When Tennessee joined the Union in 1796 as the 16th state, its residents numbered about 36,000. Today its population has grown to 6 million plus which ranks it 17th in the nation. Known for its natural beauty, the Volunteer State boasts fifty-four state parks covering about 132,000 acres including parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Hosting the headquarters of corporations such as FedEx, International Paper, and AutoZone, Tennessee is an important engine of American business. The state is home to the textile, cotton, cattle and electrical power industries and is attractive to workers due to the fact that its income tax does not apply to salaries and wages. Its system of interstate highways connects the major cities of Chattanooga, Clarksville, Knoxville, Memphis, Murfreesboro, and the capital, Nashville.
Roads
Interstate 40: I-40 travels from Memphis to Great Smoky Mountains National Park via Nashville and Knoxville, traversing Tennessee for 455 miles. It provides a close-up view of Tennessee's abundant natural beauty, from the Mississippi Embayment along the Mississippi River, to the Highland Rim and Nashville Basin, to the Cumberland Plateau and Appalachian Valley.
Interstate 24: I-24 travels from Clarksville to Chattanooga by way of Nashville. About 40 miles west of Chattanooga in Monteagle, I-24 passes over the Cumberland Plateau. This stretch of highway is one of the most hazardous in the nation’s Interstate highways system due to a high number of runaway trucks on the roadway’s steep grades.
Interstate 75: I-75 traverses Tennessee from Chattanooga to Jellico by way of Knoxville before entering the East Tennessee region. It crosses the Tennessee Valley from Georgia, passes through Knoxville to near Lake City, then climbs the Cumberland Mountains and crosses into Kentucky.
Interstate 65: Forming part of U.S. Interstate 65, I-65 in Tennessee travels from Ardmore north to just south of Franklin, Kentucky. In Tennessee the highway's official name is The Albert Arnold Gore Sr. Memorial Highway.
Interstate 81: Beginning in Dandridge, I-81 runs 824 miles northward to it terminus at the Thousand Islands Bridge at the United States-Canada border near Fishers Landing, New York. The 75 miles of I-81 that traverse Tennessee run from its southern terminus in Dandridge to the Virginia state line in Bristol.
Interstate 26: I-26 is the main route of the Interstate Highway System in the Southeastern United States. It begins at the junction of U.S. Route 11W and U.S. Route 23 in Kingsport, Tennessee, and travels to U.S. Route 17 in Charleston, South Carolina.