Introduction to Tennessee

Often called a border state, Tennessee lies between the regions popularly called the North and South. It is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River, while the Appalachian Mountains run through eastern Tennessee.

Three stars on Tennessee’s state flag represent the three primary regions the state is divided into. These are the eastern highlands, the Central Basin, and the western Gulf Coastal Plain.

The eastern highlands are the Appalachians. These include the long ridges and valleys of the Ridge and Valley region, the irregular hills and valleys of the Appalachian Plateau, and the rounded hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The highest portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains has been set aside as Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Within the park is Clingmans Dome, at 6,643 feet Tennessee’s highest point.

Some of Tennessee’s richest farmland is found to the west in the valleys of the Ridge and Valley region. A series of low, forested ridges run side by side here, in a region from 35 to 55 miles wide.

Crossing Tennessee from Alabama to Kentucky is the Cumberland Plateau. This is a part of the Appalachian Plateau. Its eastern edge rises 1,000 feet above the Great Valley of East Tennessee.

The Central Basin is shaped like an enormous, oval dish. Some of Tennessee’s finest farms are found here, surrounded by highlands.

We may think of streams and rivers flowing from the Appalachians eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. But streams arising on the opposite side of these highlands flow west and south into the Gulf of Mexico. Between the western valley of the Tennessee River and the Mississippi River is an area of rolling hills and flat lowlands. This is the Gulf Coastal Plain. The land along the Mississippi River may be covered with water when the river is high. This narrow strip of swampy land is called the Mississippi Bottoms.

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