What do Aretha Franklin, Morgan Freeman, Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton have in common? They were all born in what is commonly considered to be the home of rock’n roll, blues and bourbon. According to Listofusnewspapers, Tennessee, that is Memphis, Nashville and Graceland, that is the famous Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Dollywood and the National Civil Rights Museum. It is home to the Appalachian Trail and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most-visited national park in the United States.

Tennessee
Jack Daniel’s Distillery | Memphis | Nashville

But that’s not all. Because the southern state has much more to offer than its world-famous attractions. The 16th state of the USA owes its name to the word “Tanasi”, an Indian settlement on the Little Tennessee River.

Tennessee in numbers, data and facts

• Area: 109,247 km²
• Population: 6,770,010, estimate July 1st, 2018
• Member of the United States since: June 1, 1796
• Time zone: UTC-5 CDT (Nashville) / UTC-4 EDT (Knoxville)
• Highest elevation: 2,025 meters (Clingmans Dome)
• Lowest point: 54 meters above sea level (Mississippi River)
• Average height: 275 meters
• Capital: Nashville
• State motto: “Agriculture and commerce”
• Nickname: Volunteer State (state of the volunteers)
• Governor: Byron Lee (Republican Party)

Geographical location and extent

Tennessee is one of the southern states of the United States and is bordered by Virginia and Kentucky to the north, North Carolina to the east, and Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia to the south. To the west are Arkansas and Missouri. Tennessee is the US state that borders Missouri on most other states. The state in the southeastern United States is divided into 95 counties.

Geographically, the state with the nickname “The Volunteer State” can be divided into three major regions: West, Middle and East. While the imposing mountains of the Blue Ridge Mountains with the Great Smoky Mountains National Parkpredominate in the east of the state, the flat mountains and deep valleys of the Cumberland Plateau can be found in the middle of the state. The west of Tennessee with the Mississippi River and the Tennessee River are characterized by fertile valleys and wooded ridges. Here in the west is Memphis with its many sights.

Weather and Climate in Tennessee

Tennessee in the southeastern United States has a cold, temperate climate with lots of rainfall. The annual average temperature is 10.6 degrees Celsius. The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 24.1 degrees Celsius. The temperature can rise to over thirty degrees this month. The coldest month is January with an average temperature of -5 degrees Celsius. However, temperatures of around -10 degrees Celsius are also possible. Approximately 934 mm of precipitation falls per year, most of it in July. The month with the lowest rainfall is February.

Population of Tennessee

It is estimated that more than 6.7 million people lived in Tennessee in 2018. Most of the population (77.79%) are white. African Americans make up 16.79% of the population. 0.3% have Native American and Alaskan roots, 1.68% have Asian roots. The median age is 38.5 years and there are slightly more women (51.3 percent) than men (48.7 percent) in the state.

A full 81 percent of the population belong to a Christian religion. The most important religious community in Tennessee is the Southern Baptist Convention (1,483,356 members), followed by the United Methodist Church (375,693 members). According to statistics, the Catholic Church had 222,434 members in 2010.

The 10 largest cities of Tennessee

1. Nashville (678,322)
2. Memphis (650,618)
3. Knoxville (187,500)
4. Chattanooga (180,557)
5. Clarksville (156,794)
6. Murfreesboro (141,344)
7. Franklin (80,914)
8. Jackson (66,903)
9. Johnson City (66,778)
10. Bartlett (59,315)

Tennessee – a state for true connoisseurs

Tennessee is also unique delights that can only be found here in the southern state. There are the famous Nashville chickens and slow cooked barbecue specialties that are distinctive to Memphis’ cuisine. There are festivals all year round, where you can feast on everything from barbecues to sweets and corn bread and discover a lot of new things from American cuisine. One of the most famous is that Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue.

This also brings us to one of the most famous spirits in the world, the famous Jack Daniel’s whiskey from Lynchburg. Just one of the high-proof spirits made by the state’s distilleries. Because the Tennessee Whiskey is one of the most famous worldwide. You can find many of them along the opened in 2017 Tennessee Whiskey Trails to attempt. Including the famous George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey, which is produced by the George Dickel Distillery.

In addition, not only friends of distilleries, but also beer lovers get their money’s worth in the southern state. Especially in Knoxville, Memphis and the capital Nashville, numerous craft breweries are just waiting to be visited by you.

Economy and Infrastructure

Tennessee is considered a major industrial location. In 2016, real gross domestic product per capita in Tennessee was 49,430 US dollars (USD). In addition to tourism, important branches of the economy are the textile, wood and chemical industries, machine and motor vehicle construction, forestry and the cultivation of tobacco, cotton, soybeans and maize. Mining also plays an important role. In the southern state, coal, pyrite, zinc ore and phosphate are mined.

Well-known companies are FedEx, International Paper and the cinema chain Regal Entertainment Group. The North American headquarters of the Japanese automaker Nissan is based in Franklin. The whiskey manufacturers Jack Daniels and George Dickel are internationally known at this industrial location. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory should also be mentioned here, which has around 4,750 employees and contributed significantly to the state’s economic boom.

Tennessee has a good infrastructure. There are international airports in both the capital, Nashville, and Memphis. Other national airports can be found in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Jackson. Memphis Airport is the largest cargo airport in the world.

Interstate 40 runs west-east through the state and connects the metropolitan areas of Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis. I-26 runs from Chattanooga to Clarksville. Interstates 55, 65, 75 and 81 run north-south. I-75 is named after the famous politician Albert Arnold Gore Sr. Memorial Highway.

The Amtrak route from Chicago to New Orleans also serves Memphis and Newbern. Important waterways in the state are the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers.