Geography of Tennessee

Introduction to Geography of Tennessee

Tennessee, a state in the southeastern United States. It stretches from the Appalachians to the Mississippi River, bordering eight states. Part of the story of Tennessee's varied geography and history is told by the many nicknames the state has acquired since its founding.

Tennessee is best known as the “Volunteer State”; this nickname honors the thousands of Tennesseans who volunteered and distinguished themselves in the War of 1812.

“Hog and Hominy State” is a nickname that stemmed from the predominance of pork and corn products in Tennessee's economy in the 1800's. Though the name is now obsolete, farming remains important, with soybeans, tobacco, corn, and cattle being the chief products.

The Civil War—fought more in Tennessee than any other state except Virginia—scarred the land and produced the nickname “Butternuts” for Tennesseans. It was first applied to Tennessee soldiers because of their tan-colored uniforms.

Tennessee is also known as “Big Bend State,” a reference to the looping course of the Tennessee River. It was in the Tennessee Valley during the depression of the 1930's that the vast redevelopment program of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was started as an attack on widespread poverty. Out of the program has come a degree of agricultural and industrial prosperity previously unknown in the state.

Tennessee has been the home of notable men since the days of the Revolution. Among them were the frontiersman Davy Crockett; Presidents Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson; the Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest; the hero of the Texas war for independence from Mexico, Sam Houston; and World War I hero Alvin C. York.

Physical Geography

Tennessee is a long, narrow state that occupies parts of three North American physiographic provinces. From east to west they are the Appalachian Highlands, the Central Lowlands, and the Gulf Coastal Plain. Within the state they are officially called East, Middle, and West Tennessee.

The Appalachian Highlands section is a mountainous area running northeast-southwest through the eastern third of the state. Along the Tennessee-North Carolina border rise the heavily forested Unaka, Bald, Great Smoky, and Unicoi mountains. They lie at the southern end of the Blue Ridge and contain many of the loftiest peaks in the eastern United States. Clingmans Dome, rising 6,643 feet (2,025 m) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is the highest peak in the East (after Mount Mitchell in North Carolina). Fifteen other peaks in Tennessee attain heights of more than 6,000 feet (1,830 m).

Just west of the mountains lies the Ridge and Valley region. It consists of a series of more or less parallel ridges and intervening valleys, which together are known as the Great Valley. Farther west is the Cumberland Plateau. It rises along a relatively sharp escarpment to an average elevation of about 2,000 feet (610 m). Throughout the plateau, rivers have carved deep, steep-sided valleys, making the terrain rough.

The Central Lowlands, a vast interior physiographic province of the United States, juts southward into central Tennessee. Here the landforms are varied, and the surface is hilly to flat. The dominant features, however, are low plateaus, cuestas (ridges with one steep side), and a large depression known as the Nashville Basin. Bordering the basin is the so-called Highland Rim.

The Gulf Coastal Plain extends inland from the Gulf of Mexico into the western part of the state, where it is called the Jackson Plain. It is a fertile area of low, rolling terrain between the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers. Marshy bottomlands and low cliffs fringe much of the Mississippi's course. In the extreme southwest, near the Mississippi state line, is Tennessee's lowest point—182 feet (55 m) above sea level.

All the water of Tennessee's streams flows eventually to the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Mississippi-Ohio river system. Well over half of the state is drained by the Tennessee River and its tributaries; the rest, by the Cumberland and Mississippi systems. The state also has areas of underground drainage, marked by caverns and subterranean rivers.

Because of their relatively rapid descents and large flows, rivers in eastern and central Tennessee have afforded excellent opportunities for damming. From development programs have come abundant hydroelectric power, flood control, improved navigation, and new recreational areas. Both public and private agencies have taken part in harnessing the rivers; however, the leader has been the TVA, a federally owned corporation.

Behind the dams are impounded long, meandering lakes, the largest of which is Kentucky Lake, shared by Tennessee and Kentucky. Other such lakes wholly or partly within the state include Barkley, Center Hill, Cherokee, Chickamauga, Dale Hollow, Douglas, Norris, Old Hickory, Tims Ford, and Watts Bar lakes. Reelfoot Lake, in the northwest, is Tennessee's only large natural lake. It was created by severe earthquakes in 1811–12.

Tennessee has a humid climate that has characteristics of both the harsh continental kind of the northern United States and the subtropical type of the South. Its chief marks are warm to hot summers, moderately cold winters, and abundant precipitation.

Summers are hottest in the valleys and lowlands, where July temperatures average 75° to 80° F. (24° to 27° C.). January temperatures in the same areas average about 40° F. (4° C.). Because of their height, the mountainous areas experience lower temperatures in summer and in winter.

Except for the Appalachian peaks, which receive as much as 80 inches (2,030 mm) of precipitation a year, the state normally gets 45 to 55 inches (1,140 to 1,400 mm), depending on the locality. Only a very small part of the total precipitation falls as snow, even in the mountains. Destructive storms are few, since the state lies outside the main areas affected by hurricanes and tornadoes.

Except in the high, remote parts of the Appalachians, the forest wilderness that once covered Tennessee vanished long ago with the settling of the land. Today, second-growth forests cover about half of the state and make up a valuable source of commercial timber. Northern and southern forest tree species are found in Tennessee; the variety is unequaled by most other states. Hardwoods—primarily oak (especially white and red oak), hickory, yellow poplar, sweetgum, maple, and beech—predominate from the Mississippi bottomlands to the Appalachians. Softwoods, mainly pines, are confined largely to the lower mountain slopes of eastern Tennessee. Cedars are widely distributed.

