County & City Web Sites

Population

6,910,840, the 15th largest state

Size of the State

About 491 miles long and 115 miles wide

Total Area

42,146 square miles

Land

41,220 square miles

Water

926 square miles

Geographic Center

5 miles NE of Murfreesboro in Rutherford County. Longitude: 86° 37.3'W, Latitude: 35° 47.7'N

Bordering States

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia

Record Temperatures

Highest: 113°F recorded on July 29 and August 9, 1930 in Perryville.
Lowest: -32°F recorded on December 30, 1917 at Mountain City.

Average Rainfall Per Year

52.98 inches

Highest Point

Clingman's Dome, 6,643 feet, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Lowest Point

Mississippi Bottoms, 178 feet above sea level near the Mississippi River.

Major Rivers

Mississippi, Cumberland, Tennessee, Clinch, Duck, Hatchie and French Broad

Major Lakes

Kentucky, Watts Bar, Chickamauga, Norris, Cherokee, Center Hill and Tims Ford Reservoir

Three Grand Divisions

There are three grand divisions of the state: the eastern, middle and western. These are the counties comprising each division according to Tennessee Code Annotated § 4-1-201 (2020).

Eastern Division

Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Cumberland, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hamilton, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Loudon, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Polk, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi, Union and Washington

Middle Division

Bedford, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, Coffee, Davidson, DeKalb, Dickson, Fentress, Franklin, Giles, Grundy, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Macon, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Moore, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Sequatchie, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Trousdale, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne, White, Williamson and Wilson

Western Division

Benton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Shelby, Tipton and Weakley