one of the western states of the North American Union, lying between N. Lat. 35 and 36. 36.; W. Long. 81. 40. and 90. 15.; bounded on the N. by Kentucky and Virginia; E. by North Carolina; S. by Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi; and W. by Arkansas and Missouri. Length from E. to W. about 450 miles; breadth 110; area about 46,600 square miles. It is generally divided into three parts—Eastern, Middle, and Western Tennessee; the Cumberland Mountains separating the eastern from the middle, and the River Tennessee, the latter from the western portion. The surface of the country varies much in its different parts; as it extends over so great an area, from the summit of the Alleghany range to the east bank of the Mississippi. The eastern part of the country is entirely occupied by the various chains of the Alleghany Mountains, the chief of which are three; the Kittatinny chain, known also under several local names, forming the boundary between Tennessee and North Carolina; the Chestnut ridge nearly parallel to this, further west; and the Cumberland Mountains or Laurel ridge, still further west. None of the summits exceed 2000 feet in height; but the chains are continuous, broken only by a few gaps or passes at long intervals. In some places the mountains are rugged and precipitous, in others they rise gently from the surrounding country, and enclose fertile and beautiful valleys. The country between the mountain-ridges is occupied by valleys, broad but somewhat uneven in their surface; and there are but few tracts unfit for cultivation. Forests of pines and other trees cover the mountains to their summits. The central portion of Tennessee is a hilly country, gradually declining in elevation towards the west. The hills generally form ridges or undulations in a direction parallel to the mountain-chains in the east. The extreme west of the state forms an almost unbroken level.

Many fine rivers, some of which are navigable, traverse the state of Tennessee. The Mississippi, which washes for a distance of 160 miles its western border, receives either directly or through its affluent the Ohio, all the rivers of the state. Western Tennessee is entirely watered by direct tributaries of the Mississippi, the chief of which are the Forked Deer, navigable for 150 miles; the Hatchee, for upwards of 100, and the Obion for 60 miles. The central and eastern regions are watered by the Tennessee and Cumberland, with their affluents. The Tennessee river is formed by the confluence near Kingston of the Clinch and the Holston, the former of which rises in the Alleghanies in the S.W. of Virginia, while the latter flows from the same mountains on the borders of Tennessee, and receives from the left the French Broad River and the Little Tennessee. The united stream flows in a very irregular course generally towards the south-west, until it crosses the frontiers of Tennessee and enters Alabama. It then turns westward, and after a long curve, re-enters Tennessee and crosses that state again from south to north, enters Kentucky, and falls into the Ohio. The Elk and the Duck rivers are its principal affluents in the lower part of its course; they both rise in the Cumberland Mountains and flow westwards into the Tennessee. The whole length of the Tennessee is nearly 900 miles, of which 400 are within this state; and it is navigable for 700 miles by steam-boats. The Cumberland rises in Kentucky, and makes a bend for about 150 miles in the north of the state, then re-enters Kentucky, and falls into the Ohio a short distance above the Tennessee. Its largest affluents in Tennessee are the Caney Fork and Stone River. Its navigable length is 400 miles.

The geological structure of the country varies considerably in its different parts. A narrow strip of land along the eastern boundary of the state is occupied by Upper Silurian strata, here known by the name of gray limestone. The Lower Silurian formations, under the names of the Stone River and Nashville groups, cover a large portion of Central Tennessee; and strata of the Devonian formation traverse the west of the state from north to south. Still further west lies a broad strip of chalk rocks; while immediately on the bank of the Mississippi there are more recent alluvial deposits. There are also extensive coal measures, which traverse the state from north-east to southwest, forming part of a chain that connects the great coal regions of Ohio and Pennsylvania in the north with those of Alabama in the south. Many valuable minerals exist in the country in great abundance. Besides coal, iron is found chiefly along the Cumberland river. Copper, lead, zinc, silver, and manganese exist in the central and eastern divisions, and gold in small quantities in the north-east of the state. Marble, slate, gypsum, and alum are also among the minerals of Tennessee. In the Cumberland Mountains, as in most limestone regions, there are many caves, some of which are more than 100 feet below the ground and upwards of a mile in extent. The country has also many salt and mineral-springs.

The climate of Tennessee is temperate, being free alike from the excessive heat of the south and the cold winds of Tennessee: the north. A considerable amount of snow falls during the winters; but these are generally of short duration. With the exception of some of the alluvial regions near the great rivers, the whole of the country is of undoubted salubrity. The soil is in general fertile and fit for the plough, especially in the western parts, where a rich black mould prevails; in some parts in the east of the state the soil is poorer and more adapted for pasturage; but even here the valleys are very fertile. Forests of pine, juniper, red cedar, oak, beech, walnut, poplar, and many other trees cover the mountains of Tennessee. Maize, tobacco, and cotton are the most important crops raised; but besides these, wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat, barley, potatoes, flax, hemp, and fruits of various kinds are cultivated. In 1850 the extent of cultivated land in the state was 5,175,173 acres, and the produce consisted of 52,276,223 bushels of maize, 7,703,086 of oats, 1,619,381 of wheat, 89,163 of rye, 3,845,560 of potatoes, 369,321 of pulse, 14,214 of grass seed, and 18,906 of flax seed; 20,148,932 lb. of tobacco, 77,812,800 of cotton, 8,139,583 of butter, 1,364,378 of wool, 1,035,571 of honey and wax, 177,681 of cheese, 368,131 of flax, 248,000 of sugar-cane, 258,854 of rice, 153,577 of maple sugar, and 74,092 tons of hay. The live stock in the same year comprised 270,636 horses, 75,303 mules and asses, 750,762 horned cattle, 811,595 sheep, and 3,114,111 swine, valued in all at L.6,247,418. The wild animals of the country are similar to those found in the adjacent states, including deer, squirrels, racoons, foxes, and in some places bears. There are also pheasants, partridges, wild turkey, ducks, and geese; and fish are found in the rivers, but not in very great abundance.

