Tennessee

Tennessee
State
Flag of Tennessee
Flag
Official seal of Tennessee
Seal
Nickname: 
The Volunteer State
Motto(s): 
Agriculture and Commerce
Anthem: Eleven songs
Map of the United States with Tennessee highlighted
Map of the United States with Tennessee highlighted
CountryUnited States
Before statehoodSouthwest Territory
Admitted to the UnionJune 1, 1796; 230 years ago (June 1, 1796) (16th)
Capital
(and largest city)		Nashville
Largest county or equivalentShelby
Largest metro and urban areasNashville
Government
 • GovernorBill Lee (R)
 • Lieutenant GovernorRandy McNally (R)
LegislatureGeneral Assembly
 • Upper houseSenate
 • Lower houseHouse of Representatives
JudiciaryTennessee Supreme Court
U.S. senatorsMarsha Blackburn (R)
Bill Hagerty (R)
U.S. House delegation7 Republicans
1 Democrat
1 vacant (list)
Area
 • Total42,181 sq mi (109,247 km2)
 • Land41,235 sq mi (106,898 km2)
 • Water909 sq mi (2,355 km2)  2.2%
 • Rank36th
Dimensions
 • Length440 mi (710 km)
 • Width120 mi (195 km)
Elevation
900 ft (270 m)
Highest elevation
(Kuwohi, formerly Clingmans Dome)
6,643 ft (2,025 m)
Lowest elevation
(Mississippi River at Mississippi border)
178 ft (54 m)
Population
 (2024)
 • TotalNeutral increase 7,227,750
 • Rank15th
 • Density171.0/sq mi (65.9/km2)
  • Rank20th
 • Median household income
$67,600 (2023)
 • Income rank
42nd
DemonymsTennessean
Big Bender (archaic)
Volunteer (historical significance)
Language
 • Official languageEnglish
 • Spoken languageLanguage spoken at home
Time zones
East Tennessee except for Bledsoe, Cumberland, and Marion countiesUTC−05:00 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (EDT)
Middle and West Tennessee, and Bledsoe, Cumberland, and Marion countiesUTC−06:00 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−05:00 (CDT)
USPS abbreviation
TN
ISO 3166 codeUS-TN
Traditional abbreviationTenn.
Latitude34°59′ N to 36°41′ N
Longitude81°39′ W to 90°19′ W
Websitetn.gov

Tennessee (/ˌtɛnɪˈsiː/ (listenⓘ), locally /ˈtɛnɪsi/), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Nashville, which is the country music center of America. Tennessee borders eight states including Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri.

Several professional sports teams play there, including the Tennessee Titans of the NFL, the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA, the Nashville Predators of the NHL and the Tennessee Volunteers.

Cherokee and other Native American tribes lived in Tennessee before the arrival of Europeans. African American slaves worked on plantations in the state. Tennessee is known for its country music and Southern cuisine.

Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populated state and as of 2025, the state's population is around 7.22 million.

State symbols of Tennessee
DanceSquare dance
MammalTennessee Walking Horse
Raccoon
BirdNorthern mockingbird
Bobwhite quail
FishChannel catfish
Smallmouth bass
InsectFirefly
Lady beetle
Honey bee
FlowerIris
Passion flower
Tennessee echinacea
TreeTulip poplar
Eastern red cedar
FoodTomato
FossilPterotrigonia (Scabrotrigonia) thoracica
MineralAgate
Tennessee state symbols
Flag of Tennessee
Living insignia
AmphibianTennessee cave salamander
BirdMockingbird
Bobwhite quail
ButterflyZebra swallowtail
FishChannel catfish
Smallmouth bass
FlowerIris
Passion flower
Tennessee echinacea
InsectFirefly
Lady beetle
Honey bee
MammalTennessee Walking Horse
Raccoon
ReptileEastern box turtle
TreeTulip poplar
Eastern red cedar
Inanimate insignia
BeverageMilk
DanceSquare dance
FirearmBarrett M82
FoodTomato
FossilPterotrigonia (Scabrotrigonia) thoracica
GemstoneTennessee River pearl
MineralAgate
Poem"Oh Tennessee, My Tennessee" by William Lawrence
RockLimestone
Slogan"Tennessee—America at its best"
TartanTennessee State Tartan
State route marker
Tennessee state route marker
State quarter
Tennessee quarter dollar coin
Released in 2002
Lists of United States state symbols