Economy

Since the 1930's, and particularly since World War II, Tennessee has grown steadily from a predominantly agricultural state to one having a diversified economy. Manufacturing has made the most rapid gain and is now the leading sector of the economy. The largest number of Tennesseans are employed in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trading, service industries, and government. Despite its relative decline, agriculture remains important.

Much of Tennessee's industrial growth has stemmed from an abundance of TVA power, relatively low-cost labor, and an influx of new industries from outside the state.

Tennessee is one of the leading industrial states in the South. Nationally, it ranks among the top one-third of the states, though far behind the leaders. Most of the industrial development has been in or near Memphis, Nashville, and Chattanooga, and in the tri-city area of Kingsport, Johnson City, and Bristol.

Chemicals, clothing and textiles, processed foods, machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, and paper items are the chief manufactured products. Chemicals make up the leading group. Synthetic fibers, plastics, fertilizers, acids, paints, and drugs are but a few of the many items produced. Tennessee's synthetic fibers play a major role in its textile and apparel production, as does its cotton. From other large industries come a wide range of machinery; fabricated metal goods; stone, clay, and glass products; printed and published matter; primary metals; paper; leather goods; and furniture. In hardwood lumber production, Tennessee is one of the nation's leading states.

Some of Tennessee's industries are distinctive, if not unique, and reflect the folk traditions of the state. In Nashville is centered the recording and broadcasting of country music—a multimillion-dollar annual industry. Among other industries are the making of handicraft products by Appalachian mountaineers and the distilling of Tennessee sour-mash whiskey.

Farming has improved greatly throughout most of Tennessee since the 1930's, when much of the farmland was of poor quality due to soil erosion and fertility depletion. Improvement began with the TVA's massive conservation program, which meshed federal and state efforts. With it came increased erosion control, reforestation, advanced farming methods, new crops, fertilizers, and rural electrification—the foundations of modern farming.

Farms occupy about half of Tennessee's land area. Roughly 45 per cent of the farmland is used for crops; the rest is mostly pasture and forest. The most productive commercial farms are on the Jackson Plain, in the Nashville Basin, and in the Great Valley. In some of the mountainous areas of eastern Tennessee, small subsistence farms prevail.

Soybeans, which are widely grown in Tennessee, are by total value the chief crop in the state. Cotton, hay, corn, and tobacco are also leading crops. In acreage, corn greatly exceeds all other crops. Timber from farmland plots is also an important source of income.

Tennessee's livestock and livestock products—cattle and calves, milk, hogs, poultry, and eggs—are usually substantially more valuable than its crops. A specialty of the state is the raising of thoroughbred horses, particularly the Tennessee Walking Horse, a breed prized for its smooth running walk.

Mining forms a relatively small, but nevertheless significant, part of the state's economy. Tennessee is a leading producer of ball clay (for ceramics) and other clays, zinc, and phosphate rock. In total value of production, coal, crushed stone, and zinc are the leaders.

Bituminous coal of a relatively high grade is mined on the Cumberland Plateau, both in strip mines and underground. Limestone and sandstone are produced in many parts of the state. Tennessee marble, quarried largely in the Knoxville area, is used in construction throughout the United States. Zinc comes from several counties in the eastern and central parts of the state.

Since the time of the Wilderness Road and the Natchez Trace in the late 18th century, Tennessee has provided vital transportation routes. Today, railways crisscross the state, with major lines following north-south routes. Memphis and Nashville are the principal hubs of the rail network. The road system includes seven Interstate highways and several other multilane divided highways. Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis, and Knoxville are the chief points of convergence for Interstate highways in the state.

Nearly a dozen major airlines serve Tennessee, primarily through airports at Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville. The Mississippi, the Tennessee, part of the Cumberland River, and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway are federally maintained waterways. Memphis has long been a leading inland port.

The People

In 2000 Tennessee had a population of 5,689,283—an increase of 812,098, or 16.7 per cent, over the 1990 total. Tennessee was 16th in rank among the states. The population density was 138.0 persons per square mile (53.3 per km2), more than 70 per cent greater than the national average.

Whites made up 80.2 per cent of the population and blacks, 16.4 per cent.

Annual events in Tennessee

Education

The governor of Tennessee appoints a state commissioner of education. The state board of education consists of 11 members—the executive director of the state higher education commission, a student representative, and 9 persons appointed by the governor. School attendance is compulsory from ages 7 to 17.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities in Oak Ridge is supported by the federal government and sponsored by more than 50 southern universities. It conducts energy, medical, and environmental research; offers science and engineering courses; and provides specialized training and management programs in science and technology.

The University of Tennessee was chartered as Blount College in 1794. The main campus is at Knoxville. There are also campuses at Chattanooga, Martin, and Memphis. The medical, dental, nursing, and pharmacy schools are at Memphis.

Government

Tennessee is governed under its third constitution, adopted in 1870.

The executive branch of government is headed by the governor, who is elected for a term of four years. The office of lieutenant governor is filled by the speaker of the state senate. The secretary of state and the treasurer are appointed by the legislature; the attorney general, by the state supreme court. The legislature, called the General Assembly, consists of a senate of 33 members, elected to four-year terms, and a 99-member house of representatives, elected for two years. It is required by law to hold sessions in odd-numbered years, but it may also meet in even-numbered years.

The judiciary is headed by a supreme court of five justices, elected for terms of eight years. Lower courts include a court of appeals, a court of criminal appeals, chancery courts, and circuit courts.

Tennessee has 95 counties. The state is represented in Congress by two senators and nine representatives.