The state of Tennessee, especially its eastern portion, enjoys many facilities for manufactures in having abundance of water-power from its great rivers, a plentiful supply of coals and other fuel, and many of the most important raw materials produced in the immediate neighbourhood. According to the census of 1850, the state contained 2789 manufactories, producing annually above L.100 worth of goods. Among these were 33 cotton factories, employing 310 men and 581 women, and producing 363,250 yards of cloth, and 2,326,250 lbs. of yarn, valued in all at L.106,378; 4 woollen establishments, employing 15 men and 2 women, and producing goods valued at L.1314; 81 furnaces, forges, &c., employing 2705 men, and producing 44,152 tons of wrought, cast, and pig iron, valued at L.335,732; numerous breweries and distilleries, employing 159 hands, and producing 657,000 gallons; and 364 tanneries, producing leather valued at L.155,415. The total value of home-made manufactures in Tennessee was L.648,709, being higher than the amount in any other state of the Union. The chief centres of manufacturing industry are Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis; but the great bulk of the manufactures are carried on in the villages of the state; and there are no great manufacturing towns such as have risen up in the eastern states. Internal communication is facilitated in Tennessee by numerous railways, which intersect the country in all directions, connecting all the principal towns with the Atlantic coast on the one side, and the Mississippi and the western states on the other. In January 1859, the total length of the railways in Tennessee was 830 miles. There are no canals in the state, the numerous navigable rivers affording abundant means of communication by water. The principal exports from the country are live stock, pork, bacon, lard, butter, flour, maize, fruits, tobacco, cotton, hemp, and saltpetre, which are conveyed either to New Orleans, and thence to American or foreign ports, or by railway to Virginia, Georgia, or South Carolina. Tennessee has thus an important internal and transit trade, but no direct intercourse with foreign countries.

Education is well provided for in Tennessee; there were in January 1859, 7 colleges, besides a separate theological seminary; 278 academies; and 2713 schools, attended by 288,538 children. The government has a school fund, which amounted in 1853 to L.121,677; and the amount laid out on education in 1857 was L.41,555. Among the public institutions are a state penitentiary, an institution for teaching the blind, a lunatic asylum, all at or near Nashville, and a school for the deaf and dumb at Knoxville. In 1850, Tennessee contained in all 1939 places of worship, with 606,695 sittings. Of the former, 831 belonged to the Methodists; 611 to Baptists of various sects; 357 to the Presbyterians, and the rest to other sects of much less size and importance in the state. There is, on an average, 1 place of worship to every 517 inhabitants, and the aggregate value of church property is L.251,846.

The government of Tennessee is, like that of all the other states of the Union, democratical. The executive power is in the hands of a governor, elected by popular suffrage for a period of two years, and receiving a salary of L.625 a year. The legislature consists of a senate of 25, and a house of representatives of 75 members, likewise elected by the people every two years. The judicial establishments consist of a supreme court of 3 judges; a court of chancery of 6; 15 circuit courts; a special criminal court for Davidson county, in which the capital stands; a common law and chancery court; and a criminal court for the city of Memphis. All the judges are popularly elected for a term of eight years, and have salaries varying from L.312 to L.520. Slavery exists in Tennessee; and by a provision in the constitution, the legislature has no power to abolish it without the consent of the owners. The total amount of the state income for the two years ending October 1, 1859, was L.385,016; that of the expenditure for the same period, L.355,057. The total amount of the state debt, October 1, 1859, was L.3,467,417. There were in January 1859, 39 banks in Tennessee, with an aggregate capital of L.1,741,947, and a circulation of L.1,348,502. The largest town and capital of the state is Nashville, on the River Cumberland. There are 79 counties, of which 28 are in Eastern, 32 in Central, and 19 in Western Tennessee.

Tennessee was the first settled of all the states west of the Alleghanies, for as early as 1757 a settlement was formed at Fort London, in the east of the state, by emigrants from North Carolina, to which this country originally belonged. The Cherokees, who then inhabited the country, destroyed this fort in 1760, and murdered or drove away all the settlers; but colonization was soon after resumed, and in 1780 the Cherokees were expelled from the north and centre of Tennessee. In 1784, North Carolina ceded it to the Federal Government, but afterwards revoked the grant when an attempt was made to form an independent state. Finally, however, in 1790, it came under the direct sway of the United States government, by whom it was formed, in 1794, into a territory, and admitted in 1796 as a state (the sixteenth) into the Union. In the war with Britain in 1812 Tennessee took an active part; General Jackson, a citizen of this state, greatly distinguishing himself by his defeat of the British at New Orleans. In 1834, a new constitution was adopted in Tennessee, which still continues in force. The population of the state in 1850 was 1,006,213, of whom 237,026 were slaves.