History

The 2016 Tennessee Heritage Protection Act puts "the brakes on cities' and counties' ability to remove monuments or change names of streets and parks".

In Crossfield, Tennessee, the South Cumberland Elementary School: Murals painted in 2003, one of a large Confederate battle flag and another showing the team's mascot, the Rebel, triumphantly holding a Confederate battle flag while a boy in a blue outfit is being lynched on a tree, were altered/removed in 2018 after it was discovered by the anti-hate organization located in Shelbyville.

In Franklin, the Forrest Crossing Golf Course, owned by the American Golf Corporation, changed its name to the Crossing Golf Course on September 22, 2017. It had been named after Confederate General and Klansman Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Removed statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest, Health Sciences Park (formerly Forrest Park), Memphis

In Memphis, Tennessee, Three Confederate-themed city parks were "hurriedly renamed" before the passage of the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2013. Confederate Park (1908) was renamed Memphis Park; Jefferson Davis Park (1907) was renamed Mississippi River Park; and Forrest Park (1899) was renamed Health Sciences Park. The vote of the City Council was unanimous. At the time the monuments were dedicated, African Americans could not use those parks. Many other monuments have been removed or renamed in Memphis.

References

  1. ↑ "Tennessee adopts 'The Volunteer State' as official nickname". Nashville: WTVF-TV. Associated Press. February 10, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates". US Census Bureau. Census Reference Files. 2010. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  4. ↑ "QuickFacts Tennessee; United States". census.gov. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. April 1, 2020. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Elevations and Distances in the United States". United States Geological Survey. 2001. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  6. 1 2 "United States Census Quick Facts Tennessee". Census.gov. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Household Income in States and Metropolitan Areas: 2023" (PDF). 2.census.gov. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Languages in Tennessee (State)". Statistical Atlas. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Definition of 'Tennessee'". Webster's New World College Dictionary (4th ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2010. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018 – via Collins English Dictionary.
  10. ↑ "Tennessee". Oxford Advanced American Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2018. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  11. ↑ Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). "Tennessee". Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 488. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  12. ↑ Hughes, Rosana (July 13, 2017). "NAACP begins effort to remove Confederate statue from Hamilton County Courthouse". Times Free Press. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  13. ↑ Rosenberg, Eli (March 7, 2018). "A school's Confederate flag gym mural appeared to depict a lynching, until it got painted over". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  14. 1 2 Sauber, Elaina (October 4, 2017). "Franklin golf course drops Confederate general from name". The Tennessean. p. W2. Retrieved December 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "SB2138 – Tennessee 2015–2016 – Historical Sites and Preservation – As enacted, enacts the "Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2016". – Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 1, Part 4. – TrackBill". trackbill.com. Archived from the original on 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
  16. ↑ Johnson, Eugene J. and Robert D. Russell, Jr., Memphis: An Architectural Guide, The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 1990 pp. 50–51
  17. ↑ Stanglin, Doug (February 6, 2013). "Memphis Changes Names of 3 Confederate-Themed Parks". USA Today.
  18. ↑ Sainz, Adrian (February 5, 2013). "Memphis renames 3 parks that honored Confederacy". Yahoo! News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Memphis City Council votes on ordinance to remove Confederate statues". WREG. September 5, 2017. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  20. Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
  21. McKenzie, Kevin (May 25, 2017). "Nashville overtakes Memphis as Tennessee's largest city". The Tennessean.

  1. 1 2 This elevation measurement was adjusted to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988.