total area of the county). Warner Parks, situated on of land, consists of a learning center, of scenic roads, of hiking trails, and of horse trails. It is also the home of the annual
Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
Steeplechase. The
United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...
maintains parks on Old Hickory Lake and Percy Priest Lake. These parks are used for activities such as fishing, water skiing, sailing and
boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...
. The Harbor Island Yacht Club makes its headquarters on Old Hickory Lake, and Percy Priest Lake is home to the Vanderbilt Sailing Club and Nashville Shores. Other parks in Nashville include Centennial Park, Shelby Park, Cumberland Park, and
Radnor Lake State Natural Area Radnor Lake State Natural Area, also known as Radnor Lake State Park, is a popular state natural area and state park in Oak Hill, Tennessee, Oak Hill, Tennessee within Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The nature preserve lies just outside Nash ...
. Four of Nashville's major parks are located in a forest of rolling hills along the city's western border. These are Beaman Park, Bells Bend Park, Warner Parks, and Radnor Lake State Park. With urban tree canopy covering 56% of Nashville's total land surface, the city places at the very top in forest cover among major U.S. cities. The vast majority of this canopy is in the suburban western hills containing the four parks noted above. The density and continuous canopy have earned it the name of Nashville's Highland Rim Forest. If omitting towns with smaller populations like Sitka, Alaska, with its huge city park, then Nashville has the largest urban tree canopy of major cities by area. In addition, with Nashville's being one of largest U.S. cities in geographic size at 320,000 acres, its 179,000 acres of forested surface may also rank it first in percentage of canopy cover at 56%. On August 27, 2013, Nashville mayor Karl Dean revealed plans for two new riverfront parks on the east and west banks of the Cumberland River downtown. Construction on the east bank park began in the fall of 2013, and the projected completion date for the west bank park is 2015. Among many exciting benefits of this Cumberland River re-development project is the construction of a highly anticipated outdoor amphitheater. Located on the west bank, this music venue will be surrounded by a new park and will replace the previous thermal plant site. It will include room for 6,500 spectators with 2,500 removable seats and additional seating on an overlooking grassy knoll. In addition, the east bank park will include a river landing, providing people access to the river. In regard to the parks' benefits for Nashvillian civilians, Mayor Dean remarked that "if done right, the thermal site can be an iconic park that generations of Nashvillians will be proud of and which they can enjoy".


Law and government

The city of Nashville and Davidson County merged in 1963 as a way for Nashville to combat the problems of
urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...
. The combined entity is officially known as "the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County", and is popularly known as "Metro Nashville" or simply "Metro". It offers services such as
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
,
fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...
,
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
, water and sewage treatment. When the Metro government was formed in 1963, the government was split into two service districts—the "urban services district" and the "general services district". The urban services district encompasses the 1963 boundaries of the former City of Nashville, approximately , and the general services district includes the remainder of Davidson County. There are six smaller municipalities within the consolidated city-county: Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Oak Hill, Goodlettsville (partially), and Ridgetop (partially). These municipalities use a two-tier system of government, with the smaller municipality typically providing police services and the Metro Nashville government providing most other services. Previously, the city of Lakewood also had a separate charter. However, Lakewood residents voted in 2010 and 2011 to dissolve its city charter and join the metropolitan government, with both votes passing. Nashville is governed by a mayor, vice-mayor, and 40-member Metropolitan Council. It uses the strong-mayor form of the mayor–council system. The current mayor of Nashville is Freddie O'Connell. The Metropolitan Council is the legislative body of government for Nashville and Davidson County. There are five council members who are elected at large and 35 council members that represent individual districts. The Metro Council has regular meetings that are presided over by the vice-mayor, who is currently Jim Shulman. The Metro Council meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6:00pm, according to the Metropolitan Charter. Nashville is home to the Tennessee Supreme Court's courthouse for
Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...
and the
Estes Kefauver Federal Building and United States Courthouse The Estes Kefauver Federal Building & Courthouse Annex is a Federal government, Federal office building and a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee built in Nashville, Tennessee in 1952. The nine-sto ...
, home of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.


