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State Facts

History | Symbols | Interesting Facts | Famous People

Demographics
Statehood:  June 1, 1796

Capital:  Nashville

Total Area:  36th among states, 109,158 sq km (42,146 sq mi)

Water Area:  2,398 sq km (926 sq mi)

Highest Point:  Clingmans Dome, 2,025 m (6,643 ft)

Total Population:   16th among states
2000 census -  5,689,283
2005 estimate -  5,962,959

Population Density in 2000:  52 people per sq km (135 per sq mi)

Distribution in 1990:  61% Urban, 39% Rural

Economy:  
 Gross State Product - $199.8 billion (2003)
Personal income per Capita - $28,641 (2003)

Largest cities in 2000: 
 Memphis:  680,768
Nashville:  569,891
Knoxville:  173,890

  • The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis marks the site where Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in 1968.
     

  • On a clear day seven states are visible from Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga.
     

  • Bluegrass music originated in Bristol, in northeastern Tennessee.

  • The largest earthquake in American history, the New Madrid Earthquake, occurred in the winter of 1811-12 in Tennessee.  Reelfoot Lake and Lake Counties were created during this earthquake.
     

  • The first guide dog for the blind in the U.S. lived in Nashville with her owner Morris Frank.  “Buddy” was trained in Switzerland by The Seeing Eye, the first organization to train guide dogs.
     

  • The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville is the longest continuously running live radio program in the world.  It has broadcast every weekend since 1925.
     

  • On October 7, 1916 Georgia Tech beat Cumberland University in a football game by a score of 222 to 0.
     

  • More Civil War battles were fought in Tennessee than in any other state except Virginia.
     

  • The only monument in the United States honoring both the Union and Confederate armies is located in Greenville at the Green County Courthouse.
     

  • Samuel Carter of Elizabethton was the only person in American history to be both an Admiral in the Navy and a General in the Army.
     

  • Andrew Johnson held every elective office at the local, state, and federal level, including President of the United States.  He served as alderman, mayor, state representative, and state senator from Greeneville.  He served as governor and military governor of Tennessee and the United States congressman, senator, and vice president, becoming President of the U.S. after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.