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Note: Alaska and Hawaii are shown out of
position for reference only and are not to scale.
Blank
Tennessee State Outline Map
Tennessee lies adjacent to eight other states:
Kentucky and
Virginia to the north;
North Carolina to the
east; Georgia,
Alabama and
Mississippi on the south;
and Arkansas and
Missouri on the
Mississippi River
to the west. Tennessee ties Missouri as the states
bordering the most other states. The state is
trisected by the
Tennessee River. The highest point in the state
is the peak of Clingmans
Dome at 6,643 feet (2,025 m), which lies on
Tennessee's eastern border, and is the highest point
on the Appalachian
Trail. The lowest point is the Mississippi River
at the Mississippi state line. The geographical
center of the state is located in
Murfreesboro
on Old Lascassas Pike (just down the road from
Middle
Tennessee State University). It is marked by a
roadside monument.
The state
of Tennessee is geographically and constitutionally divided
into three Grand
Divisions: East Tennessee,
Middle Tennessee, and
West Tennessee.
Tennessee
features six principal physiographic regions: the
Blue Ridge, the
Appalachian Ridge
and Valley Region, the
Cumberland Plateau, the Highland
Rim, the Nashville Basin,
and the Gulf Coastal Plain.
East Tennessee
The
Blue Ridge area lies on
the eastern edge of Tennessee, bordering North Carolina.
This region of Tennessee is characterized by high mountains,
including the Great Smoky
Mountains, the Chilhowee Mountains, the
Unicoi Range, and the
Iron Mountains range. The
average elevation of the Blue Ridge area is 5,000 feet
(1,500 m) above sea level.
Clingman's Dome is located in this region.
Stretching
west from the Blue Ridge for approximately 55
miles (88 km) is the Ridge and Valley
region, in which numerous tributaries join to form the
Tennessee River in the Tennessee
Valley. This area of Tennessee is covered by fertile
valleys separated by wooded ridges,
such as Bays Mountain and
Clinch Mountain. The western
section of the Tennessee valley, where the depressions
become broader and the ridges become lower, is called the
Great Valley. In
this valley are numerous towns and the region's two urban
areas, Knoxville, and
Chattanooga.
Middle Tennessee
To the west
of East Tennessee lies the
Cumberland Plateau. This area is covered with
flat-topped mountains separated by sharp valleys. The
elevation of the Cumberland Plateau ranges from 1,500 to
1,800 feet (450 to 550 m) above sea level.
West of the
Cumberland Plateau is the Highland
Rim, an elevated plain that surrounds the
Nashville Basin. The northern
section of the Highland Rim, known for its high tobacco
production, is sometimes called the
Pennyroyal Plateau and is
located in primarily in Southwestern Kentucky. The Nashville
Basin is characterized by rich, fertile farm country and
high natural wildlife diversity.
Middle
Tennessee was a common destination of settlers crossing the
Appalachians in the late 1700s and early 1800s. An important
trading route called the Natchez
Trace, first used by Native Americans, connected Middle
Tennessee to the lower Mississippi River town of
Natchez. Today the route
of the Natchez Trace is a scenic highway called the
Natchez Trace Parkway.
Many
biologists study the area's salamander species because the
diversity is greater there than anywhere else in the U.S.
This is thought to be because of the clean
Appalachian foothill
springs that abound in the area.
Some of the
last remaining large American
Chestnut trees still grow in this region and are being
used to help breed blight resistant
trees.
West Tennessee
West of the
Highland Rim and Nashville Basin is the
Gulf Coastal Plain, which
includes the Mississippi
embayment. The Gulf Coastal Plain is, in terms of area,
the predominant land region in Tennessee. It is part of the
large geographic land area that begins at the
Gulf of Mexico and extends
north into southern Illinois. In
Tennessee, the Gulf Coastal Plain is divided into three
sections that extend from the
Tennessee River in the east to the
Mississippi River in the
west. The easternmost section, about 10 miles (16 km) in
width, consists of hilly land that runs along the western
bank of the Tennessee River. To the west of this narrow
strip of land is a wide area of rolling hills and streams
that stretches all the way to
Memphis; this area is called the Tennessee Bottoms or
bottom land. In Memphis, the Tennessee Bottoms end in steep
bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. To the west of the
Tennessee Bottoms is the
Mississippi Alluvial
Plain, less than 300 feet (90 m) above sea level. This
area of lowlands, flood plains, and swamp land is sometimes
referred to as The Delta
region.
Most of
West Tennessee remained Indian land until the Chickasaw
Cession of 1818, when the Chickasaw
ceded their land between the Tennessee River and the
Mississippi River. The portion of the Chickasaw Cession that
lies in Kentucky is known today as the
Jackson Purchase.
Public lands
Areas under
the control and management of the
National Park Service
include:
Fifty-four
state parks, covering some 132,000 acres
(534 km˛) as well as parts of the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park and
Cherokee National Forest,
and
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park are in
Tennessee. Sportsmen and visitors are attracted to
Reelfoot Lake, originally
formed by an earthquake;
stumps and other remains of a once dense forest, together
with the lotus bed covering the shallow waters, give the
lake an eerie beauty.
Climate
Most of the
state has a humid
subtropical climate, with the exception of the higher
mountains, which have a
humid continental climate. The
Gulf of Mexico is the dominant factor in the climate of
Tennessee, with winds from the south being responsible for
most of the state's annual precipitation. Generally, the
state has hot summers and mild to cool winters with generous
precipitation throughout the year. On average the state
receives 50 inches (130 cm) of precipitation annually.
Snowfall ranges from 5 inches (13 cm) in West Tennessee to
over 16 inches (41 cm) in the higher mountains in East
Tennessee.
Summers in
the state are generally hot, with most of the state
averaging a high of around 90 °F (32 °C) during the summer
months. Summer nights tend to be cooler in East Tennessee.
Winters tend to be mild to cool, increasing in coolness at
higher elevations and in the east. Generally, for areas
outside the highest mountains, the average overnight lows
are near freezing for most of the state.
While the
state is far enough from the coast to avoid any direct
impact from a hurricane, the
location of the state makes it likely to be impacted from
the remnants of tropical cyclones which weaken over land and
can cause significant rainfall. The state averages around 50
days of thunderstorms per year, some of which can be quite
severe. Tornadoes are possible
throughout the state, with West Tennessee slightly more
vulnerable. On average, the state has 15 tornadoes per year.
Tornadoes in Tennessee can be severe, and Tennessee leads
the nation in the percentage of total tornadoes which have
fatalities. Winter storms are an occasional problem—made
worse by a lack of snow removal equipment and a population
which might not be accustomed or equipped to travel in
snow—although ice storms are a more
likely occurrence. Fog is a persistent
problem in parts of the state, especially in much of the
Smoky Mountains.
Interactive Tennessee State Map
Explore the state of Tennessee with the dynamic map below. You can
zoom, pan and even get a satellite map view.
Move your cursor over the markers on the map to
learn more about Tennessee.
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