Politics

Nashville has been a Democratic stronghold since at least the end of
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
, and has remained staunchly Democratic even as the state as a whole has trended strongly Republican. Pockets of Republican influence exist in the wealthier portions of the city, but they are usually no match for the overwhelming Democratic trend in the rest of the city. The issue of school busing roiled politics for years but subsided after the 1990s. While local elections are officially nonpartisan, nearly all the city's elected officials are publicly known as Democrats. The city is split among 10 state house districts, all of which are held by Democrats. Three state senate districts and part of a fourth are within the county; three are held by Democrats and one by a Republican. In the state legislature, Nashville politicians serve as leaders of both the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
and
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
Democratic Caucuses. Representative Mike Stewart serves as Chairman of the House Caucus. Senator Jeff Yarbro serves as Chairman of the Senate Caucus. Democrats are no less dominant at the federal level. Democratic presidential candidates have failed to carry Davidson County only five times since Reconstruction; in 1928, 1968, 1972, 1984 and 1988.David Leip's Presidential Atlas (Maps for Indiana by election)
Results prior to 1960 available through subscription only
In most years, Democrats have carried Nashville at the presidential level with relatively little difficulty, even in years when they lose Tennessee as a whole. This has been especially true in recent elections, as the state capitol has continued to trend more Democratic even as most of the rest of the state has become staunchly Republican. In the 2000 presidential election, Tennessean Democrat
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
carried Nashville with over 59% of the vote even as he narrowly lost his home state and thus the presidency. In the 2004 election, Democrat
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
carried Nashville with 55% of the vote while
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
won the state by 14 points. In
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
,
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
carried Nashville with 60% of the vote while Republican
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
won Tennessee by 15 points. Nashville was in a single congressional district, the 5th, for most of its history. A Republican had not represented a significant portion of Nashville since 1874, until 2023 when the GOP-controlled state legislature controversially split Nashville into parts of the 5th, 6th, and 7th districts in a partisan gerrymander an additional Republican to Tennessee's congressional delegation as part of the 2022 redistricting cycle. This Republican gerrymander 'cracked' the Democratic stronghold of Nashville across three otherwise Republican districts, ensuring three Republican representatives. This gerrymander 'diminished the influence of Black voters and other voters of color concentrated in Nashville', by splitting them up and adding portions of the Nashville community into districts that are overwhelmingly white and Republican, thus diluting the voting power of Black voters in the state. Prior to this gerrymander, Republicans made a few spirited challenges to the 5th district in the mid-1960s and early 1970s, almost winning the district in 1968. The last serious bid for the district while still a Democratic stronghold was in 1972, when the Republican candidate gained 38% of the vote even as Nixon carried the district in the presidential election by a large margin. The district's best-known congressman was probably Jo Byrns, who represented the district from 1909 to 1936 and was Speaker of the House for much of
Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
's first term as president. Another nationally prominent congressman from Nashville was Percy Priest, who represented the district from 1941 to 1956 and was House Majority Whip from 1949 to 1953. Former mayors Richard Fulton and Bill Boner also sat in the U.S. House before assuming the Metro mayoral office. From 2003 to 2013, a sliver of southwestern Nashville was located in the 7th District, represented by Republican Marsha Blackburn. This area was roughly coextensive with the portion of Nashville she had represented in the state senate from 1998 to 2002. However, the 5th regained all of Nashville after the 2010 census.


Crime

According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting database, Metropolitan Nashville has a violent crime rate approximately three times the national average, and a property crime rate approximately 1.6 times the average. The following table shows Nashville's crime rate per 100,000 inhabitants for seven UCR categories.


Education

The city is served by Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, also referred to as Metro Schools. This district is the second largest school district in Tennessee, and enrolls approximately 85,000 students at 169 schools. In addition, Nashville is home to numerous private schools, including Montgomery Bell Academy, Harpeth Hall School, University School of Nashville, Lipscomb Academy, The Ensworth School, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Father Ryan High School, Pope John Paul II High School, Franklin Road Academy, Davidson Academy,
Nashville Christian School Nashville Christian School (or simply Nashville Christian) is a co-ed private school, private Christian school for ages six weeks through 12th grade located in Bellevue, Tennessee, Bellevue, a neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee. The school was ...
, Donelson Christian Academy, and St. Cecilia Academy. Combined, all of the private schools in Nashville enroll more than 15,000 students.


