| Tennessee, state in the south-central United States. It is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia (N), North Carolina (E), Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi (S), and, across the Mississippi R., Arkansas and Missouri (W). Area, 42,244 sq mi (109,412 sq km).
Pop. (2000) 5,689,283, a 16.7% increase since the 1990 census.
Capital, Nashville.
Largest city, Memphis.
Motto, Agriculture and Commerce.
State bird, mockingbird.
State flower, iris. 
State tree, tulip poplar. Tennessee is along skinny state. The topography changes as you go from East to West, from mountains to rolling hills to flat land between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. There are twenty-three state parks, covering some 132,000 acres (53,420 hectares) as well as parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee National Forest, and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park are in Tennessee. 
The state also has many sites of historic interest, including the Hermitage, home of Andrew Jackson; the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site; Shiloh National Military Park; and Fort Donelson and Stones River national battlefields. Part of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park is also in Tennessee. The Natchez Trace National Parkway generally follows the old Natchez Trace. Nashville is the capital and the second largest city. The largest city is Memphis. Third largest is Knoxville, on the banks of the Tennessee river and home to the pre-ReJames White Fort and Womes' Basketball Hall of Fame. Near by is Oak Ridge (1949), the youngest city in Tennessee and perhaps the most advanced and historically important - it is the city of science. Home to The American Museum of Science and Energy and 4000 acres of parks and walking trails.
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