Tennessee, United States — Towns & Travel Guide

What is Tennessee known for?

Tennessee is known as a landlocked state of the Southeast, ringed by eight neighbouring states. Kentucky lies to the north and Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina runs along the east, and Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi border it to the south. Arkansas and Missouri sit to the west.

The state entered the United States in 1796. Eight states ring it.

Where is Tennessee?

Tennessee is a landlocked state in the Southeast, one of the widest in the region from east to west. Kentucky lies along its northern border, and Virginia meets it at the northeast corner. To the east runs North Carolina.

Along the south lie Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, three states in a row. To the west, Arkansas and Missouri face Tennessee across its far edge. Salt water never reaches Tennessee.

The state reaches a great distance inland, far from any coast in every direction. The land stretches long and narrow, running west from the eastern border with North Carolina toward the western line shared with Arkansas. Eight states surround Tennessee in all, more than almost any other in the United States.

Missouri touches only its northwest corner. The interior sits deep in the Southeast, hemmed by Kentucky, Virginia, and the southern trio of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Distances run wide here.

From the eastern edge by North Carolina to the western edge by Arkansas and Missouri, Tennessee spans the breadth of the inland Southeast, a landlocked state ringed on every side by its neighbours.

What is Tennessee like?

Tennessee carries the culture of the inland South, a landlocked state shaped by the Southeast around it. It shares the customs of the region with the eight states that ring it, from Kentucky and Virginia in the north to Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi along the south. The Southern heritage runs strong.

Far from any coast, the state looks inward to the interior rather than out to the sea, and its neighbours set much of its tone. Tradition holds here. Life across Tennessee sits apart from the seaboard, closer in character to Kentucky and Mississippi than to the far coasts of the country.

The state joined the United States in 1796, taking root among the early Southern states of the interior. Spanish is among the languages spoken in its towns. From the eastern border with North Carolina to the western edge by Arkansas and Missouri, a broadly Southern culture runs across the whole state.

Its ways are inland ways. This landlocked heart of the Southeast keeps its own place among the states of the American South, ringed on every side yet open to none of the sea.

What is the history of Tennessee?

Tennessee entered the United States in 1796, one of the early states of the young country. Its borders were drawn against eight neighbours, from Kentucky and Virginia in the north to Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi in the south. The Southeast took shape around it.

On its eastern side the state meets North Carolina, while its landlocked interior lies far from any coast. Arkansas and Missouri closed its western edge.

What is the climate of Tennessee?

Tennessee has a temperate climate marked by warm, humid summers across the inland Southeast. The landlocked interior heats up in the long summers, far from the cooling reach of any sea. Tennessee winters run mild and short.

Cold spells slip down from Kentucky and the north, but hard freezes rarely last across the southern half near Georgia and Alabama. Spring and autumn stretch long and mild between the seasons.

How do you get to Tennessee?

Most travellers reach Tennessee overland, since the landlocked state has no coast or seaport of its own. Interstate highways cross its borders from every side, linking it to Kentucky and Virginia in the north and to Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi in the south. Roads run in from North Carolina to the east.

From Arkansas and Missouri, routes cross the western edge. Everything arrives by land here.