Colleges and universities

Nashville has been labeled the "Athens of the South" due to the many colleges and universities in the metropolitan area. Total enrollment in post-secondary education in Nashville is around 43,000. The largest is
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
, with about 13,000 students. Vanderbilt is considered one of the nation's leading research universities and is particularly known for its medical, law, business, engineering, and education programs. Nashville is home to more historically Black institutions of higher education than any other city save for
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
: Fisk University, Tennessee State University, Meharry Medical College, and American Baptist College. Other schools based in Nashville include Belmont University, Lipscomb University, Trevecca Nazarene University, and John A. Gupton College. The Tennessee Board of Regents operates Nashville State Community College and the Nashville branch of the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology. Other nearby institutes of higher education include Murfreesboro's Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) and Clarksville's Austin Peay University, both full-sized public university with Tennessee's second- and eighth-largest undergraduate populations, respectively; Daymar College in Franklin; and Cumberland University in
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
.


Media

The daily newspaper in Nashville is '' The Tennessean'', which until 1998 competed with the ''
Nashville Banner The ''Nashville Banner'' is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998. The ''Banner'' was published each Monday through Friday afternoon (as well as Saturdays unt ...
'', another daily paper that was housed in the same building under a joint-operating agreement. ''The Tennessean'' is the city's most widely circulated newspaper. Online news service '' NashvillePost.com'' competes with the printed dailies to break local and state news. Several weekly papers are also published in Nashville, including ''The Nashville Pride'', '' Nashville Business Journal'', '' Nashville Scene'' and ''The Tennessee Tribune''. Historically, ''The Tennessean'' was associated with a broadly liberal editorial policy, while ''The Banner'' carried staunchly conservative views in its editorial pages; ''The Banners heritage had been carried on, to an extent, by ''
The City Paper ''The City Paper'' (also known as ''The Nashville City Paper'') was a free, weekly newspaper that served Nashville, Tennessee from November 1, 2000 to August 9, 2013. History ''The City Paper'' began publication as a daily, Monday through ...
'' which folded in August 2013 after having been founded in October 2000. The ''Nashville Scene'' is the area's
alternative weekly An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting ...
broadsheet. ''The Nashville Pride'' is aimed towards community development and serves Nashville's entrepreneurial population. ''Nashville Post'' is an online news source covering business, politics and sports. Nashville is home to eleven broadcast television stations, although most households are served by direct
cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
network connections. Comcast Cable has a monopoly on terrestrial cable service in Davidson County (but not throughout the entire
media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...
). Nashville is ranked as the 26th largest television market in the United States. Major stations include WKRN-TV 2 ( ABC),
WSMV-TV WSMV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTNX-LD (channel 29). The two stations share studios on Knob Road i ...
4 ( NBC), WTVF 5 ( CBS), WNPT 8 ( PBS), WTNX-LD 15 ( Telemundo), WZTV 17 ( Fox, with
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
on DT2), WNPX-TV 28 ( ion), WPGD-TV 50 ( TBN), WLLC-LD 42 ( Univision), WUXP-TV 30 (
MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...
), ( WJFB) 44 ( MeTV), and WNAB 58 (
Dabl Dabl () is an American digital multicast television network owned by the CBS Media Ventures subsidiary of Paramount Global and operated by Weigel Broadcasting. Dabl launched in September 2019 with a female-targeted lifestyle format. It aired r ...
). Nashville is also home to cable networks Country Music Television (CMT) and RFD-TV, among others. CMT's master control facilities are located in New York City with other Viacom properties. The Top 20 Countdown and CMT Insider are taped in their Nashville studios. Shop at Home Network was once based in Nashville, but the channel signed off in 2008. Several FM and AM radio stations broadcast in the Nashville area, including five college stations and one LPFM
community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...
station. Nashville is ranked as the 39th largest radio market in the United States. WSM-FM is owned by Cumulus Media and is 95.5 FM. WSM-AM, owned by Gaylord Entertainment Company, is based on the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. WSM is famous for carrying live broadcasts of the Grand Ole Opry, through which it helped spread the popularity of country music in America, and continues to broadcast country music throughout its broadcast day. WLAC, whose over-the-air signal is heard at 1510 AM, is an
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
-owned talk station which was originally sponsored by the Life and Casualty Insurance Company of Tennessee, and its competitor WWTN is owned by Cumulus. Several major motion pictures have been filmed in Nashville, including '' The Green Mile'', ''
The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...
'', '' The Last Castle'', '' Gummo'', '' Starman'', '' The Thing Called Love'', '' Two Weeks'', '' Coal Miner's Daughter'', ''
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
'', and '' Country Strong'', as well as the ABC television series ''
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
''.


