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Tennessee
The Volunteer State, a long ribbon across the South
Tennessee is a long, narrow state — more than 400 miles east to west — that crosses three distinct grand divisions, each with its own landscape and identity. East Tennessee is mountain country, where the Great Smoky Mountains rise along the North Carolina line and Clingmans Dome reaches 6,643 feet (2,025 m), the state high point. Middle Tennessee rolls through the fertile Nashville Basin and the surrounding Highland Rim. West Tennessee flattens toward the Mississippi River, ending in the Delta lowlands around Memphis.
The Tennessee River ties the grand divisions together in an improbable loop, flowing southwest out of the eastern mountains into Alabama, then doubling back north across the whole state to reach the Ohio. That river, harnessed by the dams of the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1930s, reshaped the region with power and flood control. From the misty, biodiverse forests of the Smokies — the most visited national park in the country — to the bluffs above the Mississippi at Memphis, Tennessee strings together a remarkable cross-section of the South.
Economy
Tennessee's economy is famous for music - country in Nashville, blues and soul in Memphis - but it rests at least as much on healthcare management (Nashville is a national hub), automotive manufacturing by Nissan, Volkswagen, and others, and logistics anchored by the FedEx superhub in Memphis. Tourism to the Great Smoky Mountains and Graceland is major, and the state levies no income tax on wages.
Politics
Tennessee carries 11 electoral votes and votes reliably Republican in presidential elections. Its three grand divisions - East, Middle, and West Tennessee - have historically had distinct political characters, and its largest cities, Nashville and Memphis, lean Democratic against a strongly Republican rural majority.