Tennessee

Tennessee is a southeastern US state famous as a birthplace of American music, from the blues and soul of Memphis to the country music of Nashville, its capital and largest city. Nicknamed the Volunteer State, it stretches from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River.

Tennessee spans three regions: the Great Smoky Mountains and Appalachian highlands in the east, the central basin and highland rim around Nashville, and the flat Mississippi floodplain near Memphis in the west. The climate is humid subtropical.

Tennessee is a powerhouse of American music, home to Nashville's Grand Ole Opry and country industry, Memphis blues and soul, and Elvis Presley's Graceland. Southern cooking, whiskey distilling and college football are central to its culture.

Home to the Cherokee and other peoples, Tennessee became the 16th state in 1796. It earned the Volunteer State nickname for its soldiers, was a major Civil War battleground, and grew into a cultural and industrial center of the South.