Infrastructure


Transportation

According to the 2016
American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
, 78.1% of working Nashville residents commuted by driving alone, 9.8% carpooled, 2% used public transportation, and 2.2% walked. About 1.1% used all other forms of transportation, including taxicab, motorcycle, and bicycle. About 6.7% of working Nashville residents worked at home. In 2015, 7.9% of city of Nashville households were without a car; this figure decreased to 5.9% in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Nashville averaged 1.72 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8 per household.


Highways

Nashville is centrally located at the crossroads of three Interstate Highways, I-40 (east-west), I-24 (northwest-southeast) and I-65 (north-south). I-40 connects the city between Memphis to the west and Knoxville to the east, I-24 connects between Clarksville to the northwest and
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
to the southeast, and I-65 connects between Louisville to the north and Huntsville to the south. All three of these interstate highways, which also serve the suburbs, form brief concurrencies with each other in the city, and completely encircle downtown. I-440 is a bypass route connecting I-40, I-65, and I-24 south of Downtown Nashville.
Briley Parkway Briley may refer to: People * Alex Briley, member of Village People * Beverly Briley, American politician * Briley Brothers, American spree killers * David Briley (born 1964), American politician * Jonathan Briley, the 9/11 "Falling Man" * Ma ...
, the majority of which is a
freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
, forms a bypass around the north side of the city and its interstates. Ellington Parkway, a freeway made up of a section of US 31E, runs between east of downtown and Briley Parkway, serving as an alternative route to I-65. I-840 provides an outer southern bypass for the city and its suburbs. U.S. Routes 31, 31E, 31W, 31 Alternate, 41, 41 Alternate, 70, 70S, and 431 also serve Nashville, intersecting in the city's center as arterial surface roads and radiating outward. Most of these routes are called "pikes" and many carry the names of nearby towns to which they lead. Among these are Clarksville Pike, Gallatin Pike, Lebanon Pike, Murfreesboro Pike, Nolensville Pike, and Franklin Pike.


Public transit

WeGo Public Transit provides bus transit within the city. Routes utilize a hub and spoke method, centered around the Music City Central transit station in downtown. A rejected expansion plan included use of bus rapid transit and
light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
service at some point in the future. A subsequent expansion plan focused on improving sidewalks, adding smart signals, upgrading bus stops and transit centers, implementing a 24-hour bus service and adding 54 miles of high-capacity transit corridors was passed in 2024. Nashville is considered a gateway city for rail and air traffic for the Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion.


Air

The city is served by
Nashville International Airport Nashville International Airport is a public/military airport in the southeastern section of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1937, its original name was Berry Field, from which its ICAO and IATA identi ...
(BNA), which is operated by the
Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) manages Nashville, Tennessee's airport systems. The system includes one general aviation airport, John C. Tune Airport and one commercial airport, Nashville International Airport. References

...
(MNAA). Nearly 23 million passengers visited the airport in 2023, making it the 29th busiest airport in the US. BNA is ranked the fastest growing airport among the top 50 airports in the United States. Nashville International Airport serves 600 daily flights to more than 100 nonstop markets. In late 2014, BNA became the first major U.S. airport to establish dedicated pick-up and drop-off areas for vehicle for hire companies. The airport authority also operates the John C. Tune Airport, a Class E airspace
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
airport.


