Tennessee

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Tennessee

(In Detail) (Full size)
State nickname: Volunteer State
File:Highlighting Tennessee.png Other U.S. States
Capital	Nashville
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water  - % water	Ranked 36th 109,247 km2 106,846 km2 2,400 km2 2.2%
Population  - Total (2000)  - Density	Ranked 16th 5,689,283 52/km2
Admittance into Union  - Order  - Date	16th June 1, 1796
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4 Central: UTC-6/-5 Eastern TN in Eastern, Western TN in Central
Latitude Longitude	35°N to 36°41'N 81°37'W to 90°28'W
Width Length Elevation   -Highest   -Mean   -Lowest	195 km 710 km   2,025 meters 275 meters 54 meters
ISO 3166-2:	US-TN

Tennessee is a southern state of the United States.

USS Tennessee was named in honor of this state.

Contents 1 History 2 Law and Government 3 Geography 4 Economy 5 Demographics 6 Important Cities and Towns 7 Education 7.1 Colleges and Universities 8 Professional Sports Teams 9 Miscellaneous Information 10 External Links 10.1 References

History

• history prior to joining the United States
• Tennessee was admitted to the Union in 1796 as the 16th state, and was created by taking the north and south borders of North Carolina and extending them with only one small deviation to the Mississippi River, Tennessee's western boundary. Tennessee seceded from the Union on May 7, 1861. After the American Civil War, Tennesse adopted a new constitution that abolished slavery (February 22, 1865), ratified the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on July 18, 1866, and was the first state readmitted to the Union (July 24 of the same year).
• major historical events that occurred in state

Law and Government

Tennessee's governor holds office for a four year term and may serve any number of terms, but not more than two in a row. The speaker of the state Senate has the title of lieutenant governor. See:List of Tennessee Governors.

The General Assembly, ( the state's legislature) consists of the Senate which has 33 members and the House of Representatives with 99 members. Senators serve four year terms, and House members serve two year terms.

The highest court in Tennessee is the state Supreme Court. It has a chief justice and four associate justices. The Court of Appeals has 12 judges. The Court of Criminal Appeals has nine judges.

Tennessee's current state constitution was adopted in 1870. The state had two earlier constitutions. The first was adopted in 1796, the year Tennessee joined the union, and the second was adopted in 1834.

Geography

See:List of Tennessee counties

It is bordered on the north by Kentucky and Virginia, on the east by North Carolina, on the south by Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, and on the west by Arkansas and Missouri. The state is bisected by the Tennessee River.

The state of Tennessee is traditionally divided by its people into three grand divisions - East, Middle, and West Tennessee.

Economy

• State income
• Major industries/products
• state taxes

Demographics

• state population
• racial/ethnic makeup of state
• religious makeup of state

Important Cities and Towns

The capital is Nashville. Other important cities are Bristol-Kingsport-Johnson City, Oak Ridge, Chattanooga, Memphis and Knoxville. As of 2000, the population is 5,689,283.

Education

Colleges and Universities

Aquinas College Austin Peay State University Baptist Memorial College of Health Sciences Belmont University Bethel College Bryan College Carson-Newman College Christian Brothers University Crichton College Cumberland University East Tennessee State University Fisk University Freed-Hardeman University Johnson Bible College King College Knoxville College Lambuth University Lane College Lee University LeMoyne-Owen College Lincoln Memorial University Lipscomb University Martin Methodist College Maryville College Meharry Medical College Memphis College of Art Middle Tennessee State University Milligan College

Rhodes College Sewanee, University of the South Southern Adventist University Southern College Tennessee State University Tennessee Technological University Tennessee Temple University Tennessee Wesleyan College Trevecca Nazarene University Tusculum College Union University University of Memphis University of Tennessee System University of Tennessee at Chattanooga University of Tennessee at Knoxville University of Tennessee at Martin University of Tennessee at Memphis Vanderbilt University

Professional Sports Teams

Memphis Grizzlies, National Basketball Association Tennessee Titans, National Football League Minor League Baseball Teams Memphis Redbirds Nashville Sounds Chattanooga Lookouts

minor league cont. West Tenn Diamond Jaxx Tennessee Smokies Elizabethton Twins Kingsport Mets Johnson City Cardinals

Miscellaneous Information

See: Tennessee State Flag

• The Tennessee Valley Authority is based in Knoxville.

External Links

• Tennessee State Government
• Tennessee Vacation - Tennessee travel planning
• Tennessee Maps - online road maps and relief maps of Tennessee
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a US Department of Energy national laboratory, one of the principal sites for the Manhattan Project's production and isolation of weapons-grade fissionable material, is also located in the state.

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Tennessee" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee August 23, 2003