Tennessee map

Where Tennessee is

Tennessee is the long, narrow state stretching about 440 miles from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Mississippi River, but only about 110 miles from north to south. With eight neighbors it ties Missouri for the most bordering states. Clockwise from the north: Kentucky and Virginia along a surveyed line near 36°30'N, North Carolina along the Appalachian crest to the east, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi along the 35th parallel to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri across the Mississippi River to the west. It is the 36th-largest state by area and 16th by population.

Major cities

Nashville's figure is for the consolidated Nashville–Davidson County balance; it passed Memphis to become the largest city in the 2020 count. Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville are on Central, Central and Eastern time respectively.

Geography

• Highest point — Clingmans Dome, 6,643 ft, on the North Carolina line in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most-visited national park in the US. See the national parks map.
• Tennessee River — forms at Knoxville, flows southwest to Chattanooga, dips into Alabama, then flows north across the whole state again to Kentucky, so it crosses Tennessee twice.
• Cumberland River — loops down from Kentucky through Nashville and Clarksville; the Cumberland Plateau, a flat-topped upland 1,000 ft above the valleys, divides East and Middle Tennessee.
• Mississippi River — the western border, with Memphis on the Chickasaw Bluffs. See the Mississippi River map. The low point, about 178 ft, is where the river leaves the state at the Mississippi line.
• Lakes — Reelfoot Lake in the northwest, formed by the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes, is the largest natural lake; TVA reservoirs (Kentucky, Chickamauga, Norris, Watts Bar) cover far more area.
• Time zones — East Tennessee, including Knoxville and Chattanooga, is Eastern; Middle and West Tennessee are Central. The line runs roughly along the Cumberland Plateau's west edge.

Borders

The northern border was meant to be the 36°30' parallel inherited from the Virginia–North Carolina line, but the 1780 Walker survey drifted north and the border with Kentucky still follows it, with a notch at the Tennessee River where the line jogs. The 35th parallel with Georgia was surveyed about a mile too far south in 1818, which is why Georgia's legislature periodically claims a corner of the Tennessee River at Nickajack. The eastern border follows the Blue Ridge and Unaka crests; the Mississippi River is the western border, though the river's meanders have left pieces of Tennessee on the Arkansas side.

Regions of Tennessee

Tennessee's flag has three stars for its three Grand Divisions, written into state law: East Tennessee (Knoxville, Chattanooga, the Tri-Cities, the Smokies and the Cumberland Plateau), Middle Tennessee (Nashville, the Highland Rim and Central Basin) and West Tennessee (Memphis, Jackson, the Gulf Coastal Plain between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers).

Related maps

• Tennessee county map — all 95 counties with seats.
• Blank Tennessee map — outline for printing.
• Printable Tennessee map.
• Nashville — the capital and largest city.
• Memphis — the second city, on the Mississippi.
• Neighbors: Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri.
• South, East South Central division, Southeast, Central Time Zone, Eastern Time Zone.
• Geography: Appalachian Mountains, Mississippi River, national parks.