Intercity rail

Although a major freight hub for
CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...
, Nashville is not currently served by
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
, the third-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. to have this distinction. Nashville's
Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
had once been a major intercity passenger rail center for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway; and the Tennessee Central Railway, reaching Midwestern cities and cities on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. However, by the time of Amtrak's founding, service had been cut back to a single train, the '' Floridian'', which ran from
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
to
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
and St. Petersburg, Florida. It served Union Station until its cancellation on October 9, 1979, due to poor track conditions resulting in late trains and low ridership, ending over 120 years of intercity rail service in Nashville. While there have been few proposals to restore Amtrak service to Nashville, there have been repeated calls from residents. In addition to scarce federal funding, Tennessee state officials do not believe that Nashville is large enough to support intercity rail. "It would be wonderful to say I can be in Memphis and jump on a train to Nashville, but the volume of people who would do that isn't anywhere close to what the cost would be to provide the service," said Ed Cole, chief of environment and planning with the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, said rail trips would catch on if routes were expanded, but conceded that it would be nearly impossible to resume Amtrak service to Nashville without a substantial investment from the state. However, in 2020, Amtrak indicated it was considering a service that would run from Atlanta to Nashville by way of Chattanooga. Nashville launched a passenger commuter rail system called the Music City Star (now the WeGo Star) on September 18, 2006. The only currently operational leg of the system connects the city of Lebanon to downtown Nashville at the Nashville Riverfront station. Legs to Clarksville, Murfreesboro and Gallatin are currently in the feasibility study stage. The system plan includes seven legs connecting Nashville to surrounding suburbs.


Bridges

Bridges within the city include:


Utilities

The city of Nashville owns the Nashville Electric Service (NES), Metro Water Services (MWS) and Nashville District Energy System (NDES). The Nashville Electric Service provides electricity to the entirety of Davidson County and small portions of the six adjacent counties, and purchases its power from the Tennessee Valley Authority. Metro Water Services provides water, wastewater, and stormwater to Nashville and the majority of Davidson County, as well as water services to small portions of Rutherford and Williamson counties, and wastewater services to small portions of all of the surrounding counties except for Cheatham County. MWS sources its water from the Cumberland River and operates two water treatment plants and three wastewater treatment plants. Ten additional utility companies provide water and sewer service to Nashville and Davidson County. The Nashville District Energy System provides heating and cooling services to certain buildings in downtown, including multiple government buildings.
Natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
is provided by Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy.


Healthcare

As a major center for the healthcare industry, Nashville is home to several hospitals and other primary care facilities. Most hospitals in Nashville are operated by Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the TriStar Division of
Hospital Corporation of America HCA Healthcare, Inc. (historically known as Hospital Corporation of America) is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owned and operated 186 ...
, and Ascension Saint Thomas. The Metropolitan Nashville Hospital Authority operates Nashville General Hospital, which is affiliated with Meharry Medical College.


International relations


Sister cities

Nashville's
sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...
are: *
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom *
Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
, France *
Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
, China *
Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...
, Kurdistan Region, Iraq *
Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
, Canada *
Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...
, Japan *
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...
, Germany * Mendoza, Argentina *
Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...
, China * Tamworth, Australia ;Candidates * Gwangjin (Seoul), South Korea ;International Friendship City * Crouy, France ;Municipality United in Friendship * El Port de la Selva, Spain


Consulates

Nashville is also home to consulates for the following countries: *
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
*
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
*
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
(honorary) *
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
(honorary) *
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
*
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
(honorary) *
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...


See also

* List of people from Nashville, Tennessee * Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency * '' The Children'', 1999 book about the Nashville Student Movement * National Register of Historic Places listings in Davidson County, Tennessee * USS ''Nashville'', 3 ships


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

;Government
Official website
;Other
Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce



Nashville/Davidson County timeline
from the
Nashville Public Library Nashville Public Library (NPL) is the public library system serving Nashville, Tennessee and the metropolitan area of Davidson County. In 2010, the Nashville Public Library was the recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. ...
{{Use mdy dates, date=March 2024 Cities in Tennessee Cities in Davidson County, Tennessee Consolidated city-counties County seats in Tennessee Populated places established in 1779 Cities in Nashville metropolitan area 1779 establishments in North Carolina Railway towns in Tennessee State capitals in the United States